Voters Guide 2019 - Wednesday, October 16, 2019

STUCKART, WOODWARD ANSWER 27 QUESTIONS

SECURITY, BUDGETS TOP SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES

Candidates for Spokane mayor take positions on red light cameras, road diets, fluoride in the water and the Border Patrol. PAGE 12

Spokane School Board candidates debate whether security should be armed, budget shortfalls and improving diversity. PAGE 4

INCLUSION, NEW TAXES DEBATED IN VALLEY Two new candidates for contested Spokane Valley City Council seats say they want to take the city in a moderate direction. PAGE 14, 17

INITIATIVE 976 WOULD RESTRICT TAB FEES Opponents of the proposal from Tim Eyman say the measure would hobble state and local transportation projects. PAGE 2

SPECIAL 2

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS’ GUIDE

Eyman’s measure would upend state funding By the numbers

Planned construction within six years

The city of Spokane has maintained 78 miles of roads from 2012 to 2018 through its transportation benefit district, which is funded through a $20 car tab vehicle license fee.

Completed construction, In 2015, there were 6.7 million motor vehicles registered in the 2012-2018

395

H AW T H O R N E 2

FIVE MILE

HOLLAND

DI

NORTH SPOKANE CORRIDOR

AN

WA L L

IN

STRONG

TR

M AG N E S I U M

LINCOLN

E

L

IN

AI

N

LINCOLN

M

Holy Cross Cemetery

IL E R O

Spokane

MAPLE

A S T.

CRESTLINE

D

N E VA D A

A

FRANCIS .

L. WY EY PK BRTE AU HI W

Tim Eyman’s latest anti-tax ballot measure is either a Robin Hoodlike gesture for the people of Washington or a disastrous gambit that will kill the state’s necessary transportation projects.

It just depends who you ask.

On its face, Eyman’s measure is plain enough. It would limit annual motor vehicle license fees to $30 a year, eliminate a host of programs that fund local road projects and dismantle some transit agencies. In the process, it will cut $4.2 billion from transportation funding.

Eyman and other initiative backers say that will force policymakers to be more frugal and thoughtful about how they spend taxpayer money. Critics, on the other hand, say the cuts would throw into chaos an already confusing and underfunded roadwork funding mechanism, which in the most recent two-year budget is expected to generate and expend nearly $10 billion.

Eyman and his detractors do agree that if Initiative 976 succeeds at the ballot box, the way the state pays for its roads will dramatically change. Even Eyman acknowledged he didn’t have a better idea how the state should fund its roads, saying he would avoid the “temptation to play god.” Instead, the question will be forced on lawmakers if his measure passes.

And local legislators say Spokane’s most important projects would be imperiled if state lawmakers are forced to fight over what projects to save and which ones to scrap if a major slice of the funding pie is done away with by voters.

Eyman said the ballot measure – which is similar to measures approved twice by voters nearly 20 years ago, blocked by courts and, in one instance, restored by the Legislature – is driven by what he believes is overtaxation by insatiable politicians who can’t take no for an answer.

“We just hate the idea of the state government imposing really high vehicle tabs, and we hate this dishonest valuation system you guys use. We want to get rid of that,” he said, referring in part to the state’s system of car valuation. “We don’t want state government and local governments having high car tabs.

We just want $30.”

The situation is far more complex, said Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, a Spokane Democrat.

“Whatever you care about in transportation – whether it be pothole repair, the North Spokane Corridor, transit, bike infrastructure – it will likely be undermined

by Initiative 976,” Billig said. “This will be such a jolt to the system that everything will be cut. Everything will be in jeopardy.”

ROAD REPAIR PROJECTS PAID FOR WITH TAB FEE

A S S E M B LY

By Nicholas Deshais THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Harmon Park

Franklin Park

state of Washington, according to data collected by the Federal Highway Administration.

In 2016, Washington state motorists drove more than 60 billion miles on the state’s public roads.

The Legislature appropriated $9.97 billion for the transportation budget for the 2019-2021 biennium, according to the state fiscal website.

In Spokane County, there are 448,029 vehicles registered with the state.

From October 2018 to the end of September 2019, 19,227 cars in Spokane had their tabs renewed.

CO

H AVA N A

IS

ASH

DR

cial Management. Local governments will lose an additional $2.3 billion in the same time period.

WE L L E S L E Y Shadle As Billig suggested, it’s difficult Park Rutter Esmeralda to know how this would play out e Avenue GARLAND Golf kan construction locally. It’s not just a simple equaSpo ver Course Audubon Ri completed tion involving subtraction. Instead, Park N OR Minnehaha from Corbin it would be more like taking whatFancher TH E U C L I D Park Park BL W Road to ever money is left over after voters VD ES N O RT H FO OT H I L L S Bradley T . cut out the $4.2 billion, throwing it Road DOWNRIVER into a pile and watching as state S I E O G .

OR ILLIN lawmakers fight over it.

GE T DR I N D I A N A .

T F IGH What’s for sure, however, is the T N WR E MISSION TR city’s transportation benefit dis.

R.R trict’s $20 car tab will go away. The district and fee were approved by B R O A D WAY the Spokane City Council in February 2011 to be used for the “sole purS P RAG U E pose of acquiring, constructing, FIRST SECOND improving, providing, and funding 90 transportation improvements” in Liberty HARTSON Park the city, according to information Underhill from the city.

Park From 2012 to 2018, the city raised ET 14TH S 2 N . between $2 and $3 million a year 17TH SU VD BL Manito Lincoln through the program for chip seal 2 1 S T Park R O C K W O O D Park or grind and overlay work on 78 Thornton miles of roads.

Murphy Billig and other opponents of the 29TH Park measure warn that the $1.5 billion 90 Comstock North Spokane Corridor would be Park imperiled if the initiative passes.

HI Hamblen The north-south freeway received GH DR Park $879 million through the 2015 Con. necting Washington Package. The Manito 195 PA GLENROSE $16 billion transportation spending L and Golf N H OU program is funded primarily W S Country Y. E 53RD Club through an 11.9-cent gas tax, but $2 1 MILE 57TH billion comes from vehicle weight fees, which would be reduced by E AG L E RIDGE Eyman’s measure.

B LV D .

The 2015 funding package also Source: City of Spokane dedicated $2.75 billion toward MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW debt service, illustrating how much the state has depended on their vehicles, according to the to fund local road maintenance Authority is still examining the is- credit to build and maintain its highways and how the current state Department of Licensing. through what’s called a transpor- sue.

“If passed, STA anticipates im- funding model doesn’t pay for the That breaks down to a base fee of tation benefit district. In Spokane, $30, a county filing fee of $3, a li- that adds $20 to the registration pacts to funding for all the services roadwork the state needs. it provides including Paratransit, cense service fee of 75 cents and a fee.

From watch salesman Most of this would go away if Fixed-Route and Vanpool, but service fee of $5. On top of that, to crusader weight fees are added on. The aver- I-976 passes. The base amount we’re still working to fully underEyman began his anti-tax cruage 4,000-pound vehicle is would be strictly limited to $30, stand specific financial implicharged a $25 weight fee, which and weight fees and the ability for cations,” according to Brandon Ra- sade in 1999, when he was in his 30s and selling watches in Mukilteo, goes up as the car’s heft does, an ac- transportation benefit districts to pez-Betty, STA’s spokesman.

Over the next six years, the state Washington. knowledgment that heavier cars impose fees would be eliminated.

Though the measure would would lose more than $1.9 billion in He started with I-695, which redo more damage to the roads.

Local impacts In 61 Washington localities, have disastrous effects on Seattle’s revenue if the measure passes, acWashington car owners pay a See EYMAN, 3 base amount of $38.75 to license motorists pay another car-tab tax Sound Transit, Spokane Transit cording to the state Office of FinanMONROE POST

DIVISION

MARKET

LL

R.

RAY

PERRY

F R E YA

REGAL

PERRY

TC

HA

R.

R.

H

n ma ng ek Ha Cre

CH SP EN R O O K AE Y AD NE

BERNARD

TH

O

D

RP

E

AN

AST THE S O U LV D .

B

GR

LINCOLN

C E DA R

SHERMAN

MAPLE

AY . W

H AVA N A

VT

N A PA

GO

H A M I LT O N

R.

REFERENDUM 88 DEMANDS VOTERS PAY ATTENTION Ballot measure could reverse state restrictions on affirmative action

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Here’s a two-part quiz about the November ballot for fans and foes of affirmative action: If you signed petitions this spring to put Referendum 88 on the November election lot because you oppose affirmative action laws, should you mark it “Approved” or “Rejected” on your ballot?

If you signed petitions last fall to send Initiative 1000 to the Legislature because you support affirmative action laws, should you vote “Approved” or “Rejected” on Referendum 88?

The correct answers may be counterintuitive.

People who oppose changes to the state’s restrictions on affirmative action programs and signed Referendum 88 would vote “Rejected,” even though the measure was put on the ballot by a group opposed to those changes.

People who want to change the law to allow affirmative action programs would vote to approve Referendum 88, because by doing so they are actually approving Initiative 1000.

That’s one of the confusing things about Referendum 88, a rare effort to strike down an initiative brought to the Legislature in January, approved in April on a partisan vote, but put on hold when opponents gathered a new round of signatures to put it on the ballot.

If that seems like a double shot of the state’s initiative process that gives voters some control over legislation, it’s actually a triple shot, since the state’s ability to offer affirmative action programs

was sharply curtailed in 1998 through another initiative, I-200, which the Legislature sent to the ballot and was approved by 58% of the voters.

The affirmative action provisions were proposed by thenGov. Dan Evans in the 1970s. Jim Waldo, a Tacoma attorney who was on Evans’ staff at the time and later worked in state and federal government, said there were concerns that some programs and agencies were trying to meet quotas for different groups and were awarding contracts or enrollment slots to people who wouldn’t otherwise qualify. That wasn’t fair to people who were qualified but didn’t get a contract or a position.

“It was ripe for someone to come along and say this wasn’t working,” Waldo said.

I-200 forbade the use of quotas based on gender, race, religion or ethnicity in government contracting, programs and public college admissions. Among the few exceptions were some slight advantages for veterans in qualifying tests for some government positions.

The Legislature made some minor changes over the next 20 years, but by 2018, some minority and labor groups were concerned about declining numbers of Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos and women in government contracting and colleges.

Initiative 1000 allows affirmative action programs or procedures like participation goals and outreach efforts that “do not utilize quotas and do not constitute preferential treatment.”

Those programs can consider race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, honorable mili-

tary discharge or military status as a factor in selecting qualified people. But that can’t be the sole factor, the initiative says.

Using paid-signature gatherers, supporters of I-1000 turned in nearly 400,000 signatures in January, and easily qualified for legislative consideration. But the proposal languished in the Legislature for months. Republicans were almost universally opposed, arguing that contracts, programs and college slots should be determined solely by ability. Democrats were generally supportive, but many were leaning toward the option of not voting on the proposal, which would allow it to go directly to the November ballot.

I-1000 didn’t get a committee hearing until 10 days before the end of session. When it did, Evans and former Govs. Gary Locke and Chris Gregoire were among its supporters. A group of mostly Asian American residents, Washington Asians For Equality, was among those arguing that changes would disadvantage those who work hard by allowing less-qualified people to be considered. The group urged legislators to let the proposal go to the ballot so voters could decide.

Until the final day of the session, it looked like I-1000 was so contentious that time would run out before lawmakers could vote, which meant it would wind up on the ballot. But in the closing hours before lawmakers adjourned, a deal was struck to consider the proposal with minimal debate.

Rep. Sharon Tomikos Santos, D-Seattle, argued I-200 was “devastating” opportunities for women and minorities. Rep. Matt Shea, RSpokane Valley, called the proposal “anti-veteran” because it could affect current regulations that give former service members extra points when being con-

sidered for jobs.

“It also takes away the American dream of hard work and equal treatment under the law,” Shea said.

The Washington State Veterans Bar Association also contends I-1000 would hurt existing laws that give veterans some preference in employment and promotions. In test scores for some jobs, including in law enforcement, a veteran can receive an added five to 10 points, and the initiative would remove that, the group says.

But University of Washington law professor Hugh Spitzer, a noted expert on state constitutional law, disagrees.

Those preferential programs would not be affected, Spitzer said, because they are not the sole criteria for hiring but one of many factors being considered.

For example, Spitzer said in a memo on I-1000, a veteran who scores an 80 on the test would be considered with nonveterans who scored 90. But the extra 10 points aren’t the sole factor, because the veteran had to first score 80 points to make the extra points matter; if he or she scored 50, the extra 10 points wouldn’t be a factor if other applicants scored higher than 60.

“Pre- or post I-1000, individuals will ultimately be selected for public hiring or promotion based on a variety of factors,” Spitzer wrote.

I-1000 passed, and was scheduled to become law in July. But Washington Asians for Equality and other opponents gathered nearly 200,000 signatures on a referendum that gives voters a chance to reject it.

Several new groups then sprang up, to either support or oppose the ballot measure.

Some members of the One Washington Equality Campaign – which owes some $1.3 million, pri-

marily to the signature-gathering companies – filed papers with the Public Disclosure Commission to change its name to Approve I-1000 but so far has not recorded any contributions.

Former allies unhappy with the way One Washington’s chairman, former state Rep. Jesse Wineberry, managed the campaign, formed a separate organization, originally called R-88 / Opportunities for All. It changed its name to the Washington Fairness Coalition this month. Its biggest donors are Microsoft and the Washington State Labor Council.

Let People Vote, which raised nearly $1 million to send the issue to the ballot, added “Reject R-88” to its name in August.

It also took over the website of yes1000.com, formerly used by the I-1000 campaign, and routes potential donors to a site to contribute to Reject R-88.

Grassroots against I-1000, a separate group with donors from suburban King County, formed in April. Both groups lean heavily on donations from Asian Americans.

Evans, who has been a supporter of affirmative action for nearly five decades, continues to be one of the spokesmen for the initiative and appears in one of the few commercials so far either for or against the ballot measure.

I-1000 may not be perfect, he said recently, but it’s an improvement on I-200.

“People should give it a chance to see how it works,” Evans said.

The Legislature could make changes if any problems arise, he said.

Or, as history shows, the voters could make them with yet another initiative.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(360) 664-2598 jimc@spokesman.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 3

VOTERS’ GUIDE

Amendment would give lawmakers powers in case of ‘Big One’

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This Aug. 1 photo shows evidence of a Cascadia earthquake’s awesome destructive power at the beach in Neskowin, Ore.

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Washington voters worried about “The Big One” – a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered by a geologic fault off the Pacific Coast – might have a special reason to mark their ballot in the November election.

A constitutional amendment was proposed with just such a catastrophe in mind.

But opponents say the powers the amendment would give the Legislature are too broad, and the definition of a catastrophic incident that could allow such changes is too vague.

Senate Joint Resolution 8200 sailed through the Legislature as a 21st-century update to a constitutional amendment enacted during the Cold War. As currently written, that section of the constitution provides for “continuity of governmental operations in periods of emergency resulting from enemy attack.” If a simple majority of voters approve Resolution 8200 on Nov. 5, the section will be broadened so that continuity is ensured not only in case of attack but also in case of “catastrophic incidents.”

Under the existing law, which voters approved in 1962, the Legislature would have the power to move the state capital or a county seat, make changes to the requirements to elect or appoint legislators, pass bills and fill vacancies in state or county offices in the aftermath of an attack. The Legislature could also fill an open governor’s

EYMAN Continued from 2 quired voter approval for any state or local tax increase, repealed the motor vehicle excise tax and imposed a top license tab fee of $30 a year. Just over 56% of voters approved of the measure, but the Washington state Supreme Court deemed it invalid. The Legislature restored the motor vehicle excise tax after the court’s ruling.

In 2002, Eyman again got a measure limiting annual vehicle licensing fees to $30 on the ballot, with I-776. It passed with 51% of the vote, but was overturned by the King County Superior Court because it violated the state’s “single subject rule” by setting license fees at $30 and encouraging a new public vote on Seattle’s Sound Transit light rail program.

What Eyman was saying then is similar to what he says now.

In Eyman’s telling, I-976 has a simple message, and it shouldn’t get lost in the weeds: Voters twice approved a similar measure, politicians refused to abide by it and now they’re using the “dishonest” tax to prop up a dysfunctional and excessive system.

The goal of the measure is simple as well, he said. By forcing legislators to use a far reduced transportation revenue stream, the system will become more efficient and the money will be actually be spent on roads – not transit

seat if all people in the line of succession set out in the state constitution are unavailable.

In the 2019 session, legislators were more worried about shaking earth and crushing waves than falling bombs, prompting them to add the “catastrophic incidents” clause.

“The catastrophic incident we anticipate will be the big earthquake that will do such damage that we will need to have procedures in place to have government continue operating,” Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, said in introducing the bill to the House last April.

“It’s about The Big One, the earthquake,” Rep. Bill Jenkin, R-Prosser, said. “We know this will be the next disaster.”

The Cascadia Subduction Zone, a major geologic fault line off the Pacific Coast that stretches from Vancouver Island to northern California, has the potential for creating a massive earthquake that could decimate Western Washington and generate a tsunami that would inundate coastal communities.

The quakes occur on an average of 300 to 500 years, with the last one recorded in 1700. The Washington National Guard and the state Emergency Management Division have already mapped out and practiced for responding to a massive quake.

But the amendment doesn’t limit the expanded powers of the Legislature to a quake-induced disaster, nor does it define “catastrophic incident” or how extensive it

would have to be, opponents say.

“You would have to trust government to make these decisions with or without your input,” warns the argument against the amendment, co-authored by Rep. Bob McCaslin, R-Spokane Valley. “We should demand a better proposal with clear definitions.”

State statutes do define “catastrophic incident.” It can cover any natural or human-caused event – including terrorism and an enemy attack – with mass casualties, high levels of damage or disruption.

At the same time the Legislature passed the proposed amendment, it also approved a bill that clarifies a governor’s power to suspend certain laws and regulations in a declared emergency for as long 30 days – or more if the Legislature is in session and agrees. If the Legislature is out of session, its leaders can extend that time limit until lawmakers return to session.

Sen. Bob Hasegawa, DSeattle, argued that was still too broad, and with the potential for problems.

“It could be used by an unscrupulous governor – not saying that we have one,” Hasegawa said. “We have to be careful.”

But Sen. Dean Takko, DLongview scoffed: “It’s really a stretch to take that out so far as the governor going rogue on us.”

or bike lanes.

Anything voters hear otherwise is false.

“Politicians have nothing but threats, lies and scare tactics,” Eyman said. “No matter how much you give the government, it’s never enough.”

Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan and his father, Jack, have worked with Eyman since 1999. Fagan, too, is a sponsor of the initiative and largely agreed with Eyman’s assessment. However, he said he parted ways with Eyman and dissolved any businesses and committees related to his initiative work with Eyman.

Fagan said his father’s old age was the main cause, but Eyman has troubles that may spell the end of his crusading career. Aside from an embarrassing episode in February when he allegedly stole a $70 chair from an Office Depot store in Lacey, Washington, he continues to fight a campaign-finance lawsuit, in which Attorney General Bob Ferguson has accused Eyman of using the initiative process to get rich, according to the Seattle Times. He has been found in contempt twice and faces a lifetime ban on directing the finances of political action committees.

Fagan, a firebrand conservative, said he’s not as critical of government as he was before sitting on the council for eight years, and that he’s open to discussing how user fees such as a gas tax or vehicle license fee could be used to fund infrastructure. But he believed

any decisions about tax increases belong with the voters. That goes for fees as well.

If a city wants to create a transportation benefit district tax, the voters have to approve it, not council members, he said.

“I’m a local guy. If a local community wants a specific project, then there should be a local discussion,” he said.

But Fagan and Eyman agree the measure is a reckoning for lawmakers.

“People are angry,” Fagan said.

Eyman said we are living in a “tapped-out moment with people” and warned that “voter surliness is coming about.”

Both said they weren’t alone in their concerns, and pointed to the 350,000 signatures they gathered to get the measure on the ballot.

The committees Eyman oversees spent $670,000 to gather those, equating to about $1.90 per signature.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(360) 664-2598 jimc@spokesman.com

Business, labor, environmental groups oppose Billig had his own warnings.

Transportation is “the foundation for our economy,” he said, and gutting the state’s transportation funding system would have immeasurable repercussions.

He described the measure’s impact as delivering “such a blow to our transportation infrastructure,” but he See EYMAN, 23

BALLOT CONTAINS 12 ADVISORY VOTES

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Washington voters get a chance to give legislators a record amount of “advice” to keep or repeal taxes in the November election. If history holds, they’ll ignore it.

The general election ballot has a dozen advisory votes, which are required by a 2007 initiative, to let voters sound off on taxes that were started or increased in this year’s session. But that law doesn’t require legislators to follow the advice, or even bring those taxes up for reconsideration.

In the previous 19 advisory votes over the last 11 years, they haven’t.

Unlike initiatives and referendums, which have statements by supporters and opponents in the Voter’s Guide, tax advisory votes have only a ballot title written by the state attorney general’s office and a projection – if one is available – from the Office of Financial Management of the amount of revenue the tax would generate over its first 10 years. Together, they would collect an estimated $9.7 billion in taxes over that period.

Here’s a look at the 12 advisory votes on the 2019 ballot: Vote 20: Sets up a long-term care program by collecting a premium of 0.58% of a worker’s wages starting in 2022, but could be reduced in 2024. OFM lists the revenue as “indeterminate” because there are too many variables to estimate the number of participants and the receipts.

Vote 21: A surcharge of 0.052% on the business and occupation tax paid by timber companies was

due to expire in 2024. It was extended to 2045 to pay for economic development programs in rural areas. Estimated revenue is $21 million over 10 years.

Vote 22: Adds a fee to the sale of interior and exterior paint for residential and commercial use to set up programs to collect and process leftover paint and keep it out of landfills.

Estimated revenue is $6 million over 10 years.

Vote 23: Establishes a tax on vaping products based on the size of the containers of the solution used, with the money split between a public health account and a cancer research fund. Estimated revenue is $178 million over 10 years.

Vote 24: Places a surcharge on the B&O taxes collected from certain professional businesses, including legal, architectural, engineering, medical and research businesses, with higher surcharges on advanced computing businesses, to pay for expansion of the state Need Grant program. Estimated revenue is $2.25 billion over 10 years.

Vote 25: Increases the B&O tax paid by financial institutions with annual net income above $1 billion by 1.2%, with the money going to the General Fund, which pays for most state programs and salaries. Estimated revenue is more than $1 billion over 10 years.

Vote 26: Changes and expands the rules on which out-of-state businesses must collect and remit sales tax on online purchases made by Washington residents. Money goes to General Fund. Estimated revenue is more than $1 billion over 10 years.

Vote 27: Changes the hazardous substance tax on petroleum products from a percentage of the value to $1.09 per 42-gallon barrel, with the money going to programs that clean up toxic waste.

Estimated revenue is $2.76 billion over 10 years.

Vote 28: Changes the sales-tax exemption certain out-of-state shoppers receive to a remittance program that requires the visitor to file an annual refund, and only if the tax paid is more than $25.

Money goes to the General Fund. Estimated revenue is $313 million over 10 years.

Vote 29: Changes the calculation of the real estate excise tax from a flat rate of 1.28% of the sale price to a sliding scale that is 1.1% for sales below $500,000; 1.28% for sales from $500,000 to $1.5 million; 2.75% on sales from $1.5 million to $3 million; and 3% to sales above $3 million. Most money goes to the General Fund. Estimated revenue is $1.75 billion over 10 years.

Vote 30: Raises the B&O tax rate on travel agents and tour operators with gross incomes above $250,000 per year from 0.275% to 0.9%, with the money going into the General Fund. Estimated revenue is $28 million over 10 years.

Vote 31: Revises the criteria needed for international investment firms to qualify for a preferential B&O tax rate, raising the rate from 0.275% to 1.5% for those that don’t qualify. Estimated revenue is $367 million over 10 years.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(360) 664-2598 jimc@spokesman.com

Elect Kevin

Morrison SPOKANE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

POSITION 4 | NON-PARTISAN "Morrison's experience within the system and knowledge of how it works is unmatched" Spokesman-Review Editorial Board, July 29, 2019 • Second generation Spokane resident and Spokane Public Schools parent • Graduate of Eastern Washington University • 16 Years Spokane Public Schools District experience (6 years directorlevel).

• Former Board Member, SPS Foundation • Leadership Team, Citizens for Spokane Schools • Former Campaign Chair, Spokane Public Schools United Way Campaign

Trusted Leadership Endorsed By: Current SPS Board Former SPS Board Members: Christie Querna, Terrie Members: Beaudreau, Susan Chapin, Jerrall Bob Douthitt, Barb Richardson Haynes, Deana Brower Former SPS Superintendent: Dr. Brian Benzel, Ph.D

Spokane Education Association Community Members Like You! Maureen Ramos, Mike Allen, Jack Geraghty & Kerry Lynch, Angela Jones, Marian & Paul Evenson, Lorie Stephenson, Susan Ashe, Scott & Vickie Jones, Maggie Crabtree, Brad Stark, Barb & Dick Wright, Mike & Sue Livingston, Claude Kistler, And many, many more! www.kevinforspokaneschools.com Paid for by Kevin for Spokane Schools, 2217 S. Tekoa, Spokane, WA 99203

SPECIAL 4

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE

Candidates seek SPS board seat

By Jim Allen

2

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW 395

For Nikki Lockwood and Katey Treloar, a passion for education began long before either of them decided to run for the Spokane Public Schools board.

The parallels are remarkable. Both were raised and educated in the Spokane area and both had younger children who needed an advocate.

As it turned, so did hundreds of others. That led Lockwood and Treloar onto a path that will land one of them on the school board for the next six years at Position 1.

“I am a strong supporter of public education – it has changed my life and allowed my family to thrive in ways my grandparents could never have imagined,” said Lockwood, who lived in several areas of Spokane before graduating from University High School in 1986.

Treloar said she knew by first grade at Mullan Road Elementary that she wanted to be a teacher.

Treloar, a 1999 Ferris grad, took her passion for education to Gonzaga University, where she earned a teaching certificate four years later and taught elementary school in Spokane from 2005-12.

“There is something about creating a community, a safe place for children to grow that inspired me to want to go to work every day,” Treloar said.

Lockwood

Treloar

However, their wider passion for educational advocacy was fueled by the needs of their own children.

Lockwood’s younger daughter, Risa, has autism.

“For the past 10 years, I have been advocating for her needs and addressing systemic issues of funding, resources and training,” Lockwood said. “I have listened to hundreds of parents whose children are also struggling, and I’ve grown in awareness of other systemic inequities affecting populations in our district “I’ve seen the equitable results when parents, who often felt marginalized, find their voice, learn advocacy, join collective actions and build relationships with district folks,” Lockwood added.

Meanwhile, Treloar fought a different battle on behalf of a son who had lifethreatening food allergies.

“Our principal was at our first 504 meeting,” Treloar said. “He never made eye contact or looked up from his phone. Two days later, he saw us in the hall and didn’t know my son’s name.

It was disheartening, but scary.”

Mead

SPOKANE 90

2 195

N

Palouse Hwy.

5 MILES

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Even before that, Treloar viewed the district through the eyes of a teacher and parent at the same time.

When her older son was in kindergarten, Treloar said she noticed “pretty quickly that our principal wasn’t very involved in the school.”

However, two years later, Treloar said she was able to “use my education as a teacher and my understanding of district policy and procedure to make a change for our school, our students and our educators.”

On a wider scale, Treloar also worked with local nonprofit At the Core, which provides weekend food kits in the Spokane, Mead and Riverside school districts through the Bite2Go program.

Lockwood’s volunteerism has been broad in scope, as chair of the Mon-

Diversity, security key topics

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Teaching came naturally to Spokane Public Schools board candidate Kelli MacFarlane, but some of the greatest rewards came after the lessons were over.

“I love hearing from students that say they never liked history, but learned so much from my class and really like history now,” said MacFarlane, who’s running for a six-year term at Position 2. “Every time a student comes to me and says they learned and got excited about learning, I knew education was my calling.”

Her opponent, Jenny Slagle, saw the transformative value of education and hard work through the eyes of a young girl who overcame poverty and unstable housing on the Yakama Indian Reservation.

“My parents and community gave me the strength, motivation and hope to face challenges and create opportunities,” said Slagle, the first in her family to earn a college degree.

They don’t agree on many issues, but MacFarlane and Slagle believe in the power of public education to better the lives of students.

They also believe that there’s work to done.

Slagle and her husband sent four children through Spokane schools – “a statistical feat regardless of race or ethnicity,” she said.

“They each had their own learning experience, and as an engaged parent, I've seen how well the schools work and what needs to be improved,” Slagle said.

For Slagle, who serves on the district’s Diversity Advisory Council, one of the biggest jobs is “to be advocates for all students … to respect cultures.”

“We need to adopt a racial equity policy,” Slagle said earlier this month at the Northwest Passages debate sponsored by The Spokesman-Review. “We need to support our most vulnerable students, those of color and those with disabilities.”

MacFarlane countered with her experience in El Paso, “where sometimes I was the only white person in the classroom, but there was no racial divide because I treated them as individual students – and that’s what we need to do.”

At the same time, MacFarlane said she’s upset by her recent experience as a substitute in Spokane.

“Students cursed at me, and I talked with co-workers who had been physically injured by students,” MacFarlane said. “I saw students with no sense of respons-

Spokane School Board, Position 2 Kellilin “Kelli” MacFarlane Age: 44 Education: Graduated from Saint Pius X High School in Albuquerque in 1993. Earned a bachelor’s degree in history from California State University Dominguez Hills in 2005. Earned her master’s degree in military history from Norwich University in 2009.

Work experience: Has worked as a teacher since 2005 and has been a substitute in Spokane Public Schools for the last two years.

Family: Married to Brian MacFarlane. They have one daughter who graduated from Ferris High School.

Jenny Slagle Age: 45 Education: Graduated from Goldendale High School in 1991. Earned an associates degree in general business from Bellevue College in 1991. Earned a bachelor’s degree in business and IT management from Western Governors University Washington in 2018. Starting a master’s program in health leadership at WGU this year.

Work experience: Director of tribal relations at Better Health Together since June. She has worked there since 2017. Was previously the communications manager for the NATIVE Project from 2015 through 2017. Worked with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in gaming regulations from 2000 to 2015. Has served on the Spokane Public Schools diversity advisory council for three years and was the chair for the 2017-18 school year.

Family: Married to Andrew Slagle. They have four children who graduated from Ferris High School.

Slagle

MacFarlane

ibility, accountability or respect drift further away from learning.”

MacFarlane hopes to address safety concerns with an armed presence in all schools, including elementary schools. But she does not have a concrete plan to pay for the new positions.

“I’m in favor of it,” MacFarlane said. “But not anyone – it has to be a professional, and they also need to be seriously vetted.”

That presence would be reassuring to students, said MacFarlane, who also wants additional securit, including metal detectors “at all high schools and possibly middle schools.” She also would like to see security cameras “not only used but strictly monitored.”

Slagle has other priorities, beginning with more conversations about disproportionate discipline of African American, Native American and special needs students and others.

“We must continue to work to improve relationships and student success by deepening restorative discipline practices, culturally

responsive training and MTSS programs, which now includes socialemotional learning,” Slagle said. MTSS stands for “multi-tiered system of supports” and is a concept for problem-solving promoted by the Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office.

Slagle said she agreed with several key points in the Safe Havens report of school security. They include improvements to door security; increased surveillance coverage to include facial recognition technology; nurses at every school; using paraprofessionals for increased student supervision; and updated radios “so there is inter-operability with first responders.”

Neither candidate is in favor of putting a supplemental levy on the ballot next spring.

