Independent Candidate – Chelan County Commissioner, District 2
Join the Movement
63%
A childcare desert is defined as a census tract with more than three times as many children as licensed slots.
WA residents in a childcare desert
4,208
Annual contraction of 6.5%. Agriculture still accounts for 17.3% of covered employment and $286M in annual payroll.
Ag jobs shed since 2018
$21,348
Annual infant care cost in WA (2024)
Washington ranks 2nd least affordable in the nation. That figure is 50.7% of a single parent’s median income.
$605k
Up 10.1% from $550K in 2023. To qualify at standard underwriting: ~$141K annual income. County median household income: $84,430.
2024 Median home sale price
Meet Nathanial
It used to be that hard work meant something. Dedication and character allowed you to provide for your family, contribute to your community, be proud of the life you built. That is no longer guaranteed. Housing costs have outpaced wages. Childcare is out of reach for many. The institutions meant to support working people are not talking to each other.
I grew up in a home with no power, heat, or running water. My family built their way out of poverty through small businesses. I spent my formative years taking odd jobs and bucking hay bales in the fields of Plain. I know what this community can do for people willing to work for it. And I know what happens when those systems fail them.
I am running as an independent. No party. No political organization to answer to. Just this county and the people in it. My priorities are housing working families can afford, childcare treated as workforce infrastructure, economic development that keeps its benefits here, and a coordination structure connecting this county's institutions around a shared purpose. The people of this valley work hard. They deserve a county that works just as hard for them.
Organizational restructuring, systems design, and accountability frameworks
Consultant
Wenatchee Valley-based
Grew up in Plain, attended Cascade Highschool and Wenatchee Valley College, lives up Blewett Pass
Dedicated to the constituents of Wenatchee, not a party
Independent
District 2
Upper valley, Leavenworth, Cashmere and Wenatchee corridors
Innovative
Independent
Indivisible
1. Housing: Built for the People Who Live Here
The median home in Chelan County sold for $605,400 in 2024. A household needs to earn roughly $141,000 to qualify. The county median household income is $84,430. 83.8% of potential first-time buyers cannot afford a median-priced home here. The county has the zoning authority and the tools to change this. They have not been used.
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The 2026 Comprehensive Plan will authorize duplexes, ADUs, and missing middle density — the job is making sure those policies get implemented in the zoning code, not just written into a document.
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County impact fees will be right-sized to reflect actual infrastructure cost, with reductions available for projects serving lower-income households.
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The county's STR regulations for unincorporated areas stay in place, and Policy H 5.1 — agricultural worker housing near orchards, on the books since 2017 — gets acted on.
2. Childcare – Infrastructure for Working Families
Lack of childcare access costs Washington families $2.9 billion in lost income annually. Nearly 40% of Washington parents have quit work or been fired since having children. In Chelan County, agricultural and tourism workers face the added challenge of seasonal and non-standard hours care that the existing provider market is not built to serve.
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County-owned surplus land will be audited for childcare siting potential, and a clear permitting pathway for new facilities will be developed with reduced local fees where the law allows.
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The county's convener role will be used to connect major employers — Confluence Health, Stemilt, data center operators — with childcare providers around employer-sponsored care models.
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In Olympia, the case will be made for maintaining Working Connections Child Care eligibility thresholds and pushing reimbursements to reflect what providers actually charge in 2025, not 2021.
3. Workforce & Economic Development: Growth & Jobs
Agriculture accounts for 17.3% of covered employment and $286 million in annual payroll, and has shed 4,208 jobs since 2018. Microsoft and Helion are in Malaga. NCW SkillSource and Wenatchee Valley College are already building career pathways with these employers — voluntarily, without any binding commitment to local hire or training investment.
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Where the county has a permitting, land-use, or infrastructure role in future large-scale development, negotiated community benefit commitments will be pursued: local hire, training investments tied to WVC and the Technical Skills Center, and community fund contributions.
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A commissioner going to Olympia arguing for stable baseline funding for SkillSource rather than grant spikes is the coordination that system has been missing.
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Productive agricultural and orchard land stays protected from rezoning through the Comprehensive Plan and development regulations.
4. Regional Coordination: The Infrastructure That Makes It Work
In 2022, Our Valley Our Future called for a standing regional forum of local jurisdictions and agencies. It was never built. In November 2025 the Port filed a Tax Increment Area application covering 3,326 acres. The county enacted a moratorium. The Port sued. Both sides paid legal costs from public funds. Fire districts, road funds, and veterans services faced revenue uncertainty for over a year. That is what happens without a coordination structure.
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A standing monthly meeting of regional institution leaders — the Port, the PUD, the cities, OVOF, the Chamber, the Housing Authority, SkillSource, WVC, the Health District, and Link Transit — will be convened within 90 days of taking office, with a structured agenda and documented follow-through.
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The county's 2026 Comp Plan update, the Port's strategic plan, the PUD's Vision 2075, and the City of Wenatchee's update are all running simultaneously with no joint process connecting them — that needs to change before the next conflict ends up in court.
