Voters Guide, October 10, 2018

SPECIAL SECTION

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DECISION

2018 YO U R G U I D E TO T H E N O V. 6 M I D T E R M ELECTION

BIG MONEY, DIFFERENCES PUTS 5TH IN SPOTLIGHT

Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Lisa Brown have been on

Washington’s representative, Brown is encouraging

a collision course that started in the mid-90s. “Sooner or

voters to send new blood to Congress. McMorris Rodgers,

later it was probably going to be those two butting heads,”

seeking her eighth term, is asking voters to consider her

said former Rep. Alex Wood, a Democrat who served with

experience and accomplishments. On Nov. 6, the nation

both women in Olympia. In what is being considered the

will watch Washington’s 5th District in an race that could

biggest challenge of McMorris Rodgers’ time as Eastern

shift power in Washington, D.C.

FULL ELECTION COVERAGE

COMPETITIVE RACES IN 6TH

2 REPUBLICANS FACE OFF

BIG MONEY IN GROCERY FIGHT

Primary results in the 6th Legislative District suggest its three races are the closest in Eastern Washington.

PAGE 2

Spokane County Treasurer Rob Chase is challenging Commissioner Mary Kuney in a county commissioner race that divides the GOP. PAGE 12

Initiative 1634 would stop local governments from creating grocery taxes.

Soda companies are big supporters.

PAGE 17

LIBRARIES WOULD SCHOOL BOND FOR SPOKESMAN.COM GET BIG UPGRADE MIDDLE SCHOOLS HAS YOU COVERED The Spokane Public Library is proposing a tax that would rebuild or remodel all of its locations to modernize and expand services.

PAGE 18

The Spokane Public Schools’ $495 million bond would rebuild three middle schools, build three new ones, among many projects.

PAGE 19

Spokane Public Schools Bond Discussion Tonight at 7 Also streaming on ksps.org

For all the latest election news and a review of every race and issue with photos and graphics, visit SPOKESMAN.COM /ELECTIONS

www ksps o www.ksps.o www.ksps.org/election2018

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

6TH DISTRICT

Senate rivalry pits perspectives in law enforcement, but he would like to continue his work to make higher education more affordable for students from different backgrounds.

While in the House, Holy was the primary sponsor of a bipartisan opportunity scholarship bill that was introduced in 2017 and signed into law near the end of the 2018 session. Holy also has sponsored or cosponsored several unsuccessful higher education bills, including a bill designed to strengthen privacy protections for survivors of sexual assault on college campuses and the Academic Bill of Rights, which was aimed at codifying more free-speech protections on campuses.

Both candidates said the Legislature’s solution to the state Supreme Court’s McCleary ruling, which found that the state was not properly funding K-12 education, may not be sustainable in the long term.

Lewis said the body should have explored other funding solutions, such as a capital gains tax, to adequately fund education.

Holy said the state’s fouryear budgeting requirement for school districts may not have been the type of oversight school districts need while negotiating salaries for staff, which the state will eventually have to pay for.

“They had the authority, we had the responsibility,”

Democrat Jessa Lewis vies for Republican incumbent Jeff Holy’s seat

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

A would-be newcomer to the Washington state Senate faces a former police officer and current state representative in what appears to be a close race for Washington’s 6th Legislative District seat.

Republican Sen. Michael Baumgartner has held this seat since he defeated Democratic incumbent Chris Marr in 2010. Republican Rep. Jeff Holy said his six years of experience representing the district in the House, as well as his work on the Higher Education and Public Safety committees, have prepared him for the “cowboy atmosphere” of the Senate.

“I’m on my third term in the House and I think I’ve just achieved journeyman status,” he said.

His opponent, Jessa Lewis, said she already knows how to navigate issues in Olympia due to her work in energy security at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, her leadership experience at the Washington branch of nonprofit Health Care for All, and environmental advocacy. She said she believes her governmental and nonprofit work will help her understand how the Senate operates, while her other

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work experience as a park ranger, cannabis delivery driver and food service worker will help her understand the practical needs of the people in her district.

“I’m able to draw on direct experience to actually inform my policy and where I see things need to go,” she said.

The 6th Legislative District encompasses Cheney, Airway Heights, Medical Lake and western portions of Spokane. Holy, a former Spokane police detective and lawyer, earned 62.9 percent of the district’s vote in the last election, defeating Democrat Shar Lichty, an organizer at the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane.

But he appears to be in a much tighter race this year.

In the August primary, Holy won by 4.5 percentage pointage points over Lewis, taking 52 percent of the district’s vote.

Holy said, if elected, he likely would end up on the Public Safety Committee because of his years working

he said. “I don’t see that long-lived.”

Holy had an excused absence when the Legislature voted for the 2017 budget that signficantly boosted education funding and revamped the calculations for how property taxes pay for schools.

Lewis said she grew up in the area and understands Republicans because she once identified as one. After an unplanned pregnancy she ended up homeless for a time, but through government assistance programs, access to higher education and help from friends, was able to give her daughter a better life.

“It was actually the social safety net that enabled my daughter and I to get back on our feet,” she said.

She said she still has an independent spirit and holds many of the same values, but now supports more progressive issues, such as access to abortion and social programs.

Holy said he couldn’t support abortion due to his Catholic faith and has cosponsored several unsuccessful bills attempting to restrict it. He also co-sponsored Washington’s version of the “Bathroom Bill,” which would have allowed businesses to restrict access to their facilities based on sex and gender. Holy said the bill wasn’t designed to

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A Republican-turnedDemocrat and an advocateturned-politician are vying for an open House seat in what may be Eastern Washington’s only swing district.

Republican Jenny Graham views taxes as the single biggest impediment to creating a safer and more just society, and condemns any measure that smacks of a new tax.

Dave Wilson, the Democrat, said his role as a legislator would be to help people and organizaGraham tions navigate government, which he called “a partner. It’s a partner in our economy. It’s a partner in Wilson our society.”

The 6th Legislative District was dominated by Republicans for decades until 2006, when Democrats picked up two of the three seats in the district. But Democrats haven’t won a seat in the district since 2008. And in the past two election cycles Democrats have lost the races in the 6th by at least 10 percentage points.

But in the August primary for House Position 2 in the 6th, which is being vacated

by Republican Jeff Holy as he pursues a bid for the state Senate, Wilson and one other Democrat won more votes than Graham and one other Republican.

The 6th District encompasses a western wedge of the county, including western and southern parts of the city of Spokane, and all of Airway Heights, Medical Lake and Cheney.

Before this race, Graham worked to reform state law and extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting child sex predators. Graham and her siblings were abused as children. Now, in her first political campaign to join elective politics, Graham is aiming to dismantle some parts of the state government.

“Government is out of control. People are getting taxed out of their homes.

They’re getting taxed out of their businesses,” she said at a recent debate. “We are on track to becoming the highest tax state in the nation, and there’s real and genuine concern in that.”

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MOLLY QUINN mollyq@spokesman.com

House race, position 2 Jenny Graham, Republican Age: 53 Education: Graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, Federal Way, Washington, in 1983; licensed by Nash Beauty School in 1984.

Political experience: Serves as precinct committee officer. Worked for state law reform in 2014 for House Bill 1352, extending statutes of limitations for sexual assault of children.

Work experience: Owner of Estes & Graham Home Rentals, LLC. Served in U.S. Army Reserves.

Family: Married. Has three adult children.

Dave Wilson, Democrat Age: 63 Education: Graduated from United Township High School, East Moline, Illinois, in 1973. Earned a bachelor’s in communications from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, in 1976. Received a master’s in education from Gonzaga University in 2000.

Political background: Ran for Congress as independent in 2014 and 2016. Helped found People for Effective Government in 2017.

Work experience: Founder and former owner of Interface College, which he sold in 2011. He started the business as Interface Computer Services in 1982 and renamed it Interface Computer School and then Interface College. Part-time hay farmer. Former district manager of Radio Shack.

Family: Married. Has six adult children.

By getting rid of some of the state’s taxes, Graham predicted greater protections for Washington families and more job growth in Eastern Washington. Graham also cited a lack of respect among elected officials that drove her to run for office.

Wilson, who ran as an independent for Congress in 2014 and 2016, is a former Republican who has said he became disillusioned with the party during the Iraq War, a divide that deepened with the formation of the reactionary tea party and the

election of President Donald Trump. Now, as a member of the Democratic Party, he said his aim is to make government work for everyone.

