The 2024 elections saw Cory Wright, a CWU alum, reelected to his position as Kittitas County Commissioner. Wright first took up this role in 2018 when the former commissioner, Paul Jewell, resigned and Wright was elected to finish the term in 2019. He was reelected and served his first full term in 2020.
Wright and his family have a long history in Kittitas County, particularly in Ellensburg. “My family has been here now for … seven generations,” Wright said. “I was actually born here, went to school here and went to Central.”
After graduating from CWU with his degree in individual studies: youth and leisure activities, Wright attended the California Maritime Academy and attained his license to sail as a commercial marine officer. “I managed port terminal operations and rig toes to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska,” Wright said. “And to the Gulf of Mexico for about twenty years, and then decided I really wanted to come back to Ellensburg.”
After returning to Ellensburg, Wright lived here for six years before becoming a commissioner. “I thought it would be a great way to really become part of my community,” Wright said. “My family has been in elected office here for many years in different areas as prosecutors, city attorneys and court commissioners, so I became another cog.”
“We really are a three-headed CEO,” Wright said. “Meaning that we run the administrative functions of the county, the executive management, human resources, things like that .The Board of Commissioners is responsible as the legislative body of the county, so we manage county finances. We are the final word of budgetary spending. We also pass ordinances for anything from animal control to comprehensive land use.”
In his current term as county commissioner, Wright has several projects he is focusing on. “Right now, this week, I am working on something I’ve been working on for a couple years,” Wright said. “Which is broadband expansion for the whole county. We are in the middle of putting together about a $50 million grant application to get fiber to corners all over the county, so anyone who’s running on a copper wire out in the middle of the sticks will, when this is done, hopefully have a fiber outlet. That’s one of my biggest goals.”
The other major goal Wright spoke about was improving the economy in the county, “Which is very important for college students,” Wright said. “There’s many that come here and love the place, but there’s no jobs, and those that are here really dont pay well. So I am working with various economic organizations to really get a better handle on expanding economic opportunity, but also the infrastructure to support it.”
Wright says there are many opportunities for those looking to get into politics as he did. “Every city and county, we all have these advisory committees and boards,” Wright said. “They all have vacancies. Just in the county alone we have probably over 20 boards and committees, and these vacancies need filled. That’s probably the best way to start the process. Go to the county website, take a look and if there’s anything that looks interesting to you apply, because we need all the help we can get. We just simply do not have enough citizen involvement in the government, and it’s hard to reach people.”
Community involvement is vital to local politics. “I’m actually thrilled that the university is here,” Wright said. “Many, many years ago when we had our great fire in Ellensburg, our consolation prize from the legislature was going to either be a penitentiary or a university. Thank god we got the university because it is a center of research and innovation, and its workforce development. As somebody that’s lived here… for many generations, we all have a stake in the outcome [of local politics and community], so interest and attention to local issues from our students and citizens matters and the more feedback I get, the better the decisions I can make.”