“First off, I do not think it would pass,” MacFarlane said. “I also think it sends a message that if we can’t manage our money, we’ll just ask for more.”

Slagle is taking a waitand-see approach. She approves the district’s use of reserve funds to mitigate shortfalls but wants to “see where the budget ends after this school year” before considering a supplemental levy in the fall of 2020.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

tessori parent group, the district’s Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, the district’s Human Growth and Development Committee and the Superintendent’s Work Group on Restorative Practices.

Given that experience, a run for school board was a plausible next step.

“I decided, why not me?” said Lockwood, who also deals with a multi-milliondollar budget by serving on the board of Planned Parenthood The candidates disagree on two major issues.

On the question of a supplemental levy – should legislative help fall short – Lockwood said, “given that we have a projected budget deficit over the next four years, there is a need for additional funding, and I would support giving the voters the opportunity to weigh in on a levy.”

Treloar said that supplemental levies are an “unpredictable, unreliable revenue source.”

On the issue of school security, Treloar said she would support hiring armed police officers who would be permanently assigned to a specific middle school and high school.

“These officers would have ongoing training, mental health checks and annual evaluations,” Treloar said.

Lockwood said the Safe Havens report – which offered recommendations to improve school security – “failed to convince me that

Spokane School Board, Position 1 Nikki Otero Lockwood Age: 51 Education: University High School class of 1986.

Graduated from Eastern Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics in 1991.

Political experience: None Work experience: Worked at Deaconess Hospital as a registered dietitian from 1991-2000. Held volunteer positions at both the school and district level in Spokane Public Schools from 2000-2018.

Started working with the ACLU of Washington as a local organizer in January 2018.

Family: Married to William Lockwood. They have two daughters.

Katey R. Treloar Age: 38 Education: Ferris High School class of 1999.

Graduated from Gonzaga University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a teaching certificate in 2003. She earned a master of Education in literacy from Gonzaga in 2007.

Political experience: None Work experience: Taught at the elementary level in Spokane Public Schools from 2005-2012. Worked with the local nonprofit At the Core from 2012-2014, first as a volunteer and then as a program coordinator. Served as Manito Cooperative Preschool board president from 2015-2016, and has since worked as a classroom volunteer and parent teacher group member at Wilson Elementary School.

Family: Married to Tom Treloar. They have two children.

arming personnel is evidence-based.”

She said the district should work harder to foster “positive relationships”

and examine whole-school safety while paying better attention to “communities of color and from the disability community.”

Georgen, Morrison differ on funding, security strategies Candidates highlight experience, passion, desire to serve

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

As the election filing deadline approached last spring, it would have been easy for Erin Georgen and Kevin Morrison to take a pass on running for a spot on the Spokane Public Schools board.

Georgen is a single mom who works as a part-time physical therapy assistant and runs a graphic design business.

Morrison is recently retired, with “a granddaughter to Georgen spoil, books to read, hobbies and plenty of causes to champion.”

No one could blame him for takMorrison ing it easy.

Morrison served 16 years with the district, managing bond projects and serving as director of community relations and communications.

Morrison, however, sees “no other opportunity to affect so many for generations to come that has the impact of a board director on your local school board.”

Georgen, Mt. Spokane High School grad, said she became interested in public affairs in 2016 when she tried to grasp the “legislative behemoth known as the Affordable Care Act for a work project. I realized that I have the right skills for understanding complex policy.”

Georgen’s perspective was widened by the experience of her daughter, who struggled at Stevens Elementary School until being placed in the Behavioral Intervention program at Holmes.

“For most of my life, I had followed politics with frustration, and it occurred to me that I was always expecting someone else to come along …

But suddenly I thought to myself: Who exactly am I waiting for? What happens if that someone never steps up?

Could that someone be me?”

Morrison’s passion began much earlier. Growing up in a “blue-collar” family, he graduated from Shadle Park High School. Years later, in 2002, he served on a bond and levy committee run by Citizens for Spokane Schools.

In the process, Morrison found a purpose in serving as a member of an organization

Spokane School Board, Position 4 Erin Georgen Age: 37 Education: Graduated from Mt. Spokane High School in 2000. Attended the U.S. Army Academy of Health Sciences until 2001 for physical therapy technician training. Earned an associate degree in graphic design from the Art Institute of Portland in 2014.

Political experience: Elected to be a Democratic precinct committee officer in 3rd Legislative District in 2018.

Work experience: Currently works as a part-time, on-call physical therapy assistant for St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute while running her own graphic design and digital communications business. Has worked as a physical therapy assistant for the U.S. Coast Guard and as a civilian for a combined 15 years. Served in the Coast Guard for four years on active duty and four years in the reserves. Helped start the grassroots organization Whole Washington to draft an initiative for statewide universal health care in 2018.

Family: Not married. One child at Holmes Elementary.

Kevin Morrison Age: 62 Education: Graduated from Shadle Park High School in 1975. Graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and organizational leadership.

Political experience: None Work experience: Currently retired. Until the end of June, he was the Spokane Public Schools interim director of safety, risk management and transportation, after working as director of community relations and communications from 2013 to 2018. He worked in the SPS capital projects department from 2003-13 managing bond projects.

Family: Married to Carol Morrison. They have a daughter.

that literally had the mission of providing “excellence for everyone,” he said.

A year later, he embarked on a 16-year career with the district that ended June 30.

Morrison said that with the departure of three board members, his background and expertise give him a chance to “give back to my community and the institution that has allowed thousands like me to grow, succeed and pay forward to the next generation.”

On the issue of how Spokane voters will pay for that institution’s current budget shortfall, the candidates differ only in timing.

If elected, Georgen said she would “advocate for restoring staffing levels by looking for ways to reduce redundant or ineffective spending and working with state legislators to increase funding to the district.”

She believes it’s “likely,” however, that the district will need an additional levy to be able to restore staffing and programs sooner rather than later “in order to fund the district’s programs and staffing beyond what is deemed ‘adequate’ by state legislators,”

Georgen said.

Morrison said if a supplemental levy proves necessary, he would prefer to wait until November 2020 at the earliest, so that “we can demonstrate to the community the due diligence of pragmatic, thoughtful budgeting.” He also said he would make it a four-year levy, eliminating the February 2021 levy, which would be part of a normal cycle.

On school security, Morrison wants to see a “broader community input into what an SPS solely dedicated, thoroughly vetted, well-trained, fully commissioned, armed law-enforcement response looks like.”

“If you start parking police cars and you have officers doing assessments and helping with drills … I think that would give a real sense of security,” Morrison said.

Georgen is opposed to arming campus resource officers, but believes that all district staff “should receive a high level of training regularly so that they can effectively and safely manage aggressive or disruptive behavior from students or parents on campus.”

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 5

VOTERS GUIDE

Race pits veteran against newcomer Longtime member faces challenger critical of decisions

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

After 34 years on the Mead School District board, Bob Olson admits that the last one has been “the most difficult I’ve experienced.”

But that’s just why he’s seeking another four-year term, said Olson, who argues the current board has “done a good job” working through a budget crisis that led to major program cuts.

“I also have five grandchildren in the district,” said Olson, who wants to finish the job of seeing the district through its current fiscal straits.

That will happen more readily with “dedicated, cohesive school board members to support staff and ensure a quality education,” Olson said.

His challenger in the Nov. 5 election, John Hatcher, disagrees. Hatcher says the district “needs new ideas and input.” Hatcher also believes the district “needs to truly listen to the community and act accordingly.”

Hatcher and Olson disagree on several major issues facing the district, including last year’s teacher raises, the decision to close Riverpoint Academy and the M.E.A.D. Alternative School, and the priorities in the $14.6 million supplemental levy that’s on the November ballot.

Olson defended the raises, which averaged 16%, citing the fact that teachers hadn’t received a hike in six years and that the state’s postMcCleary funding allocation was earmarked for teacher salaries.

Olson also noted that Mead teachers average 15 1⁄2 years of experience, which along with a reduction in the state levy limit puts an additional strain on the budget.

Deer Park 5 MILES

395

N

MEAD SCHOOL DISTRICT

2

Mead Spokane 90

2

Spokane Valley

195

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Hatcher

Olson

Those and other factors left the district with a projected $12 million deficit going into this year, which led to a series of difficult costcutting decisions last spring, including the closure of Riverpoint and M.E.A.D. “Closing those two programs was a difficult decision for all,” Olson said.

However, he said the district has done an “excellent” job of accommodating those displaced by those programs.

Olson noted that 89% of the former M.E.A.D. students and 85% of those from Riverpoint are being served within the district.

Hatcher, who also ran against Olson in 2015, said the board lacked “forward thinking” in granting the large pay increases and that the district didn’t work hard enough with the Legislature.

“Where was the coordination, discussion and interactions with the legislators that have a direct influence in decisions made in Olympia?” Hatcher said.

Hatcher also believes that, despite holding meetings attended by several hundred people, the board

Mead School Board, Position 3

$14.6M Mead schools levy would mitigate effects of recent cuts

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

John Hatcher Age: 68 Education: Graduated from Gresham High School in Gresham, Oregon, in 1969. Earned a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Puget Sound in 1977. Earned a master’s degree in health services administration from Whitworth in 1985.

Political experience: Candidate for Mead School District board in 2015.

Work experience: Occupational therapist and certified hand therapist with varied work experience, including time as director of therapy services at Interlake School, founder of the occupational therapy program at Shriners Hospital and as school therapist for Spokane Public Schools and ESD 101. Founder and owner of Spokane Occupational and Hand Therapy.

Adjunct instructor at Spokane Falls Community College and guest lecturer at Eastern Washington University. Retired in 2014. Vietnam veteran.

Family: Married. Has two children who both attended Mead schools and graduated from Mead High School.

Robert ‘Bob’ Olson Age: 78 Education: Graduated from Lewis & Clark High School in 1959. Earned a degree in marketing from Eastern Washington State College in 1964.

Political experience: 34 years on the Mead School Board.

Work experience: Worked as a banker from 1964 to 2004.

Family: Married, with three children who attended Mead School District, five grandchildren who currently attend Mead schools, and one granddaughter who graduated from Mead High School.

was less than transparent in its budget-cutting process.

“In my mind, it was almost as if the determination was already made,” said Hatcher, who went on to criticize the board for cutting Riverpoint and M.E.A.D. “These programs were much more than just a class or two,” Hatcher said. “They were truly supportive environments and communities; this will not be found by adding classes within the

standardized school environment.”

If passed, the $14.5 million levy would lead to the creation of a task force to “make recommendations on how the district can best allocate a portion of supplemental levy funds to meet the learning and social-emotional needs of nontraditional students.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

Alone among the larger districts in Spokane County, the Mead School District decided this year to mitigate its budget problems by offering a two-year supplemental levy on the Nov. 5 ballot.

If the $14.6 million measure passes, the district will reinstate some paraeducators who were let go in recent cuts, maintain nursing staff at current levels, increase safety and security personnel, and expand learning opportunities for nontraditional students.

“We felt like when you make those kinds of cuts, that we need to give the community the opportunity to say yes,” board President Carmen Green said recently.

The levy also contains funds earmarked for what the district calls “learning and social-emotional needs of nontraditional students” following the closure of the Riverpoint Academy and the M.E.A.D. Alternative High School.

But while the levy has no organized opposition, two board candidates think those programs never should have been shuttered in the first place and are upset that there’s no indication they’ll be reopened.

“The priority and promise of Riverpoint and M.E.A.D. Alternative reopening and serving the nontraditional students and at-risk students should be the first use of any additional levy funds,” said John Hatcher, who is challenging eight-term incumbent John Olson.

Olson countered that if the levy is successful, the district will convene a volunteer task force for the

portion of funds that will go toward nontraditional students.

Fellow incumbent Dorcas Wylder agreed, saying the task force will make it a priority “to ensure all learners are able to find a home in Mead and that there will be multiple pathways for our nontraditional learners.”

If approved by a simple majority of district voters, the levy would cost $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, raising $7.1 million in 2020 and $7.5 million in 2021.

That would be in addition to the state levy lid of $1.50 per $1,000.

Like most districts in the state, Mead faced heavy budget cuts in the wake of changes to the state model for funding basic education following the landmark McCleary decision.

On May 7, the board approved $11 million in cuts.

The levy would restore some paraeducator positions and maintain nursing staff at current levels.

That’s a major expense, said Wylder, who noted the state funding model pays only $96,000, roughly that of one experienced nurse. The district currently spends 10 times that amount.

“We believe all our students, especially those who are medically fragile, deserve adequate care for their safety and wellness,” Wylder said.

At the same time, the district felt compelled to boost funding for safety and security following the findings of a task force that had been meeting since the beginning of 2018.

Based on those recommendations, the supplemental levy would fund the hiring of a safety director, a threat assessment coordinator and up to five school security officers.

Ready to Lead on Day One

THE ONLY CANDIDATE WITH LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE Endorsed by : Spokane County Democrats Spokane Firefighters Local 29 Spokane Tribe of Indians Spokane Education Association Washington Conservation Voters Governor Jay Inslee (D) Lisa Brown (D) Former WA State Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (D), Marcus Riccelli (D) & Timm Ormsby (D), WA State Legislators And hundreds more

A MAYOR FOR ALL Ben Stuckart

@votebenstuckart

@votebenstuckart

SPECIAL 6

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE MEAD SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD, POSITION 4

Cannon takes on Wylder in Mead

Two candidates offer experience to CV voters

By Jim Allen

N

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Only three months after her appointment to the Mead School District board of directors, Dorcas Wylder found herself making some difficult decisions affecting thousands of families.

In other words, the same thing she did in a 32year career as an educator, including 14 as an administrator in the Mead School District.

“It wasn’t the easiest spring to go through,” said Wylder, who was named to the board in January following the resignation of Ron Farley. Soon she was enmeshed in a difficult fiscal situation faced by many districts.

“Nobody wants to cut money in education, but we have to be fiscally responsible for the future,” Cannon said Wylder, who is running for the remaining two years of Farley’s term.

Her opponent in the Nov. 5 general election, Michael Cannon, questions whether the board made prudent financial moves last year.

“Many people feel the board has Wylder made decisions recently that don’t align with the historic reputation of Mead as a great school district,” Cannon said.

Cannon criticized the board for approving “historically large” pay increases to teachers, a “shortsighted” decision to close Riverpoint Academy and M.E.A.D. Alternative School and a lessthan-transparent process of budget-cutting last spring.

“There needs to be better communication, better collaboration and better budgeting,” Cannon said.

However, Wylder said that the $12 million budget deficit was attributable mostly to the relatively high experience of Mead teachers (they average 15 1⁄2 years and 75% hold master’s degrees), inadequate state support for nurses and other necessary staff and the state-mandated cap on local levies.

“This was a loss of approximately $11 million for the Mead School District,” Wylder said.

“Levies fill the gap for costs over and above what the state provides. These funds, available because of the strong support of our citizens, have helped us build the high quality programs the Mead community has come to expect.”

Regarding the closure of Riverpoint and M.E.A.D., Wylder called the decision “heartwrenching,” but said she’s visited the new Design Center at Mead High School, where four former Riverpoint teachers were employing a “design thinking teaching model.”

“The energy was amazing,” Wylder said.

Cannon acknowledges “some good work” by the district to accommodate the former Riverpoint students, but said he’s spoken with parents of former M.E.A.D. students “who say they were left to figure things out on their own.”

“It’s a bad decision,” Cannon said. “It was a very shortsighted decision to close these schools, and not signaling even an attempt to restore them in the future shows a lack of commitment on the district’s part to provide alternative learning environments.”

Cannon believes that the deficit – and perhaps the levy – could have been avoided “with better long-range planning and a slightly more modest approach to increases.”

Cannon added that the state cap on levies “shouldn’t have been a surprise.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

Mead School Board, Position 4 Dorcas Wylder Age: 68 Education: Ferris High School, Spokane.

Bachelor’s degree in education from Seattle University. Master’s degree in education from Eastern Washington University. Principal certification from Gonzaga University.

Superintendent credential from Washington State University.

Political experience: None.

Work experience: 32 years in education (Spokane Public Schools, Mary Walker School District, Mead School District).

Family: Single.

Michael Cannon Age: 42 Education: Graduated from Central Valley High School in Spokane in 1995. Earned a degree in business and organizational management from Whitworth University in 2009.

Political experience: Ran for Spokane City Council in 2013. Chair, Pride Prep Charter School Board, 2014-19. Chair, City of Spokane Community, Housing, and Human Services Board, 2012-15. Endorsed by Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner, and Spokane County Commissioners Josh Kerns, Mary Kuney and Al French.

Work experience: Worked in finance from 1999-2015. Now a sales executive for a payment software company and owns two businesses: Cannon Insurance Agency and Cobalt Ventures, which invests in real estate.

Family: Not married. One son, senior at Mead High School.

When the state changed the funding model for public education, Central Valley School Board member Cindy McMullen likened it to a working family who just lost half a paycheck.

In Central Valley’s case, that meant a $12 million budget deficit that left McMullen and her colleagues to pick up the pieces.

And they did that job quite well, said McMullen, who is seeking a second consecutive four-year term in District 1 and her eighth overall at Central Valley.

“All in all, I believe that we used the best, most transparent process we could and remained focused on the most important outcome: maintaining excellent learning for every student,” McMullen said.

Her opponent, John Myers, is a longtime school administrator who believes the district would benefit from a fresh set of eyes.

Myers also would like any future cuts to be focused on “tightening the budget from the top down instead of the bottom up.”

Both have decades of experience. A private attorney, McMullen served for 24 years on the Central Valley board before a four-year stint on the Washington State Board of Education.

Back on the CV board since 2015, McMullen said she wants to “put my experience, knowledge and commitment to work for our students, families and community as we face the challenges ahead.”

Most of those challenges are fiscal – a direct result of the so-called “McCleary fix.”

“I do not believe that there was anything that we could have done, short of convinc-

Liberty Lake

Millwood 90

Cindy McMullen

Spokane Valley 27

Palo u Hwy se .

CENTRAL VALLEY

5 MILES

Source: Central Valley School District

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

McMullen

Central Valley School Board, Position 1 Age: 67 Education: Graduated from Heidelberg American High School in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1970. Earned bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford University in 1974 and law degree from Gonzaga University in 1979.

Political experience: Has served on Central Valley School Board from 2015-present as well as 1987-2011. Served on State Board of Education from 2012 to 2015.

Work experience: Since 1981, principal in McMullen Law Office, P.S. 1995-2010, Served as Spokane County District Court judge pro tempore from 1995 to 2010. Served as Spokane County Superior Court arbitrator from 2005-2018 and Spokane County land use hearing examiner from 1998-2010.

Family: Married to Dennis McMullen. Have three grown daughters who attended Central Valley schools.

John Myers

Myers

ing the Legislature of the unintended consequences of (McCleary), to avoid a deficit,” McMullen said.

McMullen also noted that Central Valley was able to hold teacher losses to about 60 while keeping class sizes stable.

Meanwhile, administrative staff was reduced and technology updates deferred.

However, McMullen sounded a warning about the future without more help from the Legislature.

“Even with these difficult decisions this year, we do not have the funding to sustain our current programs, let alone restore what has been lost.”

That leaves open the possibility of a supplemental levy, an option both candidates view with caution.

“We will need to know from our community what level of educational services is acceptable, which we will do through several avenues of outreach,” McMullen said. “And we will have to as-

Age: 62 Education: Graduated from Portland Christian High School in 1975. Earned bachelor’s degree in English from Concordia College in 1981 and master’s degree in education administration from Portland State University in 1991.

Political experience: None.

Work experience: Retired. Served for 32 years as a teacher, coach and school administrator at the elementary, middle school, high school and college levels.

Family: Married for 38 years. Wife is an elementary school teacher. One adult son who works as an elementary school counselor.

sess our community’s property taxes, to determine what ‘the market might bear.’ ” Myers said that if a levy is proposed, “Voters should be afforded a line-item specific view of where levy monies would go.”

Should there be cuts, Myers said he would “look at the largest salaries first,” especially administrative positions, as long as the district was still in compliance with state standards.

Myers defended the salary increases given to teachers last year, saying that “I don’t think we can pay enough for good people who make a dif-

ference in people’s lives.”

Now retired, Myers was a principal or assistant principal in Lakeland schools in Rathdrum for 11 years. He spent six years as an assistant principal in Post Falls before administering an alternative program in East Valley from 2011-16.

Myers said serving on the board would be a “good opportunity to serve the community and be a help and support to some of our most important resources: young people and teachers.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

DOLAN, LONG COMPETE FOR SEAT Candidates see future budgets as biggest challenge

Central Valley School Board, Position 3

By Jim Allen

Age: 67 Education: Graduated from West Valley High School in 1970. Earned a bachelor’s degree including teacher certification from the University of Washington in 1974.

Earned a master’s in English literature from Gonzaga University in 1992. Completed library-media specialist endorsement from Eastern Washington University in 2004.

National Board Certificated Media Specialist since 2010.

Political experience: First run for office.

Work experience: Worked at Central Valley High School as an English and history teacher from 1992-2002 and as a librarian from 2002-2018. Retired June 2018.

Family: Married to Michael Dolan, who died in 2016.Two children who graduated from Central Valley High School.

Susan Dolan THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Debra Long and her colleagues on the Central Valley School board learned some tough lessons this year about politics and the complexities of state funding of public education.

However, Long believes the board did a good job of maintaining core proDolan grams despite a $12 million budget deficit that resulted partly from changes to the state forLong mula for school funding and substantial pay hikes awarded to teachers and other certificated staff.

“I do not believe we could have done anything differently to avoid or mitigate the cuts,” said Long, who is running for a fifth four-year term in District 3.

Her opponent in the Nov. 5 general election, Susan Dolan, largely agrees, but hopes the board can find a way to “get more funding in the near future for nurses and staff development coaches while maintaining smaller class sizes.”

Dolan has stressed her experience in the classroom. She taught history and English at Central Valley High school for more than a decade before becoming a librarian at the school in 2003 before retiring in 2018.

“I cannot remember a time when a previous educator was on the board,” Dolan said. “I hope that my knowledge and experience of working in the trenches

Debra Long Age: 65 Education: Graduated in 1972 from Clarkston High School.

Earned accounting associate’s degree in 1974 from Spokane Falls Community College, a bachelor’s in business from Eastern Washington University in 1993, and a master’s in public administration from Eastern Washington University in 1996.

Political experience: Served on Central Valley School Board since December 2003.

Work experience: Has worked as an accounting manager for Rockwood Retirement Communities since 1997. Operated the Central Valley Craft Fair since 1994. Has served as the Bloomsday Saturday number coordinator since 2007.

Family: Married to William Long. Has two sons who graduated from Central Valley High School.

will prove beneficial.”

Like most districts, Central Valley was surprised at the dramatic effects of the new state education funding law prompted by the McCleary decision.

“If hindsight was allowed, I never would have advocated for a change in school funding,” Long said.

“Passing and implementing the McCleary decision hurt all school districts.”

Long pointed out that the 14,000-student Central Valley district was particularly affected. While McCleary pushed more state money into local districts, in return it trimmed the amount of property taxes school districts could collect.

Long said the district was able to maintain class sizes along with its alternative

and tech high schools, while staff cutbacks were made “with compassion.”

“I am very proud of the administration for the way they handled these budget cuts,” Long said.

Dolan agreed that the board faced some difficult decisions. However, she believes the district could use a fresh perspective. She also said she was disappointed by cuts to library services.

Since retiring, Dolan has been involved “on a variety of committees” within the district.

Both candidates hope for more financial help during the next legislative session.

If that aid falls short, Long said a supplemental levy might be necessary to “ensure a quality education for Central Valley School

District.”

“I can only hope that we are able to get more funding in the near future for nurses and staff development coaches while maintaining smaller class sizes,” Dolan said.

Dolan was noncommittal on the question of a levy.

She said that passage of a higher tax would ensure a quality education for Central Valley School District, but “worried that it could make the cost of home ownership even more unaffordable.”

Looking ahead, Dolan said that staff and student safety is a primary concern.

“But that includes keeping class sizes smaller, adequate custodial staff to maintain buildings and nurses available when students need them,” she said.

Long said she’s alarmed at potential changes in sex education, particularly the proposed curriculum that’s sure to come up in the next session of the Legislature.

“It is my belief that human growth is a parent responsibility, not that of a school district,” Long said.

“As a parent, I should be responsible for instilling my own beliefs and values in my children or have the ability to opt in and have the school district provide the education.”

Dolan’s major complaint is that while families have the ability to opt out of the curriculum, the courses are only available to preview on one night of the year designated by the district.

“Local school boards can do their best to meet the wishes of their local communities, but they have to do it while navigating the laws of the state and federal government,” Dolan said.

“We are limited to the resources of all citizens by voicing our concerns and voting for those we believe best represent our beliefs and interests.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 7

VOTERS GUIDE

Candidates highlight perspectives on military, special needs students Public service experience a common thread

By Jared Brown THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The candidates vying for a Medical Lake school board position say the district is headed in the right direction and they’d like to serve it with their unique perspectives.

Incumbent Felicia Jensen, who was first appointed to the school board in 2013, said she understands the concerns of military families as a retired U.S. Air Force officer. And in her new role as an executive assistant to a dean at Eastern Washington University, she said she’s been able to gauge how well the school district is preparing students for college.

That experience has helped her examine what programs are working in the district and which may need fine tuning, Jensen said.

Challenger Laura Parsons, who has been a Medical Lake City Council member for 16 years, said her perspective comes from helping to manage the city budget and raising children who have special needs. She is not running for re-election to City Council.

“I’d like to help Medical Lake schools to keep being progressive because I don’t want to see kids falling through gaps,” Parsons said.

Jensen said she helped the district innovate by

Medical Lake School Board, Position 3 Felicia Jensen Age: 51 Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from Southern Illinois University in 2000. Received a master’s degree in human resources from Troy University Jensen Parsons in 2007.

Political experience: Appointed to the Medical Lake School District board in 2013 and elected in 2015.

Work experience: Works at the Eastern Washington University College of Social Sciences 5 MILES N as an executive assistant to the dean. Retired U.S. Air Force major. Worked at Fairchild Air Airway Force Base for 26 1⁄2 years. Spent part of her career overseeing child and teen centers, the Heights education center and dining facilities.

2 Family: Married to Christopher Jensen. They have two adult children.

Her pitch: Jensen said she has logistics and administration experience through her F.A.F.B. education and work experience. In her current role at EWU, she said she’s been able to develop a sense of how Medical Lake schools can better prepare students for college. And Spokane Medical with her background in the Air Force, she said she understands the concerns of the large Lake number of military families in Medical Lake. Jensen said the current school board works well together and has brought forth innovative changes. She said the board successfully MEDICAL 90 LAKE advocated for a capital levy last year that paid for security and technology upgrades and 395 SCHOOL won a Department of Defense grant to give each student a laptop.

DISTRICT Cheney Her words: “As a team we work very well together. We’re thoughtful when we have our discussions, and we all bring different perspectives. My perspective is from the military 904 member side.”

Sources: Spokane County Assessor’s Office

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

advocating for last year’s capital levy, which paid for technology and security upgrades, and helping apply for a Department of Defense grant that awarded each student a laptop.

Parsons said her first priority would be addressing the school district budget.

District administrators in July projected declining student enrollment and up to $600,000 in reserve spending for the 2019-20 budget.

Parsons said she’d also like to give paraeducators higher wages and increase resources for special needs students.

“Hopefully people will vote for me because I have

Laura Parsons Age: 58.

Education: Graduated from Cheney High School in 1979. Earned a bachelor’s degree in applied psychology in 1996 and a master’s degree in public administration in 2004 from Eastern Washington University.

Political experience: Has served on the Medical Lake City Council for 16 years and been a chairperson for each council committee. She was mayor pro tem for three years on the council.

Work experience: She has worked as a school bus driver for the past 11 years. Before that she worked as a Spokane Regional Health District social worker for 12 years and a certified nurse’s aid for 10 years.

Family: She has three adult children who attended Medical Lake schools and has two children currently attending schools in the district.

Her pitch: Parsons said her time as an elected official will make her a successful school board member. She said she’s helped manage Medical Lake city finances and advocated for combining the Medical Lake Fire Department with Spokane County Fire District 3. As a school board member, she said she’d advocate for special needs students and better pay for paraeducators.

Her words: “I’d like to help Medical Lake schools to keep being progressive, because I don’t want to see kids falling through gaps.”

a lot of experience and might have different ideas,” Parsons said.

Jensen said she wants to focus on college and career readiness if she is

re-elected. She guided her own children through this, since her daughter chose to go to college and her son went into the work force.

“We’re laying that foundation for our students,” she said. “It’s important for school to prepare the kids for each path.”

RIVERSIDE SCHOOL BOARD

Two names on ballot, only one wants position Incumbent: Vote for opponent

By Arcelia Martin FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

There are two names on the ballot to represent District 3 on the Riverside School Board, but only one candidate wants the position.

Sandra Huggins, the incumbent director said she is no longer seeking re-election, even though she originally filed for the election. Huggins missed the deadline to have her name removed from the ballot.

Instead, Huggins is asking voters to vote for Joslyn James.

“I put in eight years on it,” Huggins said. “And I don’t have kids in school anymore, so it just feels right to turn it over to someone who has kids in the school. I’ve got other interests in the school that I’d like to look at.”

Attempts made to reach James were unsuccessful.

VOTE KATEY TRELOAR

NOVEMBER 5TH treloarforspokaneschools.com Kids First Safety & Security Long-Term, Sustainable Planning Community Connections PO Box 8771 Spokane, WA 99203 509-220-5579

Paid for by Treloar For Spokane Schools

SPECIAL 8

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE 2019 ELECTION: CHENEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

PROPOSITION 1 SEEKS CAPITAL LEVY FOR FUTURE SITES, UPGRADES $4.2 million fund would go toward new elementary, technology

By Jared Brown THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Cheney Public Schools will ask voters to approve a $4.2 million capital property tax levy in November that would help the district pay for future school sites and technology upgrades.

About $1.74 million would be spent on land for a new elementary school and second transportation hub as the district prepares for an influx of students over the next decade, Superintendent Rob Roettger said.

A report released in August projected the district’s student population could expand from about 4,900 students this year to 9,200 by 2029.

“The district is growing.

Airway Heights is growing,” Roettger said.

Another $2.3 million from the levy would pay for technology upgrades throughout the district, including new laptops for employees and students, Roettger said. He said the last time the district

Spokane Airway Heights

N 2

195

F.A.F.B. Medical Lake

90

Cheney

CHENEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

5 MILES

TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW Source: Spokane County Assessor’s Office THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

collected property taxes for a technology levy was 2010.

“This would provide a significant boost in technology for staff and students,” Roettger said.

For security purposes, the district also wants to use levy funds to replace old intercom and bell systems that are interfacing with newer

Cheney High School students pack the halls as they head to class on Feb. 7, 2017.

technology at schools with building additions, Roettger said.

The remaining $200,000 from the levy would be used to pay for district maintenance equipment, like snowplows and maintenance trucks, Roettger said.

The new property tax would be collected from district residents at an estimated rate of 50 cents

per $1,000 of assessed value in 2020 and 2021.

That means the owner of a $300,000 property would pay about $300 in additional taxes over the levy cycle.

Cheney School Board member Mitch Swenson said the school district needs the two-year capital property levy to acquire land for future schools and upgrade technology in schools.

“I appreciate the fact that it’s hard when taxes go up,” Swenson said.

“But I think sometimes you have to take yourself out of that and think that it’s the kids. We want to continue to be the best district that we can be.”

But Cheney Public Schools board candidate Bill Johns said the district is asking for too much money from taxpayers.

“I’ve done a lot of door

belling in this district on other issues,” Johns said.

“And not a lot of these people can afford it.”

