Chairman Rich McKay confirms withdrawal from commission race

The Eureka Sentinel reached Chairman Rich McKay on May 5 at 6 p.m. The chairman hadn’t seen the May 1 Eureka Sentinel article, ‘Incumbent reportedly withdraws from commissioner race.’”

McKay said it was correct that he’s choosing not to run again for the commission. “Don’t you think eight years is enough?” McKay said. “I think it’s more than enough.”

After reading the article, McKay added, “I have the ranch. I have the hotel. I have my 96-year-old mom. They’ll take a big chunk of my time. I enjoy being a commissioner. It’s rewarding, and I love serving the citizens of Eureka County,” but “if something had to drop, I think it was going to be the commission, and I didn’t really want to run again.”

McKay thinks Raine “will be an okay commissioner. Not a lot to do with him. I shouldn’t have even filed. I was really questioning whether I should even file. I probably blocked somebody from wanting to run against Steel, which was not good for the process.” McKay thinks “eight years was enough” and he has “other things to focus on. If I stayed in, I’d be 65 when I was out of my third term.”

McKay said, “Politics wasn’t really for me.” Before being a commissioner, he was on the medical committee and was chairman of the Eureka Business Network. “So, it’s really been 10 years of public service and then eight years as an elected official.”

Asked what he was most happy with in his time, McKay said, “Looking back, and there’s been some bumps with COVID,” he thinks “our medical services are in a better place; our emergency management is in a better place” and “we have the Boys and Girls Club here in Eureka that was not county-funded but were able to get people to partner and fund most of it. So, I think those are kind of my pillars that I really am kind of proud of.”

The Sentinel stated, even though the debate isn’t happening, “Steel’s been pushing the idea that you guys are spending too much; that you’re saying ‘yes’ to everything,” and asked McKay’s thoughts.

McKay responded, “From the outside looking in, it does appear like the county spends a ton of money. And I thought that, too, before I was a commissioner. It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh: why is this so expensive?’ But, then, when you’re on the inside of the county and you realize how expensive things are, and you have to pay prevailing wage for your contractors, you can’t just hire somebody for fifteen bucks off the street,” but “have to pay prevailing wage to these guys that come and do projects for you. Things have gone up so much. You want good infrastructure. You want good services for your citizens. It’s costly.”

McKay’s family “has been here a very long time. On my dad’s side, in 1875, the first McKay came to Eureka, and that was my great-grandfather, Alexander, whom I named my son after. So, we’ve been here a long time.” McKay’s mother was a war bride and “she came over with my dad in 1947 from Germany.” McKay “was born and raised here, graduated from Eureka and went to college in Idaho and then spent 20 years in the Bay Area working in tech. Had my Bachelor’s and Master’s and had three kids in elementary school” and “pitched the idea to my wife to move back to Eureka. Bought the Sundown and the Chevron and raised the kids in a small town.”

McKay worked for Fortune 500 companies in sales and marketing and thought he could “do some public service here and try to give back to the citizens” and that’s “what got me going in being a commissioner.” McKay has three children, a son who’s graduating in three weeks, and then twins who are 16. His daughter, Anna, “is really into sports.” McKay said, “It’s tough when you’re being a commissioner and try to cut the day into many pieces.” He’d like to go from “70 hours a week to maybe 50 hours a week and spend a little more time on that.”

McKay was born on the family cattle ranch 40 miles south of Eureka. “I’m out there every other day, and I’m at the Sundown Lodge at Eureka every day and trying to do the commission in between.”

Asked what he’d like to say to the people of Eureka, McKay said, “It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve the town and the county citizens for eight years. It’s bumpy here at times, but I’ve done my best. Tried to be transparent and honest and open with people and tried to make the county a better place than when I came into it. That’s all.”

McKay will continue to serve as commission chairman through December 31, 2026.