“What people deserve is representation that is visible, accessible and responsive,” he said. “When I hear candidates, and especially officeholders, talk about tearing down government or obstructing government, I don’t think that that’s healthy. I think for society to work, for our economy to work, we have to have functioning government.”

Jeff Holy Party: Republican Age: 62 City: Spokane Career: Attorney. Served in the Spokane Police Department from 1984 until he left with the rank of detective in 2006 to practice law.

Governor-appointed board member for one of the state’s retirement systems for public safety retirees (LEOFF 2) since 2005.

Education: Graduated from Issaquah High School in 1973. Earned psychology bachelor’s degree from Washington State University in 1983. Earned law degree from Gonzaga University in 1989.

Political experience: Won current House seat in 2012 and 2014. Ran for Spokane County Commission in 2010.

Military experience: U.S. Army, 1975-1978. Army National Guard, 1981-1982.

Family: Married with two children

Jessa Lewis Party: Democrat Age: 37 City: Spokane Career: One year as Eastern Washington director of nonprofit Healthcare for All, two years as general manager of cannabis retail store Dockside and one year as director of marketing at cannabis processor Circanna, six years as independent communications and business consultant for startups, nonprofits and established companies around the state.

Education: Graduated from Evergreen State College in 2010 with bachelor’s degree in energy policy.

Political experience: First time running for office.

National and state delegate in Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016.

Family: Single, one child.

See 6TH SENATE, 8

Graham vs. Wilson: Tight race, open seat, competitive district THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Senate

Both agree that the Legislature they wish to join has left them wanting.

For Wilson, the Legislature’s inability to confront climate change or the national scourge of mass shootings has led him to endorse two initiatives on the ballot this fall, despite his criticism of the initiative process.

“I’m not a fan of the initiative process. I believe it’s the job of the Legislature to pass legislation,” he said when discussing Initiative 1631, which would place a “carbon fee” on polluters for the right to emit carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases.

“Sometimes an issue is so divisive or such a controversial issue, the Legislature refuses to act,” he said. “It’s apparent to me the Legislature is not going to do anything about this. We need to move the ball down the field. This moves the ball down the field. I think it’s important that we get something passed in this arena, to address climate change.”

Wilson used similar logic when discussing Initiative 1639, which would raise the age limit to buy semi-automatic rifles to 21 and require firearms to be stored safely at home.

“In my mind, the pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction. There aren’t enough safeguards for society,” Wilson said.

“I’m not anti-Second Amendment. I’m not antiself-defense. But in my mind, this has nothing to do with self-defense. These are not drastic steps. These are small steps. We need to get the pendulum swinging back in the other direction.”

For Graham, it’s less about what the Legislature’s not doing, and more about its overreach.

Asked if she would support the creation of a state income tax if it reduced other state taxes like property or sales taxes, Graham said Washington was becoming too reliant on taxes.

“When you look at the state income tax, and then you start looking at the grocery tax, then you start looking at the capital gains income tax increase, and you start looking at the carbon tax that’s coming up,” she said. “The mileage tax that they want to pass that’s going to put a transmitter in your car to measure how many miles you go and get more information, where we’re already in a day and age where you’re getting red light tickets in the mail, and See 6TH DISTRICT, 8

SIMILAR PRIORITIES FOR 6TH DISTRICT HOUSE CANDIDATES

By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

A Republican incumbent state representative will defend his seat in the West Plains against a Democratic challenger who hopes to grow awareness of housing issues at the state level.

Mike Volz, who first won his 6th District seat in 2016 also works as the Spokane County chief deputy treasurer, said education issues was what got him into politics and he plans to continue his efforts if re-elected November.

His opponent, Kay Murano, said she was inspired to run for office after the Legislature failed to pass the state construction budget, which included money to pay for low-income housing, due to a separate disagreement over water rights legislation. She said she understood that water rights issues are complex

Murano

Volz

and affect many Spokane residents, but said the budget should not be used to strong-arm the other political party.

“I truly think people need to come together and not use a budget as a bargaining chip,” she said.

Volz won his seat by 8 percentage points in 2016.

But the August primary hints at a much closer race this time. Volz took 50.3 percent of the vote to Murano’s 49.7 percent. He won by 228 votes out of nearly 44,000.

Both Volz and Murano said there is likely more See 6TH SEAT, 8

House race, position 1 Kay Murano, Democrat Age: 48 City: Spokane Education: Graduated from high school from Northwest Christian School. Earned bachelor’s degree in business administration from Trinity Western University in British Columbia.

Political experience: First time running for office.

Work experience: Worked two years as executive director of Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium; three years as development director at Volunteers of America; eight years program assistant, accountant and grant writer at Catholic Charities; two years as office assistant at Bloomsday Association; and three years as an accountant at GM Nameplate in Seattle.

Family: Married to Joe Murano. Has one child.

Mike Volz, Republican Age: 53 Political experience: Elected to the state House in 2016. Unsuccessfully ran against Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton in November 2006.

Education: Graduated from Ritzville High School in 1983. Graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1995 with a bachelor’s in business with a dual concentration in accounting and finance. Graduated with a Masters of Business administration in 2005 from Gonzaga. In 2001. Is a certified public accountant.

Work experience: Chief deputy county treasurer, a position he’s held for eight years. Adjunct professor at Whitworth University for five years. Previously worked four years as assistant director of finance at Spokane Transit Authority, seven years as senior finance manager and accountant at Spokane County Treasurer’s Office, one year as a financial analyst for Empire Health services, two years as controller for small music company The Production Group, three years as private security guard for Argos Systems. Three years as military police officer in Army in West Germany in the 1980s and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Served in the National Guard after Army.

Family: Married to Diane Volz. Has three children.

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man of the Rockwood Neighborhood Council, serves on the Spokane Veterans Affairs hospital Patient and Family Advisory Committee, sits on the Inland Northwest Boy Scout Council executive board and is a Cub Scout leader.

Lucas said property crime in general and one legislative bill in particular are why he decided to challenge Ormsby for his seat. He has pushed Spokane city leaders to hire more police officers to address property crime and also wants the state to offer supervised probation for property crimes offenders.

There was such a supervision bill during the last session but Ormsby let it die, Lucas said.

“Really it’s politics as usual,” he said. “He didn’t want it. His arguments are really just political distraction.

His response really angered me.”

Lucas said he thinks the bill’s failure shows that Ormsby is not looking out for his constituents.

“He really votes in lockstep with the West Side,” he said. “I don’t think he really represents us even though he says he does.”

Ormsby, however, said there’s a very good reason no law was passed. Previously there had been a bill in the Senate to add supervision to auto theft offenders in Spokane only as a pilot project.

Ormsby co-sponsored a bill in the House of Representatives to add supervision to auto theft offenders in Spokane and Federal Way. The House public safety committee, however, recommended changing Ormsby’s

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Voters and donors aren’t backing away from incumbent 3rd District Representative Timm Ormsby, a Democrat, despite him being charged with driving under the influence in February.

Since then Ormsby has apologized and said the incident was a wake-up call that caused him to quit drinking entirely.

In the August primaries Ormsby collected a commanding 64 percent of the vote against his opponent, retired Marine Lt. Col. Dave Lucas, a Republican and a political newcomer. Ormsby also holds a substantial lead in fundraising.

Ormsby’s driving charge stemmed from a one-car rollover crash in Olympia. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving, a common downgrade in charges for first-time DUI offenders. He was fined $941, must serve two years of supervision and lost his license for 90 days. He also completed a substance abuse assessment and attended a victim impact panel.

“I made a very bad decision and apologized publicly to my constituents and my community and privately to my friends, family and colleagues,” Ormsby said. “It was very much an eye-opener for me.”

Lucas has not brought up the incident during his campaign and said he’d rather focus on legislative issues. “I think that’s between him and the people,” Lucas said. “I have not made an issue of that.

That’s not who I am.”

Lucas’ background is outside of politics. After his nearly 22-year career in the Marine Corps, he and his family moved to Spokane in 2013. He thought he might get into restaurant franchising and helped launch Blaze Pizza near Gonzaga University, but then became a full-time volunteer. He is currently chair-

bill to make it a statewide program. They made that recommendation on the Thursday before the Saturday bill cut-off, Ormsby said.

There was no information on how much it would cost to make the program statewide and not enough time to figure that out, he said.

“I just thought it was irresponsible to write a blank check,” he said. “I think it’s a great model but we have a responsibility in the legislature to quantify how much it would cost.”