Johns said the district could use reserve funds for land acquisitions if it had given teachers smaller raises last year. He added that students could go a few more years with older computers, too.

The district is spending about $3.2 million more on teacher salaries this year compared to the 2017-18 school year, which is close to a 12.8% increase, according to the district budget. But the district also hired additional teachers to handle a projected 150 new students.

Due to more projected population growth, Roettger said residents need to get used to the idea that the district will be coming to taxpayers more often.

“We’re really trying hard to manage our growth and tax rates,” Roettger said. “Building additional schools without levies and bonds won’t happen.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5135 jaredb@spokesman.com

Candidates tout experience, Cheney school board candidates need for more schools agree on growth, differ on taxes

By Jared Brown

By Jared Brown THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

An Airway Heights City Council member is running against the incumbent Cheney Public Schools board director who represents the city.

Both incumbent Henry Browne Jr. and challenger James “Sonny” Weathers are pointing to their experience as elected officials as reasons to vote for them and say the Browne school district needs to build more schools to address growth in enrollment.

“I have a Weathers proven record of service. Cheney is kind of a unique school district, and we’ve been faced with many challenges,” said Browne, who has been on the school board since 2012 and has two children who attend Cheney district schools.

Browne said he led the district through a period of growth when he was board president from 2015 to 2018.

He said he also successfully advocated for a construction bond in 2017 to expand three elementary schools and Cheney High School.

This past year he said he helped secure a land purchase agreement for a new elementary school in Airway Heights. He also said he is proud the district navigated its budget shortfall of more than $1 million without layoffs.

“I think I can continue to provide this level of service to our entire district,” he said.

Weathers won his seat on the Airway Heights City See CHENEY D3, 22

Cheney School Board, District 3 Henry C. Browne Jr. Age: 58 Education: Graduated from the College of West Africa in 1976. Earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Liberia and a master’s of accounting from the University of Phoenix.

Political experience: Browne has served on the Cheney School Board since he was appointed in December 2012. He was elected to his seat in 2015 and served as president of the board from 2015 to 2018.

Work experience: Has worked for the Washington State Department of Corrections for more than 15 years at Airway Heights Corrections Center, most recently as the prison’s business manager. Browne is also an assistant pastor and an adjunct instructor at Park University at Fairchild Air Force Base.

Family: Married to Al-Satta Browne. They have three grown children and three children at home. Two children attend schools in Cheney.

His pitch: Browne said he has a proven record of service with almost seven years as a school board member under his belt. He also served as president when the board passed a bond for an elementary school and high school expansion.

He sees the need for more schools in the district and worked on the purchase agreement to build an elementary school in Airway Heights. He said he is proud of the fact the school district did not have to lay off any teachers before the school year.

His words: “Just look at my record. I’m prepared to continue to do what I can do to advance and improve our district.”

James (Sonny) Weathers Age: 42 Education: Medical Lake High School class of 1995. Earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University in interdisciplinary studies in 2016.

Political experience: Has served as an Airway Heights City Council member since December 2017.

Work experience: Has worked for the Washington Air National Guard as a quality assurance technician at Fairchild Air Force Base for six years. Previously worked for Covenant Christian School in Spokane from 2002 to 2004 as a high school classroom coordinator and school administrator.

Family: Married to Angela Weathers. They have three children who attend Cheney schools.

His pitch: Weathers said he thinks his work on the Airway Heights City Council will translate well to the Cheney School District board. He said he worked with school administrators on the purchase agreement for a new elementary school in Airway Heights and will continue to advocate for building a middle and high school in the city.

His words: “Airway Heights needs a strong advocate representing them on the school board and that’s what I would be.”

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

A Cheney Public Schools board member running for re-election and his challenger say the school district needs to plan for continued growth but disagree on how the school district should raise and Johns spend money.

Incumbent Mitch Swenson, who was first elected to the board in Swenson 2015, said the school district needs the two-year capital property levy of 50 cents per $1,000 on November’s ballot to acquire land for future schools and upgrade technology in schools.

“I appreciate the fact that it’s hard when taxes go up,” Swenson said. “But I think sometimes you have to take yourself out of that and think that it’s the kids.

We want to continue to be the best district that we can be.”

Challenger Bill Johns, who said he’s been at most of the Cheney school board meetings over the past four years, said he believes the capital levy is a result of excessive teacher pay increases causing the district to dip into reserve funding.

“The teachers raises, it bothered me,” John said.

“That’s what stimulated me to run more than anything.”

Without those raises, he said the district could use reserve funds for land acquisitions. And he said students could go a few more years with older computers.

In July, Cheney Public Schools projected spend-

Cheney School Board, District 5 William “Bill” Johns Age: 73 Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Washington in 1968 and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Gonzaga University in 1973.

Political experience: None.

Work experience: He has worked as a civil engineer for governments, such as the city of Spokane and Spokane and Adams counties. He also worked on the Lower Granite Dam project while employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Served in Vietnam from 1969-70.

Family: Married to Mary Johns. They have two children who attended Cheney Public Schools.

His pitch: Johns said he has attended Cheney Public Schools board meetings for the past four years and has experience managing large project budgets. He has advocated for and against multiple school bonds and levies since the 1970s. He is against the Cheney Public Schools capital levy for land acquisitions and technology upgrades that will be on the November ballot. He says the board should spend within its means. He also said the raises given to teachers last year were too high. If elected, he said he would be a voice of dissent on the board.

His words: The district is “taking too much money out of people’s pockets ... They had some reserves, the reserves were used to pay the salary increase of teachers and the levy is used to pay for things that the reserves should pay for.”

Mitch Swenson

Age: 59 Education: Graduated from Cheney High School in 1978.

Earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Eastern Washington University in 1982.

Political experience: Cheney Public Schools board director since 2015.

Work experience: Has worked as a commercial real estate broker with NAI Black in Spokane for 36 years. He specializes in selling apartment buildings and owns a number of complexes.

Family: Widowed. He has five daughters who all graduated from Cheney High School.

His pitch: Swenson said he has a deep passion for the Cheney area and its schools. He said serving on the school board the past few years has been a chance for him to give back since he and many family members attended area schools. The board needs to continue planning for growth and acquiring land for future school construction, he said. With years of experience as a real estate broker and apartment building owner, he said he is equipped to budget and manage a business. Swenson said he supports the capital levy on the ballot.

His words: “I believe strongly that we as a populous are seeing so much growth in our area all of a sudden and need to make sure our kids have a great system, including See BOARD DIRECTOR, 22 great teachers and facilities.”

Supplemental levy aims to maintain, restore programs

By Jared Brown THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The West Valley School District hopes to restore some of the programs and staff that it cut over the summer if voters approve a supplemental levy in November that would generate about $5.3 million over two years.

After the school district gave teachers 9% raises and the Legislature cut its local property tax levies by more than $2.75 per $1,000 of as-

sessed property value in favor of boosting state property taxes, West Valley projected a $2.5 million budget shortfall for the year, The levy “will help us get back up to where our budget was before our levy was cut,” said deputy superintendent Doug Matson.

The two-year levy would cost property owners an additional $1 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2020 and 2021, bringing the total educational programs and oper-

ations levy to $2.50.

That means the owners of a $250,000 home would pay about $250 in new property taxes and around $625 total in 2020 and 2021.

“After the overwhelming passage of our 2018 levy, we hoped we wouldn’t have to go back to (voters) so soon,” said school board president Dan Hansen.

But without the additional levy, school officials say the district won’t be able to pay for current programs. The

school board voted unanimously in June to put it on the ballot.

“Rather than watch our fund balance drop to zeroes and have to make more cuts, we felt this was the better option,” Hansen said.

The district received a little more than $1 million in one-time state funding because the district was slated to receive less through the new school funding model.

Matson said when the state started giving schools

more, it mandated that portions of those funds be spent on certain categories.

“We couldn’t use that money like we used to, so we had to reduce programs,” Matson.

The custodial staff, which had 10 positions cut, three of them through layoffs, was hit the hardest with budget reductions, Matson said. Ten teachers were not replaced after they received average See WEST VALLEY, 21

395

WEST VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

2

Mead

Spokane

N Millwood

Spokane Valley

90

27

5 MILES

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 9

VOTERS GUIDE

Reardan-Edwall candidate says district on right path School board opponent wants to challenge state sex education policy

By Arcelia Martin FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The candidates running for a seat on the ReardanEdwall School Board have clear interests in the district: They have children who attend the schools.

Incumbent Ian Wagner said the board has accomplished a lot to improve the district.

“We put a lot of key pieces in place, with hiring a business manager, and we have overseen a bond for the remodel of the elementary school,” said Wagner, who graduated from Reardan High School in 2005. “I think we try to make Reardan a better place with our mission and value statement and try to do what's best for kids.”

But his opponent, real estate agent Karmalee LeSieur, would like the board to offer a bigger challenge to state officials. She said she’s particularly concerned about sex education curriculum that includes discussing birth control and gender identification.

“Gender identification is the big issue that they were starting to push and

Reardan-Edwall School Board position 5 Ian Wagner

25

Age: 32 Education: Graduated from Reardan High School in 2005. Graduated with an associate degree in agriculture sales and service and agriculture operations and management from Northern Iowa Area Community College in 2007. Received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture technology and management from Washington State University in 2009.

Work experience: Self-employed owner and operator of a farm since 2010.

Political experience: Serves on Reardan-Edwall School Board.

Family: Married to Rachelle Wagner. Has three children.

Karmalee LeSieur Age: 44 Education: Graduated from Shasta High School in Redding, California, in 1993.

Received an associate degree from Shasta Community College in 1995. Received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ashford University in 2012.

Work experience: Real estate agent for the past four years at EXIT Real Estate North.

Political experience: Served on the Spokane County Republican Central Committee in 2018, then was re-elected as a district leader for 2019-20.

Family: Married to Stanton LeSieur. Has four children.

in really young grades, which I wholeheartedly disagree with,” LeSieur said. “And as many parents do on the east side of the state – the more conservative areas.”

Wagner said state law doesn’t allow local districts to reject certain aspects of state sex education guidelines.

“As a school district, we have to follow state law to receive state funding,” Wagner said. “I’m with her. I don’t necessarily agree teaching that to young children, but the state holds the cards.”

LeSieur said she’s more concerned about Spokane Public Schools influencing other school districts.

“I really am a proponent of keeping it local, and so I don’t like the direction that the public school system is taking. Not so much in Reardan, but in Spokane District 81,” LeSieur said.

“I wanted to make sure that I stayed involved because as Spokane District 81 does, so do the other districts usually.”

POLICE MAJOR TO FACE OFF WITH RETIRED TEACHER

By Jared Brown Nine Mile School District

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The candidates for the Nine Mile Falls SchoolBoard both have student welfare in mind for their campaigns, but they differ on the particular issues they see as most important.

Eric Olsen, 50, a major in the Spokane Police Department, is running on a school safety platform.

Olsen said he would form a school safety committee and contract a safety analysis of the Lakeside High School building. With his background in law enforcement, he said he would be able to perform a rudimentary study of the high school himself if necessary.

School bus safety is another concern for Olsen, who said he wants to look at a new reporting system for vehicles that violate traffic laws related to buses. He also said he wants to look into mounting cameras on buses.

Mary McAdam, 64, who taught in the district for nearly 40 years before retiring two years ago, said her focus as a board member would be on “making sure

N 5 MILES

McAdam

Olsen

every kid has a meal, making sure every kid is taken care of.”

Primarily, she said, that means a free and reduced breakfast program for students, as well as encouraging parents to self-report the need for reduced-price meals.

To address school safety, McAdam said the high school needs a stricter check-in and check-out procedure. She said the district is meeting other requirements.

In the August primary election, Olsen won about 45% of votes. McAdam captured almost 27%, edging out Kirsten Foose by 9 votes.

Foose said she is endorsing Olsen in the general election.

“He cares very, very much, even though he and I disagree on a couple particulars,” she said. “I think he is much more able to

Spokane River W

291

RUTTER

ES

T

4-

M

Nine P K W Y. Mile Falls O

U

N

D

FRANCIS

Spokane THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

meet the needs of kids in the district and represent voters in the district.”

Olsen said he has met with all the current Nine Mile Falls School Board members except one and talked to other larger districts to learn how they are addressing school security and funding.

He said he also reached out to Northeast Washington Educational Service District 101 officials to better understand how the Legislature’s new funding model affected the district.

“I want to voice that to the Legislators and the state

Water, experience among issues in Great Northern race

By Matthew Kincanon FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Water, experience and maintaining quality are among the issues in the race to serve on the board that leads Spokane County’s smallest school district.

Despite bordering Spokane Public Ericson Schools – the state’s second largest school district – Great Northern School District has Pegg fewer than 45 students.

Three seats for the Great Northern School Board on the ballot, but only one is contested. Jill Ericson, a former college administrator, is challenging incumbent board member John Pegg.

Pegg said he would continue to develop an environment where teachers are able to work closely with the students at the school. “ Because it’s so small, classroom sizes are going to be more personal and the teachers are able to work more one-on-one with kids, and I’m hoping to continue

Nine Mile Falls

GREAT NORTHERN SCHOOL DISTRICT

Spokane Airway Heights 2

F.A.F.B. 90

N 5 MILES

904

Sources: Spokane County Assessor’s Office

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

to cultivate an environment like that for the kids in the school,” he said.

Ericson said she was motivated to run for the position because she has been volunteering at local elementary and middle schools for seven years, her child is a graduate from the school, and she wants to give back to the school.

She said her experience working in higher education would complement other board members. She said she has worked in student support roles that help students succeed at college.

“I think having somebody with that education experi-

ence further down the road would be helpful in board conversations and decisions that are made,” she said.

Pegg graduated from the school in 2006. He was first inspired to run for the position by his father, Ken Pegg, who was on the school board for 25 years, and when a position opened up he was encouraged by his father to pursue it. His father also is running for a Great Northern School Board seat.

As a younger adult, Pegg said he provides a different viewpoint on the board.

Pegg said he does not plan to propose major changes, but wants to improve and maintain the school building as well as get more iPads for students.

If elected, Ericson plans to address issues with the school’s water quality, hire a new superintendent after the school’s current one, Glenn Frizzell, retires, and increase enrollment.

Regarding water quality, she said students are being provided bottled water because they are unable to drink the water on the premises.

“I would ask to be brought up-to-date on where Great Northern is on resolving the fact that the water in the school is unsafe to drink,” she said in an email. “I would then help however I can to keep Great

231

LINCOLN COUNTY

school superintendent’s office,” he said.

McAdam said she would also advocate for school funding changes in the Legislature. At the district level, she said officials need to look at reorganizing their own budget to reduce costs.

“We need to see what programs can best be served in another way,” she said.

In light of the fact that personal property taxes are going up for some residents of the district, McAdam said she wants to wait on running a bond for a new high school.

“You don’t want people to be burdened too much,” she said.

Olsen said he wants to keep studying what it would be like to build a new high school versus enhancing the existing building.

“In due diligence we need to step back and look at what improvements can be made to our facilities,” he said. “We need to do a cost analysis on if it is going to be worth us investing money in old schools.”

REARDAN EDWALL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Nine Mile Falls

Spokane

Airway Heights

Reardan

2

Davenport F.A.F.B. Medical Lake

231

SPOKANE COUNTY 90

Edwall

N

904

5 MILES

Sources: Spokane County Assessor’s Office

Spokane Public Schools, which formerly was known as District 81, last year adopted a new sex education curriculum that included gender identification In the 2016-17 school year, the elementary, middle school and high school served 571 students, and employed 31 teachers.

Wagner said his goal is to maintain the rural small-town atmosphere of the district. That, paired with an excellent staff and strong academics, is what

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

makes Reardan a great place to live, he said.

LeSieur said another of her goals is to encourage more parents to attend school board meetings.

If elected, LeSieur also would be the only woman on the board, which she said would give the board an important perspective.

“It’s just good to always have two sides of an issue addressed,” LeSieur said.

“Coming from a woman versus a man could be all the difference in the world.”

Nine Mile Falls School Board, Position 2 Eric Olsen Age: 50.

Education: Graduated from North Central High School in 1986. Received an associate degree from Spokane Community College in 1989 and completed one year of undergraduate work in chemical engineering at Eastern Washington University.

Working to finish his bachelor’s degree.

Work experience: Rank of major with the Spokane Police Department. Has 29 years of experience in the department. Started as a patrol officer and has been a part of the tactical team, bomb squad and K-9 unit.

Political experience: None.

Family: Married. Has two daughters who attend schools in the district.

Mary McAdam Age: 64.

Education: Graduated from East Valley High School in 1973. Received a bachelor’s degree in education from Eastern Washington University in 1977. Received a master’s degree in education administration and curriculum development from Washington State University in 1986.

Work experience: Worked in the Nine Mile Falls School District for 39 years before retiring after the 2016-17 school year. Started teaching science and girls physical education at the junior high school.

Moved to the high school in 1991 to teach several subjects and coach multiple girls sports teams.

Political experience: None.

Family: Divorced. Has one adult son.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5135 jaredb@spokesman.com

Northern constituents healthy and eliminate the need to provide purchased water.”

Pegg said he and the board are working together with the Department of Health to resolve the issue,

adding that it has not been a big problem because they have provided water coolers for students and staff to drink.

Ericson wants to increase the school’s enrollment so that it does not “get ab-

sorbed into one of the larger neighboring districts.”

Pegg said the size of enrollment is mostly a matter of how many families with children live within the district.

SPECIAL 10

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE

Two propose different approaches to major change

By Emma Epperly

Airway Heights

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Big changes are coming to Spokane County Fire District 3, and two fire commissioner candidates plan to navigate those changes in different ways.

Incumbent Sharon Colby, who has been a fire commissioner for nearly three decades, hopes to use her knowledge of the district to help manage an expanding service area smoothly.

Former District 3 firefighter Michael Heiydt, who was born in Spokane and has spent most of his life in Cheney, has deep roots in the community and wants to give back by running for commissioner.

Heiydt acknowledges that changes are coming to the district and hopes to shape the response to that growth, he said.

“I feel like everybody should be involved in their community, and this is a type of community service for me, helping guide the fire service,” Heiydt said.

Fire District 3 has gone through major changes since the August primary, which saw passage of both Proposition 1, which allowed for the annexation of Medical Lake into the fire district, and Proposition 2, a levy lid lift, passed.

Fire District 3 took over serving the Medical Lake community as soon as the election was certified, and Colby said service has already improved in the area.

“The people that we’ve heard from in Medical Lake seem happy,” Colby said.

Before the annexation, one in four Medical Lake calls went unanswered by the cty’s fire department.

“That has already been

Spokane

90

2

F.A.F.B. 27

Medical Lake

Colby

Palo u

395 90

se H

wy.

195

Cheney

Latah Creek

904

Tyler

FIRE DISTRICT 3

Spangle

N

5 MI LES

Source: Spokane County Building and Planning Department

Plaza

MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

fixed,” said Fire District 3 Chief Cody Rohrback. “We are responding to 100% of the calls.”

Almost every volunteer firefighter from Medical Lake moved over to Fire District 3, and former Medical Lake Chief Jason Mayfield is now the captain of the Medical Lake station.

“We can provide very timely service to the town of Medical Lake,” Colby said. “We are going to lease the present fire station, but we have plans to remodel it.”

Heiydt was on the fence about the annexation of Medical Lake ahead of the August primary and said that he district was “picking up a lot of the slack.”

Heiydt declined to comment on the change after Proposition 1 passed.

When it comes to Proposition 2, a levy lid lift from from $1.41 to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, Rohrback is happy voters approved the

change.

“Obviously we’re very excited because our growth out in the West Plains has increased tremendously at an exponential rate,” Rohrback said. “That’s going to give us the opportunity to keep up with the growth.”

Heiydt was “wholeheartedly against” the levy lid lift earlier this summer.

“The budget has grown each year for the last several years,” Heiydt said.

Colby was supportive of the levy lid lift and ties its passage to the transparency and good service the district provides, she said.

“We’ve tried to explain to the citizens why the levy lid lift is necessary every few years,” Colby said.

With budget season starting in early October, transparency is important to Colby.

“We’re going to be super careful that we keep track of every dollar and spend it in the right place,” she said.

“We try to be very open and

In Valley, candidates clash over leadership

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Candidate Bradley Mertens hopes to use his frontline firefighting experience to lead on the Spokane Valley Fire Commission and make sure firefighters feel heard. Incumbent Patrick Burch said commissioners shouldn’t micromanage the department, but lead and write a budget that serves taxpayers.

Mertens said he hopes to improve communication between the commission and the fireMertens fighters, because he thinks a lot of the current communication is between the board and the fire Burch department chief.

He added that his experience as a firefighter for Fire District 8, which sometimes serves alongside the Spokane Valley Fire Department, would give him insight into what firefighters go through every day.

“I work with these guys on the front line,” he said.

“In that situation I wouldn’t be in my role as a commissioner, but (serving with) brother and sister firefighters, and as a union member.”

Mertens said that experience would prepare him to ask informed questions when developing policies that affect firefighters and help write budgets that are fiscally responsible.

Burch, a former industrial engineer and financial controller for Boeing, said commissioners don’t need firefighting experience to be a member of the board.

He said the board is tasked with hiring a chief who manages the day-to-day operation, writes a budget and makes policy decisions.

“The role of a fire commissioner is a lot like the school board,” Burch said.

“The day-to-day ground-level communication, that’s why we have a professional chief. ... We don’t need to

Spokane County Fire District 3 Commissioner, Position 1

Spokane Valley

Spokane Valley Fire Commission, Position 1 Patrick Burch Age: 56 Education: Graduated from Anaconda High School in Montana in 1981. Earned a bachelor’s degree at Eastern Washington University in information systems and operations management and completed a master’s of business administration at Washington State University.

Work experience: Co-owner and business manager of Neurotherapy Northwest. Former vice president of operations at MediServ, a medical billing company. Former financial controller for Boeing Airborne Early Warning and Control System airplanes, and former industrial engineer for the 757 Final Assembly Division. Served in Navy Reserve for eight years, working on nuclear-powered submarines.

Political experience: Appointed to the Spokane Valley Fire Department board in 2016. Volunteer member of department’s Community Emergency Response Team team in 2008. Served as team leader of Fire Corps, a volunteer group.

Family: Married. Has two children.

Bradley Mertens Age: 39 Education: Graduated from West Valley High School in 1999. Obtained associate’s degree in fluid power from Spokane Community College. Obtained paramedic associate degree in paramedic medicine from Prince George’s Community College in Maryland.

Career experience: Currently a paramedic and firefighter for Spokane County Fire District 8, but has worked as an emergency responder at several fire departments around the country since 2001. Before working as an emergency responder, he worked as an account manager for a company that made equipment for computer processing chips. Mertens said most of his career moves around the country were to follow his wife, who has a career in the military.

Political experience: First-time candidate.

Family: Married. Has one daughter.

get into the nitty-gritty. If I was on school board, I wouldn’t go into a classroom and tell a teacher how to teach.”

Burch said commissioners do talk to fire district employees and they sometimes listen to presentations from firefighters before approving equipment purchases. He said commissioners plan to visit fire stations in pairs as well.

“We are always open to communication with firefighters,” he said.

Burch is the current chairman of the commission, but likely would not retain that position if re-elected because commissioners cannot lead the board for more than two consecutive years.

During his tenure on the

board, the department has retained its Center for Public Safety Excellence accreditation, and attained a best-in-Eastern Washington fire insurance rating level 2, which can mean lower insurance premiums for residents and business owners in the city. Burch said he is pleased with the direction of the department.

This year Local 876, the union representing Spokane Valley firefighters, endorsed both Mertens and Mike Kester, another challenger for the fire commission who is running against longtime fire commissioner Ron Schmidt.

Union Vice President George Hedebeck said the unSee FIRE NO. 1, 11

Sharon Colby

Heiydt

honest with our citizens because a lot of our citizens are our firefighters.”

Heiydt has been critical of the district’s transparency. He asked for the annual budget to be put online and said “they gave me the bureaucratic runaround.”

When it comes to budgeting, Heiydt said his goal would be to “continue the maintaining of a balanced budget in the district.”

The fire district also received a $2 million Staffing For Adequate Fire And Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grant lasts three years and will allow the district to hire 11 more full-time firefighters.

The new hires already were planned before the SAFER grant was awarded, Colby said.

“I had insisted that if we were going to hire a bunch of new people, which we already had in our sights, that the chief and the staff had to show me that we were going to have the money to budget that – even if the (grant) money didn’t come through,” Colby said.

With the grant money, there is more room in the budget for other things that often come up, she added.

“That’s going to help our community’s tax dollars go as far as possible,” Rohrback said.

The grant will cover the entire need for full-time fi-

Age: 78 Education: Graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1959, majored in psychology at Whitworth University but did not complete her degree.

Work experience: Was a stay-at-home mom to her four sons and one grandson. Served as volunteer firefighter.

Political experience: Fire commissioner for Spokane County Fire District 3 since 1990. Has served on the Local Emergency Planning Committee for 21 years and Emergency Medical Services Board for 15 years. Former member of the Liberty School District board for 13 years, Washington Fire Commissioners Association board for 18 years, Fire Protection Policy Board member for nine years and fire representative with the Growth Management Steering Committee for 18 years Family: Married for 54 years, until her husband died in 2015. Has four sons and helped raise one of their grandsons.

Michael Heiydt Age: 45 Education: Graduated from Cheney High School in 1992.

Graduated from Spokane Community College in 1996 in heavy equipment repair.

Work experience: Spent 20 years as a diesel mechanic before opening his own repair shop. Previously a district 3 volunteer firefighter for five years.

Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Married. Has three daughters

refighters in the district.

“That happens to be the exact amount that we foresaw last year when we wrote the grant,” Rohrback said. “So it’s right-sized for our needs.”

The new full-time firefighters will work side by side with the over 130 volunteers that work at District 3 stations.

“Next year, our district is celebrating its 75th anniversary since its inception,” Colby said. “During all that time, our district has relied on volunteers. It takes a certain amount of tact and goodwill and a whole lot of

things to suddenly say, ‘Well, now we’re going to have full-time firefighters.’”

Fire District 3, established in 1945, serves 565 square miles and approximately 25,000 residents.

The district is governed by a board of three commissioners who serve sixyear terms. The board meets monthly and manages personnel and budgeting for the district.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5122 emmae@spokesman.com

Better communication a key topic

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

A retired Spokane Valley railroad conductor is challenging a 30-year-incumbent for his seat on the Spokane Valley Fire Commissoin.

The commission is a five-member board that oversees about 200 employees that serve about 75 square miles including Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Millwood, Otis Orchards and Pasadena Park, as well as other unincorporated areas of Spokane County.They also oversee a $37.5 million budget.

Fire commissioners are paid about Kester $12,200 a year.

Ron Schmidt is the longest serving fire commissioner on the Schmidt board, serving since 1990 and said he’s spent decades trying to make conditions better for firefighters.

“I have the experience and I have proven that my experience has helped build the finest fire district in all of Washington state, and I want to continue that,” he said. “We want to do that very best, and deliver the best product to all our constiuents.”

Challenger Mike Kester said he has close friends and family members who are firefighters, and safety is his highest priorities. He said he plans to make sure every firefighter has the equipment they need and feels they can go directly to commissioners if they have any concerns. He said firefighters often have good ideas about how to improve their stations, and the commissioners should make hearing from them a priority.

“Right now, your firefighters can’t go to commissioners and talk to them, there’s a wall built,” Kester said.

Kester said he’d like to see more transparency and education on the issues. He said commissioners also don’t discuss their votes enough and often vote to-

Spokane Valley Fire Commissioner, Position 2 Ron Schmidt Age: 82 Education: Graduated from North Central High School in 1955. Received associate’s of arts degree from Spokane Falls Community College. Completed a five-year pipefitters apprenticeship and eventually attended Eastern Washington University where he obtained a teaching degree in industrial safety.

Political experience: Has served as a fire commissioner since 1990.

Work experience: Schmidt worked as a steam pipefitter for 21 years. After a workplace injury, he ran a program at the plumbers and pipefitters union, as well as other unions, to recruit women and minorities into trade careers. After about a year of working for unions, he was hired at Spokane Community College as the Dean of Trade Industry and Apprenticeships. He retired in the early 2000s.

Personal: Widowed. Was married to Sharran Lea Schmidt. Has six children and 10 grandchildren.

Mike Kester Age: 62 Education: Attended Mead High School until junior year, before attending Hellgate High School in Missoula Montana, where he graduated in 1975.

Earned a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Montana in Forestry and Resource Management.

Political experience: First-time candidate Work experience: Kester was spent four years in active duty in the Coast Guard on a firefighting boat and participated in search and rescue missions. He later worked for the Montana Fish and Game Department as an five years while attending college. After graduating from college, he left Montana for Spokane where he worked for Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad as a train conductor for 22 years. He retired in 2010 after a work place injury.

Personal: Married. Has three children and five grandchildren.

gether. He said there needs to be a fresh perspective to shake up the board’s way of doing things.

“You’re going to need someone who’s going to have an open door,” he said. “I’m going to be available for people to say things. I’m fiscally responsible, and I’m not going to rubber stamp things.”

Schmidt said communication can always be improved, but it’s also a “twoway street.”

“Whenever there is a fireman that wants to talk, we talk to them,” Schmidt said.

When firefighters raise concerns, commissioners

do their best to address them, Schmidt said. But sometimes they can’t always give employees what they want because of limitations in state law or the district’s budget.

Schmidt said improving communication is problem he’s worked at since first becoming a commissioner.

He said in the 1990s, the department brought in an outside “think tank” group to discuss teamwork with the staff, and the department has continued to improve over the years. The department now has a level 2 insurance rating – the See FIRE NO. 2, 21

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 11

VOTERS GUIDE 2

CANDIDATES TIED TO DISTRICT

SPOKANE VALLEY FIRE N DEPARTMENT (FIRE DIST. 1)

By Nina Culver THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

e kan Spo 90

R.

290

27

Pal ou

Spokane Valley

se H wy.

5 MILES

WASH./ IDAHO

Liberty Lake

Spokane

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

FIRE NO. 1 Continued from 10 ion felt that the current board of commissioners was often siding with the fire department administration over the union and firefighters.

“It feels like the board is rather one-sided and not representing the full package of stakeholders,” Hedebeck said.

Hedebeck said the board should represent and communicate with taxpayers, employees, the administration and the union, not just the fire department’s leadership.

Burch said now that the board has contracts with the fire unions, communication with firefighters likely will improve. He said the board’s primary responsibility is to represent taxpayers, however.

Mertens said communication issues are among the reasons he ran.

He criticized Burch and the board, saying they should be more transparent, spend more time explaining why they vote the way they do and said meetings should be held after many constituents get off work. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 4 p.m.

Burch said the board has discussed moving the meetings to more accessible locations to make them easier to attend, but has not considered changing the time.

He said when something important comes up, many members of the publicattend and offer testimony.

The Spokane Valley Fire Commission oversees a $37.5 million budget and about 200 employees. The board comprises five members, and each commissioner is paid about $12,200 a year.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department serves Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Millwood, Otis Orchards and Pasadena Park, as well as unincorporated areas of Spokane County.

Spokane County Fire District 5 Commissioner Isla Durheim and challenger Ed Marston both have deep roots in the district. They even rode the same school bus together as children.

Durheim lives only a mile from the home where she grew up on West Four Mound Road. “That’s why the fire district is so important to us,” she said. “It’s part of our life.”

At one time her husband and two of her sons were volunteer firefighters with the district. Her husband was with the district for more than 25 years. Durheim said the district is somewhat unusual because there is no school or incorporated town inside its boundaries. “It’s a small district,” she said. “It just feels like a community.”

