Fejeran throws hat in ring for county auditor

Eric Fejeran of Pullman announced Tuesday he will be running for Whitman County Auditor in the November election.

“After a decade of Republican control, it is time for different representation in Colfax. I am running because I believe in the importance and power of government service and want to use that as a vehicle for positive change in Whitman County,” Fejeran stated in his announcement.

“I have a passion for government service,” the 28-year-old from Pullman said. He has served as the elected Chair of Whitman County Democrats for the past two years.

Fejeran is the second resident to announce plans to run for the auditor’s office. Sandy Jamison, Garfield Republican, announced plans to seek the office Jan. 6.

Fejeran last year ran for a Pullman Ward One city council seat against long-time incumbent Al Sorenson. He topped another challenger in the three-way primary, but lost to Sorenson after getting just under 43 percent of the vote in the general election .

Fejeran was employed at Schweitzer Engineering Labs for more than five years with nearly half of that time in the quality control division where he dealt with internal controls, audits, internal processes and recording. He feels those skills would translate well to the auditor’s office.

His announcement stated the auditor’s office “has been a sort of sore foot” for the county with failed external audits and yearly failures during election cycles.

His number-one campaign goal is to open communication and increased transparency from the auditor’s office. He plans to attend city council sessions and address the public in person to foster relationships to improve that communication and transparency.

“I am going to be doing a lot of listening,” Fejeran said of meeting with the municipalities.

“Pullman needs representation at the county level,” he told the Gazette, noting Pullman is really driving growth in the county.

Fejeran said he is well versed in current technologies and plans to use a number of communication strategies.

“I do know different communication strategies will be needed,” he said.

As auditor, Fejeran would be a voice to push for a GIS (geographic information system), which would provide a virtual mapping of district boundaries. He said Whitman County is one of only a few counties without GIS. That may be part of the problem with past election issues as there are no accurate documents of where district boundaries are. It would be a visual representation of the present boundaries.

Fejeran also wants to push for competitive compensation for everyone in the auditor’s office. He admitted he was unsure of the process for raising the wage in the office, but knows it has been a struggle to retain employees in the elections office.

Attention to detail is another characteristic Fejeran believes makes him a good choice for auditor.

“I ask a lot of questions,” he said. He wants to understand things completely before decisions, and feels that has not been done in county government, in large part due to the long-standing of people in the county positions.

Fejeran noted there is a lot of partisan politics and animosity and he is able to reach across the aisle and not participate in partisan politics. As a Democratic, he would like to see easier access to polling places.

He also serves as vice-president of the United Way of Pullman and works at Zeppoz as a poker dealer.

ericfejeran@ericforauditor.com