Ormsby said he fully expects the issue to be back during the next session and he would even be open to expanding it to more property crimes than just auto theft.

“I would love to have a conversation about corrections, sentencing and supervision,” he said.

Ormsby has served as one of the district’s two representatives for 15 years and is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, which helps create the state budget.

“I offer myself as a candidate with 15 years experience,” he said. “It turns out I’m pretty good at it.”

During his legislative career he’s worked on a wide variety of policy and budget committees and knows how to navigate the process, Ormsby said. He’s worked to improve career and technical education in schools and said there is still more work to be done.

“This is still somewhat of a challenge,” he said. “Not everyone is cut out for a bachelor’s degree. We have made great strides in changing that expectation.”

He said the state’s sales tax system is regressive, and impacts the poor the most. He wants to add capital gains taxes as another funding source in order to tackle mental health, public safety and social services.

“That’s something that’s always going to be a public pol-

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House, position 2 Timm Ormsby, incubant Democrat Age: 59 Education: Graduated from North Central High School in 1977.

Work experience: Worked as a cement mason, has been the business representative for the Northeastern Washington-Northern Idaho Building and Construction Trades Council since 2000.

Political experience: Appointed to his current position in 2003. Won election for seat in 2004 and every two years since.

Family: Married. Has three children and four grandchildren.

Dave Lucas, Republican Age: 48 Education: Graduated from Colfax High School in Colfax, California, in 1988. Earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of California-Davis followed by a master’s degree in military studies in 2004.

Work experience: Served nearly 22 years in the Marine Corps, retired as a lieutenant colonel. He served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Western Pacific.

Political experience: None.

Family: Married. Has two children.

icy challenge,” he said. “We also need to structure a revenue system to pay for it. It’s not about raising taxes, it’s about changing them. It’s about restructuring so we have low rates from various sources instead of having sales tax stick out like a sore thumb.”

Lucas said it’s Ormsby’s lengthy tenure in the House that means it is time for him to

go. “He’s been in office for 15 years,” he said. “We’re still one of the poorest districts in the state and the poorest ZIP code. Why do we not have term limits?”

Lucas said he wants to address the high cost of housing and said there are too many restrictions on development, which could alleviate the housing shortage. “That’s

something we can work on locally,” he said.

He has the experience and skills needed to serve, Lucas said. His last posting was as the executive officer of the East Coast Marine regiment, and he knows how to manage large budgets.

“Politics as usual is not the right answer,” he said. “I think I bring a high amount of integrity that I don’t think has existed in politics.”

Lucas has raised just over $43,800 in his fight against Ormsby and his largest donor has been himself. He gave $2,000 in cash to his campaign, plus $7,520 in in-kind donations and a $2,700 loan.

Colfax resident Suzanne Roberts, who works for KidZKount, a Head Start organization based in Auburn, California, gave $2,000. Former Spokane County Republican Party Chairwoman Cindy Zapotocky gave $1,500. Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., Associated Builders and Contractors Western Washington Chapter and the Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors each donated $1,000.

More than $32,000 of those donations came from individuals, with businesses and political action committees accounting for most of the rest.

He has a total of 125 donors and has spent nearly $35,000, according to the most recent campaign finance documents available.

Ormsby’s re-election fund was buoyed by the nearly $26,000 he had left over from his last election campaign and he has raised an additional $79,400. He has 94 donors, the majority of which are political action committees. Businesses and unions also make up a large portion of his contributors and only $1,500 comes from individual donors. He has spent $15,400.

His largest donors, who contributed $2,000 each, include the Public School Employees of Washington, the Washington Beverage Association PAC, Avista, Mendax Inc., the Washington State Dental PAC, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and Laborers International of North American Local 238.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

nculver47@gmail.com

Man challenging state Rep. Riccelli, blocked on social media

By Emma Epperly FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The battle for a state House seat representing central Spokane was sparked by an earlier run-in and social media conduct.

Incumbent Democrat Marcus Riccelli blocked his Republican challenger, Tom Taylor, on Facebook after Taylor attacked commenters on Riccelli’s Facebook page.

Riccelli is seeking reelection for a fourth term.

Riccelli was first elected to represent the 3rd LegislatTaylor ive District in 2012. Riccelli, the majority whip, served as Eastern Washington director for Sen. Maria Cantwell and Riccelli as senior policy adviser for Lisa Brown when she was the state’s Senate Majority Leader.

Tom Taylor is a recent graduate of Washington State University, who is putting down roots in Spokane. He is currently unemployed but said he is pursuing a rental property business with his wife. The two recently bought a home together in Spokane.

The race appears to be lopsided contest. The Democratic-leaning 3rd Legislative District covers central Spokane. In the August primary Riccelli took 65 percent of the vote, beating Taylor by 31 percentage points.

“I am building on a proven track record of success,” Riccelli said. “We are going to move forward creating jobs in Washington state, making sure we have accessible quality health care for everyone and continuing to fund quality education.”

Riccelli was the primary sponsor of legislation that funded the Washington State University medical school in

House, position 1 Tom Taylor, Republican Age: 32 Education: Graduated from Washington State University with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences Political experience: WSU Global Associated Students of WSU Senator in 2014-16 and ASWSU Global Senate Pro-Tempore in 2014-15.

Work experience: Currently unemployed.

Family: Married.

Marcus Riccelli, Democrat Age: 40 Education: Graduated from Mead High School.

Received a bachelor’s in business administration from Gonzaga University and a master’s in Public Administration from the University of Washington.

Political experience: Elected state representative in 2012 and every two years since.

Work experience: U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s Eastern Washington Director, former senior policy adviser to then-state Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown.

Family: Married with two young children.

Spokane. He worked on a bipartisan plan that won approval to expand the number of Spokane County commissioners from three to five.

“It’s fairly controversial but it’s the right thing to do for our community, in my opinion. This will hopefully bring a better more responsible government,” said Riccelli.

Prior to Taylor announcing his candidacy, Riccelli said he blocked Taylor after Taylor made “inappropriate” remarks about an individual’s transgender child, after the individual posted on Riccelli’s Facebook page. According to Riccelli, this was not the first time he received complaints about Taylor’s comments and personal messages to Riccelli supporters.

“I thought his comments were a breach of civil discourse,” said Riccelli, who said he does not remove negative comments on his page directed at himself.

After Taylor declared his candidacy, Riccelli unblocked Taylor on Facebook.

“While this may be a Facebook page, this does not mean

that there aren’t rules of decency,” Riccelli said. “I think Spokane deserves a positive discourse and debate that is civil. I think that there are still rules of engagement.”

Taylor and his wife, Veronica Bropas, sent a cease-anddesist letter to Riccelli on July 6, 2018 stating that Riccelli had violated their First Amendment rights on Facebook by blocking and censoring comments.

Riccelli would like Taylor to “call me up” to discuss his concerns with Taylor’s social media conduct. Riccelli also said Taylor has not shown up to debates and forums about the race.

Taylor’s decision to run for office can be traced back to an interaction with Riccelli. Taylor complained that there was racial profiling occurring in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

These claims were made informally.

“I felt that based on certain cases and instances before that I have noticed, at certain places that I can’t mention – I

See 3RD DISTRICT, 8

A working mom who represents us in Congress, Cathy McMorris Rodgers z žÃiÕi¼ØÃdHØÃÅ Ãi ¾Ì¼iÃHà UiÅÅi¼Ã viÃv ¼ÃØ Ì¼ÃvH Ø—just like it’s her own family.

Ensuring Veterans Receive the Care They’ve Earned Improving Access to Quality Healthcare Empowering People with Disabilities Strengthening Fairchild AFB and Our National Security Protecting Local Control of Our Land and Dams

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Delivering Results for Eastern Washington www.CathyForCongress.com Paid For By Cathy McMorris Rodgers for US Congress

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4TH DISTRICT

Incumbent faces former city planner

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Political novice Mary May, a Democrat, acknowledges that unseating an incumbent Republican in a state House race in the GOP-dominated 4th Legislative District is no easy task. The best proof of that is the outcome of the August primary. State Rep. Bob McCaslin easily finished in the lead with 61 percent of the vote. Since he and May were the only candidates, they’ll face each other again in the Nov. 6 general election. “I thought about who was on our ballot,� May said. “This year we need to have a choice. I was tired of the same old patterns of representation for our area. I know I can do the job of a state legislator.�

McCaslin was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2014. He ran unopposed in 2016. He often allies himself with the other Spokane Valley state House member, Rep. Matt Shea. The two co-sponsored a bill last year to break Eastern Washington off into its own state called Liberty.