Durheim, who has worked in payroll and as a retirement specialist, said she first learned about the work firefighters do during firestorm in 1991, when her husband and sons were on the front lines of wildfires that consumed large swaths of Spokane County. She and the wives of other firefighters would bring them food as they worked long hours.

“I think that’s what really

Marston

Durheim

got me into what firemen did and how exhausted they got,” she said.

Marston, who works for Millwrights Local 96 in Spokane, grew up in the district and north of Reardan, where his family owned a wheat farm. “I was just a farm kid,” he said.

Marston said he doesn’t have any prior elected experience, but believes the priorities of a fire commissioner should be the same priorities that any leader has. “Your first priority should be the safety of firefighters,” he said. “The second should be life and the third property.”

He said he decided to run after a couple of neighbors asked him to. “I haven’t really given anything back to the community I was raised in,” he said.

Marston said he has neighbors and cousins who are volunteer firefighters with the district. He said he believes the community’s concerns aren’t being listened to by the current com-

Spokane County Fire District 5, Position 1

Sp o Riv kane er

Isla Durheim

Cheney

Ed Marston

Age: 67 Education: Graduated from Reardan High School in 1970, FIRE Attended classes at Punch Card Machine Training Service DISTRICT in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1970, the Computer 5 Programming Center of Spokane in 1971 and Interface 5 MILES Computer School in 1995.

N Work experience: Worked for Pack River Lumber and Airway Heights its successors for 28 years, leaving as a payroll supervisor.

She then worked for Principal Financial Group as a 2 retirement specialist for 15 years before retiring in 2010.

F.A.F.B. Political experience: She was appointed to the District Spokane 5 commission in 2012 and elected to a six-year term.

Medical Family: Married. Has five children and 10 grandchildren.

Lake 90

395

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

missioners. “While they’re trying to do a good job as best they can, I don’t think they’re really listening to the community,” he said.

If he’s elected he wants to send out a community survey to ask residents what their needs and concerns are, Marston said.

Durheim was appointed to the fire commission in 2012 to fill a vacant seat and then was elected to a sixyear term. She said the allvolunteer district has a small budget, which makes it challenging to purchase needed equipment. “It’s just updating stuff because the prices are so high,” she said. “The equipment just ages.”

Agendas seek to prevent wildfires, lower insurance costs

Age: 58 Education: Graduated from Reardan High School in 1980 and took classes at Spokane Community College.

Work experience: Works as business agent for Millwrights Local 96. Worked as a seasonal firefighter with the Bureau of Land Management and for the State of Alaska before coming back to Spokane and becoming a millwright apprentice.

Political experience: None Family: Divorced. Has two children.

The district has been able to put some money aside for equipment upgrades in recent years, Durheim said.

“We do get a lot of grants to help pay for things,” she said.

Durheim said the district has the same challenge other volunteer districts do – attracting volunteers Marston said he believes people need to be held accountable when they sign up

to be volunteers and the district pays to train them. He said he thinks too few volunteers show up to calls. “You spend a lot of money on volunteer training,” he said.

“We need to have as many people as possible show up.

If you only show up to one or two emergencies a year, is that really being held acSee FIRE DISTRICT 5, 14

Fire District 10 has experienced candidates

By Jared Brown

By Matthew Kincanon FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

CONTACT THE WRITER:

A college math instructor hopes to bring new perspective to the commission leading Spokane County Fire District 4.

To do so, he would have to defeat the commission’s chairman who has many years of experience in public safety.

Incumbent Roger Krieger said he aims to keep Insurance Service Office ratings low to save district patrons money on homeowners insurance. He said the district recently added a 22-year-old ladder truck that will improve ratings.

The district also has worked to make it easier for citizens who have forested lots or underbrush to burn some of it to keep fire dangers down.

Krieger’s challenger, Troy Rux, acknowledged the significance of lowering ratings, yet said he would use other means to

(509) 459-5039 rebeccawh@spokesman.com

See FIRE 4, 22

Spokane County Fire District 4, Position 1

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Troy Rux Age: 58 Education: Graduated from Reardan High School.

Earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics education from Eastern Washington University.

Work experience: College mathematics instructor at Gonzaga University and Spokane Falls Community College. Board member of Spokane Area Swimmers.

Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Married. Has eight children.

Roger Krieger Age: 63 Education: Graduated from Deer Park High School.

Earned bachelor’s degree in education from EWU. Work experience: Community service director for the city of Deer Park since 1991. Volunteer firefighter for 18 years in Petersburg, Alaska, and Spokane County Fire District 4. Served as police officer and EMT in Petersburg, Alaska.

Political experience: Fire commissioner for Spokane County Fire District 4 and current board chairman. Serves on Spokane County Growth Management Steering Committee, Spokane County Planning Technical Advisory Committee and the Spokane Regional Transportation Council.

Family: Married. Has two children and five grandchildren.

The race for Spokane County Fire District 10 commissioner comes down to financial versus emergency management experience.

In the August primary, voters whittled down Haughton the choices to Gordon Hester, a volunteer district 10 captain, who has been a commerHester cial real estate broker for about 30 years, and Kevin Haughton, a Spokane city fire lieutenant, who has worked with Northwest Incident Management teams for about 13 years.

Haughton captured about 42% of the primary vote and Hester won a little

FIRE DISTRICT 10

Spokane

Airway Heights 2

F.A.F.B.

N

395

Medical Lake

90

Cheney

904 5 MILES

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

more than 35%.

Hester, who has worked with and managed District 10 firefighters for about 10 years, said one of his primary goals is to increase integration with nearby fire departments and analyze staffing levels.

“I think there’s a real opportunity to improve the relationship with Airway See FIRE 10, 22

A Name You Know A Name You Can Trust

KAREN’S PRIORITY Safe, livable neighborhoods PAID FOR BY PEOPLE FOR STRATTON PO Box 10636 • Spokane WA 99209 • 509-869-4293 • Karen@ElectKarenStratton.com

ElectKarenStratton.com

SPECIAL 12

G

WEDNESDAY

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE

SPOKANE’S NEXT MAYOR

By Adam Shanks

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The Spokesman-Review asked Ben Stuckart and Nadine Woodward, Spokane’s candidates for mayor, a series of questions to learn their positions on important issues that may not make it to a debate stage or candidate profile. Their answers have been edited and paraphrased for brevity. Quotes are directly from their responses.

Do you support Spokane’s red light camera and speed camera program and would you support expanding it to other locations?

THE CANDIDATES

STUCKART said they work and decrease crashes. He added that the revenue is allowing for more traffic safety measures to be implemented in neighborhoods. He also said it’s the most popular program in city neighborhoods.

WOODWARD said she can see both sides, but “if it provides safety to the neighborhoods and schools, yes.”

NADINE WOODWARD

Age: 57 Education: Graduated from Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington in 1980. Graduated from the University of Portland in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree.

Work experience: Was a television news broadcaster in Spokane for 28 years, first at KREM before moving to KXLY in 2010. She left the industry earlier this year and is vice president of Memories by Design, a video production business in Spokane.

Would you keep Craig Meidl as the police chief?

STUCKART declined to answer personnel questions, including this one, before the election.

WOODWARD also declined to answer but said, “Meidl has a lot of respect from his department.”

Would you keep Brian Schaeffer as the fire chief?

BOTH declined to answer.

Do you support City Charter provisions giving the Spokane Park Board control of Spokane’s park system?

STUCKART said he has had mixed feelings on the Parks Department’s independence in the past, but believes everything is now on the right track. As a result he said he would not try to change the city charter.

WOODWARD said the provisions give the Park Board a lot of power, but added, “I would have to look at that.”

Did you support the tax voters approved early this year to increase the number of police officers and prevent some cuts to firefighting staffing?

STUCKART noted that he not only supported but also sponsored the proposal. With eight years of experience working on the city budget, Stuckart said that the city would not have been able to afford new police officers without the levy.

WOODWARD said she supported hiring more officers, but not through the public safety levy. She has advocated for funding additional police officers by making cuts to other parts of the budget.

How do you feel about the outcome of the redesign of North Monroe Street and East Sprague, which shrunk the roadway to three lanes?

STUCKART said those are the best street projects the city has completed during his time in office, leading to a decrease in crime in those neighborhoods and spurring business growth nearby.

WOODWARD said, no, she does not believe the city should be narrowing its arterials.

Should more one-way downtown streets be converted to two ways?

STUCKART said having more two-way streets downtown would benefit businesses. One-way streets are designed to get motorists from point A to point B, he noted.

“Your retail district should be a walkable district,” he said WOODWARD said she had no opinion.

As mayor, would you look to limit Border Patrol's ability to operate within the Intermodal Center, per rules set by a law passed by City Council in 2018?

STUCKART said that’s the law and that “the mayor’s job is to enforce the law. Anybody that says that they’re not going to follow the law is not fit for office.”

JESSE TINSLEY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Political experience: Never held elected office.

BEN STUCKART

Political experience: Elected Spokane City Council president in 2011 and re-elected in 2015.

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

WOODWARD said she supports the ombudsman, police oversight and body cameras, but added, “I have to think hard about expanding the authority of the ombudsman.”

Do you believe the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency has been too strict on asbestos regulations?

STUCKART said they are too stringent at times, and should be more timely when levying fines. “They should not be able to tell somebody that you have a fine, and that affects your financing, without telling you what that fine is,” Stuckart said.

WOODWARD said she has no opinion, but that the agency is doing “a great job.”

Do you believe the city should participate in litigation against opioid manufacturers?

STUCKART said he does, noting that he was proud to sponsor a resolution calling on the city to participate in litigation against opioid manufacturers.

Do you believe fluoride should be added to the city's drinking water supply?

STUCKART said, “Yes, it’s the most impactful thing we can do for dental health of young people in our community.”

WOODWARD opposes adding fluoride to the city’s water, noting that voters have previously turned down such proposals.

Planned Parenthood has drawn protests. Are those protests protected by free speech, or a safety hazard that violates city noise ordinance?

STUCKART said, “We should be equally enforcing the law, and if they are violating noise ordinances, they should be cited.”

WOODWARD declined to comment.

Should homeless shelters be allowed to discriminate based on gender identity?

STUCKART said not if they use any public dollars.

WOODWARD said no.

Do you believe human activity impacts climate change, and do you believe the city should make investments to lower Spokane’s carbon footprint?

STUCKART said he believes the science showing humans’ impact on climate change and that a position within the mayor’s cabinet should be dedicated to sustainability.

WOODWARD said she is glad the city has taken steps to join litigation against pharmaceutical companies.

WOODWARD said she supports measures that lower the city’s carbon footprint, especially those that change people’s behavior with rewards and incentives, not taxes and penalties.

Do you support the Central City Line?

What is your stance on propositions 1 and 2?

STUCKART said it’s going to be a “game changer” for Spokane and enable multimodal options for transportation throughout the city.

STUCKART said he is against Proposition 2’s ban on an income tax, calling it a “solution looking for a problem.” He also opposes Proposition 1, which would open collective bargaining to the public, saying such negotiating conditions can not be imposed unilaterally and that “bargaining is based on trust.”

WOODWARD said, “I’m anxious to see the impact that it’s going to have downtown.

If it proves to be popular and a lot of people use it, maybe we look at expanding it.”

WOODWARD said, yes, the case needs to be settled as soon as possible so “it doesn’t hand-tie” states and cities, who do not know what they can and can not enforce.

WOODWARD said she absolutely does not support such sites. “It just perpetuates drug use and lengthens an addict’s death sentence,” she said.

Work experience: Former executive director of Communities in Schools of Spokane County.

Former regional manager at TicketsWest, 2001 to 2007.

STUCKART said he absolutely does.

STUCKART said, “The answer is not to arrest people.

The answer is to have more shelter space and more supportive housing and long-term low-income housing.”

STUCKART said he supports safe injection sites, but noted that adding them is not a city decision and would be up to the Spokane Regional Health District.

Age: 47

Do you support the police ombudsman’s call for more authority in publishing closing reports following investigations into officer conduct?

The city participated in an amicus brief filed in support of Boise’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, searching for clarity in a federal court’s ruling on laws against homeless camping.

Do you agree with the city's position?

Would you support safe injection sites in Spokane?

Education: Graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1990. Earned bachelor’s degree in political science from Gonzaga University in 2000 and master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University in 2006.

WOODWARD said she: “supports laws that protect our community. We live within 100 miles of a border, which puts Spokane under federal jurisdiction for those searching” the Intermodal Center.

WOODWARD said she supports “collaboration that creates more efficiency,” so she would study the issue further.

WOODWARD said she: supports the income tax ban, which she calls a “job recruiting tool,” and the proposal to publicize collective bargaining, saying “taxpayers deserve to know.”

Is there adequate parking downtown, and how can it be improved?

STUCKART said studies have shown there is adequate parking, but that there are too many surface lots and not enough multistory, covered parking garages.

WOODWARD also pointed to parking studies that have shown there is adequate parking, but said it’s a “great idea” to make the way parking is paid for consistent throughout downtown.

Did you support the Spokane Public Library’s decision to host Drag Queen story hour?

STUCKART said yes. “I think we should be celebrating everybody in our community,” he said.

WOODWARD declined to say if she supported the decision but said “The library can do whatever it wants and people can protest whatever they want.”

The city passed campaign finance reform laws in 2017 – are they working?

STUCKART said the city’s campaign finance laws are working “as good as they can.”

He noted the city cannot prevent the influx in independent expenditures. “What we can control, we’ve done a good job with,” he said.

WOODWARD said she: would look to immediately repeal the ordinance, which she believes unfairly limits business contributions to candidates but allows unions to continue to play a role in elections.

Should the city join Spokane Regional Emergency Communications?

STUCKART said absolutely not, because the process of joining was not transparent and those who have joined have not seen the discounted rates they were promised.

Do you support the current design to complete the North Spokane Corridor?

STUCKART said he doesn’t believe it can be changed at this point.

WOODWARD said she supports the design and believes it will help with traffic flow.

Do you believe laws against sitting and lying on downtown sidewalks should be enforced even when there is inadequate shelter space?

STUCKART said the city’s laws, which currently are not enforced when there is inadequate shelter space, were passed in a bipartisan agreement and should remain as they are.

WOODWARD said they first need to be enforced as written. She criticized City Council’s past discussion about repealing or amending the laws.

Mayor David Condon has refused to empanel the Sustainability Action Committee, which was created by the Spokane City Council in 2018. Would you empanel the committee as mayor?

STUCKART said doing so is the law and that the mayor should follow the law.

WOODWARD said there is already a committee that discusses environmental sustainability formed by the City Council. She believes the sustainable energy ordinance adopted by the council “is unrealistic” and would cost homeowners too much money.

Are tax incentives, such as the multifamily tax exemption program, a good way to spur housing development in Spokane?

STUCKART said they are a good tool to spur market-rate housing. In the past, when the council made affordable housing requirements more stringent, developers did not sign up, he said. They have since loosened the affordable housing requirements in the program. “It’s a good tool for market-rate housing, but not low-income” housing, Stuckart said.

WOODWARD supports incentives to create more development, though she’s open to analyzing the value of the incentives. In addressing the city’s housing crisis, she said, “we need to be creative.”

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 13

VOTERS GUIDE

Beggs touts specifics, Wendle collaboration

By Adam Shanks THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

It was a broad question and, one by one, they gave broad answers.

In explaining an “overall vision for downtown,” candidates for Spokane City Council at a Downtown Spokane Partnership forum used terms like “vibrant,” “safe,” and “recreational activities.”

Then it was Breen Beggs’ turn.

“If we had fiber optic cables to all of the downtown office buildings, that would make it a lot easier for companies to relocate, because they would have that tech pipeline there,” said Beggs, who is running for City Council president after more than three years representing the South Hill.

As candidates make their case at dining halls, in community centers, and in TV interviews, Beggs embraces specificity when answering questions about policy, highlighting his work and outlining plans for the years ahead.

But for all of that verbosity, his challenger, political newcomer Cindy Wendle, questions Beggs’ effectiveness.

Sure, he can outline policies that encourage housing development. But, she asks, if the city has known it was facing a housing crisis since 2015, why hasn’t it responded sooner? Yes, Beggs has a plan to alleviate overcrowding at the county jail. But why hasn’t it already been implemented?

“If he’s got a plan, why hasn’t he done it? These issues haven’t come up overnight,” Wendle said.

Wendle, a co-owner of the Northtown Shopping Plaza and former branch manager with Washington Trust Bank, has presented herself as collaborative pragmatist as she battles Beggs for the council’s top post.

In outlining her vision for downtown Spokane, for example, Wendle took a different approach.

“I want to make sure that we are the downtown for people and an area that pe-

Wendle Beggs ople want to come back to...with my retail experience, I understand that the experience is what’s really important,” Wendle said.

Though Wendle lacks elected experience, she’s a member of a prominent Spokane business family.

She’s married to Chud Wendle, the former president of Wendle Motors and former district director to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

She hasn’t unveiled multi-pronged solutions to the city’s problems.

“They’re not my ideas, they shouldn’t come from my brain, they should come from a collaborative effort,” Wendle said.

She’s sharpest in criticizing the work of the current Spokane City Council, which she decries as lacking leadership.

That dynamic is manifested most clearly when the two field questions about their approaches to homelessness, which has become a dominant topic in the races for mayor and Spokane City Council.

Wendle is adamant that addiction is a root cause of visible homeless. At a forum hosted by Rotary Club of Spokane 21, she described a recent ridealong with Spokane Police, during which “every single person that I encountered had meth or heroin on them,” Wendle said.

Like mayoral candidate Nadine Woodward, Wendle pointed to the “enforcement ideology” of Marysville, Washington, a city that a “treatment or jail” approach to homelessness.

Wendle noted that the ideology is coupled with “wraparound services.”

“We’re dealing with a drug problem downtown...the homeless that we have visible downtown and some of the problems that we’re having in the heart of our city really revolve around a root cause issue,”

Wendle said during a KSPS debate this week.

That root cause, Wendle argues, can be addressed once the city better-communicates with regional partners.

The source of homelessness is complex, according to Beggs, but the city is struggling with poverty.

That was OK when housing was cheap, but increased demand has brought on the crisis, making people vulnerable to losing their homes after “a car accident, a medical bill, a temporary loss of a job.”

“Most of them, it’s an economic issue,” Beggs said at a forum hosted by the Spokane Homeless Coalition and the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium.

Yes, there are homeless people with a substance abuse issue, he said. But there are also many people with homes who also have a substance abuse problem.

“To conflate those two is not very helpful, because they’re different problems with different solutions,” Beggs said, later adding “you have to give people shelter and food and social workers in order to get them stable so that they can get the intestinal fortitude to move forward.”

Wendle has avoided providing simple solutions.

“Simply saying that this one thing will take care of it, isn’t going to take care of it, because it’s complex. It requires partnership, it requires collaboration,” she said.

But, as snow hits Spokane and it still has inadequate shelter capacity for its homeless population, she’s criticized the City Council for feuding with Mayor David Condon instead of working together to solve the problem.

Beggs’ response is that it’s the City Council’s job to set policy, but it’s the mayor’s job to carry that out. The council has asked Condon to present a plan to shelter the homeless, with a promise to sign off on funding for it.

“When the mayor doesn’t do his job, we have to hold

him accountable and speak the truth...when he doesn’t do what he needs to do, I need to tell you what’s happening,” Beggs said as a KSPS debate.

Wendle embraces forming partnerships and a regional approach to end homelessness. Beggs said he’s already working on a regional shelter with leaders in Spokane County and Spokane Valley, but those conversations have been put on ice until after the election.

Wendle also questioned leaders for failing to address the capacity issue at the jail at the Rotary forum, but has called for community conversation rather than come out with a specific plan of her own.

“How we go about and define what goes inside those four walls, I think it’s a conversation for this community. I think we can do better and we can do different, but we absolutely need the space to help serve those that are suffering,” Wendle said.

There are about 300 people currently sitting in the jail who are awaiting trial but do not pose a risk to society, Beggs said. Instead of leaving them behind bars, he wants to establish a pretrial community supervision system using electronic monitoring. It would allow those accused of misdemeanors to keep their lives together – hang onto their jobs, keep their homes – and save taxpayers money. The alternative is building a bigger jail, which would cost every citizen about $3,000.

With fellow South Hill council member Lori Kinnear, Beggs has asked the city to explore the feasibility of returning the downtown police precinct to the city’s core and staff it was cops who will walk and bike the beat. Wendle has said that approach is overly simplified. If officers are going to make an arrest, they need their patrol car nearby.

Fundamentally, Wendle wants voters to ask if the city is better today than it was 3 1⁄2 years ago. She feels it isn’t, and feels it’s the result of city leadership.

Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs Age: 56 Why he’s running: Beggs hopes to win the top spot on the council amid what he believes is a wave of momentum behind the city. “Spokane is, right now, what I call ‘in play.’

It can really take the next step, and the momentum is strong. I’m someone who brings people together, especially from opposing viewpoints. I have enough knowledge with three and a half years on the council to really facilitate moving forward together.”

His pitch: In his three-plus years on the City Council, Beggs believes he has established himself as a member who brings people together from opposing viewpoints and finds compromise. Beggs has been deployed to find common ground in the city’s approach to emergency communications.

Education: Graduated from Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington. Earned a bachelor’s degree from Whitworth University in 1985 and a law degree from University of Washington School of Law in 1991.

Work experience: Beggs, an attorney, worked as the director of the Center for Justice from 2004 to 2010. He represented the family of Otto Zehm in a lawsuit against the city. Works as a private practice attorney in Spokane with Paukert & Troppmann PLLC. Political experience: Beggs was first nominated to fill a vacancy on the City Council in 2016. He won election to that same seat in 2017. He lost the race for Spokane County prosecutor in 2014.

Family: Married to Laurie Powers. Has three children.

Cindy Wendle Age: 45 Why she’s running: Cindy Wendle is running for City Council president to put people first, put politics aside, and ask why the city does the things it does.

Her pitch: Wendle’s inexperience in city politics is an asset, she believes. She has positioned herself as a nonpartisan candidate for a nonpartisan race. Wendle has pledged to be a collaborative leader who listens to citizens.

Education: Graduated from Pullman High School in 1992 and the University of Washington with a business degree in 1996.

Work experience: Co-owner, along with her husband, Chud Wendle, of Northtown Square, a shopping center opened in 2009 on the site of the former Wendle Motors dealership. Works as commercial real estate manager for Northtown Square. Previously helped Washington Trust Bank expand with new branches in Pullman, Moscow and Lewiston, before managing the main branch in Spokane.

Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Married to Chud Wendle. Has three children.

“Leaders step up, leaders take responsibility when they see things that aren’t right in this community,” she said.

Beggs said he has a history of collaboration, and his record on the council

proves it. He helped get Avista to agree to the council’s plan to receive all of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, for example. He also highlights his See PRESIDENT, 16

Prop 1 hopes to make city, Prop 2 would ban income tax Meanwhile, courts weigh union negotiations public legality of Seattle measure

By Kip Hill THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Spokane voters will be asked in November whether to make public the negotiations between public bargaining groups and city hall.

The nonprofit Better Spokane sponsored the initiative. Michael Cathcart, who is running for a seat on Spokane’s City Council, heads the pro-business group.

The proposal would make bargaining with unions representing police, firefighters, clerical and other city workers open to public scrutiny as part of a revision of the city charter. It would bring the city of Spokane in line with other governments and taxing districts in the state, including Spokane County, Lincoln and Ferry counties, that have already approved laws requiring contract talks to be public.

“The main thing is access and the ability to observe for the public, for the members of the collective bargaining units, for the media,” Cathcart said. “For anyone who has an interest.”

Cathcart said he began work to collect signatures and place the initiative on the ballot at the direction of the Better Spokane board before he decided to run for political office this summer.

Supporters of the public bargaining process, among them free-market groups like the Freedom Foundation and Washington Policy Center, argue it’s a check on government spending that has been approved by the courts.

But Joe Cavanaugh, president of Spokane Local 270, which represents many of the city’s clerical and maintenance workers, said he’s not so sure the courts have permitted such measures.

Local 270 is the largest union at Spokane City Hall and is part of the American Federation of State, County and

Municipal Employees.

Cavanaugh pointed to a 2016 Washington State Public Employee Relations Commission ruling in Lincoln County that he said isn’t definitive on the subject and suggests that both sides would need to agree before talks could be conducted publicly.

“PERC has ruled the determination whether it can be open or not is negotiable,” said Cavanaugh.

The commission’s decision did reject claims of unfair labor practices by Teamsters Local 690 after Lincoln County commissioners passed a resolution opening bargaining to the public.

The proposal would open to the public negotiations between the city and Spokane Police Guild, which have been ongoing since the current contract expired at the end of 2016. The Spokane Police Guild is currently in arbitration with the city on a new contract.

Kris Honaker, president of the Spokane Police Guild, said this week the union representing uniformed officers had not taken a position on the vote.

Cathcart said the initiative would allow public officials to observe and discuss negotiations on potentially thorny issues in the ongoing talks, including the independence of the police department’s ombudsman. That issue was also part of a ballot initiative in 2013.

“It’s important that we know, with those discussions, what’s happening with them. Are we getting to that point where the public’s going to be satisfied with the outcome?” Cathcart said.

The late Alfredo LLamedo, an activist and social worker who was critical of the city’s approaches to homelessness and the culture of the police department, testified in June in fa-

vor of the open bargaining law because of its potential effect on police bargaining.

“I support it, because I don’t think there’s enough transparency in the process, especially with the Police Guild,” LLamedo said.

Cathcart’s opponent in the November election, Tim Benn, said he was also concerned about the lack of a contract for police officers.

But he noted that the proposition dealt with talks governed by labor laws that could ensnare the city in litigation if passed.

“I think, when you’re talking about legal contracts, there are attorney-client issues,” he said. “If it passes, if there are issues inside of the initiative that cause legal trouble, due to the people that hold those contracts, there could be legal action taken.”

Tim Archer, president of Local 29, the Spokane Firefighters Union, said he hadn’t reviewed the proposition closely, but he worried that public negotiations could muddy the process.

“My only concern, really, is that we could end up with political posturing, instead of really working toward what’s optimal for both the city and the employees,” Archer said.

Catchart said the proposition doesn’t dictate the outcomes of the negotiating process and is intended only so that voters can hold their elected officials more accountable for financial decisions involving contracts.

He also said he didn’t believe holding talks about the police contract in private would hold up a process that he said is already behind schedule.

“I think nothing is worse when you shine sunshine on it,” Cathcart said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5429 kiph@spokesman.com

By Kip Hill THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Spokane would be unable to impose an income tax, like the one currently under judicial review out of Seattle, if voters pass Proposition 2 in November.

The initiative, one of two sponsored by the probusiness group Better Spokane, would be the first to outlaw such a tax as part of a city charter in Washington, said Michael Cathcart, sponsor of the initiative and a City Council candidate.

It was filed in April, three months before appellate judges ruled Seattle had authority to impose a uniform income tax but that the city’s tax on income earned over $250,000 violated the state constitution because it did not apply equally to all residents. After that ruling in July, attorneys for the city of Seattle said they would ask the state Supreme Court to review the case again in hopes the court would rule graduated income taxation is constitutional.

While passage of Proposition 2 would forbid a city income tax in Spokane, it is unlikely one would be imposed over the next four years anyway. Both candidates for Spokane City Council president, the position that would have the most say on whether the city should impose an income tax, said voters already have rejected income taxes and that they wouldn’t push for them to become law in Spokane.

Cathcart said the measure is important as a business recruitment tool for the city, given the possibility that a higher

court ruling could turn in Seattle’s favor and allow a local earnings tax to take effect.

“We’re not just not implementing an income tax, we’re actually going so far as to say, ‘No, we want to ban such a thing here,’ ” Cathcart said. “ ‘Please, come to Spokane.

Bring your great-paying, living-wage jobs to Spokane. We want those jobs here.’ ” There’s been no suggestion of an income tax in Spokane, and its approval in the city is extremely unlikely, said City Councilman Breean Beggs, who is running to serve as the next council president.

“It really is irrelevant,” said Beggs, who in the past has floated other types of taxes to pay for services, including police.

“Because Spokane’s never going to consider an income tax, at least not in my lifetime.”

Cindy Wendle, who’s running against Beggs for council president, said she opposed such a tax, citing past votes on the issue at the state level.

Washington voters have rejected 11 proposals to institute a state income tax since 1932, according to the secretary of state’s office. Supporters unsuccessfully argued the state’s dependence on business, gas and sales taxes disproportionately burdened Washington’s poorer populations.

“Time and time again, voters have said they do not support an income tax,” Wendle said in an emailed statement. “I agree with the voters that an income tax isn’t the answer to the problems we’re facing.”

Wendle did not re-

spond to a follow-up question about whether she believed the Spokane City Charter should be amended to prevent an income tax from being imposed. Beggs said he had concerns about the legal consequences of the initiative’s language and that it might inadvertently cut off other revenue streams for the city, which he said would “give him pause” before voting on the proposition.

Cathcart said he isn’t concerned that imposing a ban on an income tax would handcuff future city lawmakers trying to raise revenue for public expenses.

“We’re saying, ‘You’re not going to find your revenue by putting our city at a competitive disadvantage,’ ” Cathcart said, adding that future councils could decide to amend the charter again to allow them to tax income should such a situation arise.

Tim Benn, Cathcart’s opponent for the council seat, said he also didn’t support an income tax.

It’s an area of agreement for the two candidates who have, in the past, embraced policies and politics to the right on the political spectrum.

“I think the voters are going to deny an income tax,” Benn said. “I think I’ll be with them on that, we’re already paying too much in taxes.”

Cathcart said Better Spokane will be launching a public information campaign on that and another ballot proposition in the coming weeks. Voters citywide also will decide mayoral, City Council and school board races.

Ballots for the Nov. 5 general election will be mailed in mid-October.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5429 kiph@spokesman.com

SPECIAL 14

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE

Hopefuls want regional approach to homelessness Valley Council, Position 3

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

If voters choose challenger Lance Gurel, he hopes to shift the make up of council to more moderate and more open to new ideas. Incumbent Arne Woodard said Gurel and other more moderate candidates’ proposals go outside of the few essential duties Spokane Valley was founded to accomplish.

Gurel, an accountant, said he’d like to be part of a council that is open to suggestions and new ways of looking at things and said the current majority sometimes overrules the ideas of the three council members with whom he has more in common.

“We shouldn’t come to council with our minds made up before we hear what citizens want,” Gurel said. “Having a more moderate group on the City Council will lead to that.”

An idea Gurel would explore was a proposal to study inclusion and diversity at the city from current Councilwoman Linda Thompson.

Several other council members, including Woodard, said the city had already approved a resolution declaring Spokane Valley inclusive.

He said council members should consider taking the proposal to constituents to see if they are concerned about discrimination and inclusiveness.

“We should be willing to look at ourselves as a city and it should never be the answer that we’ve already looked at that in the past, we don't need to look at it again,” Gurel said.

Woodard, a Realtor who has owned several Spokane Valley businesses in the past, said the city only has two functions, infrastructure and public safety, and considering “social policies” is outside of the city’s mandate.

“I’m not into exploring things outside of what the city was founded on,” he said.

Spokane Valley is a contract city and is expected to spend almost $90 million next year, about 30% of which will be on public safety and 35% will be spent on capital projects. Woodard, the longest-serving

Arne Woodard

Gurel

Woodard

member on the council, said those issues are what he is focused on and the city already created a resolution saying Spokane Valley is an inclusive city.

“Tell me how you’re going to improve the Declaration of Independence,” Woodard said, “How are you going to improve wording? You disagree with discrimination or you don’t. I don’t agree with discrimination, and that’s what that resolution (says).”

He said candidates who are interested in spending more time studying social policies should move to Spokane and run for its City Council.

