(The Center Square) – Some five months after taking office, Nikki Torres has resigned from the Pasco City Council.
It's the latest development in a whirlwind political odyssey that saw Torres file on May 20 to run for the Washington State Senate seat in the newly redrawn 15th Legislative District, which was followed three days later by longtime current Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, announcing that he would be retiring.
The 15th Legislative District encompasses the eastern half of Yakima County in Eastern Washington.
Torres, who announced her resignation Tuesday, admitted Honeyford’s decision caught her by surprise.
"I had contemplated running against Senator Honeyford, but wanted first to weigh the impact on my family and my current work as Council woman for the City of Pasco," Torres told The Center Square last week in an email, hours after Honeyford’s announcement. “Toward the end of the filing period, I decided that the demands of a race were manageable and that I was up to the challenge. I therefore decided to file as a candidate for the Senate.”
Honeyford endorsed fellow Republican Torres, who will run unopposed for his position.
With her sights set on serving in the state Legislature, Torres thought it only right she give up the Pasco City Council seat she has held since Jan. 1.
“As I now reside within the newly redistricted 15th Legislative district and outside my City Council district, I discussed with our city officials about the appropriateness of my continued representation of my Council district,” Torres said in a press release. “Based on these talks, I have concluded that I cannot fairly represent my constituents and that I should resign my council position.”
The city code requires officials to reside in the city district they serve.
Though she expressed some trepidation about leaving the Pasco City Council, Torres –who has called Pasco home for more than 40 years – is looking forward to representing the wider area in Olympia.
“Although I am sad about not continuing to represent my Pasco constituents on the Council, I am excited about the opportunity to get to know the rest of the 15th district better,” she said. “In addition to communities in Franklin and Benton counties, the legislative district also contains towns in Yakima, Grant and Adams County.”
She concluded, “So, in addition to Pasco, I want to learn about the needs in Yakima, Othello, Mattawa, Moxee, Zillah, Granger, Grandview and Sunnyside.”
Torres, who has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix, is a strategic partnership manager for Western Governors University and is a member of the Association of Washington Business Grassroots Alliance.
As a senator, some of the issues she plans to focus on include water rights and agriculture, school safety, support for law enforcement, affordable housing, responsible state budgets, and fairer taxes.