McCaslin said Shea and state Sen. Mike Padden work well together as a team. “I think Matt has been a very effective legislator,� he said. “He’s been treated pretty badly in the press.�

May said she doesn’t believe McCaslin has been an effective representative, in part because of his alliance with Shea. “We’re not being represented as an entire district,� she said. “Over in Olympia, they look at the 4th Legislative District and we’re written off.�

She said she believes McCaslin has been repeatedly elected because people are con-

McCaslin

May

fusing him with his father, the late Bob McCaslin, who served in the state Senate for 30 years.

Father and son have different middle names. “So many people still think they’re voting for his father,� she said.

She said McCaslin often votes no on important legislation, including bills on women’s rights, paid family leave, the Voting Rights Act, automatic voter registration and funding for education. “He flies under the radar,� she said. “He seems harmless but his voting record is anything but.�

McCaslin said he voted no on the most recent budget because it raided the state’s rainy day fund. “There are times when it’s hard to vote no on something,� he said. “Those are hard decisions to make. They affect people.�

McCaslin said he considers himself a conservative Republican, though he doesn’t like labels. He said he’s willing to work with Democrats but will make clear what lines he won’t cross. “I don’t believe compromise is supposed to be designed for someone to leave your convictions behind,� he said. “I’m going to be polite.�

May said she wants to examine the programs the state is funding and see if they are effective or not. “I am fiscally responsible,� she said. “I don’t want to in-

crease anyone’s burden with taxes.�

May worked as a city planner in California before she and her husband moved to the area in 2007. She worked as a planner for the city of Spokane Valley from 2007 to 2014 before accepting a position as a regulatory improvement consultant for the governor’s Office of Regulatory Innovation and Assistance. She helped businesses that wanted to relocate to Washington state for three years until she was laid off last year.

McCaslin was a teacher for 31 years. He spent most of those years teaching first grade, second grade and kindergarten in the Central Valley School District.

McCaslin said one of his goals is to reform the teacher evaluation system, known as TPEP. Teachers are rated on a scale from 1 to 4, but McCaslin said there aren’t enough incentives for teachers who rate a four and more rewards should be added. “The problem is nothing changes when you get to a three or a four on the scale,� he said. “The reward involves more time to innovate in your classroom or mentor a younger teacher.�

He said he also wants to allow professionals to teach at middle schools as a way to encourage interest in skilled trades. “I don’t think we’re reaching those kids early enough,� he said.

May said she wants to work for better technical training in schools, making college more affordable, supporting veterans and improving health care. “We need to take the profit and greed out of health care,� she said. “No one is happy that

Cummings criticizes Shea, top promoter of 51st state

By Chad Sokol THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Ted Cummings admits he didn’t pay much attention to state Rep. Matt Shea until early this year, when he noticed the Spokane Valley legislator had introduced a bill that aimed to cripple labor unions.

The so-called “right to work� proposal, which never passed out of committee, was anathema to Cummings, a longtime Kaiser Aluminum employee and member of the Steelworkers union. The phrase “right to work,� he said, is “a misnomer,� “rooted in racism� and “designed to steal from working men and women.� He recalled thinking, “Why would I elect a representative for my state to actively work against my interests?�

It was the start of a habit of researching Shea that eventually motivated Cummings, 57, to run against the five-term GOP representative as a Democrat. In short order, Cummings learned about Shea’s absolutist view of the Second Amendment, his petition to split Washington into two states and his embrace of far-right conspiracy theories and antigovernment causes – not to mention the time in 2011 when the lawmaker pulled a gun dur-

Shea

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ing a road rage incident in downtown Spokane.

Cummings said he initially planned to campaign on a primarily economic platform: jobs, health care, education and infrastructure. “But the more I’ve become aware of Mr. Shea and the things around him, my focus has really shifted,� Cummings said. “I think this man is just unhinged. I think he’s dangerous. I think he’s transitioned from a state representative, or any kind of leader, into more of a cult figure.�

Shea, an attorney and Army veteran, did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this story, in keeping with his usual practice of ignoring media inquiries.

At the time of his first election in 2008, the recently divorced Shea was the director of the Washington Family Foundation, which he said promoted “family-value, religious-liberty and sanctity-of-life issues.�

Cummings has run for office

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once before, mounting a longshot challenge to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray in 2016. He ran as an independent with a focus on money in politics, criticizing both Murray and her main GOP rival at the time, Chris Vance.

According to Public Disclosure Commission filings, Shea’s campaign had raised about $101,000 as of early October, with 14 corporate groups and political action committees contributing the maximum amount allowed under state law: $2,000 for both the primary and general elections.

Cummings, meanwhile, had raised about $23,000. The only outside group that had contributed $2,000 to his campaign was his union, United Steelworkers. He’s also received support from other unions, the Washington State Democrats and the political arm of the Washington Education Association.

As a Catholic gun owner who raises cattle on a small ranch in Chattaroy between shifts at Kaiser’s Trentwood plant in Spokane Valley, Cummings can distinguish himself from the previous Democrats who challenged Shea. But he fared only slightly better than they did in the August primary, taking less than 43 percent of the vote. While knocking on doors with campaign volunteers, Cummings acknowledged, many residents have been resolute in their support of Shea. “I would love to debate Mr. Shea, and I think we should. I think we’re 180 degrees apart,� he said. “If the voters want him, they want him, and that’s fine. I just want everyone to know what they’re getting when they get this person.�

Shea has alienated some fellow Republicans, notably Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, whom he once accused of being complicit in a triple homicide. But he remains popular among Spokane Valley leaders, including Mayor Rod Higgins and current and former City Council members.

As chairman of the House GOP caucus with posts on the Judiciary and Transportation committees, Shea champions a “Freedom Agenda� that aims to lower taxes, rein in government and protect property rights and gun ownership.

Shea is also adept at spreading his message on social media and in his “Patriot Radio� podcast. On Facebook recently, he urged people to watch a film

See 4TH DISTRICT, 9

House, position 2 Bob McCaslin, Incumbent Republican Age: 60 Education: Graduated from Central Valley High School in 1976. Earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and history from Washington State University in 1983.

Earned a master’s degree in school administration from Whitworth University.

Work experience: Elementary school teacher in the Evergreen School District in San Jose, California, 1983-94, and in the Central Valley School District from 1994 to 2016.

Currently a salesman at Freedom RV. Political experience: Appointed to the Spokane Valley planning commission in 2012. Elected state representative in 2014 and 2016. Son of longtime Spokane Valley legislator Bob McCaslin.

Family: Married. Has two children.

Mary May, Democrat Age: 57 Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in geography from San Diego State in 1984. Earned a Lean Green Belt certification from Eastern Washington University.

Work experience: City planner and project manager for Solana Beach and San Diego County in California. Worked as planner for the city of Spokane Valley, 2007-14. Worked as regulatory improvement consultant for Eastern Washington for the governor’s Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance, 2014-17.

Political experience: First run for office.

Family: Married. Has two children.

we pay for more and get less and providers are burdened with more paperwork. There are things we can do at the state level to make things better.�

McCaslin said his legislative experience and knowledge of the issues facing schools are why people should elect him to a third term. “The largest employers in our district are school districts,� he said. “I understand how they work. I understand how I can help them instead of hurt them. “Where I come from has not changed. I’m not someone who

rides the latest craze. That’s what I believe makes me a solid legislator.�

Despite McCaslin’s focus on education issues, both the Washington Education Association and the Spokane Education Association have endorsed May. “I think they want to see better representation for them and Ithink Bob has let them down,�

May said. “I think they were happy to have a candidate they can get behind.�

Public Disclosure Commission documents show that McCaslin has nearly triple the

cash that May has, buoyed by more than $14,600 he had left after his last election, when he was running unopposed. His new contributions are just over $22,300, and he’s only spent about $2,000.

His largest donors, giving $2,000 each, are Avista Corp., the Washington Affordable Housing Council and the Public State Employees Political Fund. Other top donors include the Washington Hospitality Association Political Action Committee, the Millennium Bulk Terminal in Longview, Washington, and the Ash Grove Cement Co. in Overland Park, Kansas. The Justice for All PAC, which is run by the Washington State Association for Justice, donated $1,000.