Woodard said the city also needs to look at long-term planned approaches to homelessness. Gurel is a member of several boards that review funding applications and address homelessness and affordable housing in the region. He said homelessness is an issue that doesn’t have city limits or borders and the only way to solve the issue long term is to work with the other governments in the area.

“It has to be regional,” Woodard said. “There’s no other answer that will get to the long term solution.”

Woodard said he would like to have a shelter close to Spokane Valley’s border, but cities need to be realistic about what types of buildings are available for them to turn into homeless shelters, and he’s also open to other locations as well.

Gurel said Spokane Valley either needs to help Spokane expand its shelter, or find a way to contract those services itself.

“While people are quibbling over how much access, low access or no low access, they need to realize that sheltering people costs less that having them on the streets, having them in our jails and having them in our hospitals,” Gurel said.

While the city of Spokane has

Age: 66 Why running: “I haven’t lost my passion for making this the best place in the state to live. I still meet with countless numbers of citizens, as well as groups, on a weekly basis to try and solve the issues they have no matter what they are, or help them find the contact they need to try and solve those issues. I’ve lived here all my life, so people know I have huge contact capability. We’re not done with the direction of the Valley yet.”

His pitch: “I have unbelievable experience, not just inside governments, but being self-employed basically for 47 years. I have an incredible amount of what I call life experience in a wide array of subjects that really help with city business.”

Education: Graduated from Gonzaga Prep in 1971 and had about a year and half of college classes at Spokane Community College.

Political experience: Woodard has served on the council for nine years and was deputy mayor. He also has served on community boards such as the Spokane Regional Transportation Council.

Work experience: Owned real estate business from 1994 to 2018.

Previously worked in construction and rebuilding homes damaged by floods or storms. He also has owned a bakery named Backburner Breads, sold bread-making equipment and owned a health food store.

Family: Married. Has seven children and 12 grandchildren.

Lance Gurel Age: 70 Why running: “Once I started going to City Council, I felt like (Woodard) was someone I had enough differences with and from that I thought I could do a better job as a City Council member than he could. I really think I’m the best person for the job.”

His pitch: “I think that as an accountant, I’m uniquely qualified to work with finances. My opponents have looked at budget issues and think we need new taxes. I find myself the least politically conservative being the person to say no, we need to use the money that we have more wisely.”

Education: Graduated from Walter Johnson Senior High School in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1966. Attended the University of Maryland for two years but did not finish a degree. Graduated with bachelor’s degree in accounting from Arkansas Tech University in 1996. Graduated with an MBA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1998.

Political experience: First-time candidate.

Work experience: Has owned an accounting business since 2006.

Previously worked as a financial analyst for Florida State University.

Worked as financial officer and director of development for Arkansas Tech University from 1995 to 2001. Previously worked as a welder, orchard manager, home rebuilder.

Family: Married, five children, 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

selected the Salvation Army to run a shelter, it has not settled on a location. Earlier discussions on homelessness have included Spokane County and Spokane Valley and the shelter was planned for the

border with Spokane Valley on Havana Street and Sprague Avenue.

Both those governments asked for a security plan and the cost of operating the shelter, before they would make a decision. Those govern-

ments have not yet approved funding for a new shelter.

Both candidates said they would like to see development, and more housing on Spokane Valley’s main corridors. Gurel said the city needs to do whatever it can to look ahead and ensure any new developments that impact the surrounding communities have enough infrastructure to support them.

“It can't grow to be the city that we want if we continue to have urban sprawl.” Gurel said. “The City Council needs to take a proactive approach to getting high density housing in our urban corridors as is part of their plan and not let development just happen wherever somebody finds cheap land.”

Gurel was endorsed by one of his former opponents Al Merkel, who did not move on after the primary election. Merkel said he supported Gurel because he committed to protecting the character of neighborhoods in Spokane Valley. Merkel ran on ensuring developers pay for the impacts they create in residential neighborhoods and hoped to primarily represent single-family occupied homes.

Adam “Smash” Smith, a professional mixed martial arts fighter and owner of a martial arts academy who also ran against Gurel and Woodard in the primary, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Woodard said he and the council have worked to limit unplanned development, some of which happened before Spokane Valley was incorporated as a city. He said he also hopes to grow the number of pocket parks in the city so people living in denser developments will have a place to build community.

City Council has also worked hard on an innovative comprehensive plan he said, which includes different ways to encourage infill and that plan includes multifamily housing on transportation corridors.

“We’re trying to stop that willynilly development,” he said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5039 rebeccawh@spokesman.com

Council candidates differ in identifying city’s issues, solutions Spokane Valley Councilwoman Brandi Peetz and challenger Michelle Rasmussen both hope to focus on public safety and a regional solution to homelessness if they win a four-year term on the City Council in November, but they differ on much else, including how to pay for infrastructure improvements and whether the city should consider adopting equity and diversity policies.

Peetz, a former 911 dispatcher who was elected in 2017, came in first in the primary with almost 47% of the vote. Rasmussen, a senior director for campus services at Eastern Washington University and a former executive assistant to the city manager, came in a close second, beating Rocky Samson to move into the general election.

Peetz said one of her biggest public safety priorities is working to bring a law enforcement academy to the area so more officers can be trained to fill vacancies in the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, which contracts with Spokane Valley to police the city.

Peetz said she also would like Spokane Valley to have its own mental health crisis response team.

The sheriff’s department and Spokane Police Department both have teams of health care professionals paired with an officer to respond to mental health emergencies. Peetz said Spokane Valley should have a team specifically assigned to Spokane Valley and hopes to include money in the budget to pay for it.

Rasmussen and Peetz agreed that homelessness has become a public safety issue in Spokane Valley.

Rasmussen said the increasing number of people living on lawns or in public places has put added pressure on law enforcement. Dealing with the issue of homelessness is difficult, she said, because Spokane Valley doesn’t have relevant laws on the books or a place to send people who are homeless.

Rasmussen said the city should revise its municipal codes to address homelessness, but should wait until after the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to weigh in on a lower court ruling that bars law enforcement from citing people for camping or sleeping on public property when there is no low-bar-

nancially, and we’re very fiscally conservative at the city, and so I’d imagine that if we did have any emergencies come up, we’ve got a lot of contingencies in place,” Peetz said. “I think we should take advan-

another station but isn’t sure if the district can afford it. “That’s always been a point of contention,” he said.

“I think the people in that area deserve a fire station. The thing is, is it financially viable to do?”

Durheim said she wants to continue her work to improve the dis-

trict. “I feel like we’ve done a good job managing our district budget,” she said.

She also has the experience necessary to do the job, Durheim said. “I’ve been in it for several years,” she said. “I feel we’ve done a good job.”

Marston said he ran against Durheim because her position was the only one on the ballot. “I don’t think she did a bad job,” he said. “Maybe it’s just time for a change. I’ll put as much work back into the community as I can. I will listen to the community.”

Brandi Peetz Peetz

Rasmussen

rier shelter space available.

“Until that decision gets looked at, that situation can’t be touched,” Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said low-barrier shelters, which don’t have restrictions on who can stay in them, can’t be the only way to address homelessness. She said she was interested in supporting a regional shelter with the city of Spokane, but that Spokane Valley also needs to look at what other communities have done and research other ways to address the problem long term.

“I’m a firm believer in starting small, testing and revising as needed,” Rasmussen said. “We don’t know if that’s going to be the answer. At this point, Seattle’s been a good example of what hasn’t been the answer. We need to look at what they’ve been throwing money at, what’s worked, what hasn’t. I think it’s a bigger picture here. We need to look at very, very many sides. I don’t think anybody has the answers.”

Peetz said she also supports joining Spokane and Spokane County in starting a regional homeless shelter and would like it to be located at the location proposed earlier this summer, at the former Grocery Outlet at Havana Street and East Sprague Avenue.

“I would be more interested in a regional approach with the county and the city, because that’s something we need to get on top of right now,” Peetz said. “If we do not get on board with this approach, I feel like the city’s going to miss the boat, and we’ll have to come up with funds ourselves.”

Peetz and Rasmussen differ on how Spokane Valley should pay for street repairs. One of the city’s main sources of revenue supporting those projects – the phone tax – has dropped signicantly in recent years as residents cancel their landlines.

Peetz, who has supported using the city’s surplus revenue to pay for roads, said she would consider a new plan to pay for roads once there is a downturn in the economy and paying for roads becomes an issue.

Four Mound and Coulee Hite Road to add to the district’s two existing Continued from 11 stations, which Durheim supports.

It likely would be a small garage and countable to the community for the volunteers who live near the location could respond from there, money spent on training?”

There has been a push in recent she said.

Marston said he likes the idea of years to put in a small station near

FIRE DISTRICT 5

She said there is currently enough surplus to pay for roads and that the city should avoid looking for more money if it has some it isn’t spending.

“We’re in such a good place fi-

tage of that and use the money that we have.”

Rasmussen called Peetz’s suggestion to continue to use surplus money “ludicrous” and said it doesn’t offer a long-term solution.

She said she would go to voters through community forums to hear how they would like to pay for roads. If the public said they did not want to pay for better roads, Rasmussen said she would respect the public’s wishes and forgo road repairs until the demand was there.

“It’s their choice,” she said. “The pavement preservation would be narrowed down to the revenues we have, whatever that is. In a downturn, there wouldn’t be much pavement preservation.”

She said she did not yet have a plan if residents decide they are willing to pay for better roads.

The candidates also differed in their response to recent calls from residents and area activist groups for the Spokane Valley City Council to consider a policy of equity and inclusion. Those calls have come in response to tense and awkward exchanges about race at recent City Council meetings and to reporting about controversial Spokane Valley state Rep. Matt Shea.

Spokane Valley passed a resolution in 2017 declaring Spokane Valley an inclusive city and saying discrimination was not allowed, but some council members, such as Linda Thompson, said this summer that the city should take another look at it after recent events and to repair the perception of Spokane Valley across the region.

Peetz said looking at the city’s policies, especially after calls from some citizens, couldn’t hurt.

“It’s something we should at least entertain,” Peetz said. “That doesn’t mean we have to change anything, that doesn’t mean that we aren’t inclusive, that just means we need to take the feedback people are giving us and we need to validate people’s concerns. We just want people to know this is a community where they can feel safe.”

Rasmussen said the city already has policies prohibiting discrimination against the public and city employees. And she emphasized that the City Council already has approved a policy declaring Spokane Valley inclusive.

“What do we hope to gain by rewordsmithing it?” she said.

Valley Council, Position 2

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Age: 32 Her words: “Experience really matters. When I first got elected, I had a lot of skills and background that helped me get through, but, ultimately, nothing can replace experience. Unless you’ve been a council member, no matter how much you get involved, you just don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and how much of a job it really is.”

Her pitch: “The reason I’m running for re-election is because I believe our city deserves good representation. I feel like I am doing a really good job, and I want to continue, because it’s important – especially since our city is getting bigger – that we continue going in a positive direction.”

Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and sociology from Gonzaga University and an associate’s degree from Spokane Community College.

Political experience: Has served on the Spokane Valley City Council since 2017. Former vice president of student government at Spokane Community College.

Work experience: Former office manager for Stahl Optical. Was a 911 operator and program support specialist at Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council. Served on the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office’s Citizens Advisory Board.

Family: Married.

Michelle Rasmussen Age: 61 Her words: “What could we do to build more revenues to spread the wealth? That is economic growth, and I would move that forward so we can continue the revenues coming in to be able to help support additional programs, such as pavement preservation.”

Her pitch: “The city is doing really well, but I see some things that are a little bit of a concern in keeping us fiscally conservative. And with the planning processes and my experience, I think I’ve got a little bit of an edge there, because I was on the inside knowing it from a staff perspective and the outside of it from a planning commission perspective.”

Education: Earned bachelor’s degree in business and organizational management from Whitworth University.

Political experience: Has served on the Spokane Valley Planning Commission for three years and served as chairwoman last year. Serves on the state Department of Transportation’s Transportation Demand Management Technical Committee and on the Spokane Transit Authority’s Citizen Advisory Committee.

Work experience: Senior director for campus services, parking and transportation at Eastern Washington University. Former director of parking and transportation services at EWU. Worked for the city of Spokane Valley as an executive assistant to the city and deputy city managers. Worked for private companies for more than 25 years and owned a small remodel construction and surround-sound company with her husband.

Family: Married. Has two children and one grandson.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 15

VOTERS’ GUIDE

Race to represent NW Spokane pits candidates with different styles FRANCIS

RT BL HW VD E . ST

1 MI LE

Spokane

DIVISION

ASH

WELLESLEY

NO

N

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VE FI ILE M

A S S E M B LY

By Adam Shanks

e an ok Sp iver R

Karen Stratton shows up.

Whether or not a constituent will vote for her, even if they outright dislike her, Stratton pledges to sit down with anyone, grab a cup of coffee and work through an issue.

“You may not like who I am, but I’m here to help, and if there’s something I can do, I will, and if I can’t, I will tell you,” Stratton said.

But Andy Rathbun, Stratton’s opponent in her reelection bid to represent northwest Spokane on City Council, questions why she hasn’t been able to hash out her differences with the office down the hall.

“She’s almost proud of the fact that she won’t speak to the mayor,” Rathbun said. “How can you tackle all of the complex issues facing the city when your legislator and executive can’t even talk to each other?”

Stratton is running on her record of protecting city employees, fighting against development in northwest Spokane neighborhoods, and being accessible to constituents as she seeks a second term in office. At times, that path has put her at odds with the city’s executive branch.

Rathbun, a retired Air Force veteran who touts his longtime involvement in the West Central community, applies his military training to city problem solving – focusing on collaboration.

“We get together, we solve problems,” Rathbun said.

Rathbun senses a change is in the air in Spokane politics. He said that’s reflected in the number of candidates who sought election this year, and the fact that only one incumbent council candidate – Lori Kinnear – topped 50% in the primary election.

“I’ve been watching what’s been going on in the City Council for a long time.

I think we can do better,” Rathbun said.

In knocking on the doors of more than 4,000 homes, Rathbun said property crime, homelessness, infrastructure and traffic are among northwest Spokane residents’ primary concerns.

As a longtime member of the board of directors of the West Central Community Center, Rathbun helped West Central organize to combat crime and encourage community policing. To address crime downtown, Rathbun said the approach should be similar.

“We need to have more of a police presence and a community-oriented approach,” Rathbun said.

Stratton, who positions herself as neighborhood-focused, would support an enhancement of neighborhood resource officers.

“That’s an opportunity for residents to build relationships. They can go to a C.O.P.S. shop and report something, and they don’t have to dial 911 or crime check,” Stratton said, referring to neighborhood offices of Spokane Community Oriented Policing Services.

The candidates also have sought to respond to residents’ concerns about homelessness.

It’s not a crime to be homeless, Rathbun said. People should be held personally accountable but also offered services like mental health or addiction treatment.

“Some people are giving the homeless a very bad name due to very bad behaviors downtown,” Rathbun said. “There comes a point where jail is the correct response for a small portion of what’s going on down there.”

Rathbun supports a new booking facility to reduce delays after arrests, and said there needs to be more space in the jail – whether it’s made by addressing bail policy or improving technology for tracking people accused of lower-level crimes before their case is resolved.

“Even if we built (a new jail) right now, it’s going to be four years before it’s available. We need help now,” Rathbun said.

SPOKANE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3

AN DI IN AIL TR

By Adam Shanks THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

90

Spokane International Airport

Source: City of Spokane

MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Spokane City Council, Northwest District Karen Stratton Age: 60 Education: Graduated from Marycliff High School in 1977.

Earned bachelor’s degree in communications and general studies from Eastern Washington University in 1989.

Work experience: Worked at Washington State University Spokane and the Community Colleges of Spokane. Served as a clerk in the Spokane city clerk's office.

Political experience: Incumbent councilwoman.

Appointed to complete term of Steve Salvatori in 2014.

Former aide to Mayors Jim West and Mary Verner. Former legislative aide in the Washington state House.

Family: Married. One adult son. Her mother, Lois Stratton, was a legislator in Olympia as a Democrat from 1979 to 1993, and her father, Alan Stratton, was a member of the Spokane City Council from 1965 to 1975.

Neighborhood: Audubon-Downriver

Andy Rathbun Age: 55 Education: Earned a bachelor's degree in physical sciences from Kansas State University in 1987. Completed some coursework at Washington State University. Graduated from Richland (Washington) High School in 1982.

Political experience: Made list of finalists for appointment to District 3 council seat in 2006, after shuffle at City Hall caused by Mayor Jim West's resignation.

Longtime member of the West Central Community Center board of directors, as well as a member of the West Central neighborhood council.

Work experience: Retired from the U.S. Air Force in October after a nearly 32-year military career. Left the service with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Family: Married. Three daughters. Three grandchildren.

Neighborhood: West Central

Stratton

Kinnear and Kiepe seek South Hill seat

Rathbun

Stratton attributes the rise in homelessness to a lack of affordable housing.

She was one of several members of the council to introduce a resolution last week imploring the mayor to fund the lease or purchase of a new emergency homeless shelter, with a promise to fund it through city reserves.

“We need to have a central service area for homeless.

I’m not saying it has to be on Riverside. I know that there’s a big concern with businesses, I understand it,” Stratton said. “But we have to have a central area where people can get all kinds of services, and they’re not having to get on buses.”

Spokane needs more affordable housing and other housing options, said Stratton, who believes development should be focused along central corridors instead of in neighborhoods near the city’s borders.

Stratton highlights her opposition to a planned development in Indian Trail during her first term in office.

“People moved to Indian Trail and Five Mile because they didn’t need to be five minutes from downtown.

Their expectation up there is that they will have bigger lots and they won’t have traffic issues. Well, they’re having them because of all of the development,” Stratton said.

Many people qualify for housing assistance, but still can’t find a place to live.

With Stratton’s support, the city also adopted a law to prevent landlords from flatly rejecting to consider any applicant with a section 8 housing choice voucher.

Rathbun agrees that the city needs more housing, but supports a slightly different approach.

“We have to build up and out into the surrounding areas. We need lots of homes, we need it all through the housing ladder – we need houses of all types,” Rathbun said. “We

need to build up, but we also need to build out. There is no other solution.”

To mitigate the impact of developments in the northwest, Rathbun proposed solutions like building a road connecting Nine Mile Road and Indian Trail Road around the perimeter of a capped landfill, which he said would provide travelers with another outlet.

After decades of delays, Rathbun said it’s also imperative that the North Spokane Corridor be completed.

“That would serve as an extra thoroughfare, plus it would take all of the commercial traffic off of our north-south arterials that we’re constantly fighting to rehabilitate because of all the heavy traffic and congestion,” Rathbun said.

As a former city employee herself, advocating for city employees has been a hallmark of Stratton’s tenure in office. When she arrived in office, she was “very concerned about employee environment and the morale and health of our employees, and I’ve maintained that.”

Recently, she has sharply criticized Mayor David Condon’s proposed migration to a new regional emergency communications system, expressing concern about the impact it would have on city dispatchers.

Amid her re-election campaign, Stratton has become the subject of an ethics complaint due to her support of a Spokane marijuana retailer who hoped to open a location in Pasco.

Stratton, who operates a marijuana production business with her husband and other family members, said she is prepared to answer any questions about the complaint and stands by her decision to write the letter of support for Lucky Leaf to Pasco officials on city letterhead.

“I would do it again for any business,” Stratton said, arguing that her production business can not sell directly to a retailer like Lucky Leaf and that she did not stand to gain financially from the retailer’s success.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5136 adams@spokesman.com

Lori Kinnear’s arms are weighed down with a thick binder.

Inside is the city’s 1,000plus-page comprehensive plan, but it doubles as Kinnear’s campaign platform as she seeks a second term representing the South Hill on the Spokane City Council.

“This is our blueprint,” Kinnear said. “Nobody in this campaign is talking about our comprehensive plan.”

If people read the plan, which was approved in 2017, Kinnear argued, they would understand why the city has prioritized development density in centers and corridors, or why transit is a key part of planning.

“It’s all here, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We’ve already done the work. Now we just have to follow what it says,” Kinnear said.

Her opponent, Tony Kiepe, wonders why the ci-

Kiepe

Kinnear

ty wouldn’t change course in the face of a housing crisis, increasing rent and miles of unpaved roads.

“We have to have some leeway ... we need to make some adjustments,” Kiepe said.

The race has pitted Kinnear, a pensive leader with a long-term outlook, against Kiepe, who presents himself as an outsider who will offer an alternative voice on a mostly liberal Spokane City Council.

In comparison to some of her seatmates on the dais, Kinnear is hesitant to voice a strong opinion and weigh in without researching a topic.

Kiepe embraces being an enigma – a Spokane candidate with a Memphis accent, a climate change de-

nier with solar panels on his roof, and, if he wins in November, a staunch conservative on what has otherwise been a liberal city council.

“With 6-to-1, you can’t have a conversation. It’s not fair for the city,” Kiepe said.

His pitch to voters is simple.

“Are you happy with the direction the city’s going with the homeless? Have you felt the homeless has increased over the last four years? Do you feel safer going downtown in the last four years? If not, you need to vote for Tony Kiepe,” he said.

For Kinnear, homelessness and concerns about public safety are issues that did not appear overnight and won’t be solved overnight. She has sponsored a resolution to call for more proactive community policing downtown and wants the city to explore the feasibility of a new downSee DISTRICT 2, 16

The race to replace Fagan heats up

By Adam Shanks THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

With Mike Fagan reaching his two-term limit, this year’s city election was poised to test whether the northeast district would continue to send a conservative representative to the Spokane City Council.

But that question will not be answered in November, because it already was in August.

Two right-of-center candidates emerged after the primary election from a crowded field of seven candidates vying to replace Fagan, a pillar of conservative values on an otherwise liberal city council.

Now, instead of touting their conservative bona fides, Michael Cathcart and Tim Benn are faced with differentiating themselves from the other, and each is focused on convincing voters in neighborhoods like Hillyard and Bemiss that he is the best replacement for Fagan.

Benn, who chairs the Minnehaha Neighborhood Council, leans on his record of community involvement in the district and as the longtime co-owner of Little Precious Ones day care,

Benn

Cathcart

which he operates with his wife, Shannon, out of their home on Euclid Avenue.

“We need someone in that seat who’s going to represent the people, not special interests,” Benn said.

“My special interests are the residents in District 1.”

Benn said his opponent only recently moved into the district, in a newer community in a neighborhood (Shiloh Hills) with a lower crime rate and better streets than his neighborhood.

“He’s kind of disconnected from where a lot of the real issues are,” Benn said.

Cathcart said he’s lived in the district for three years and, before that, lived just a few blocks away.

“I own my home here, this is where I’m going to raise my family. This is absolutely my home and I definitely feel connected to the issues we’re facing,” Cathcart said.

Cathcart separated himself from Benn by noting that the latter has run for office several times unsuccessfully – including a loss to the district’s other representative, Kate Burke, in 2017. Cathcart said he brings a level of professionalism to the race and key experience as someone who has worked in constituent relations on behalf of a state senator.

“I fit the needs of our community, and I don’t think there’s anybody that’s as passionate as I am,” Cathcart said.

Cathcart offers himself to voters as a “common sense candidate.”

“I’m somebody that can build the necessary relationships to actually get policies done, to actually get stuff for our district, but I’ve also said that I fight like hell if we are mistreated,” Cathcart said.

Benn co-hosted the Right Spokane Perspective radio show with Fagan for more than three years and has earned the latter’s endorsement.

“Tim has been here. He knows the people, the people know Tim. He knows See DISTRICT 1, 16

Re-Elect Lori Kinnear Spokane City Council Responsible Leadership for Spokane

Where I Stand • Public Safety – Voted funding 25 additional police officers • Vibrant Neighborhoods – Sponsored Historic Preservation Ordinance to protect our unique neighborhoods • Environmental Responsibility – Sponsored Urban Forestry Ordinance update to increase our tree canopy

www.peopleforlorikinnear.com P.O. Box 4531, Spokane, WA 99220 509-768-4993 Paid for by People for Lori Kinnear

SPECIAL 16

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE N E VA D A

1 MILE

MARKET

EUCLID EN TR S P R AG U E 90

Spokane International Airport

Source: City of Spokane

T

H AVA N A

N

Spokane River

MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

to be, so I get really frustrated when people are promising 20 officers,” Cathcart said. “That sounds great, but we don’t have a contract, so how can you promise 20?”

Although city statistics show that crime is decreasing – both property and violent crime are more than 15% lower since this point last year, according to the most recently available city data – Cathcart said those figures are misleading.

“People have just stopped reporting,” Cathcart said.

Benn also has made addressing property crime a top priority. It’s not just larger items that residents are having stolen, it’s solar lights displayed in gardens and other small things, Benn said.

“The biggest thing we need to do to address it is deal with the drug problem we have, because a lot of people are stealing for their drugs,” Benn said.

The Spokane Community Oriented Policing Services program, which provides volunteers to boost police programs, should be supported and built up, and neighborhood watches should be encouraged, Benn argued.

Neighborhood councils are too frequently ignored by city leaders, and neighborhood residents

should be encouraged to take action in their own community and used as a helping hand for police.

“Community policing is hard to do, but we need to embolden them to do that. If we let them intimidate us, they’re going to run our neighborhoods. I don’t think you want meth addicts running your neighborhoods,” Benn said.

Unlike Cathcart, Benn supported the public safety levy.

To mitigate homelessness, Benn doesn’t “think it’s compassionate to have people who have mental illness incarcerated with criminals.”

“The mentally ill that are abandoned on our streets are being victimized by criminals and drug dealers, so I think we need to ask the state to do their job in the mental health area,” Benn said.

But some mental health problems are drug-induced, Benn said, adding that he’s personally known people who have fallen to drug use.

Though some advocate for an end to the war on drugs, Benn said that approach has led to “open drug use.”

“You can’t go to the pharmacy and write yourself a prescription. There’s a reason why there’s limitations to access, the same reason why we have a drinking age

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5136 adams@spokesman.com

Tony Kiepe

Spokane 1 MI LE

Spokane River

Airway Heights 90

44TH

195

R AY

2

Spokane International M C FA R L A N E Airport

29TH 37TH

H AVA N A

N

ND

role in the city’s efforts regarding water conservation and strategic planning.

“If you ask people in the amdinistration or council or community whether I have made things better than if I wasn’t there, they would agree,” Beggs said.

But Wendle said Beggs’ proposals come from “an

WELLESLEY

and everything else. We need to control access to drugs by going after the suppliers,” Benn said.

The focus should not be going after daily users, but those who supply them, Benn added.

Cathcart advocated for compassion in addressing homelessness, but said the city should take a “tough love” approach and push people into drug addiction treatment, job training, or mental health services – whichever is best-suited for the individual.

“More accountability in our homelessness programs is the answer. When we’re spending $22 million every two years on this and the numbers are getting worse, not better, we have to change course,” Cathcart said.

Cathcart would support construction of a new jail, but believes part of the bond that would fund it should be set aside for mental health and drug treatment.

Both candidates have also highlighted the district’s infrastructure needs.

The city should adopt a 20-year cycle for maintenace of its residential streets – fixing 5% every year – which in northeast Spokane could use some extra attention, Cathcart argues. The candidate also said the city should analyze the durability of the materials it uses for infrastructure to improve its durability.

“Our streets are just terrible and it doesn’t feel like we get the same treatment,” Cathcart said.

Benn said that under its current leadership, the northeast district is not getting its fair share of the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program funds, which are set aside to improve transportation safety in neighborhoods.

“There’s a number of areas we need to have addressed,” Benn said.

Spokane City Council, South District

DR.

Continued from 13

SPOKANE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2

GRA

PRESIDENT

“We can’t continue to have property crime that goes uninvestigated, we can’t continue to have robberies in progress that are deemed low-priority and we don’t have enough officers to respond,” Cathcart said.

But Cathcart did not support the public safety levy approved by voters earlier this year, which provided funding to retain 10 officers and add 20 police officers, partly because the city is still negotiating a new contract with the Spokane Police Guild.

“We don’t know what the cost of a new officer is going

HIGH

town police precinct as more officers are added thanks to a public safety levy she supported earlier this year.

Personally, Kinnear feels safe downtown. She makes a distinction between feeling unsafe and uncomfortable.

“That’s me. I’m not going to put that on anybody else and say ‘you should feel safe too.’ That’s not for me to say,” Kinnear said. “If you really feel unsafe, that’s a bigger issue than (being) uncomfortable. Sometimes you feeling uncomfortable, it’s up to you to get to your comfort level. Feeling unsafe is something that we as a city we should address.”

Kiepe laments that people on the South Hill no longer feel safe walking downtown. He rejects data that shows more people in the Spokane area are homeless because of a family conflict or lack of income and believes that it is a problem directly tied to addiction.

He warned against enabling addicts with programs like needle exchanges or safe injection sites, and advocated the city “go after” drug dealers. He also believes addicts need to be held “accountable.”

“Our homeless situation is not because of high rent.

Some people can’t pay their rent, yes, they do move out.

But the homeless crisis is because (of) drug addiction, and with drug addiction, you don’t care about paying your rent. That’s not a priority, it’s just that next hit,” Kiepe said.

Kiepe also supports construction of a new jail with larger capacity.

“We’ve got to change that with more presence in our police, walking downtown, and if you’re doing drugs,

would be to support law enforcement with additional resources and ensuring that property crimes are thoroughly investigated, while also backing strong independent oversight of the department.

The police department needs to add about 50 more officers, over time, to reach the proper staffing level, Cathcart argues. That funding for additional officers could be found within the city budget – which he wants to “take a scalpel” to – but could otherwise be funded through another levy “as a last resort.”

DIVISION

Continued from 15

Michael Cathcart Age: 33 Education: Received a bachelor’s degree in media and theater arts from Montana State University in 2006.

Graduated from University High School in 2003.

Work experience: Executive director of pro-business group Better Spokane. Former government affairs director for the Spokane Homebuilders Association. Worked as legislative aide for state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, 2011-2012.

Political experience: First run for public office. Served as chair and vice-chair of Emerson-Garfield neighborhood council. Ran campaigns against divisive Community Bill of Rights (Envision Spokane) in 2009 and the state Senate campaign for Baumgartner in 2010.

Family: Single Neighborhood: Shiloh Hills

CRAIG

DISTRICT 2

Age: 41 Education: Graduated from Faith Christian Academy in 1996. Received associate degrees from Spokane Community College in general business, business management and marketing in 2005. Received child development associate’s degree from Blue Prints for Learning in 2011.

Work experience: Owns a child day care center, Little Precious Ones, with his wife in the Minnehaha neighborhood of North Spokane.

Political experience: Defeated in 2017 campaign for the northeast district seat by City Councilwoman Kate Burke.

Defeated in 2012 and 2014 general elections as Republican candidate to represent Legislative District 3 in Washington House of Representatives, both to Marcus Riccelli. Current chairman of Minnehaha Neighborhood Council.

Family: Married. Two adult sons, and a daughter in high school.

Neighborhood: Minnehaha

395

FRANCIS

Spokane

Tim Benn

DIVISION

Continued from 15 the businesses, the businesses know Tim. To have an outsider come in, kind of like what (Burke) did several years ago, I think really captured the attention of a lot of people in District One,” Fagan said.

Benn would be “the same type of,” council member, “if not even better,” than he was, Fagan said.

Though Benn has Fagan’s endorsement, Cathcart boasts a list of endorsements that includes the Spokane Association of Realtors, Spokane Home Builders Association, as well as local leaders like Spokane County Commissioner Al French – who previously represented the district when he served on the City Council, and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

And as of the most recent filings, Cathcart has received nearly double the campaign contributions that Benn has.

Cathcart is as surprised as anyone to see his name on the ballot.