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The county and Port have complementary grant eligibility — co-applying means both agencies access more than either can independently
The Platform
Governance, Coordination and the Structural Conditions for Regional Prosperty
Chelan County has the assets most rural counties in Washington do not: cheap public hydropower, a regional technology center, a world-class agricultural industry, and a workforce training system covering 14,612 square miles. The resources are here. The coordination required to direct them toward the people who live and work here is not.
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Home values have risen 150% since 2014 while incomes grew 54%.
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83.8% of potential first-time buyers cannot afford a median-priced home.
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Childcare capacity meets roughly 29% of statewide need.
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Agriculture has shed over 4,000 jobs since 2018.
These are not separate problems. They are the same structural failure at different points in the same system.
This platform organizes the commissioner's authority around four commitments:
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Expanding housing supply and cutting the cost barriers that price working families out
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Treating childcare as workforce infrastructure;
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Conditioning county support for large-scale development on binding community benefit commitments
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Convening a standing regional coordination structure so the institutions already doing this work are building toward the same outcome.
This platform is based off of the belief a strong working middle class is the foundation of a healthysociety and that the governments role is to ensure opportunity is available to those willing to work for it.
A Different Way To Pick A Candidate
What Does A County Commissioner Do?
The County Budget
Every department, program, and position in county government is affected by the Board allocated funding. Housing, childcare access, and workforce development are essential factors that decide whether the county can attract and keep the working families its economy relies on. The budget should represent this. County resources should focus on measurable results in these areas, along with a consistent case made in Olympia for stable funding for the programs that the county cannot support alone, such as SkillSource, rural health, and childcare subsidies.
The focus is on housing working families can afford. Supporting missing middle options — ADUs, duplexes, co-living — in existing town centers rather than pushing growth into agricultural land. A serious look at whether current impact fees and permitting timelines are creating unnecessary cost barriers, with reductions pursued where the law allows. STR regulations in unincorporated areas stay. Agricultural land stays protected.
Zoning, Permitting & Land Use
Zoning and land use are where county government touches your life most directly. The Comprehensive Plan decides what gets built and where. Zoning codes set the density, allowable uses, and standards every development project in unincorporated Chelan County must meet. Impact fees add cost to every new unit before a foundation is poured. Short-term rental rules determine how much of the county's housing stock is available to people who actually live here. Permitting timelines determine how long and how expensive it is to build anything.
The focus is housing working families afford. That means supporting ADUs, duplexes, and co-living options in existing town centers rather than pushing growth onto agricultural land. It means taking a serious look at whether current impact fees and permitting timelines are creating unnecessary cost barriers, and reducing them where the law allows. STR regulations in unincorporated areas stay. Agricultural land stays protected.
Interlocal Agreements & Regional Partnerships
An interlocal agreement is a formal contract between public agencies — the legal mechanism that allows the county to partner with a city, the Port, or other government entities on shared services, facilities, and projects. The TIA dispute between the county and the Port went to litigation because no interlocal framework existed to resolve conflicting assumptions before they became a lawsuit. That is not an argument about who was right. It is an argument about process.
The Port, the PUD, the cities, and the county are all making long-range plans simultaneously with no formal joint process connecting them. A standing monthly meeting of regional institutional leaders is the starting point.
Olympia Advocacy & Board Appointments
The commissioner's reach extends beyond county lines. A commissioner who goes to Olympia with specific, data-backed asks — stable SkillSource funding, childcare reimbursement rates that reflect actual rural market costs, agricultural workforce flexibility — exercises real influence over programs and funding streams that determine what is possible locally. The commissioner also appoints members to certain county-related boards and advisory bodies, including the Health District and the Housing Authority. Those appointments shape how those institutions operate for years.
Olympia advocacy centered on rural funding priorities that consistently get less attention than they deserve: workforce training stability, childcare access, and housing tools that work for smaller counties. Appointments made with the county's actual priorities in mind, not as formalities.
“The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters”
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Endorsements
... I wholeheartedly recommend Nathanial Helligso for the position of Chelan County Commissioner. His skills, experience, and dedication to community service make him an ideal fit for this role. I have no doubt that he will bring the same level of commitment and excellence to the county that he has demonstrated throughout his career.
Thank you for considering Nathanial for this important position. I am confident that he will serve our community with integrity and vision.
Kristian Mattson
Lieutenant Commander, USN, Retired
Nathanial is a fresh, clear voice — an Independent whose loyalty to the public comes first and who is unburdened by establishment politics that so frequently stifle positive change and community cohesion. Not beholden to politics-as-usual, he will draw on his considerable knowledge to tackle difficult problems head-on, not by pitting people against one another, but by approaching challenges from a systems perspective in service of the working people of Chelan County.
For these reasons, I offer my wholehearted support for Nathanial's candidacy. Leadership rooted in character, competence, and a genuine commitment to the public good is rare — and it is exactly what this moment calls for. I am confident that Nathanial will bring the thoughtfulness, fairness, and problem-solving ability that the people of Chelan County deserve, and I encourage you to join me in supporting him.
Bradley Johnson
Business Owner
Kristian Mattson
Lieutenant Commander, USN, Retired
Brad ley Johnson
Business Owner