May has raised just over $12,800, including $2,300 in inkind donations, and spent about half that. She also loaned her campaign $1,000. Her largest donor, Spokane-based A Lice Thing to Do, gave $900.

Melissa Tudor gave $750 and the Washington Education Association and United Steelworkers District 12 each gave $500.

Her individual donors include Washington state Rep. Marcus Riccelli, Washington state Rep. Tim Ormsby and Spokane Valley Democratic activist Sally Jackson.

McCaslin has 31 donors.

Nearly all are businesses or political action committees; only $350 in campaign contributions are from individuals.

May has 112 donors and individuals account for more than $9,000 of her campaign cash.

She also has donations from businesses and unions, as well as $785 in in-kind donations from the Washington State Democratic Party.

House, position 1 Matt Shea, Republican Age: 44; Education: Graduated from high school in Bellingham. Earned bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Gonzaga University in 1996. Earned law degree from Gonzaga in 2006.

Political experience: Elected to state House every two years since 2008. Chairs the House GOP caucus and serves on the Judiciary and Transportation committees.

Work experience: Attorney at M. Casey Law since 2013. Formerly handled personal injury cases at Keith S. Douglass and Associates. Co-founded the Washington Family Foundation.

Served 4 1/2 years in the Army, entering as a lieutenant in 1996, including eight months in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Later served 11 months in Iraq as a captain in the Army and Army National Guard.

Family: Divorced and remarried. Has no children.

Ted Cummings, Democrat Age: 57; Education: Graduated from Gonzaga Prep in 1979. Earned an associate degree from Spokane Community College in 1997.

Political background: Ran an unsuccessful 2016 campaign as an independent against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Work experience: Worked at Kaiser Aluminum’s Mead smelter from 1988 until a strike and lockout in 1998. Worked as a supervisor for Alcoa Aluminum in New York from 1998 to 2004.

Returned to Kaiser in 2004 at the company’s Trentwood plant in Spokane Valley. Serves as chairman of the clerical and technical unit for United Steelworkers Local 338. Sits on the executive board of the Spokane Regional Labor Council. Raises cattle and grows hay and timber on a small ranch in Chattaroy.

Family: Married to Denise Cummings. Has two adult sons.

+ Compassionate + Common Sense +

Kuney SPOKANE COUNTY COMMISSIONER • GOP

County Commissioner Mary Kuney protects your family and your tax dollars. • Endorsed by Spokane Regional Labor Council, County Auditor Vicky Dalton, Shelly O’Quinn, Kate McCaslin, Sheriff Ozzie .QH]RYLFK ƓUHƓJKWHUV DQG QXPHURXV RWKHUV Mary has a heart for our ƓVFDOO\ UHVSRQVLEOH VROXWLRQV WR community, volunteering for: • Hutton Settlement get the County back on track: • Boys and Girls Club • &HUWLƓHG 3XEOLF $FFRXQWDQW • Boy Scouts • Washington State Auditor • HUB Sports Center • Business owner MDU\ KDV WKH EDFNJURXQG WR ƓQG

electmarykuney.com Paid for by Friends of Mary Kuney • PO Box 13103 • Spokane Valley, WA 99213 GOP

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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7TH DISTRICT

Whitworth prof aims to unseat Maycumber

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

House, position 1

Longtime Whitworth University educator Randy Michaelis wants to represent northeast Washington in the state Legislature as a Democrat.

But to do that, hewill have to defeat Republican incumbent state Rep. Jacqueline Maycumber in the November election. And she appears to have an advantage. She took 67 percent of the vote in the August primary.

Maycumber said she’s proud of the work she’s done for the 7th District in her two legislative sessions, including bringing $5 million to the district for low-income housing for people displaced by wildfires. The bill also authorized the Department of Natural Resources to work with local governments and fire districts on fuel mitigation and fire risk reduction.

“I’m really excited about that process,” she said. “We’re not just talking about logging.

We’re talking about preserving habitat for generations. We have to make sure we protect that land. We have to start being proactive.”

She said she has been working to improve access to broadband internet, which is important for health care and education. People often need in-

Jacqueline Maycumber, Republican Age: 38 Education: Graduated from Republic High School in 1998. Earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Colorado College in 2002. Received a Howard Hughes medical research grant to study HIV/AIDS. Graduated from the Law Enforcement Academy in El Paso County, Colorado.

Work experience: Worked for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office from 2002-04. Worked as legislative aide to then- Rep. Shelly Short beginning in 2009.

Political experience: Appointed state representative in early 2017. Elected in a special election in November 2017. Elected to the Republic School Board in 2015.

Family: Married. Has three children.

Randy Michaelis, Democrat Age: 66 Education: Graduated from Mead High School in 1970. Attended Pacific University in Oregon for two years before transferring to Whitworth University and earning a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1974. Earned a master’s of education in math and computer science from Eastern Washington University in 1983 and a doctorate in education from Washington State University in the mid-1990s.

Work experience: Worked as an elementary school teacher for 11 years in the Mead, Auburn and Deer Park school districts. Began working for Whitworth University in July 1985 as the director of computer education. He is now the dean of the School of Education.

Political experience: None.

Family: Married. Has three children and five grandchildren.

Kretz, Bell debate campaign funding

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From staff reports Having served largely unopposed in northeastern Washington’s legislative district for over a decade, Rep. Joel Kretz faced two Democratic challengers and one independent in the August primary.

And he won easily, capturing 65 percent of the vote.

Kretz, R-Wauconda, said he’s been a consistent advocate for the needs and concerns of his constituents for his 14 years in the Legislature.

“I spent 14 years representing this district,” he said in an interview in the summer. “I think I have a pretty good feel for the concerns and what’s important to (my constituents).”

Coming in second for the right to challenge Kretz in the November election was Mike Bell, a Democrat and retired accountant and business owner. He said his professional experience would be to the benefit of legislative work in Olympia.

Bell strongly criticized Kretz for what he sees as a dependence on corporate campaign funding, and has himself pledged to not accept contributions from similar sources.

“I’ll take whatever that money is, and I’ll donate it. But it won’t be benefiting me,” he said.

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campaign contributors over his constituents, saying complaints about corporate interests are just “the standard political line from the left.”

Whether or not Kretz favors money over his constituents, he certainly has more of it. As of early October, Kretz had raised about $93,000, according to the Public Disclosure Commission website.

Based on information from the PDC, about 40 percent of Kretz’s campaign contributions came from political action committees, another 40 percent are from businesses and the rest from individuals or “other.” Contributors that gave his campaign $2,000 include BNSF Railway, Boeing’s political action committee, Anheuser-Busch and the Washington Association of Realtors PAC. Bell had raised about $37,700 as of last week. Most of that are listed as in-kind donations from himself. He also gave his campaign $4,125. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1429 gave his campaign $2,000.

Kretz said he works to represent the people in his dis-

trict, many of whom are small business owners. Others are ranchers who can’t afford to donate to his campaign, he said.

“Why would I focus on big businesses when there’s none in my district?” Kretz said.

Kretz pointed to his efforts to support firefighters and protect landowners in Eastern Washington by helping to pass legislation in 2015 allowing fire suppression on public or private land without fear of being sued later.

His county was hit hard by fires in 2014 and 2015, and his bill helped improve fire response in his community, he said.

Kretz also said he’s been a champion for rural communities, and has protected them from unfair taxes, maintained telemedicine options and improved education.

But Bell said Kretz isn’t accomplishing many of the goals the incumbent in the past has said are most important.

“He’s mentioned his highest priority is restoring economic opportunity,” Bell said.

“Unemployment in the 7th District is going up, not down.”

Candidates differ on smelter

By Nina Culver FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Voters will notice something familiar about the ballot for the 7th District Senate race – it features the same two women who faced off against each other in a special election last November.

Democrat Karen Hardy is once again running against incumbent Republican Shelly Short, who was appointed to the position in early 2017 after serving in the House of Representatives. Short won a special election to keep Short her seat. It’s nearly identical to the results of this year’s August primary when she collected 67 percent against Hardy.

Short said she was proud to get legislation passed during the last Hardy session that opens up specialty care such as physical therapy and chiropractors to residents of the state. Patients are now entitled to six specialty care visits upon recommendation of their doctor. Previously even one visit required preauthorization See 7TH SENATE, 8

Michaelis

ternet access to apply for jobs, she said.

“Broadband is really an equality issue for rural areas,” she said. “Broadband technology is something I’ve been working very hard on. We’ve really moved to an online world.”