Though long involved in politics – he previously worked as a legislative aide in the state Senate and runs Better Spokane, a nonprofit that advocates for commercial interests – Cathcart didn’t make the decision to jump into the race until the week of the candidate filing deadline after analyzing the various other candidates in the district.

“I just really felt like there wasn’t a candidate there who could win the seat, and, I thought, represent the values we need represented in City Hall,” Cathcart said.

The changes Benn has seen in 20 years in Minnehaha are more negative than positive, and he’s motivated to run to represent the residents of northeast Spokane.

“I’ve been here a long time, and I need to give back,” Benn said.

Cathcart’s top priority

SPOKANE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1

Spokane City Council, Northeast District

DISTRICT 1

57TH

Source: City of Spokane MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Age: 57 Education: Attended high school in Memphis, Tennessee. Earned a bachelor degree in biology, with minors in chemistry and business from the University of Memphis, followed by a master's of business administration from the same school in 1996.

Work experience: Kiepe moved to Spokane in 2000 and worked as director of sales at Hollister-Stier, but he was laid off when Jubilant bought the company. He then owned Rapid Refuel, an ink and toner replacement business, before shutting down the business and becoming a health care consultant for AristaPoint. He has since retired and is campaigning full-time.

Political experience: Kiepe unsuccessfully sought appointment to the City Council in 2016. He ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2017.

Family: Kiepe and his wife, Diane, have been married for 31 years. They have four children.

Neighborhood: Southgate

defecating on the street, you’ve got to enforce that,” Kiepe said.

Police are addressing crime, Kinnear argued.

Crime is down more than 15% through Sept. 21 compared to the same point in 2018, according to the city’s most recent crime data.

“The police are on top of that, they’re dealing with it, they’re mitigating it,” Kinnear said.

The city has made a “huge dent” in housing people, but it still has work to do in confronting addiction, Kinnear said.

“You can’t just force people into rehab, it won’t work,” Kinnear said.

“There’s piles of data that shows that.”

To address the housing crisis, Kiepe said the city should sit down with developers and learn what’s tying their hands. He criticized the City Council for being hesitant to extend water service outside boundaries approved for urban growth.

“We have a housing crisis right now, and yet they stopped the development of houses being built,” Kiepe said.

Kiepe advocated for more

housing inventory, but not necessarily more density – a clear distinction with Kinnear.

“I don’t want to be New York City. I moved to Spokane because it was a little secret – the best secret in the country,” Kiepe said.

Kinnear has advocated for policies that prioritize density along the city’s centers and corridors. She sits on the Spokane Transit Authority board and is an ardent supporter of public transit, which she said is financially efficient. She also supports making Spokane a more bikeable city.

“For people who are comfortable biking, it should be safe,” she said.

“We don’t need to put a lot of money into some of these things, we just need to be more thoughtful about how we plan.”

As Spokane continues to grow, Kinnear’s vision for its future looks a lot like its past. Go back a century and buildings on Market Street and East Sprague Avenue were full of tenants living above their storefronts.

Drive down Monroe Street today and where some would see a parking lot, Kinnear sees an oppor-

tunity for multiuse development with a mix of retail businesses and residential units.

“We strayed away from it because we moved to the suburbs because we had a car. It’s time to rethink how we want to get back to that model. Not only does it work, it saves money,” Kinnear said.

Kiepe noted the miles of unpaved roads in Spokane.

“We need to emphasize public safety first, after public safety, infrastructure.

Everything else is extra,” Kiepe said.

The candidates also sharply diverge on the city’s

role in climate change, which Kiepe does not believe in despite overwhelming evidence.

Kinnear is sponsoring an update to the city’s urban forestry ordinance, which seeks to have 30% of Spokane under tree canopy by 2030. She says the proposal is environmentally beneficial and also will save homeowners on heating and cooling costs by reducing the “heat island effect,” which is when urban environments are warmer than surrounding areas.

“Those are the sorts of things we can do as a community. We can set an ex-

ample. We’re not going to solve all of our issues by ourselves, certainly not. But we can help mitigate, and we can control our little part of the universe,” Kinnear said.

Though he does not believe the city should play a role in combating climate change, Kiepe said its assets should be preserved.

“We need to make sure our river is clean, we need to make sure we’re not emitting pollution in the streets or the air,” Kiepe said.

ideological perspective,” but the city needs “a leader that’s gong to listen and actually bring the correct solution.”

“I think you need a different type of thinking, someone who doesn’t bring that political ideology with (them),” Wendle said.

Wendle has questioned Beggs’ tenure on the council, and has recently honed in on Beggs’ position on the city’s sit and lie law, which

bars people from sitting or lying on downtown sidewalks during the daytime.

As protestors camped outside City Hall, Beggs supported the Spokane City Council’s decision in 2018 to temporarily suspend the sit and lie ordinance – a move sharply criticized by Mayor David Condon.

Beggs explained at the Rotary debate that the suspension was spurred because there was concern

that the sit and lie law was still being enforced and homeless people were being harassed by police, even though the city did not have adequate shelter capacity to enforce the law.

Last November, Beggs told The Spokesman-Review that he would propose amendments to the city’s sit-lie ordinance that would focus the law more clearly on specific behaviors, such as blocking a city sidewalk.

This year Beggs has stood behind the sit-lie ordinance and said it does not need to be suspended.

Beggs said his position has actually been consistent.

He feels “we should use our limited police resources on people that are actually blocking the sidewalk” or harrassing people, not those who are just sitting back against a building or wall.

“I don’t think that’s a good use of public resourc-

es. That has always been my position,” Beggs said.

Still, he has not carried through and proposed amendments to the city’s laws to make them reflect his views. Currently, it is illegal to sit or lie on a downtown city sidewalk, regardless of the level of obstruction it causes.

Lori Kinnear Age: 66 Education: Graduated from Palo Alto High School in California in 1971. Earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Nevada-Reno in 1978. Earned an associate’s degree in applied science horticulture from South Seattle Community College in 1994.

Work experience: Served as a small-business adviser for Women’s Business Center and is a former manager of the YWCA Opportunity Center, which teaches job skills to low-income women.

Political experience: Kinnear worked as a legislative assistant to two former city council members, Amber Waldref and Richard Rush, prior to her election to a first term on the council in 2015.

Family: Married Neighborhood: Manito/Cannon Hill

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5136 adams@spokesman.com

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5136 adams@spokesman.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 17

VOTERS GUIDE

Incumbent Bowman seeks community partnerships Challenger wants to continue service, his candidate statement says

By Ian Davis-Leonard

Airway Heights City Council, Position 5

FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

As Airway Heights continues to grow, a city council incumbent has his eyes set on increasing activities for the youth, mitigating traffic and fixing a housing shortage.

After four years in office, Larry Bowman, 36, is seeking re-election. He is challenged by Jared Lacambra, an electrical engineer and project manager. Lacambra did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Bowman, a 13-year Air Force veteran, has lived in Airway Heights for 11 years.

He owns Coffee Corner on Fairchild Air Force Base.

While he recognizes the burden of Airway Heights growth, Bowman also views it as an opportunity.

“There is so much we can do with the growth that is going on out here,”

Larry Bowman

Bowman

Lacambra

he said.

To solve Airway Heights’ traffic crunch, Bowman said he would rely on the expertise of the staff in place, including the city’s public works director, to enact a plan that channels traffic away from one source and reduces the flow of cars to U.S. Highway 2.

Bowman also outlined the importance of continuing to improve roadways, a task which he said would require outside assistance.

“We need help, we can’t fund everything ourselves,” Bowman said. He plans to seek extra funding from the Department of

Age: 36 Education: Graduated from Lindhurst High School in Marysville, California in 2001. Received bachelor’s in accounting from American InterContinental University.

Work experience: Served in the Air Force for 13 years.

Owns the Coffee Corner on Fairchild Air Force Base.

Political experience: Has served on Airway Heights City Council since 2015.

Family: Single. Has two children.

Jared Lacambra Editor’s note: Lacambra did not respond to multiple requests for information. According to his candidate statement provided to the county election’s office, he is an electrical engineer and project manager with a degree in electrical engineering from Eastern Washington University.

Transportation to lessen the financial burden on the citizens of Airway Heights.

“It is (the council’s) responsibility to reach out for those other options,” Bow-

Public office newbies tackle growth issues in Airway Heights

By Emma Epperly THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Two first-time candidates are vying for a seat on the Airway Heights City Council as growth flourishes in the West Plains.

Sarah Slater, 35, plans to focus on education Morton and the next generation of citizens if she gets elected.

She recently became a paraeducator at Slater Sunset Elementary where three of her children also attend and continues to be involved in the Parent Teacher Organization.

“It’s just one more way that I get to connect with the parents and the students,” Slater said.

After moving forward in the August primary, Slater felt an “extra boost of confidence.”

“It means that people believe that I can do this job as much as I believe I can do this job,” Slater said.

Jennifer Morton, 37, hopes to continue “listening and learning,” when it comes to serving on City Council.

After the primary, Morton said in an email, “I felt overwhelmed with gratitude by the response from our amazing voters.”

Morton spent much of her adult life in school earning multiple degrees and finished her masters in business administration at Eastern Washington University earlier this year.

By serving on City Council, Morton hopes to guide the city through this period of massive growth, she said.

“The growth is going to be pretty substantial in what sounds like a short amount of time,” Morton said.

She noted that big businesses like Amazon opening in the area and changes at Fairchild Air Force Base also will bring more people to the West Plains.

“After talking with some fellow citizens, the lack of a medical center and the increase in petty crime has consistently come up,” Morton said in an email. “I plan to work towards finding solutions concerning these issues.”

With a projected influx of residents in Airway Heights, the Cheney School District has signed a purchase sale agreement on land for a new elementary school in Airway Heights.

Earlier this summer, Morton said school redistricting could be an option

Airway Heights City Council, Position 7 Sarah Slater Age: 35 Education: Earned GED from Columbia Basin College in 2002.

Work experience: Para-educator at Sunset Elementary, Substitute teacher in the Cheney School District; managed the Absolute Aviation purchasing department from 2006 to 2009; has served as kids ministry director at Heights Church since 2016.

President of the Sunset Elementary Parent Teacher Organization since 2017.

Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Married to Todd Slater. They have four children.

Jennifer Morton Age: 37 Education: Graduated from Davenport High School in 2001. Earned bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Eastern Washington University in 2009 and master’s degrees in public administration in 2011 and business administration in 2019.

Work experience: Has 16 years of military service in the Army Reserve, Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard. Previously worked as executive assistant to the Office of the Mayor for the city of Spokane. Veteran mentor, sexual assault response facilitator, Rogers High School Anti-bullying After School Program, College In-residence Volunteer Program, Special Olympics volunteer, Youth for Christ volunteer, Spokane Community Court volunteer Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Single.

to address the growth.

Slater is supportive of the Cheney Public Schools property tax levy that would spend about $1.74 million on land for a new elementary school.

“Well my hopes and goals would be that everything passes and the school is built because the growth that’s been out here on the West Plains has just been phenomenal,” Slater said.

In 2017, the water in Airway Heights was deemed unsafe due to high levels of contamination linked to chemical use at Fairchild.

When it comes to water contamination in Airway Heights, Slater said she has been following the updates from the city and feels it’s being handled appropriately.

Water from Spokane helped flush out the pipes and water was deemed safe to drink within weeks.

When it comes to the abundant road construction in Airway Heights, “everything is going about as good as it can go,” Slater said.

A long term plan to address the water problem would help give community members reassurance that water will continue to be safe to drink, Morton said.

Over the last year, road construction has become common place in the area with projects like the Washington State Depart-

ment of Transportation raised median projection on the highway near Hayford Road and Sunset Highway.

Slater said the construction is important for development even though it can be frustrating, she said.

“You can’t really put in new businesses and things without moving stuff around a bit and inconveniencing people for a little bit,” Slater said.

Morton hopes that her hardworking mentality will win over the community.

“The citizens of Airway Heights are looking for a hardworking dedicated leader to be their voice and advocate in addressing issues that matter to them and their community,” said Morton in an email. “I believe that I am that person at this time and will be a great fit for the position.”

Slater said she has focused on connecting with individuals in the community.

“I live here. I’m in this community every day,” Slater said. “I’m raising my family in this community and I just have a heart for everything here and all the people here. I think those ties to this community make me the best person for the position.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5122 emmae@spokesman.com

man said.

Partnership also will be key to Bowman’s plans for creating additional housing in the community.

Bowman said it would be

beneficial to partner with the the Kalispel and Spokane tribes.

“There has been talks of developments that they are projecting into the future and how can we partner and team with them to ensure that we do it right and get it right for our city, that we have the best options available,” Bowman said.

As a father of two children growing up in Airway Heights, Bowman is hopeful the city’s expansion can be a catalyst for delivering programs to the youth.

“I want to see the youth of Airway Heights have resources they’ve never had,” he said.

While on the council, Bowman assisted in garnering the votes and making the push to complete the voter-approved $17 million Airway Heights Recreation Center that opened in May. Bowman said the project’s completion is an example of the camaraderie the council has created and a sign of what consistency

in the position can bring to the city.

“I think the citizens trust us to do what is in their best interest, and I want to continue it,” Bowman said.

“I love the work, I love Airway Heights, I truly love the people, and this is where my kids live. This is going to be their future so why not give them something that is better than we inherited.”

According to his candidate statement, Lacambra has been living and raising his family in Airway Heights since 2016.

“I have invested back into Airway Heights through my involvement in coaching at the local middle school and high school since 2009,” Lacambra wrote in the statement. “I am eager to continue my service of Airway Heights in a larger role on the City Council.”

Including position No. 5, two of the three City Council positions on the ballot for Airway Heights are contested.

SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL, POSITION 6

Valley candidates differ over inclusion

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Spokane Valley City Council candidates Bo Tucker and Tim Hattenburg both hope to encourage growth if elected, but disagree about whether the city needs to pursue inclusion and diversity initiatives in the future.

Hattenburg, an author and former library trustee, said raising taxes is a last resort but that the city needs to commit to a long-term plan to pay for road repairs.

Tucker, a chiropractor, said he supports expanding the tax base and economy first, though he acknowledges the city may have to ask voters for more money if citizens needs services that can’t be paid for in any other way.

Spokane Valley’s budget is nearly $90 million, and the city has a population of nearly 100,000 people.

Tucker and Hattenburg are running to replace outgoing councilman Sam Wood, who has been a member of the council since 2016.

Wood said it was time to “give someone else a turn” and said he didn’t plan to endorse either candidate. He said he’s been sitting on boards since 1990, is now 73, and was ready to move on from city politics.

Tucker said the city needs to keep families in mind as it looks to develop the city further. Apartment complexes that are built on busy corridors also need to have planned green space that families living in large developments can use. He said the housing shortage also includes single-family homes and that the City Council needs to include them when they discuss development in the future as well.

“I’ve been in places where there’s an apartment building, and it’s just an apartment building, right on a busy street,” Tucker said.

“When you go downtown to metropolitan areas, there’s no availability for people, families to get out and do anything, ... It’s unacceptable. We need to not over regulate, and provide that

Hattenburg

Tucker

for residents of the city.”

Hattenburg said there have been several successful apartment complexes on busy corridors and he supports those types of projects in those locations, but not in residential areas. He said duplexes however, can sometimes fix into residential neighborhoods and be better for the neighborhood than leaving a single family home in that location.

He said a house in his neighborhood that was known for drug use and nuisances was replaced by a duplex, which has brought up the values of the surrounding properties. He said the developer has also landscaped the surrounding area.

A few apartments in a duplex, especially if they are senior apartments, can be far better than the single family home that was there before it, Hattenburg said.

Tucker said he would consider duplexes, or all other proposed developments in residential areas, on a case-by-case basis.

When it comes to assisting the homeless population in Spokane Valley, Hattenburg said he still hasn’t given up on working with other governments in the area.

“It’s a regional issue,” he said. “Looking at the short window we have now, especially the way the weather is now, that would be our best way.”

Collaborating with other groups can help reduce homelessness long-term and short term, he said, noting he is also open to the idea of someday opening a shelter in Spokane Valley. He noted, though, that the city should study the issue to understand where its money would be spent best.

Tucker said government can never replace the role of individual citizens to care for their neighbors and that

he has volunteered and taken time to get to know people who are homeless, such as volunteering at the mobile shower trailer.

“The government needs to be involved, but the resources of taking care of the homeless could take a huge amount of our budget away, which I don’t think is appropriate.” Tucker said. “I think a lot of humanity, physical needs, can be managed from community efforts.”

Tucker said he does not yet have a specific proposal for how the city should address homelessness but that the city might eventually need to invest in a shelter.

“If it makes the most sense to provide a shelter, then I think the city needs to think about that and figure out what options are there,” he said. “I don’t have that answer, because I haven’t studied the issue well enough. I have studied the issue of how do I help my fellow man, my whole life.

That, I’m pretty firm at what we need to do.”

If elected, Hattenburg said he would like to review the city’s inclusion policy.

He said he didn’t understand why some council members reacted so strongly against the proposal, when current councilwoman Linda Thompson suggested the city look into improving equity and inclusivity.

“The reaction from some of the city council members, that it’s offensive to even bring it up, I don’t even understand that reaction,” he said. “You claim it’s an inclusive city already. What’s the problem of looking up the wording of something just to make sure we’re on board, especially the issues that have happened locally and nationally with white supremacy?”

Hattenburg said equity is important, and personal to him, in part because he has two mixed-race children, who he said have been racially profiled before, though not necessarily while living in Spokane.

Tucker said if there were See VALLEY NO. 6, 23

My 15 years of public service as Mayor of Liberty Lake is a record of accomplishment. Liberty Lake is Safe, Clean, Green,Well-run and Financially Secure!

My #1 Priority is

Protecting the City’s Best Resources Our People, Neighborhoods, Businesses and Recreational Opportunities!

I’m asking for your Vote on November 5th!

Proudly paid by Steve Peterson for Mayor P.O. Box 682 Liberty Lake, WA 99019

SPECIAL 18

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE

Two vying to lead city focus on how to handle growth Liberty Lake mayor

By Kip Hill THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The race to lead the fastgrowing stateline community of Liberty Lake pits one of only two mayors who has served the city since its founding and a councilman who believes the city must improve long-term plans for roads and other needs.

Steve Peterson, 69, has held the office of mayor for all but four years of Liberty Lake’s existence, which began with incorporation in August 2001. Peterson, a retired pharmaceutical and retail salesman, touts his work to improve the city’s extensive trail and parks system.

He hopes to build upon that progress in a fourth term.

“We’ve got it this far, there’s a little bit further ways to go with the infrastructure, and it’s kind of a passion that I have,” said Peterson from behind the wheel of his personal golf cart (legal on the streets of Liberty Lake), while taking in the view of Pavilion Park on a sunny morning last week.

“Back in the day in 2000, I was 50, I had a full-time job and stuff, and I was busy.

Now I’m retired, and now it’s kind of a full-time, fun job.”

The city’s volunteer salary commission met in April and increased the mayor’s pay for the city of Liberty Lake to $2,250 a month, or $27,000 annually.

Shane Brickner, a 44-yearold volunteer police officer and sales manager for a pri-

Shane Brickner Peterson

Brickner

vate toxicology lab, chose to run to replace Peterson rather than again for the council seat he’s held since 2012. While Brickner also sees a growing, vibrant community in Liberty Lake, he argued City Hall could be doing more to anticipate growth in its pedestrian and traffic plans and be better stewards of taxpayer dollars.

“I think we have to be a lot more forward-thinking when it comes to (traffic),” Brickner said. “I don’t want to see us ever have to compromise the city, and what the community has learned to love about the city. Really, I don’t want to compromise the infrastructure that’s supporting us.”

Signs proclaiming new development, along with water and electricity hookups reaching out of the ground, are common sights along the main thoroughfares of Liberty Lake. Growth is coming, both candidates agree, with population forecasts predicting a total of around about 16,000 new residents by 2037, an increase of 63% from 2017, when officials last drafted their population forecasts for the region..

By comparison, the population of Spokane is expected

Age: 44 Education: Graduated from Shadle Park High School in Spokane in 1993. Received a degree in interdisciplinary studies, with an emphasis on criminology and education, from Eastern Washington University in 1998.

Work experience: Works as a national sales manager for Cordant Health Systems, a toxicology lab with offices in Spokane. Previously worked in sales for other toxicology lab companies. Served as a volunteer police officer in Liberty Lake for the past 12 years.

Political experience: Elected to Liberty Lake City Council in 2011 in first run for political office. Ran unopposed for the seat in 2015.

Family: Married to Jamie Brickner. Has three children.

Steve Peterson Age: 69 Education: Graduated from Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines, Washington, in 1968. Graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1973.

Work experience: Retired. Worked for 35 years in pharmaceutical, commercial and retail sales.

Political experience: First elected mayor of Liberty Lake in 2001, and served until 2007.

Was defeated in the 2007 election by Wendy Van Orman. Re-elected as mayor in 2011, and ran unopposed in 2015.

Family: Married to Charmaine Peterson since 1996. Has three adult children.

to grow just 9% during that same time.

Peterson said planning for a community that will accommodate that growth and maintain Liberty Lake’s quality of life will include big thinking, like his push for a community center that failed on the ballot both in 2016 and 2017. The center would have been adjacent to Town Square Park, where Liberty Lake hosts farmers markets on Saturday mornings from May through October.

Peterson said the City Council, including his opponent, didn’t do enough to promote that project.

“I believe in incremental steps,” Peterson said. “If I can build the Town Square Park, just give me the opportunity to build the park. Then maybe I can build that library, that community center, something else.”

Brickner was one of four council members who voted to put the $9 million construction bond on the August 2017 ballot. But, he said, he had concerns about the scope of the project, which originally was presented as a $12 million center that included aquatics facilities. Voting records show Brickner did not cast a ballot in the 2017 spe-

cial election.

“I think that because the city’s growing so much, it can and should be revisited at some point,” Brickner said.

“But I don’t think we need to create such an elaborate system. When those bonds came forward, for the community to vote on, I was very vocal, I think it’s too grandiose. I feel it’s going to fail, because it’s too grandiose.”

Brickner said in order to support increased spending on public services as the city grows, Liberty Lake needs to diversify its sales tax base by attracting not only largescale firms, but also local

small businesses.

“If we have a downturn in the economy, which is possible – I know some people are talking about that in the next couple of years – if we had a downturn in the economy here locally, and a car dealership, or an RV dealership up and left, we’d be in a lot of trouble, financially,” Brickner said. “That would be a huge hit.”

Peterson said the city’s done well recruiting and supporting large-scale employers, such as Itron, the technology and services company with a 185,000square-foot facility off Appleway Avenue, as well as providing a welcoming space for smaller firms. He said Liberty Lake is well-poised to attract science and technology businesses from Western Washington due to its cheaper land and proximity to transportation hubs.

“You’re part of a cluster,” Peterson said of Liberty Lake’s manufacturing hub.

“You’ve got these manufacturing businesses that allow you to do some of your production with them, rather than do it yourself.”

Both men said Liberty Lake should continue to take a 1% property tax increase allowed by law without a vote to support the necessary growth in services that comes with more residents.

They pointed to the tax rates in Liberty Lake being lower than surrounding communities, including Spokane Valley.

Political first-timers vie for Liberty Lake City Council seat Both candidates say they have much to contribute

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The race for Liberty Lake City Council position 1 doesn’t have an incumbent after Councilman Bob Moore abandoned the seat in favor of running for the seat vacated

by Shane Brickner, who is running for mayor against incumbent Steve Peterson. The race has attracted two political newcomers, retired state of California employee Dannetta “Dg” Garcia and homebuilder Phil Folyer.

Garcia was born in Richmond, Virginia, and was raised all over the world as self-described military brat. Her father served in the Air Force.

“We don’t actually call ourselves from anywhere,” she said.

Along the way, Garcia was given the nickname Dg and it stuck.

“If someone would call me by my given name, I probably wouldn’t recognize it,” she said.

After high school, she married and had a family before she joined the Air Force herself. She served for seven years before she was injured and decided to go back to school, earning a bachelor’s degree in multicultural psychology.

She lived in Sacramento for many years and worked within multiple state agencies before retiring.

Garcia had family living in the area and after several trips here she decided to settle in Liberty Lake in 2015.

“I had been stationed at Fairchild in the ’80s so I was familiar,” she said.

Folyer was born and raised in Wisconsin and became a carpen-

ter’s apprentice right out of high school.

“Back in Wisconsin you either worked on the farm or were a trucker,” he said. “I wanted to do something different.”

He moved to Otis Orchards when he was 20 because his thenwife had family in the area and fell in love with the area.

“I’ve never considered going back,” he said.

He joined the Army National Guard, where he had several overseas deployments before he retired as a 1st sergeant after 21 years of service. He worked as a superintendent for Parkland Homes.

He worked as a project manager for Sullivan Homes for five years before starting his own business, Phil Folyer Homes, in 2002.

He was deployed overseas for a year in 2003 and shut his business down. When he came back, he found the Spokane area in the midst of a housing craze with few lots available for purchase, making restarting his business difficult. He took a job with Morse Western Homes, which was a builder on the Eagle Ridge housing project with plenty of available lots, and then bought the business four years later.

Folyer now builds mostly custom homes in areas like Eagle Ridge and Legacy Ridge in Liberty Lake. He used to be involved in Spokane Home Builders, twice serving as president, but decided he wanted a way to serve his community that didn’t require so much travel. He applied for a vacant seat on the Liberty Lake planning commission in 2018 and was appointed.

“It’s been great,” he said.

“We’ve been getting a lot of stuff done.”

Folyer decided to run for a City Council seat last year and said he thinks his experience as a home-

Liberty Lake City Council, Position 1 Phil Folyer Age: 51 Education: Graduated from Granton High School in Granton, Wisconsin, Folyer Garcia in 1986. He earned an associate’s degree from Boise State by builder will be an asset.

“I need to be involved,” he said. transferring his military education credits.

“I need to have a say.”

Occupation: Owner of Morse Western Homes. He retired from the Army He said it was his intention to National Guard after 21 years of service as a 1st sergeant. run against Moore based on what Elected experience: None he’d seen in the City Council Family: Married with five children and five grandchildren.

meetings he attended.

“I found myself disagreeing with Bob more than I agreed with Bob,” he said. “I respect Bob’s service and everything he’s done. I was just thinking it may be time for a change.”

Garcia said she wants to serve on the City Council as a way to give back.

“If someone sees an opportunity to represent their community, I think that’s the same duty as when you serve in the military,” she said.

She said she decided to run for position 1 after Moore filed for another position because she wasn’t interested in running against an incumbent.

“I felt the City Council was not doing a bad job,” she said. “I thank Mr. Moore for the opportunity. I would never run against someone the voters think is doing a good job.”

Though she hasn’t held elected office before, Garcia said she has already contributed to the city. After Hurricane Maria, she was interested in getting flood insurance but was told it wasn’t available because Liberty Lake was not part of the National Flood Insurance program. Cities have to request to join the program, and Garcia went to a City Council meeting with a representative of the Department of Ecology and lobbied for the city to

Veteran councilman challenged by newcomer in Medical Lake

join.

Garcia said the city has passed a resolution of its intent to join the National Flood Insurance program. That insurance also would cover damage from events like a water main break, she said.

Garcia said she has also been working to organize volunteers to help voters get their ballots to a drop-off point.

“There are pockets in our community where seniors don’t drive,” she said.

While she’s organizing the effort, Garcia said she won’t be participating herself.

“I wouldn’t do it,” she said. “I’m running for public office. I pride myself on being ethical and honest.”

She said she believes the city

needs to be able to deal with coming growth, which includes properly funding the police department so they can manage an increase in calls.

“We have to ensure we have the right amount of funding for it,” she said. “It must be the top priority.”

Folyer said transportation improvements are necessary to deal with the city’s growth, but said he’s often frustrated that street improvements frequently go over budget.

“My world is, you don’t go over budget,” he said. “To me, I think that’s where my construction background comes in.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

nculver47@gmail.com

Medical Lake City Council, Position 5 Arthur Kulibert

Age: 68 Education: Graduated from the University of Wisconsin and has a master’s from Gonzaga University.

Work experience: Completed 22 years of service between the Air Force and National said.

“One of the things I con- Guard, including six years where he was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. centrate on doing is making Political experience: Has served on Medical Lake City Council four times since 1982 and sure people know why we before that was on the Medical Lake Planning Commission. do things,” he said.

Family: Married to Donna Kulibert.

By Ian Davis-Leonard FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

An experienced councilman hopes to make a comeback while a new resident wants to provide a new voice on the Medical Lake City Council.

The race for position 5 on the Medical Lake City Council is the only contest with more than one candidate among the five seats on the ballot.

Arthur Kulibert, 68, has four previous stints on the Medical Lake City Council, most recently holding a position from 2005 to 2015, his opponent, Mitch Hardin, 44, proudly said he is not a politician and has no political experience.

Dannetta ‘Dg’ Garcia Age: 64 Education: She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio in 1973. She earned an associate’s degree in social science from Sacramento City College in 1991 and a bachelor’s degree in multicultural psychology from California State University-Sacramento in 1993.

Occupation: She worked in the California Secretary of State office for several years and also worked with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing in the Office of Governmental Regulations and the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians before retiring.

Elected experience: None Family: Divorced with two children and four grandchildren.

Hardin

Kulibert

Despite their differing backgrounds, both men have the same priority: listening and communicating with the residents of Medical Lake.

Kulibert, a 22-year veteran of the Air Force and National Guard, learned this lesson the hard way after losing a re-election bid to the council in 1997 because constituents felt the council wasn’t transparent regarding rising costs in the city, he

After not seeking re-election in 2015, Kulibert said he is running again because he possesses wisdom and experience that can be valuable on a council with just one holdover from the council of four years ago.

“I figured my past experience would be helpful, especially with the transition to the fire district,” he said.

In his previous terms on the council, Kulibert consistently aimed to be on the public safety and public works committees, supporting the fire department through several different

Mitch Hardin Age: 44 Education: Graduated from high school before entering the military as an Army paratrooper.

Work experience: Says that after leaving the Army that he worked in security and as a law enforcement officer in Metro Detroit for 14 years, but he declined to name the agencies he worked for. Served briefly as police officer in Langley, Washington.

Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Married. Declined to name his spouse.

fire chiefs. He said he backs the decision made by voters in the August election for the city to get its fire service from Spokane County Fire District 3, because it increases the stipend for the

volunteer firefighters and unites the West Plains.

A former Army paratrooper, Hardin said he has a great respect for the value of local government. Despite living in Medical Lake

for less than two years, Hardin said he can represent the people well.

“The most important issues are the issues that are See MEDICAL LAKE, 22

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 19

VOTERS GUIDE

Council race features newcomer, incumbent

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Political newcomer Holly Woodruff is challenging incumbent Dan Dunne for his seat on the Liberty Lake City Council, which Dunne has held for eight years.

Dunne first served on Liberty Lake’s planning commission for three years before deciding to run for the Dunne City Council in 2012.

He said serving on the planning commission first helped him underWoodruff stand how municipal government works.

“I did enjoy being able to engage with people,” he said.

Dunne said he wants to be involved in the community and saw a seat on the council as a progression in his responsibilities. “To me, it is a performance of service,” he said. “I appreciate my community.”

Liberty Lake has created memories and growth for him, Dunne said, and he’s able to work being a council member into his work responsibilities. “I’m committed to this level of action,” he said.

Dunne grew up in Renton, Washington, and earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington. He came to Liberty Lake in 2002 and eventually decided it would be more fun to create things with people instead of materials like aluminum and steel. He went back to school and earned his MBA from Gonzaga University in 2012. He now does information technology work for Washington Trust Bank.