Michaelis, dean of education at Whitworth University, said he got into the race because he wants to work on education, heath care and mental health care. Michaelis said he considers himself an accidental candidate.

“This was never the design,” he said of running for elected office.

The 2016 presidential election showed a lack of civility and mean-spiritedness that Michaelis found unsettling.

“It felt like I just got punched in the stomach every night,” he said. “That is not how you get things done.”

Educators are in the public arena because the state Legislature is in charge of setting policy on teachers, Michaelis said.

“It’s not unusual for us to be

The flaws in the mental health care system are part of the reason Michaelis decided to run. His daughter, Caitlin Packer, also a teacher, died by suicide last year after struggling with mental illness. Michaelis said the family tried every program they could find to help her, even an outpatient program in Seattle, but it wasn’t enough.

“It’s awful,” he said of the mental health system.

One of the issues facing the 7th District is a proposed coalfired silicon smelter to be located just outside Newport. Michaelis said he is opposed to the smelter in its proposed location and believes the process so far has not been transparent enough. Newport is trying to promote recreation and a smelter will hurt that, he said.

The Department of Ecology is accepting public comments on the proposal.

“There is some question about whether this affects the Little Spokane watershed,” he said. “It’s going through the process, and we’ll see.”

The proposed smelter has not come before the Legislature, Maycumber said.

She hasn’t taken a position on the smelter.

Michaelis has raised almost $28,000 and spent over $18,000. Almost all of his contributions came from individual donors.

House, position 2

Republic

OKANOGAN

Maycumber

in Olympia,” he said. “I feel very comfortable in the policy world, and I get very frustrated with the state.”

In January, he and other university deans were in Olympiaand he met with Maycumber and Short, who continues to represent the 7th District.

“I didn’t think their knowledge of issues was that great,” he said.

He disagrees with Maycumber’s decision to vote against the Legislature’s 2017 budget deal that significantly boosted education funding in response to a state Supreme Court ruling, though he acknowledged the plan is not perfect.

“It was flawed but they should have voted for it,” he said. “Now what we need is someone to go over there and fix it.”

There are 23 schools in the district without a school counselor, and Michaelis said that concerns him.

“These are the kinds of things the state should be paying attention to,” he said.

Maycumber said she voted against the school funding plan because she thought it put too much of a burden on poorer school districts.

“I saw a disparity between wealthy schools and poor schools,” she said. “I believe we should have quality in education.”

Joel Kretz, Republican Age: 61; Education: Graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1975. Attended Olympic College and Green River College; Political experience: Has represented the 7th Legislative District for 14 years in the House; Work experience: Owns a ranch, raises cattle and horses, and has a small timber business; Family: Married. Has one son.

Mike Bell, Democrat Age: 67; Education: Graduated from Havelock High School in North Carolina in 1969.

Graduated from North Carolina State University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting; Political background: Has never held office; Work experience: U.S. Navy veteran, volunteer in the Naval Reserve, 1976 to 1979. Accountant at Haskins and Sells from 1979 to 1981. Worked in rural outreach for Billings Deaconess Hospitals, 1981 to 1983. Health care manager at LeMaster & Daniels accounting, 1983 to 1990. Health care manager at Pannel Kerr Forester accounting firm 1990 to 1991. Started a public accountant and consultant firm, Michael R Bell & Co., specializing in the health care industry, 1991 to 2010; Family: Married. Has three adult children, three adult stepchildren and seven grandchildren.

FOR COUNTY

TREASURER It takes accounting and financial experience to effectively serve as County Treasurer. Only one candidate, David Green, has that experience.

When it comes to managing Spokane County’s money, we can’t take chances.

That’s why the best choice for Spokane County Treasurer is David Green.

Senate Shelly Short, Republican Age: 56 Education: Graduated from University High School in 1980. She attended Spokane Community College 1980-81 and Eastern Washington University 1981-82.

Work experience: Former congressional aide to U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Former legislative aide to Rep. Joel Kretz. Worked as a paralegal for 10 years.

Political experience: Elected to the state House in 2008. Appointed to the Senate in early 2017. She won a special election in November 2017 to retain her seat.

Family: Married. Has two grown children.

Karen Hardy, Democrat Age: 50 Education: Graduated from Puyallup High School in 1986. Attended Clark College in Vancouver for two years. Graduated from the Minnesota Horse Training Academy.

Work experience: Worked at Delta Airlines for over 18 years then became a horse trainer and started her own stable in New Mexico.

Currently the draft horse program manager at Pioneer Farm Ranch near Deer Park.

Political experience: 7th Legislative District committeewoman.

Family: Married. Has two grown children.

VOTE FOR EXPERIENCE David is an experienced finance professional who is exceptionally qualified to fulfill the Treasurer’s duties of safeguarding taxpayer money and investing public funds wisely.

VICKY M DALTON, CPA

SPOKANE COUNTY AUDITOR

Paid for by Friends of David Green CPA, PO Box 4002, Spokane WA 99220.

David Green prefers the Democratic Party.

voteDavidGreenCPA.com | facebook.com/voteDavidGreenCPA

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OCTOBER 10, 2018

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

JUDGES

Appointee faces Superior Court challenger

Brandt, Johnson vie for seat

By Jonathan Glover THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Two candidates vying to become Spokane County District Court’s newest judge are on their way to the general election.

Randy Brandt, who was appointed to the district court bench in 2011 but lost his seat in the 2014 election, and county Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Johnson, who is running for the first time, captured a roughly equal share of about 75 percent of the vote. Their competition, Lynden Smithson, a Spokane city prosecutor who did not move forward, took about 23 percent in the August primary.

Johnson edged out Brandt by about 3 percentage points, becoming the front-runner headed into November’s general election with roughly 40 percent of county voters behind him.

But with Smithson choosing not to endorse either candidate, reasoning that he plans to run again in four years, it’s unknown who his voters will back. “My thought is, Lynden and I are probably more similar, have a similar circle of friends and supporters,� said Johnson. “My hope is I will pick off more of Lynden’s supporters than Randy is able to.�

Brandt too said he and Smithson were friends. “I don’t know how Lynden votes are going to go,� he said. “He’s a friend of mine. But I don’t know how many people know that.�

In September, the Spokane County Bar Association completed a multis-

By Jonathan Glover THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Spokane County Superior Court

Dennis Cronin thinks there’s reason to worry about Spokane County Superior Court. And it all starts with the image it presents to the public.

Like a castle up high, overlooking the city with jutting spires and an impressive, protruding tower, the attorney likens it all to a medieval stronghold – the judges the elite royalty, the attorneys perhaps like barons and baronesses, and everyone else: commoners, servants, and at the bottom, detainees. “This has been endemic now for some time that the system is dysfunctional over there,� said the attorney Szambelan with 33 years of legal experience. “Perhaps it shouldn’t be a judiciary that looks more like a fortress judiciary, over there in the fort, or the castle, where Cronin citizens are searched without a warrant when they go through the door.�

In November, voters will decide if they agree, when they cast their ballot for Superior Court Judge Position 10 – a seat on the 12-person bench that saw a shakeup just seven months ago after Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins announced her retirement.

In February, Gov. Jay Inslee selected Shelley Szambelan from a pool of well-qualified applicants, including Cronin. The governor cited her “long history of legal and community service� and called her “smart, compassionate and committed to justice.�

Since her appointment, Szambelan, who was a Municipal Court judge for nine years, has been assigned a plea docket, though she’s also filled in extensively on the court’s chief criminal docket, where she oversees new felony charges coming into the courthouse.

Szambelan said she agrees with some of the concerns Cronin has over the court’s perceived reluctance to change, though because judges are supposed to be unbiased and do not create policy, her scope is limited. Still, she said issues affecting the county’s public safety, such as jail overcrowding and a high number of jail deaths, need to be addressed.

One of the solutions, Szambelan offered, was to be a part of court reform discussions, even if a judge cannot actively participate in the process.

Another solution is following the rules already in place. Szambelan said when someone is arrested, they have a constitutional presumption of innocence and release, meaning a court needs to find good cause to keep someone in jail after they’ve

Michelle “Shelley� Szambelan Age: 52 Political experience: Appointed Municipal Court judge in 2008 and ran unopposed for the Municipal Court position in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Served as assistant presiding judge from 2009 to 2014. In 2014 was promoted to presiding judge of the court. In February 2018, appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee to Spokane County Superior Court.