Woodruff moved to the area five years ago to be closer to her grandchildren and said she has

Liberty Lake City Council, Position 3 Dan Dunne Age: 50 Education: Graduated from Kentridge High School in Kent, Washington, in 1987. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington in 1992 and a master’s in business administration from Gonzaga University in 2012.

Occupation: He is the enterprise solutions architect for Washington Trust Bank and formerly worked as a mechanical engineer for many years.

Elected experience: He was first elected to the Liberty Lake City Council in 2012 and is running for his third term. He previously served on the city’s planning commission for three years.

Family: Married to Shanna Dunne. They have two children.

Holly Woodruff Age: 68 Education: Graduated from Clairmont Northeast High School in Batavia, Ohio, in 1969. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social work in 1993 and a master’s degree in social work in 1994, both from Indiana University.

Occupation: Former mental health social worker who retired as director of counseling services at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, in 2013 after a 15-year career. She currently teaches online social work classes through Indiana University.

Elected experience: Previously elected as regional representative to the Indiana State Board of Social Work.

Family: Lives with life partner Lora Reeves; has three children and five grandchildren.

been attending City Council meetings since.

“I’ve been toying with the idea of running” for office, she said.

She said she finds the City Council discussions interesting and likes how they listen to community input. When she was appointed to the city’s salary commission, that was the final push she needed.

“The more I learned about what the City Council did, the more I thought, ‘I want to do that,’ ” she said. “I love budget stuff. I know I’m odd.”

Woodruff grew up in Cincinnati and studied to be a teacher for a year at the University of Cincinnati before leaving school to get married. At age 19, she was Cincinnati’s first female television engineer.

“That was back when

you could be self-taught in engineering,” she said.

“You didn’t have to have a degree.”

She went back to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in social work in 1993 and a master’s degree in social work in 1994, both from Indiana University. She was a mental health social worker and then worked at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, for 15 years before retiring as director of counseling services in 2013. She still teaches online classes in social work.

Woodruff said being involved in the community is important to her. She is president of the Friends of the Liberty Lake Municipal Library. “I’m contributing now,” she said.

“I can do even See LAKE NO. 3, 21

Kurtz running against longtime Liberty Lake Council fixture Moore

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The race for position 5 on Liberty Lake City Council pits a candidate who touts his experience against one who stresses the need for a fresh voice.

But Annie Kurtz, who is challenging incumbent Robert Moore, wasn’t necessarily hoping to oust Moore when she filed to run for the position.

Moore currently serves in position 1. When he filed for re-election, he chose to run for position 5. Shane Brickner, who currently holds that seat, has chosen to run for mayor instead of re-election to the council.

“I did it because Phil Folyer filed in January for position 1,” Moore said. “I knew that Brickner was going to run for mayor. I didn’t think anyone else would file for the position.

I didn’t think I’d have to run a campaign.”

Kurtz had the same idea.

She applied for position 5 because she knew Brickner was not running for reelection. She said she was surprised to learn Moore had filed for the seat.

“I don’t want to unseat anybody,” she said. “I just want a chance to be a part of that. I think I have a fresh perspective.”

Moore was appointed to the Liberty Lake planning commission in 2010 shortly after he moved to the city to be closer to his daughter, Cris Kaminskas, who also serves on the council.

“When we first got here, I read in the Liberty Lake Splash that they couldn’t have a planning commission meeting because they didn’t have enough members,” he said.

He applied for a vacant position and was appointed. After five years, he decided to apply for a vacant

Kurtz

Moore

position on the City Council.

“I thought it was a good opportunity to serve,” he said.

Kurtz grew up in Great Falls and Helena. She lived and worked in Bozeman for several years before moving to Astoria, Oregon, to work as a social worker for the state’s Child Protective Services. Less than a year after the move, she got married and moved to Denver, staying for five years. The couple moved to Liberty Lake in 2011 after her husband got a promotion.

“We were looking for a community with good schools,” she said.

She worked for CPS as a social worker and then was a program manager from 2013 to 2018, quitting to stay home with her children. That was when she began thinking about serving on the City Council.

“I’ve been home for a while, trying to think of how else I could be involved in my community,” she said. “I was really good at policy, and that’s part of what this job would do. I also notice there is only one woman on the City Council.”

Kurtz said she believes she can bring a different perspective to the council.

“I think stay-at-home moms are kind of marginalized, but I think moms and dads who stay home have a lot to contribute,” she said.

Moore grew up in Norwood, Ohio. After he finished high school, he graduated from the Amer-

ican Institute of Banking and went to work. He also served six years in the Ohio National Guard. He attended night school for 16 years before he earned a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Cincinnati.

“It wasn’t easy, either,” Moore said of those 16 years. “I was working 40 hours a week. All I had time to do was study, go to work and get to class. I think that’s where I developed a lot of discipline.”

Moore spent about 40 years as a corporate executive, working for several different companies. His positions included vice president of finance and CFO of Tresler Oil Co., senior vice president and finance and CFO for Duro Bag Manufacturing Co., president of Bufkor, Inc., and vice president of corporate operations for Reptron Electronics.

Moore said he believes the city needs to continue to manage its growth well.

“Liberty Lake is one of the fastest growing communities in the state of Washington,” he said.

“We’re also one of the safest cities in the state of Washington. That didn’t just happen.”

Moore said he’s proud that he introduced the concept of strategic planning to the city, which now has strategic plans in place for different sections of the city.

“Before I did that, there were not,” he said.

He said he wants to continue in his role on the council, even if it is in a different position.

“I have enjoyed serving on the City Council and serving the community,” he said. “I’d like to continue to help facilitate meeting a lot of our goals See LIBERTY LAKE , 20

Incumbent faces newcomer for position 7 Councilwoman touts experience, projects; challenger seeks fresh ideas, public safety boost

By Emma Epperly THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

In Liberty Lake, some say it’s time for new ideas in city leadership while others say experience is the way to avoid failure.

Tom Stanley, 43, is running for political office for the first time in hopes of bringing fresh ideas and a focus on community safety to the Liberty Lake City Council position 7 seat.

Incumbent, Cristella “Cris” Kaminskas, Kaminskas 50, has been on the City Council since she was appointed in 2010.

Kaminskas hopes Stanley to finish out the work she has started over the years.

“If we bring in people without that history, we’re doomed to repeat some of our failures,” Kaminskas said.

One of those major projects is the Harvard Road Bridge Expansion and Interstate 90 overpass.

“I think it’s extremely important at this stage in our city’s development that we retain the knowledge and education that I’ve gained over the last nine years to help move the project forward,” Kaminskas said.

Kaminskas is pleased the project timeline has been moved up but is concerned about the effect that Initiative 976, which would cut car-tab taxes and fees to a

Liberty Lake City Council, Position 7 Cristella Kaminskas Age: 50 Education: Earned bachelor’s degree in psychology from Miami University, Ohio, in 1989.

Work experience: After 20 years in program management, she is now sales team lead at TierPoint, a tech company.

Political experience: Has served nine years on the Liberty Lake City Council. Republican precinct committee officer for two years.

Family: Married to Scott Kaminskas. They have one son. Her father, Bob Moore, also serves on the Liberty Lake City Council.

Tom Stanley Age: 43 Education: Graduated from Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida, in 1995. Earned an associate degree in business administration from Kaiser University in Melbourne, Florida, in 2000.

Work experience: Two years active duty in the Army and six in the National Guard. Worked at Southwest Airlines in various leadership roles for 17 years. He has volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House, Habitat for Humanity, and led the East Point Church safety team.

Political experience: President and vice president of Riverview Little League Family: Married with five children.

flat $30 statewide, could have on the project.

“If that passes, the funding that’s coming from the state for that project is potentially in jeopardy,” Kaminskas said. “That is a key project to taking large steps ahead in the transportation in our community.”

For Stanley, addressing transportation is part of managing growth in Liberty Lake.

“If we grow, can we handle that growth?” Stanley said. “Right now, when you leave Liberty Lake at 5 p.m. you’re not going to get out

very easy.”

Stanley hopes, through planning, growth can happen in a positive manner, he said.

“If we’re not safe then our community is not going to grow because people want to move into a safe community,” Stanley said.

Making sure the police department and city are adequately staffed is a priority, Stanley added.

When it comes to taxes, Stanley describes himself as “fiscally conservative.”

“First and foremost I would not want to raise any

taxes because I’m a homeowner here,” Stanley said.

“We raise those taxes, I’ve got to pay those taxes as well.”

When it comes to taxes, Kaminskas has a few ideas on changing where property taxes go.

“By ordinance the library gets 23% of property tax revenue,” Kaminskas said.

“Law enforcement gets whatever is left, which I love the library but to me public safety comes first.”

Kaminskas plans to bring forward an ordinance to set up a public safety fund to monitor and increase the money put toward public safety.

“We need a mechanism to have a really good pulse on where the funding is for public safety,” Kaminskas said.

She also hopes to hold regular meetings with business owners as part of a business retention plan.

“What we want to do is provide a place for comfortable feedback,” Kaminskas said.

It’s easier and less expensive to keep a business in town than it is to attract new ones, Kaminskas added.

After the August primary, candidate Jeanette Nall did not advance to the general election but did endorse Stanley.

“I just think it’s time for a change in our City Council,” Nall said. “He knows the issues that are important to the community.”

Both Kaminskas and Stanley said they did not seek endorsements.

“I’d rather reach out to individuals myself,” Kaminskas said. “I haven’t pursued the endorsements, though I know I could get them, but it’s not something that I spent my time on.”

Though Kaminskas doesn’t have any official en-

dorsements and said she isn’t officially endorsing anyone herself, she did list the candidates she supports, including her father, Bob Moore, and mayoral candidate Shane Brickner.

For Stanley, working on name recognition is the key to his campaign.

“As you go against an incumbent, it’s tough to get your name out there,” Stanley said. “I’m getting a lot of support that I didn’t think I would get so I’m optimistically cautious.”

He also has focused on avoiding the “negative campaigning” that has been going on in Liberty Lake.

“I dedicated my whole life to servant leadership,” Stanley said. “Meaning, I’m not a leader to enhance my life. I’m a leader to enhance the people that I lead.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5122 emmae@spokesman.com

ELECT JOHN HATCHER

MEAD SCHOOL BOARD

POSITION #3 Paid for by John Hatcher for Mead School Board (509) 475-1184

SPECIAL 20

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE CHENEY CITY COUNCIL POSITION 6

Councilwoman faces former mayor for post Weiszmann focuses on funding for growth; Gainer on water quality, parks, housing a decade, but she will continue to seek funding to transition the city toward water reuse.

“The difference is incredible, Voters in Cheney will choose and it is noticeable,” she said. between two experienced As a member of the Spokane candidates when they cast a vote for the City Council’s position 6. County Growth Management Steering Committee of Elected Two-term incumbent Jill Officials since 2012, Weiszmann Weiszmann, 70, is facing her said she is prepared to tackle first contested election after growth in Cheney. Weiszmann being appointed to the council said she has a trust in Cheney’s in 2011. Her challenger, Allan planning department, mayor Gainer, 57, is no stranger to Cheney politics after serving as and city administrators to find solutions and ideas for growth. the city’s mayor from 2006 to “The biggest thing for Cheney 2009 before losing a re-election is to make sure we grow bid.

The former mayor decided to smartly,” she said.

Gainer sees room for growth return to city politics after in Cheney and wants to ensure it feeling like the council had is the “right growth” for the city. become yes-men and -women.

As more companies move to the “I want to make sure when West Plains, Gainer wants to we pass something, I’d like to accelerate Cheney’s population think about what we are by encouraging the construction passing,” he said. of more affordable housing.

Cheney has struggled in “This is a big issue, and I want recent years with water to be right there involved in the shortages and water quality decision-making process of it, problems. and it’s no easy answer either,” For Gainer, a Navy veteran, Gainer said. former Cheney business owner Neither candidate has a and current advertisement solution for Cheney’s lack of an salesman with The emergency response unit south Spokesman-Review, this starts with the water situation, which of the railroad tracks when a he said could have been avoided train blocks the crossings.

“We’ve got to dive in and if city staff listened to the people on the city’s front lines. He vows attack it,” Gainer said “The way we did things in the past isn’t to not raise taxes as he works going to work, we’ve got to think toward a solution. of new ways. The train isn’t “The water needs to be dealt going anywhere.” with more, and we need to be He encourages brainstorming proactive,” Gainer said. “I have that background and know what a solution, but said a satellite station on the south side is most is going on. I won’t take what staff is telling me right away. I’ll probable, despite the high costs.

Weiszmann was grateful to ask questions.” the citizens of Cheney for Weiszmann said that the approving public safety and water situation in Cheney is better than it has been in almost EMS levies that allowed the city

Cheney City Council, Position 6

By Ian Davis-Leonard

FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Allan Gainer Weiszmann

Age: 57 Education: Graduated from Cheney High School. Earned degree from Eastern Washington University in 1985. Received a master’s in management from Webster University in 1989 and has journalism training from the Navy.

Work experience: Works as a senior multimedia sales executive with The Spokesman-Review and owned numerous businesses in Cheney including Tree of Knowledge Bookstore and an American Family Insurance office. Served in the Navy for eight years as a journalist and is now a quartermaster for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Served on the West Plains Chamber as a member and former board member and as a Cheney Merchant Association co-founder and former chairman.

Political experience: Cheney mayor from 2006 to 2009 and lost re-election in 2009. Served on the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, the Spokane Transit Authority and the Spokane County Growth Management Steering Committee of Elected Officials.

Family: Married to Trish Gainer. They have two children.

Gainer

to update its fire equipment, boost training and add three police officers and a student resource officer to the force.

If re-elected, she would continue to accrue funding for safety, but also Cheney’s infrastructure, including the city’s street-to-sidewalk preservation program, which she says keeps Cheney’s streets among of the best maintained in the county.

“When you have low revenue and a low tax base, every bit of funding that we can get is incredibly important,” Weiszmann said.

Gainer said he’d like to Jill Weiszmann improve Cheney’s parks by Age: 70 adding something that is more Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in construction interesting to the children of management from Oklahoma City University. today, and he wants to Work experience: Has background in construction including reinvigorate Cheney as a Tree assisting the city of Simi Valley, California, and Spokane with City U.S.A. community, an housing rehabilitation programs for around 20 years. Member of initiative which he pursued the International Conference of Building Officials (now the when he was mayor.

Universal Building Officials), vice president of a chapter of the “It seems to have been put on the back burner, and I’d like to National Association of Women in Construction. bring that back because that Political experience: Appointed to the Cheney City Council in beautifies the city,” Gainer said.

2011, elected to the council in 2011 and 2015. Served as parks board Both candidates pledged to be commissioner for three years before joining the City Council. Has fiercely involved if elected. served on the Spokane County Growth Management Steering Gainer will push for increased Committee of Elected Officials since 2012. Served on Spokane transparency including Transit Authority board of directors from 2015 to 2017, served on advocating for video streaming all four council committees and is currently the chairwoman of council meetings for the public the general government committee. to view and listen to the voices Family: Widow. She has one daughter and two grandchildren. of the community.

“I would definitely be there for the people,” he said.

Through various committees informed and actively engaged.

Four seats on Cheney’s and meetings, she attends, “I want to continue serving seven-person City Council are Weiszmann said she will stay our citizens,” she said. on the Nov. 5 ballot.

2019 ELECTION: CHENEY CITY COUNCIL POSITION 7

Challenger Hillman faces incumbent Hilton

Robert Moore

Water quality, managed growth among issues

By Ian Davis-Leonard FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

November’s ballot in Cheney will be confusing when voters get to position 7 on Cheney City Council.

That’s because the choices are Dan Hilton or Dan Hillman.

Hilton, 44, is the incumbent and a real estate broker.

“I have kids coming through and maybe some of my kids are going to be like me to stay here and want to live here forever, so I want to make sure that Cheney continues to be on the right path and the right decisions are made within the city,” Hilton said.

Hillman, 50, is an Army Gulf War veteran and current stay-at-home dad. He has no prior political experience, but decided he wants a say in Cheney’s future.

“The world is run by those who show up,” Hillman said. “In order to simply have a hand in the way that our city is run, I’ve decided to show up.”

Already a member of the Cheney Planning Commission, Hillman said he would take a careful, long-term approach for finding solutions to the city’s largest problems.

Like many others in Cheney, for Hillman this begins with water. The city has had water shortage and water quality problems in recent years.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t easy mainly due to a lack of resources. We need to increase our water production and our water storage,” Hillman said.

If elected, he plans to try to boost water production without raising water rates.

“It is going to be awhile, it depends on what happens developmentwise and what happens grantwise, but we are not going to be drilling wells

Cheney City Council, Position 7 Dan Hilton

Hillman

Hilton

public safety and public health and as a result he would keep the police and fire chiefs supplied with what they need.

“In terms of public safety we are doing the best we can with the resources at hand,” Hillman said. “We’ve got a fantastic police chief, we’ve got a fantastic fire chief.”

Hilton had similar praise for Cheney’s first responders and said he would listen to both chiefs to know what they need and how the council can provide support. One Dan Hillman example of this is Age: 50 Cheney’s new fire engine.

Education: Has a technical education and several If re-elected Hilton information technology certifications. would like to push a passion project bringing Work experience: Stay-at-home dad. Background curbside recycling to in IT for health and pharmaceutics electronic Cheney. medical records. Served active duty in the Army “To be a college town, during the Gulf War for four years in the reserves. with youngsters coming Commander of the Cheney post of the Veterans of through, we really should Foreign Wars. be looking to help out Political experience: First run for office. with those things, Family: Married to Heidi Hillman. They have three because there are just so children. many people who don’t recycle, because they don’t have time to go to the recycling center,” he tomorrow,” Hillman said. that reusable water will said. likely be the future as “It is going to be a This is just one more Cheney works to avoid process, that is going to step in Hilton’s goal to last beyond any tenure of water shortages.

Hilton said that means keep Cheney a safe, anybody that is on the vibrant community. being cautious with the council now.”

“I care about Cheney, I city’s growth and The incumbent said am not going anywhere,” Cheney already has made ensuring the correct infrastructure is in place Hilton said. significant strides in Hillman has a pet before more people move improving the water project of his own should system, thanks in part to in. he join council: a dog Here, the challenger the addition of a new park. agrees. Hillman well that brings 1,500 “I’ve got a couple of gallons of water into the advocates limiting hounds myself, so dog growth south of the city each minute. parks are a good way to railroad tracks and The additional water keep them out of people’s encouraging has allowed the city to hair, but still give them a lower-density growth begin flushing its pipes place to run,” Hillman which should help get rid elsewhere, because the said. of the brown, low-quality city is not prepared to In the spirit of his boost public safety and water in the coming attitude of showing up, water service to sustain months.

Hillman would assist a “Honestly, next year, I significant population local group already increases. don’t foresee any “We are going to have working on the idea. problems that we have Four seats on Cheney’s to be fairly careful,” had in the last 10 years,” seven-person City Hillman said.

Hilton said.

Council are on the Nov. 5 Hillman said the first He said that this isn’t a ballot. duty of government is long-term solution and Age: 44 Education: Graduated from Cheney High School.

Earned an economics degree from the University of Washington in 1996 and a master’s from Eastern Washington University in exercise science.

Work experience: Real estate broker with Hilton Real Estate, a family business, since 2012. Coached track and field and cross country at Eastern Washington University, before owning and selling a Sears Hometown store in Cheney.

Political experience: Elected to Cheney City Council in 2015. Ran previously for the council in 2013.

Member of the Public Works and Public Safety committee.

Family: Married to Keri Hilton. They have three children.

Liberty Lake City Council, Position 5 Age: 84 Education: Graduated from Norwood High School in 1954 and earned a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Cincinnati in 1970. He also graduated from the American Institute of Banking and the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management at Harvard University.

Occupation: He worked as a corporate executive for nearly 40 years. He was the vice president of finance and CFO of Tresler Oil Co., senior vice president and finance and CFO for Duro Bag Manufacturing Co., president of Bufkor, Inc., and vice president of corporate operations for Reptron Electronics.

Political experience: He served on the Montgomery, Ohio, planning commission for five years and also served on the Montgomery (Ohio) City Council, both in the 1970s.

Family: Married to wife Jackie. Has one daughter and a grandson.

Annie Kurtz Age: 43 Education: Graduated from Charles M. Russell High School in Great Falls, Montana, in 1994. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and justice studies from Montana State University in Bozeman in 1999 and a master’s degree in health and human development in 2004.

Occupation: Worked for Child Protective Services in Oregon and Colorado’s Division of Child Welfare.

Worked for Washington CPS as a social worker and then a program manager from 2013 to 2018; currently a stay-at-home mother.

Political experience: None Family: Married to Dusty Kurtz. Has two daughters.

LIBERTY LAKE Continued from 19

and objectives. I think I am qualified to do so. I am the most qualified and experienced candidate because of my education, background and experience.”

Kurtz agreed that the city’s growth is the biggest issue.

“I just want to make sure we do it as responsibly as possible,” she said.

Kurtz said following the city’s strategic plan is important – to a point.

“I think it needs to bend and flex with the community,” she said. “I don’t think the strategic plan should be static.”

Her goal is to make Liberty Lake “even more livable than it already is,” Kurtz said.

“I think I have good, sound judgment,” she said.

“I’m pretty approachable.

I hope people are looking for some change.”

Moore said some have objected to him serving on the council with his daughter.

She was appointed to the council about the same time he began serving on the planning commission.

“I’m really pleased she decided to get involved in community service,” he said. “I think people would be surprised how little we talk about our city jobs when we’re together.

That’s family time.”

The two don’t agree on every issue, and it’s not unusual for them to vote differently on things, Moore said.

“She’s an independent thinker and raised to be that way,” he said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

nculver47@gmail.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

WEDNESDAY

G

G

SPECIAL 21

VOTERS GUIDE

Incumbent, challenger face off for Deer Park seat

Newsom, Stapp battle for open seat on council

By Nina Culver

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Longtime Deer Park City Councilwoman Dee Cragun says her experience will help finish important projects and mentor new members. Her opponent in November’s election, Carla Phillips, argues it’s time for a new voice.

Cragun served on the city’s planning commission before being appointed to the City Cragun Council to fill a vacant seat in 1998.

She’s been on the council ever since with the exception of one Phillips year when she lost an election by 32 votes but then ran for another seat the following year and won.

Phillips, who used to live in Stevens County, hasn’t served on a City Council before but she does have some elected experience as a precinct committee officer when she lived in Loon Lake.

Cragun grew up in Seattle and visited her grandparents in Deer Park every summer starting when she was 6. She and her husband, Gale, moved to Deer Park in 1969 to help take care of her grandparents.

She had a series of jobs, including seamstress and furniture store clerk, before taking a job taping sticks of dynamite to detonation cords at the Oriard Powder Co. She worked there for 20 years, retiring as the safety and compliance officer in 1995. She said she had to retire after developing severe carpal tunnel syndrome.

“I thoroughly enjoyed that job,” she said. “I really did.”

It was her retirement that helped push her into city politics. “I’m not a homemaker, per se,” she said. “I have to be involved in something outside the home.”

Phillips grew up in Florida and lived in California for many years before moving to Loon Lake in 1992 and then to Deer Park several years ago.

She began working as a licensed practical nurse at a veterans hospital in Florida before being recruited to join the Army in 1968. She served for two years and took care of soldiers returning from Vietnam.

“I thought I would be traveling the world, and they put me in New Jersey,” she said.

After her husband died she went back to school and earned an associate’s degree in business from Pasadena City College in California in the early 1970s.

Shortly before she graduated she got a job offer from the U.S. Postal Service and accepted it. She worked as a mail carrier in California for 20 years and then worked out of the post office on Riverside Avenue in downtown Spokane for 10 years before she retired in

LAKE NO. 3 Continued from 19

more on the council. It’s a chance to serve the community. My grandsons live here. I want this to be a good place for them to grow up.”

The city’s most pressing issue is a budget that can handle public safety and infrastructure improvements, Woodruff said.

“I want to assure that Liberty Lake continues to grow in a way that does not exceed our resources and revenue.”

Dunne said he believes transportation is a big issue in Liberty Lake. “The city right now is on the cusp of some huge construction endeavors,” he said.

He pointed to the new Selkirk Middle School and

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Deer Park City Council, Position 2 Helen (Dee) Cragun Age: 78 Education: Attended Roosevelt High School in Seattle and earned her GED from Deer Park High School in 1971. She earned associate’s degrees in general studies and photography from Spokane Falls Community College in 1977.

Occupation: Retired in 1995 as a safety and compliance officer after 20 years at the Oriard Powder Co. Political experience: Served two years on the Deer Park Planning Commission before being appointed to the City Council in 1998. She has served since then with the exception of one year.

Family: Married to Gale Cragun. Has six children.

Carla Phillips Age: 72 Education: Graduated from DuPont High School in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964. She completed her LPN training at Duvall Hospital in Jacksonville, then earned an associate degree in business from Pasadena City College in California in 1975.

Occupation: Served two years in the Army. Worked as a licensed practical nurse in the 1960s. Retired in 2002 from the U.S. Post Office as a mail carrier after nearly 30 years, including a decade in downtown Spokane. Worked at the Deer Park Senior Center for four years beginning in 2005.

Political experience: Served as an elected Republican precinct committee officer in Stevens County.

Family: Twice widowed. Has two children.

2002. Phillips then worked at the Deer Park Senior Center for four years beginning in 2005.

Phillips said she was motivated to run for the City Council after construction began on a new housing development near her home.

She said she hadn’t heard anything about the proposal before then and when she tried to complain to the City Council she was told the decision to build had been made long before.

“Citizens should have a say,” she said. “I decided I’m going to start participating more. It’s upsetting because you want smart growth.”

Cragun said she’s enjoyed her time on the council and hopes to continue her work. This year she led the charge to create an ordinance to limit the use of fireworks in the city limits after years of Deer Park being one of the few areas in Spokane County that didn’t limit fireworks.

Cragun said the fireworks would go on for weeks and were disruptive.

The council would discuss the issue every year and then not do anything, she said, so that’s why she pushed the issue this year.

The council voted to limit the amount of time during which people can legally use fireworks. The new rule takes effect next year.

“It was like a war zone out here,” she said. “At least we did something.

We’ll see what happens.”

Cragun said she thinks the council has worked well together. “You cannot have your own agenda,” she said. “It doesn’t work.

The council is a whole body. You can’t do anything by yourself. We don’t see things the same way. We don’t always agree, but we sit down and talk about it.”

The key issue facing

Deer Park right now is growth and maintaining and creating the infrastructure needed for that growth, Cragun said. She said it’s important to her that the community retains its small-town feel.

“Our growth has just been exploding,” she said.

“We should be able to do it, at least for the next few years.”

Phillips said she agrees that growth is the biggest issue facing the small city and said she wants to focus on that. But she’d also like to work to bring in more activities for kids and would like to explore having skiing on the golf course in the winter.

She said she’d also like to see more beautification efforts around town. “We need things,” she said.

“This is the only city where I don’t see flowers hanging up.”

Cragun said she wants to serve at least one more term so she can finish up a project she’s been working on for two years that may be able to get funding next year. “I committed to getting a splash pad for kids,” she said.

Overall Cragun said she’s happy to see several young people running for City Council seats this year and said she’d like to be on the council to mentor them.

“I’m experienced,” she said.

Phillips said she chose to run against Cragun because she knows and supports two other people running for seats on the council, Caleb Stapp and Ron Scholz.

“She’s been on the council for 20 years,” she said of Cragun. “That’s a long time. I care about the community. I want something different for a change.”

to Ridgeline High School, which is under construction. Those will drive growth and development that will drive the city’s transportation needs. The Henry Road overpass, recently approved, will be a critical piece of transportation flow, Dunne said.

But Dunne said it’s important to consider pedestrians and bicyclists when thinking about future infrastructure needs, particularly since Liberty Lake is known for its abundance of trails.

“It’s not simply the movement of cars,” he said. “Non-car traffic is an important way of moving people around.”

He said the city also needs to consider affordable housing.

“We as a community need to have a diversity of

housing,” he said.

Dunne said he believes he has an edge in the election.

“I have experience and demonstrated results in action,” he said. “I believe I’ve demonstrated my ability to create partnerships.”

Woodruff said she pledges to complete a Certificate of Municipal Leadership, which requires 30 credit hours, within two years if she is elected. She said Dunne still has not completed his.

“He’s served for eight years and still has only nine credits,” she said. “I just feel I can bring new ideas and new leadership to the position.”

She said she chose to run against Dunne because he was the only person running unopposed when she signed up to run.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

nculver47@gmail.com

Deer Park City Council candidate Caleb Stapp believes Deer Park needs to be able to manage its growth with the necessary infrastructure improvements.

“I just want to help us do that and be welcoming and inclusive,” he said.

He faces Heather Newsom in the Nov. 5 election for position 4, currently held by Don Stevens, who is retiring.

Stapp Newsom did not respond to repeated requests for comment. She also provided no information about her professional or elected office experience or education to an online voter’s guide produced by the Secretary of State’s office.

She provided only this statement to the voter’s guide: “I have lived in Deer Park my entire life, it’s where I am raising my children. Family is extremely important to me and there is no better community than Deer Park for that family. If elected I would like to continue preserving our city’s great history by educating our children to lead us into a brighter tomorrow.”

Stapp has lived in Deer Park for the past eight years. He grew up in Texas and his family moved to Chattaroy when he was 16.

He has worked as a reporter for the Deer Park Gazette and said it was writing stories about the City Council meetings that

FIRE NO. 2 Continued from 10 best in Eastern Washington. Lower ratings can equate to lower insurance premiums in the city.

“We turned around and became a great fire department because we learned to work together,” he said.

Kester, and challenger Bradley Mertens, who is running for position 1, were endorsed by the Spokane Valley Firefighters union.

Union president George Hedebeck said current leadership has leaned toward the administration, and the union was looking for a candidate that more closely aligned with labor.

Schmidt said he originally ran in 1989 because a union leader asked him to

WEST VALLEY Continued from 8 raises of 9%, and some athletic teams had to skip a day of practice each week, in addition to other cuts. Teacher raises approved by West Valley in 2018 were lower than in many other districts.

Spokane Public Schools, for instance, approved an aver-

Deer Park City Council, Position 4 CALEB STAPP Age: 31 Education: Home-schooled; earned a bachelor’s degree in music/worship from Corban University in Salem. Earned a Master of Divinity from Gateway Seminary.

Work experience: Holds several part-time jobs, including as associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Deer Park, a substitute teacher, a reporter with the Deer Park Gazette and an account manager with TRECpro, which owns the Gazette.

Political experience: None Family: Married to wife Elisa. Has four children.

HEATHER NEWSOM Newsom did not respond to multiple requests for information.

first got him interested in running for office.

“That just got me really excited,” he said.

He said he ran for position 4 because Stevens was retiring.

“In general, I think they’ve done a great job,” he said of the current council.

“I don’t know that I would be running if I was going up against an incumbent.”

As with most small towns, law enforcement is an issue. Deer Park contracts with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office but Stapp said if the city continues to grow it may one day be necessary to consider forming its own police department.

“I have been personally satisfied with that,” he said of the city’s contract with the sheriff’s office. “As we grow, we will need increased coverage.”

Stapp acknowledges that

establishing a police department would be pricey.

“When it comes around it will cost more than we want to pay for sure,” he said. “We should do it before we need to do it, but not too soon.”

He points to his volunteer efforts with Discover Deer Park and We (Heart) Deer Park along with his work as director of the Inland Empire Baptist’s Association kids camp as evidence of his deep involvement with the community.

He also volunteers with the Deer Park Chamber of Commerce’s events committee.

Though he has no experience as an elected official, Stapp said he believes he would be a good fit for the city council position.

“We need trusted servant leadership,” he said.

“I’ve spent the last 10 years invested in Deer Park.”

and the contract the department has now is fair to employees.

“They have a good union contract and great working conditions,” Schmidt said.

“We take care of them and make sure they have everything they need.”

Kester said he was a member of a union while working for the railroad, and said his experience at the railroad has taught him to work well with many types of personalities, and if he was elected, he would make sure everyone was heard and firefighters’ voices were prioritiezed.

He said recent lawsuits, arbitration and disagreements show there has been some unneccsary bickering that cost taxpayers money, which could potentially have been solved with bet-

ter communication and openness.

“I live in the Valley and I’m a taxpayer. I’m on a fixed income. “The fact that money is being wasted is important to me. It comes out of my wallet just like every other taxpayer and citizen.”

Schmidt said the department doesn’t jump into lawsuits and tries to work with people as much as they can before getting into a legal battle, but they can’t always be avoided.

Schmidt recently was released from the hospital after being treated for kidney cancer. He is now cancer free, and is recovering at home.

age 13% increase in teacher pay last year.

Matson said some positions and programs could return if the levy passes. It also would support current funding for athletics, early learning, classroom materials and other programs.

Hansen said whatever is restored will be contingent upon how much the state’s new mandate to provide health insurance and other benefits to part-time school

employees costs.

Matson and Hansen said they were not aware of any organized opposition.

The district’s capital projects levy and educational programs and operations levy both passed by almost 70% percent in the February 2018 special election.

“The West Valley community has an amazing record of supporting school levies and bonds,” Hansen said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5039 rebeccawh@spokesman.com

YOUR VOTE COUNTS CHOOSE WISELY

RE-ELECT

Brandi PEETZ SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL “I endorse Brandi Peetz once again because she has the experience and passion to serve the citizens of the City of Spokane Valley.”

- Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich “We need to retain Brandi Peetz as our Spokane Valley Councilwoman.”

- Bill Gothmann, former Spokane Valley City Councilman

www.reelectpeetz.com PAID FOR BY COMMITTEE TO RE-ELECT BRANDI PEETZ, PO BOX 14932, SPOKANE VALLEY, WA 99214

SPECIAL 22

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

VOTERS GUIDE

Debate over land among issues in Millwood race Millwood City Countil, Position 3

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Longtime area resident Kate McLachlan is facing off against newcomer Ed Mack in the race for a Millwood City Council seat in November.

McLachlan has lived in Millwood for the past three years but grew up in Spokane. She was appointed to the Millwood City Council to fill a vacant seat in early 2018.

“I’ve enjoyed my time on the City Council,” she said.

The couple Mack and his wife moved to Millwood last year to be closer to her family.

He said Mayor Kevin Freeman inspired him to run.

Mack said he and his wife were at a council meeting last year where Freeman proposed a term limits ordinance, saying he wanted to get more people involved in city government.

“I was inspired by those words, honestly,” Mack said.

McLachlan said the 2016 election convinced her she needed to be more involved politically. She attended a weekend training offered by Emerge Washington, an organization devoted to encouraging Democratic women to run for office.

When a Millwood City Council position opened up, McLachlan applied for it. “At that time I just wanted to be involved,” she said.

The race between McLachlan and Mack is similar to the one between council incumbent Andy Van Hees and challenger Jay Molitor in that the debate has centered on an ongoing discussion about whether the city should build a park on two parcels of land it owns along

CHENEY D3 Continued from 8 Council in 2017 and also collaborated on the purchase agreement for a new elementary school in the city.

He said the district needs to continue building in Airway Heights since the city is growing and contributes a large number of students and substantial taxes.

“We’re excited about a new elementary school, but I’m confident it will be full by the time it opens,” said Weathers, who has three children who are students at Cheney schools.

With continued growth projected – about 150 students for this school year – Browne agreed that the district will need to look at building a new high school at some point after the Cheney High School expansion is completed this spring.

Weathers said his primary goal would be to advocate for a new middle school and high school to be built in Airway Heights, in part to eliminate busing.

“It’s tough to send kids out of their hometown because they don’t really feel a connection to their town or the school either,” he said. “Airway Heights needs a strong advocate representing them on the school board, and that’s what I would be.”

Browne said the district tries to minimize the amount of busing as much as possible, but that’s hard to do with the district serving such a large geographic footprint.

Since Airway Heights is the fastest growing part of the district, Browne said a priority of the board is to look at areas in the city and close by for new school construction sites.

“If we find suitable sites that are available, we will look at purchasing those sites,” he said.

Weathers said he thinks the current board is headed in the right direction on other issues, like approving a new capital projects property tax levy for the November ballot.

The board voted unanimously in July to approve the two-year levy of 50 cents. It would generate about $4.2 million for technology upgrades and land acquisitions for future schools.

“I think the district is on a sound footing to face the challenges of the future,” Browne said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5135 jaredb@spokesman.com

Kate McLachlan Mack

Age: 60 Education: Graduated from Ferris High School in 1977 and earned a teaching degree from Eastern Washington University in 1986, followed by a master’s degree in education in 1993. She graduated from Gonzaga Law School in 2003.

Work experience: She’s worked as an administrative law judge for eight years and currently works for the Office of Administrative Hearings in Spokane Valley. Spent three years teaching third grade in the Northport School District.

Taught middle school in the Riverside School District for 12 years.

Elected experience: Appointed to her current position on the Millwood City Council in early 2018.

Family: Married to Tonie McLachlan.

McLachlan

the Spokane River.

The city purchased the two vacant residential lots, located next to 8319 E. South Riverway Ave., in 2016. The City Council recently voted to approve changing the Comprehensive Plan designation on the land from residential to public reserve.

Dozens of people testified before the planning commission and sent in written comments to protest the proposal based on the belief that the city wants to build a park there. Many residents pointed to a series of emails sent by then-city clerk to the Spokane Conservation District in 2016 asking for funding to buy the lots for a park.

The city has said there are currently no plans for what to do with the property.

“It’s kind of premature,” McLachlan said. “No plan has been brought forth.”

She said she agrees with some of the concerns raised during public comments.

“They don’t want it to be another Boulder Beach, and I agree with that,” she said, in reference to a beach along the Spokane River that is a site of many complaints. “But there is no beach. There will never be a beach.”

McLachlan said she wants to do what is best for the city.

“We have a responsible City Council right now,” she said. “My No. 1 concern is that nothing bad is done to the riv-

Ed Mack Age: 57 Education: Graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1980 and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and computer science from Whitman College in 1984.

Work experience: Has worked as a systems software engineer for 30 years, including for Tableau Software for the past nine years.

Political experience: None.

Family: Married to Lori Mack.

er.”

Mack said he’s not buying city arguments that the land can be used for another purpose other than a park.

“Parking trucks there is one example they gave,” he said. “I feel they’re being disingenuous. You don’t buy property and then find a use for it.”

He thinks the city should sell the land and move on.

“I don’t think the council is holding up its fiduciary responsibility to the citizens,” he said.

Mack said he wants more policing in town because property crime rates are too high. The city has a contract with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services.

Mack said he’s discussed the issue with Molitor, who wants the city to create its own police department. But Mack said he’d be in favor of expanding the city’s contract with the Sheriff’s Office first.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

nculver47@gmail.com

Spokane County Fire District 10, Position 1 Kevin Haughton Age: 51 Education: Cheney High School class of 1986. Some college studying fire science at South Puget Sound Community College in the mid-’90s.

Work experience: Firefighter with the Spokane Fire Department since 2000, and has served as a lieutenant for about two years. Logistics section chief with Washington’s Incident Management Team 12 for more than a decade. Served in the U.S. Army from 1985-1992 and became a volunteer firefighter after he left military.

Family: Married to Diane Haughton. They have one son and one daughter.

Gordon Hester Age: 53 Education: Kettle Falls High School class of 1984.

Graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in finance.

Work experience: Has worked for the real estate company Kiemle Hagood since 1990 and is currently vice president and director of commercial real estate. He has volunteered with Fire District 10 since 2009 and been the captain of Station 3 for five years.

Family: Married to Brenda Hester. They have two sons.

FIRE 10 Continued from 11 Heights, Medical Lake and District 5,” he said.

Hester said he would work to recruit more volunteers.

“You have to be able to bring somebody into the station so they can understand the value a volunteer brings to the community,” Hester said.

Haughton, who grew up in the West Plains and started his firefighting career as a volunteer, said to bolster recruitment he would research if the district can bring on volunteers for medical calls if they aren’t interested in fighting fires.

He said he wants the district to have a paid firefight-

er on duty 24/7.

Haughton has overseen wildfire crews involving up to 2,000 people with Northwest Incident Management Team 12.

“I believe I’m wellrounded in the fire service as it relates to volunteer staff, career staff and even residents,” Haughton said.

Hester said the biggest difference between him and Haughton is background in budgeting and sitting on boards. He has about 30 years of experience in financial management with Kiemle Hagood.

“I think that lends itself to the position,” Hester said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5135 jaredb@spokesman.com

Candidates disagree on property, police

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The fate of riverfront property the possible creation of a Millwood police department are among the top issues in the race for position 4 on the Millwood City Council.

Jay Molitor is challenging Millwood City Councilman Andy Van Hees for his seat and said he was inspired to run because of an ongoing community debate around whether the city should build a park on two parcels of land it owns along the Spokane River.

The city purchased the two vacant residential lots, located next to 8319 E. South Riverway, in 2016.

The City Council recently voted to approve changing the comprehen-

MEDICAL LAKE Continued from 18 important to the people of Medical Lake,” he said.

Before moving to Medical Lake, Hardin worked for about 14 years as a law enforcement officer in the Detroit area, but he declined to name the agencies he worked for. He became a police officer in Langley, Washington, in 2013, but was fired less than a year later.

Reports from The South Whidbey Record said Hardin was the “department’s darling” and he was elected president of the Langley Police Guild a month prior to his termination.

A statement from the city’s mayor to The South Whidbey Record in July 2014 said in part, “We released an employee who was on probation because the employee, in the view of the city, did not satisfactorily fulfill the expectations of their probationary employment.”

Hardin said the firing was political, based on his activities with the union and described it as a “hit job.”

“I was terminated, I

BOARD DIRECTOR Continued from 8 ing between $1 million and $1.2 million of its reserves for the 2019-20 budget. If the capital levy is approved, the school board expects it would generate about $4.2 million.

Molitor

Van Hees

sive plan designation on the land from residential to public reserve.

Dozens of people testified before the planning commission and sent in written comments to protest the proposal based on the belief the city wants to build a park there. Many residents pointed to a series of emails sent by then-City Clerk Tom Richardson to the Spokane Conservation District in 2016 asking for

don’t hide from that and I don’t hide my head in the sand,” Hardin said. “I was a good cop.”

Hardin sued the city, police guild and police chief, a lawsuit that was dismissed by an Island County Superior Court judge. According to Hardin, he did not lose his certifications with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission following his dismissal until it expired in 2017.

He said honesty and transparency would be his greatest focus and promised not to compromise the oath taken by an elected official. He said he plans to prioritize talking with Medical Lake community members.

“I’m just a local guy, I want to get to work and make sure Medical Lake stays a great place to live,” Hardin said.

While the candidates agree on representing their constituents, they varied on how best to handle the city’s water system.

Hardin said he is concerned about the city’s water quality because of its proximity to Fairchild Air Force Base. He acknowledged, however, that he doesn’t have proof

funding to buy the lots for a park.

He included a two-page proposal for a “South Riverway Park.”

Molitor said he doesn’t believe the City Council paid much attention to the voluminous public comment, most of which was opposed to the comprehensive plan change.

“They made up their minds this was going to happen,” he said.

The land is near the western Millwood city limits, and Molitor said a park there would only benefit a few. He said he believes a park would cost more than $1 million and said spending that kind of money isn’t fiscally responsible.

“Obviously I have a vested interest because it’s only three lots away from me,” he said.

Although Millwood has a park

that it is unsafe.

“It is very concerning,” Hardin said. “The government says, ‘Oh, it is fixed.’

Is it really?”

Based on previous knowledge and experience with the issue of water safety in Medical Lake, Kulibert is not concerned and said the water should continue to be safe in the future.

Instead, Kulibert said he aspires to redo city streets as can be afforded, improve drainage and maintain streets and other city infrastructure so they look appealing. As the city has grown, it has verged on no longer qualifying for small city grants, Kulibert said he would continue to assist in the application for other grants to solidify the city’s funding.

“I have a lot of experience of what has been done in the past,” Kulibert said. “I am aware of how much we can do with our limited revenue, and I intend to continue to contact citizens. I am always open to their questions and I consider myself impartial, even if I may not agree. If the majority of people feel something is important, I’ll push for what the majority of people in town would like.”

“I’ve done a lot of door belling in this district on other issues,” Johns said.

“And not a lot of these people can afford it.”

Swenson said if the school district had not passed a school expansion levy that Johns opposed a few years ago, “We would be putting kids in tents today.”

“If we don’t move for-

ward with more construction and more acquisitions it will be worse,” he added.

“I want to continue on the path that we’re on.”

Johns said he would like to see another high school built in the coming years for growth, but he wants to plan to avoid hurting taxpayers.

“There needs to be more planning on what happens

near its city hall, it does not have a park on its riverfront.

Van Hees said the city has no firm plans about what to do with the land, which he said could also be used for stormwater collection.

He said many people in the community are fixated on the idea that it could be a park. The land is still zoned residential, and the city has said the zoning would have to be changed before a park could be built.

“That’s what somebody suggested first, and that’s what everybody ran with,” he said. “We already own the land. With the comprehensive plan adjusted we can use the property for public use. There’s so many

FIRE 4 Continued from 11 reduce insurance costs.

“While the ISO is important, I would work to keep the insurance costs down with some of the other metrics used by the insurance industry,” Krieger Rux said.

If elected, Rux plans to expand services without raising taxes using some personnel and Rux equipment that are not being utilized to their full potential.

“I’ve got some ideas I’m hoping I can implement and maybe we can get better coverage and better fire support services for less money,” Rux said.

Rux said he would bring important outside perspective to the commission.

Given his master’s degree in mathematics and background in teaching college statistics, he said that he knows how to deal with numbers and handle money.

not just reaction to the problems,” he said.

Johns added that he will be a unique voice on the board and won’t vote with the majority. He said he would like to discuss issues like cellphones, vaping and marijuana at school board meetings.

In addition to planning for growth, Swenson said he wants to have stronger

See MILLWOOD, 23

Deer Park

FIRE DISTRICT 4

N

Mount Spokane

395 2

5 MILES

290

Spokane 90

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Krieger said the district does not have the capability to raise a lot of taxes.

The commission has kept tax levy rates at their maximum through reauthorization votes to maintain the level of service.

“We’re going to have to try to operate with what we have, so that’s the challenge, obviously, as the district continues to grow,” Krieger said.

Rux said he wants to recruit more volunteers and have them work on more regular shifts to improve response times and coverage.

Krieger said the district is constantly recruiting volunteers, and there is currently a recruiting academy in Fire District 4, which brings in around 20 volunteers a year.

partnerships with local universities, like Eastern Washington University, to prepare college-bound students.

“There are a lot of smart people in our region in Cheney, so why not continue to marry those?” he said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5135 jaredb@spokesman.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 16, 2019

G

WEDNESDAY

G

SPECIAL 23

VOTERS GUIDE

VALLEY NO. 6 Continued from 17 a demonstrable case of discrimination at the city, then it should take action. But if it isn’t a current issue, and there are already protections under state law, the city should not write a new policy.

“Why would we engage in something that isn’t necessary?” he said. “Because in my mind, that’s like increasing regulations.”

Tucker has won support from current council members, including Spokane Valley Mayor Rod Higgins, who said he’s looked at both candidates’ backgrounds and that Tucker’s views most closely resemble his own.

“He’s the best candidate,” Higgins said, adding that Tucker “ is closer to the mentality I have. It was an easy choice.”

Hattenburg is supported by both of his former opponents in the primary election. Both Pat Stretch and Shaun Stanfield said they agreed with Hattenburg’s comments on housing.

Stanfield said he also agreed with Hattenburg’s approach to homelessness, while Stretch said he was supporting Hattenburg in part because he is not endorsed by Rep. Matt Shea, a controversial Spokane Valley Republican.

This summer, Shea described Tucker as a “ dedicated family man” and called his opponents “moderates” or “Marxist-leaning.”

The Legislature has hired a private firm to investigate whether Shea has promoted political violence. Some donors withdrew their support for Shea after he took credit for a manifesto that condemns same-sex marriage and calls for the death of those who violate “biblical law.”

Tucker said he has not sought Shea’s support or received any personal communications indicating Shea has endorsed him. When asked if he had a personal relationship with Shea, attended his events or was familiar with his recent activities, Tucker said he did not want to discuss Shea and was focusing on his own campaign.

He said he also did not want to speculate on activities that are still under investigation.

“Why should I speculate on something that doesn’t concern the city of Spokane Valley, policy-wise?” Tucker said.

Tucker said he would prefer to focus on what he sees as the main question of this race: whether voters prefer a progressive candidate or a conservative one.

“That’s what the people of Spokane Valley are decid-

EYMAN Continued from 3 said that he couldn’t precisely say how the measure would affect the state’s projects due to its potential to create chaos.

“We don’t know,” he said.

“We can’t tell you. But it will have dramatic effects.”

Stripping $700 million out of state and local transportation budgets each year for the next six years would clearly damage some projects. Billig and state Rep. Marcus Riccelli, a Spokane Democrat who sits on the House transportation committee, said the loss of money would simply start a “money grab” by lawmakers to fund whatever project is imperiled in their district.

“We’ll have to go back, and the Legislature and the DOT will have to go and figure out what projects are going to get delayed, which ones will get scrapped,” Billig said.

Riccelli was less measured and described a situation in which legislators from every corner of the state begin fighting over the funding revenues that remain in place – namely, gas tax revenue.

“We worked so hard as a region to garner funding. I think we’re positioned well right now, but there are a lot of transportation projects across the state and plenty of my colleagues ...” he trailed off, not finishing his sentence. “This is about protecting our fair share.”

The two lawmakers are not alone in their worries. A slate of business, labor and environmental groups has joined numerous elected officials in opposition.

The Association of General Contractors of Washing-

Spokane Valley City Council, Position 6 Tim Hattenburg Age: 66 Why running: “I’ve lived in the Valley my whole life, and I feel the experiences I’ve had with the school district, managing multimillion-dollar budgets, working with the county library district, which you’re looking at an area about a half-a-million population and also multibillion-dollar budgets” has prepared him, Hattenburg said.

Pitch: “I know I have the background to deal with people, sit down and resolve issues. I like to say I resolve issues before they become a problem, and I did that a lot when I was in education. I like to say I’m not going to kick the can down the road.”

Education: Graduated from Central Valley High School in 1971 and graduated from Washington State University in 1975 with a bachelor’s in education. Pursued a master’s in history at Eastern Washington, Whitworth and Gonzaga universities but did not complete master’s degree.

Political experience: Unsuccessfully ran against late Sen. Bob McCaslin in 2004 and Rep. Matt Shea in 2008. Spent a decade on the Spokane County Library Board of Trustees and served as chairman and vice chairman of the board.

Has been a Democratic precinct officer since 1992.

Work experience: Was a history and geography teacher and the athletic director in the Central Valley School District for 20 years, before retiring in 1995. He also has invested in several properties and offered short-term loans to people buying properties who may have difficulty obtaining a loan from a bank. He has worked as a historical researcher and authored a historical book with his wife about a couple who were murdered in Montana.

Personal: Married. Has three children and three grandchildren.

Bo Tucker Age: 49 Why running: “I think there’s a sense of community in Spokane Valley that I really have enjoyed as a practitioner, helping the community with health and wellness issues. I don’t really think that Spokane Valley is turning into a bad place to live at all, but I want to continue to create what’s already created and maintain it.”

Pitch: “I’m a conservative individual and I’m a business owner. ... I want to support community as far as business goes, maintain friendliness to businesses.”

Education: Graduated from Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, in 1987. Attended Brigham Young University for one year but did not obtain degree. Received associate’s degree in business from Orange Coast College and finished prerequisites to enter chiropractic school at De Anza College before obtaining doctorate in chiropractic medicine from Palmer College.

Work experience: Before going to chiropractic school, Tucker worked at a Save Mart grocery store deli and in construction in California. He also worked at as an assistant manager at Oilmax, a company that does quick oil changes, while in college. After finishing his education, he moved to Spokane Valley in 1997 to work as a chiropractor at University Chiropractic in Spokane Valley. He started his own business, Chiropractic Wellness Center, in 1998 and currently owns and operates it. Also has invented and patented a chiropractic and physical therapy tool that releases tension in muscles.

Political experience: None. First-time candidate.

Personal: Married. Has six children.

ing,” he said. “It’s between a conservative individual, and a Democrat.”

Spokane Valley City Council races are nonpartisan, but Hattenburg has run as a Democrat in other races in the past, including against Shea in 2008.

Hattenburg said some local Republican leaders are supporting him, that he is fiscally conservative and that

party is not relevant in a nonpartisan race.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with being a Republican or a Democrat,” he said.

“It’s about the budget and infrastructure. All of those things are nonpartisan on both sides.”

ton and Greater Spokane Inc. are against it, along with the Sierra Club and Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy.

So are the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association and El Centro de la Raza. Numerous labor unions and business associations have joined to fight the measure, including Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO, the Washington and Northern Idaho District Council of Laborers, and the Association of Washington Business.

About 40 mayors, senators, representatives and city council members are named a “coalition” on the “No on Tim Eyman’s 976” website.

At a recent event marking progress on the North Spokane Corridor, Democrats and Republicans alike praised the bipartisanship that fully funded the freeway, and warned against measures that threatened it, without naming 976.

Keep Washington Rolling, a political action committee against the measure, has raised $1.8 million. Microsoft gave $400,000. Vulcan Inc., the philanthropic organization created by Microsoft founder Paul Allen, gave $200,000, and the state chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies and Expedia each gave $100,000.

Locally, Avista gave $25,000, the Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors gave $20,000 and the Cowles Co. gave $15,000. The SpokesmanReview is owned by a subsidiary of the Cowles Co. Riccelli said it was a shared concern about safety and degraded infrastructure that bound the opposition together.

“This measure would cut critical transportation fund-

ing. We need good roads and transit options. People need to be able to get to work. We depend on a transportation system that’s in order,” Riccelli said, describing why so many organizations oppose the measure. “It’s a bad deal.

I think Eyman spends too much time sitting in his chair, coming up with bad ideas.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5039 rebeccawh@spokesman.com

The north-south freeway Probably the biggest Spokane region project that could be affected by Eyman’s measure is the North Spokane Corridor, otherwise known as the north-south freeway.

The measure itself wouldn’t cut to the heart of the project, which is largely funded through the gas taxsupported Connecting Washington package passed by the Legislature in 2015.

Instead, it could be put in jeopardy if the complex system the state has set up to pay for transportation infrastructure – which includes registration fees – is thrown into disarray by the measure.

“It’s really misleading to say that the North Spokane Corridor is fully funded without explaining that it’s all based on revenue projections that will be reduced if I-976 passes,” Billig said.

“It’s not fully funded like the money’s in the bank. It’s based on revenue projections.”

Riccelli said before Democrats and Republicans committed the final $879 million piece of the freeway’s funding puzzle, the Spokane region was getting back 80 cents for every dollar it contributed to state transportation funding. With the freeway funding, Spokane is “subsidized when it comes to

MILLWOOD Continued from 22 things we can do with that property.”

Van Hees said he might consider a park if it includes displays of information about native fish and PCB contamination in the river. “This is a great piece of property even if you can’t touch the river,” he said.

Millwood City Council, Position 4 Jay Molitor

Age: 73 Education: Graduated from Rogers High School in 1963 and later attended Spokane Community College and Gonzaga University but did not earn a degree.

Political experience: Molitor lost his bid for Millwood mayor in 2017.

Work experience: Started working at Roundup Co., a division of Fred Meyer, in 1967. The company was eventually sold to SuperValu, where he retired in 2003 as The incumbent the vice president of business development, a position he Both candidates have a had for six years. lengthy history in Mill- Family: Married to wife Vikki and has two children and a wood and the surrounding grandson.

area. Van Hees said his family owned an apple orchard and ran a store in Spokane Valley for many years. “We’ve been in the Valley forever,” he said.

As a teen Van Hees, 41, worked for his father, who later sold the orchard and store and started a cement finishing company where Van Hees again worked for him. He’s worked as a cement mason laborer for Garco Construction for the past 13 years.

He first became involved in Millwood by serving on a shoreline committee for a year. “I love the river,” he said.

“The river means a great deal to me.”

He then served on the planning commission for three years before running for a City Council seat four years ago. Serving on the council has been fun, Van Hees said, but he was surprised to learn how much things cost. “That’s been the biggest part,” he said.

He became interested in city government after his first son was born.

“I have three boys at home,” he said. “I want to maintain what we have for them. A lot of stuff I did when I was little is gone. I didn’t want that to happen to them.”

The challenger Molitor, 73, grew up in Spokane and has lived in Millwood for 40 years. He started working for Roundup Co., a division of Fred Meyer, in 1967. The company was later sold to West Coast and then SuperValu.

He stayed with the company in a variety of roles before he retired in 2003.

His last position was vice president of business development, which he did for six years.

He said it was the proposed park that prompted him to run for mayor two years ago. “It was the same reason,” he said. “I just thought at the time that it wasn’t in the best interest of all of Millwood.”

Molitor said he isn’t running on that issue alone. He

transportation” and gets $1.30 for every dollar it contributes.

“We worked really hard in a bipartisan way,” he said.

“Now that’s at risk.”

That’s the point, Fagan and Eyman said, both asserting that the Legislature should tap the state’s surplus of $3.5 billion to pay for the lost revenue if the measure passes.

Fagan would not say whether he was concerned about delaying the North Spokane Corridor, which will run through the City Council district he represents. Instead, he said that if the freeway is truly at risk, it means legislators lied to voters when they said it was funded by gas taxes.

“At the end of the day, if they’re going to hold the North Spokane Corridor hostage, did they lie to the

Andy Van Hees Age: 41 Education: Graduated from Central Valley High School in 1997.

Political experience: He served on the Millwood Planning Commission for three years before being elected to his current position in 2015.

Work experience: He has worked as a cement mason laborer for Garco Construction for the past 13 years.

Previously worked for father’s cement finishing company.

Family: Married to wife Karen and has three children.

said he wants to improve the city’s core to make it more like the Perry and Garland districts in Spokane. Busy traffic on Argonne Road is an issue and he would like more bike lanes to be added in the city. “We want to be a bicycle friendly city,” he said.

Police business Molitor also wants the city to have its own police force. He said he doesn’t know how large it should be or what it would cost, but points to the town of Reardan as his inspiration.

Millwood has a law enforcement contract with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, but Molitor said a single deputy is assigned to a large area that includes Millwood. He said there are sometimes lengthy waits for a response.

“We’ve had issues, break-ins and thefts,” he said. “I think we need more law enforcement.”

If the city did have its own police, Molitor said, he’s not sure how the issue of courts and judges would be handled. “I don’t know how that would be,” he said. “They used to have that. I honestly don’t know why they stopped doing that.”

Molitor is a snowbird, typically spending about three months in Honolulu every year. “It’s almost like a second home for us,” he said.

If he is elected he said he would cut back on his time away but would still spend time in Hawaii every winter and attend meetings via phone or Skype. “I’m going

voters again about the gas tax?” Fagan said. “At the end of the day, folks, you need to remember that Sen. Michael Baumgartner led the charge for the gas tax to get the North Spokane Corridor done.”

Baumgartner, a Republican, is now the Spokane County treasurer.

Instead of issuing dire warnings, Fagan said state and local decision makers should be “planning for impact, planning for reallocation, planning to readjust their belts.”

“These guys started the last legislative session sitting on $3.5 billion,” Fagan said.

“I would say sit down and shut up. You’re sitting on more money than you’ve ever had and you’re whining about a $30 license tab?”

Eyman had a similar take, and suggested state law-

to be fiscally responsible and represent all the city of Millwood in a fiscally responsible way,” he said. “I think that’s being overlooked.”

Van Hees said policing is an issue because it costs too much money for speeding patrols and other proactive measures but said the city can’t afford to have its own police force.

“It’s crazy expensive to get anything done,” he said.

“We don’t have our own judicial system. We can’t have police.”

He said he thinks the Sheriff’s Office does a good job. “I’ve never had a time when they didn’t show up when I called,” he said.

He said he makes it a point to attend every monthly council meeting and that he tries to be impartial as a council member.

“The first job of any position is to fill your seat,” he said. “I listen to everyone involved in every incident.

I don’t take sides. I don’t have a personal agenda.”

He also believes he adds an important voice to the council. “I’m the only councilman on the east side of Argonne,” he said.

“I sometimes think we’re the forgotten side of Argonne.”

In the end he just wants Millwood to be a great place to live, Van Hees said.

“I want to make where I live a place where you don’t need a vacation to get away from it,” he said. “It’s a thankless job. You’ll never make everyone happy.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

nculver47@gmail.com

makers should be forced to find a way to pay for the freeway.

“Use the surplus,” Eyman said. “Justify funding and get rid of non-road stuff. Move money around. Use existing revenue more effectively.”

After the measure passes, Eyman said, legislators will cycle through the “five stages of grief” and they’ll fix the system.

“Denial, anger, depression, acceptance. I forget what the fifth one is, but once they reach it they’ll say, ‘Well the voters have spoken.

We better do something,’ ” Eyman said from his phone while driving on Interstate 5.

“Will they be satisfied? No. They seem to have an insatiable tax appetite.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5440 nickd@spokesman.com

SPECIAL 24

G

WEDNESDAY

G

OCTOBER 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

REJECT I-1000 on REFERENDUM 88 KEEP DISCRIMINATION ILLEGAL

On the Nov. 2019 ballot, you will find an entry titled “Referendum Measure No. 88”. Its content will be the summary of Initiative 1000 (I-1000), which you will vote on.

I-1000 would allow the government to treat people differently based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, etc.

Please vote: Rejected [X] to I-1000 on Referendum 88 Why should we reject I-1000 on Referendum 88?

1. THE EXISTING LAW (I-200) IS FAIR WA voters approved I-200 in 1998, which banned the practice of treating people differently based on their race, gender, national origin. I-200 does allow policies helping low-income people of any race. A new 2019 Pew Research Center survey finds that 73% of Americans and majorities across all racial groups agree that race should not be a factor in college admissions.

2. I-1000 IS DECEPTIVE I-1000 claims to remedy discrimination without using quota and preferential treatment. But it does the opposite, allowing less qualified candidates to be hand-selected based on racial goals and thus more qualified candidates are reversely discriminated as long as race is not a sole factor.

3. I-1000 IS DIVISIVE Every single person should be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. We are all Americans. It is divisive to separate people by race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, etc. and treat them differently.

4. I-1000 IS INEFFECTIVE Mounting empirical research shows that race preferential policies actually hurt minority students, according to professor Gail Heriot’s 2015 research “Dubious Expediency”. I-1000 would expand government authority, open doors to corruption, and cost millions of tax dollars.

5. VETERANS DESERVE BETTER I-1000 would force more than half a million veterans to compete for opportunities over other factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, etc. Veterans sacrificed for our nation and they deserve better treatment!

Grassroots Against I1000 7241 185th Ave NE #2844 Redmond, WA, 98073 Phone: (425) 298-7235 www.RejectR88.org Paid for by Grassroots Against I1000 Top 5 Contributors: CACAA, CHEN XIANGWU, 32ND STREET LLC, SUN HAO, CAO PEIWEI *Pew Research: Data in this report are drawn from the panel wave conducted Jan. 22 to Feb. 5, 2019.