Work experience: Worked as an associate attorney for Phillabaum, Ledlin, Matthews & Gaffney-Brown in Spokane, where she gained civil trial experience, then switched to the city prosecutor’s office, where she worked for nine years doing mostly appellate work.

Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University in 1988. In 1991, earned her law degree from Gonzaga.

Family: Married. Has three children.

Dennis Cronin Age: 57 Political experience: First run for office.

Work experience: Worked with famed civil rights attorney Carl Maxey out of college in 1987. In 2003, founded his own law firm, The Law Offices of D.C. Cronin, where he practices in all areas of the law.

Education: Graduated Holy Cross High School in Connecticut in 1978. Graduated from Fairfield University in Connecticut in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree. In 1985 earned a law degree from Gonzaga University.

Family: Married. Has two stepchildren, one grandchild.

first appeared before a judge.

Cronin, who got a job out of college working for famed civil rights attorney Carl Maxey and has since moved on to run his own practice, said the jail and county have had conversations for years centered on jail overcrowding, but they’ve yet to find a solution. “We’re going backwards,� he said, referring to the fact that the jail saw an increase in inmates this year after MacArthur grant money was awarded. “And many millions of dollars which we still don’t know what it was spent for.�

He’s also apprehensive about assigning blame to simply not following a specific rule. “We have poor people, primarily, incarcerated despite the rule. We have people suffering from substance abuse incarcerated,� he said. “There’s a systemic problem over there. Something needs to happen.

Something needs to change.�

Both candidates have a storied history in the county and as such have received widespread support in the nonpartisan race.

Szambelan, who has received endorsements from nine sitting Superior Court judges, all eight District Court judges and her three ex-colleagues at Municipal Court, also has earned the support of Mayor David Condon, City Council President Ben Stuckart and Councilwomen Candace Mumm and Lori Kinnear, according to her website. “I've had really good experiences with Judge Szambelan as a Munici-

Seats on top court unlikely to ignite much opposition

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Supreme Court elections in Washington are sometimes heated races that prompt outside groups to spend money for or against sitting justices and sometimes relatively tame affairs in which incumbents face little or no serious opposition.

Although 2016 was the former, 2018 is shaping up to be the latter. Challengers to Justices Susan Owens and Sheryl Gordon McCloud were bounced from the ballot this summer for not meeting basic requirements, giving the incumbents a straight shot at reelection.

Nathan Choi, the challenger to Justice Steve Gonzalez, said last month that he was just getting started with a statewide campaign.

Gonzalez, running in his first re-election campaign, enjoys all the advantages in funding, name recognition, endorsements and a string of ratings from groups saying he’s “exceptionally well qualified� to keep the job. He has a resume that includes stints at the U.S. attorney’s office, the Seattle city attorney’s office, a private law firm and a decade as a King County Superior Court judge. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2011 by thenGov. Chris Gregoire and was elected to it the next year.

In some ways, this campaign is very similar to 2012, Gonzalez said. He picked up

Choi

Gonzalez

bipartisan support both years and has raised money for a statewide campaign.

Choi received his law degree from the University of Hawaii and practiced in that state for 10 years. He now has his own practice in Bellevue, where he specializes in immigration law. He ran unsuccessfully for an appeals court seat last year, and was sued in February by the state Attorney General’s Office for failing to follow the Public Disclosure Commission laws for reporting contributions and expenses from that campaign.

As of last week, Choi had not filed any contribution or expense reports for this campaign, although he had filed his candidate registration form with the PDC. Contacted by The Spokesman-Review last month about a lack of contribution or expense reporting, Choi said he hadn’t received any money or spent anything beyond his filing fee at the time, although he conceded the $1,867 fee should have been reported.

Choi said there was a problem uploading the reports, and he’s working to straighten it out.

pal Court judge. I think she’s excellent,� Stuckart said. “But I also think Dennis Cronin is great as well. I think he’s really knowledgeable.�

Cronin, meanwhile, has won over many local labor unions, the county Democratic Party and local activists, including Pastor Walter Kendricks of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. He also has endorsements from a long list of local attorneys, as does Szambelan.

Kendricks said he “thinks the world� of Cronin, who has been active for many years in African American community affairs. That’s why, Kendricks said, he was disappointed to learn Inslee, a Democrat, picked Szambelan over Cronin in February. “Somehow our cries went unanswered,� he said. “I, for one, am not real pleased with the governor for ignoring our pleadings.�

In terms of campaigning, both Cronin and Szambelan have hundreds of signs set up throughout the county and have made multiple public appearances.

For the past 20 years, according to newspaper archives, only two judges have lost a campaign to retain their seat – Randy Brandt in 2014 and Greg Sypolt in 2016.

It’s a point not lost on Cronin. “They just vote the ticket,� he said of voters. “They vote incumbency, whether they know that’s the appropriate thing to do or not.�

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5013 jonathang@spokesman.com

“For some reason, I keep having glitches with that,� he said. “It’s not intentional, little things that have to be resolved.

It’s not like I’m colluding with Russians or anything.�

Choi was admonished by the King County Bar Association for failing to file PDC forms in his 2017 race and for taking out a full-page ad in the Seattle Times with the headline “Vote for Judge Nathan Choi,� which it said could lead voters to believe he was already a judge. Choi contended the bar association was simply backing his opponent, who was a former board member.

He again refused to participate in the association’s rating process this year, and the organization rated Gonzalez “exceptionally well qualified.�

One big difference from 2012 is the change in state law covering Supreme Court races.

Under the old law, a race with two or more candidates went on the primary ballot. If one candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote – guaranteed when only two were running – the primary winner went on the ballot alone and was thus assured of election. Under the current law, a Supreme Court race only goes on the primary ballot if there are three or more candidates. A two-candidate race goes on the general election ballot.

That’s an advantage, Gonzalez said, because the state distributes a voter’s guide that is mailed to every voter before the election. It gives voters a chance to compare and contrast the candidates, he said. “In my experience, most voters don’t know anything about judicial candidates,� Gonzalez said. Big cases or controversial decisions might raise the profile of the court, but he doubts they raise the profile of individual justices.

tage interview and questionnaire process to rate both candidates on a scale of “not qualified� to “exceptionally wellqualified.� Brandt chose not to particiJohnson pate, saying the interview panels were composed of attorneys who were unfamiliar with his time on the bench.

He also had other time commitments, Brandt he said.

Still, when he was appointed in 2011 to the bench after a judge retired, he was rated “very well-qualified.� The bar association’s most recent ratings have not yet been released.

Johnson, who has been in the county prosecutor’s office for 17 years, is running on a platform of military experience. If elected, he said he would be interested in running the county’s veterans court, where veterans who commit crimes are allowed access to services such as substance abuse classes, rehabilitation and counseling.

Johnson has been endorsed by Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, County Prosecutor Larry Haskell and nearly all sitting judges in the superior and district courts.

As a judge pro tem for many years, and then a court commissioner and finally a duly-appointed district court judge from 2011 to 2014, Brandt is the sole candidate with judicial experience. Brandt has been endorsed by some judges and retired law enforcement officers.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

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Spokane County District Court Randy Brandt Age: 66 Political experience: Appointed judge of Spokane County District Court in 2011. Served until 2014, when he lost an election bid to retain the position.

Work experience: Opened his own private practice in 1988 and began serving as a judge pro tem on the Spokane County District Court in 1993. In 2003, became a district court commissioner, and worked from 2010 to 2011 as an administrative law judge. Served as district court judge from 2011 to 2014 after appointment by the Spokane County Commission.

Education: Graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1969.

Graduated from Gonzaga University in 1974 and Gonzaga School of Law in 1988.

Family: Unmarried, no children.

Primary election results: Garnered 36.49 percent of the vote.

Patrick Johnson Age: 49 Political experience: First run for office.

Work experience: Served four years in the military after enlisting in 1988 as a psychological operations specialist in the U.S. Army. Worked as an attorney with the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office beginning in 1998, first on misdemeanor cases, then as a felony prosecutor. For the past 17 years, has defended active duty military members as a major in the U.S. Army Reserves Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Education: Graduated from Phoenix High School in Medford, Oregon, in 1987. Earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Central Washington University in 1994.

Graduated from Gonzaga School of Law with honors in 1998.

Family: Married. Has three children.

Primary election results: Garnered 39.39 percent of the vote.

5 Knowledge & Experience 5 Real Leadership 5 Union Endorsed

5 Equitable Assessments

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Voter Guide

Paid for by We Believe We Vote, 1318 E. 5th, Spokane, WA 99202

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

9TH DISTRICT / 3RD DISTRICT / 6TH DISTRICT / 7TH DISTRICT

Dye, Goulet in rematch for House seat

By Ryan Blake FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

In southeastern Washington, state Rep. Mary Dye faces a familiar opponent in the November election.

Democrat Jenn Goulet is challenging Dye for a chance to represent Washington’s 9th District two years after she lost to Dye for the same seat.

Goulet said the possible outpouring of Democrats this year could boost her chances, but she’s not counting on it.

She said she’s focused on turning out moderate and independent voters because Democrats already are motivated to vote.

Her task won’t be easy. In the August primary, Dye took 63 percent of the vote.

In the most recent legislative session, Dye played a crucial role in passing a bill that makes broadband internet accessible in rural areas of the state. The bipartisan bill allows ports to build networks capable of facilitating highspeed internet as well as allow contracts with private companies.

In 2017, Dye pushed for and passed a bill that reduced regulations on trains carrying vegetable oil, a product she

6TH SEAT Continued from 2 work to be done on the state’s education funding plan, which the Legislature negotiated in 2017 after the state Supreme Court ruled that K-12 education was underfunded.

Murano, who is the executive director of Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium, said she is concerned that over the next five years, the current plan may not have the funds to continue to pay teachers at the levels recently negotiated by their districts. She and Volz want more funding to boost support services in schools.

Volz said he hopes to increase funding to smaller schools to ensure they have at least one mental health or career counselor and adequate funding for a school resource officers.

Murano said one of her priorities if elected is ensuring the capital budget

6TH SENATE Continued from 2 disadvantage people who identify differently from the sex they are assigned at birth, but rather for the comfort and safety of others using those facilities.

Of the initiatives on Washington’s ballot, Lewis said she supported the carbon fee, 1-1631, and a new gun initiative, I-1639, which would require enhanced background checks for semi-automatic rifles, a oneday waiting period and firearms training course. It also would raise the age to purchase semi-automatic rifles to 21 and require gun owners

7TH SENATE Continued from 5

from insurance companies.

More than six visits still requires preauthorization.

A couple years ago there was a puppy mill found in Stevens County and there were also several animal abuse and neglect cases. Hardy turned first to the Stevens County commissioners, who told her that animal control laws weren’t enforced. Frustrated, Hardy said she reached out to Short but never received a response.

“Our representatives are not responsive,” she said.

Hardy also believes that

6TH DISTRICT Continued from 2 school zone tickets in the mail. When I’m going to the door, people are asking, how much is enough? We are on track to becoming the highest-taxed state in the nation.”

Graham mentioned a man she spoke with who said taxes were driving him out of business. He closed one restaurant, she said, and was close to shutting a second.

“There’s only so much

Dye

Goulet

says plays a crucial role to the 9th District economy.

Conservation group Environment Washington has criticized her voting record, but Dye said some legislation she has opposed doesn’t take into account economic consequences.

“It takes a tremendous amount of money to invest in environmental mitigation, and that money comes from the private industries that are producing the wealth,” Dye said. “We cannot risk threatening the economy and threatening those industries’ viability by imposing extreme taxes on energy. It just will not work. I totally disagree with the policy.”

Goulet said bringing down carbon emissions is a priority for her, something she wants to accomplish by supporting nuclear energy. She said she also is a supporter of maintaining and developing state parks and trails to help boost

includes ample funding for the Housing Trust Fund, which goes toward organizations that build low-income or homeless housing.

She also hopes to eventually work alongside city and counties to build more affordable homes and sponsor eviction protection legislation.

She said in some parts of the state, cities require landlords to provide just cause when evicting tenants, but it’s not a statewide policy. She said the state should create a uniform set of rules that protects tenants from being evicted without a good reason and require landlords to provide earlier notice so tenants can find new housing.

Volz, who was one of several Spokane-area legislators who voted for a public records bill that would have shielded calendars and past records from the public view, is a member of the task force created to find a Public Records Act compromise. Volz said he has been subject to the

the economy in small towns throughout the district.

Dye voted against the 2017 state budget that included a $1.8 billion boost of education in response to a state Supreme Court ruling that determined the state was not providing enough funding for education. However, she was the only Republican House member whose district includes Spokane County who voted to change the property tax system the state uses to fund education. That change cuts the amount of taxes school districts can collect, while increasing the amount the state collects.

Goulet said the state needs to clarify how much of the boosted education funding was set aside for increases to teacher salaries, getting rid of the ambiguity suggested by recent teachers’ strikes.

“We needed to be doing a better job by our students and by our teachers and other staff,” Goulet said.

Dye said the money was pretty well defined in the bill itself, and it was the removal of salary schedules that created dissatisfaction among teachers.

“It’s unfortunate because this is a substantial increase in

Public Records Act for 19 years as an employee of the Spokane Transit Authority and the county treasurer’s office and thought the bill would have opened many records to the public that had previously been denied.

He said he does believe legislators should be subject to the act, but some of their communications should be protected so there is not a stifling affect on people attempting to contact them privately.

Volz said as a parent, he’s been frustrated in the past over the ever-changing graduation requirements and the push to ensure high school students are college ready. Outside of improving education funding over the next few years, he said he hopes to continue his efforts to decouple testing and graduation requirements and support skill classes, such as shop, that prepare students for a future outside of a fouryear degree.

Both candidates said

they support Initiative 1634, which would bar local governments from taxing grocery items, but they took different stances on the other initiatives on the ballot. Murano said she supported a carbon tax and a police initiative that would create a good faith test for using deadly force.

She also supports, I-1639, which would require additional background checks, raise the minimum age to purchase fire arms to 21 and require safe storage of fire arms, but said she was concerned about how police would enforce the safe storage component.

Volz said said he opposes a carbon tax because consumers likely would pay higher prices as companies likely would pass on the tax. He said he believes the trainings the police and deadly force initiative calls for are already in place at many departments and it may be unnecessary. He also said the gun initiative would create unnecessary regulation.

to keep their weapons secured at home. Lewis said she is a gun owner, but wants to see more legislation to ensure firearms don’t make it into the wrong hands.

Both Holy and Lewis said they would not vote for the grocery tax initiative, which would bar local governments from taxing basic food and toiletry items, saying the state shouldn’t be telling local governments what taxes they are allowed to collect.

Holy said he would not vote for the carbon tax or I-1639, saying the safe-storage component could criminalize people whose fire arms were taken from their

homes and used illegally and it may not stop gun violence.

Both said they would like to see more state investment in their district. Holy said he hoped his work would create an environment where young graduates from Spokane’s colleges could feel like they would easily find employment in their industry if they stayed in the area.

Lewis said she hoped to see more investment in policing and infrastructure in Medical Lake to support local governments where large state facilities like Eastern State Hospital are located.

Short hasn’t done enough to get 7th District projects in the state’s capital budget. The district gets much less than other , she said.

The Stevens County Jail is in desperate need of an upgrade and a levy failed, Hardy said. The jail has been deemed unsafe but Short and 7th District representatives have done nothing, she said.

“They haven’t even asked for any money,” she said. “You don’t get what you don’t ask for.”

There is also a countyowned bridge near Usk that has been declared functionally obsolete and structurally unsound, Hardy said.

Short said money for the

bridge has to come from the transportation budget, not the capital budget, and she has supported Pend Oreille County in the past when they requested money for the bridge. Other bridges in the district also need work, she said. “I have been very supportive of those applications,” she said.

A proposed coal-fired silicon smelter by the state line near Newport has been making waves in the district and Hardy said she opposes it in its proposed location.

Short said she is supportive of the smelter with the caveat that the project must meet stringent environmental requirements.

margin in a taco,” she said.

Both candidates support Initiative 1634, which would bar local governments from taxing soda or other groceries.

Graham said the state also has become overregulated.

She said she opposed the carbon initiative and a state lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding its easing of rules regulating coal.

“I absolutely am in favor of our environment and protecting our environment,” Graham said, arguing that

Washington was “already one of the greenest states in the nation.” She also cautioned against new forms of energy, saying wind turbines were dangerous to wildlife and said they had “problems with rust.”

“People talk about the oil business, but these other options are businesses, as well, so that’s something that also should be considered and not lost,” she said.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

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CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5440 nickd@spokesman.com

pay for all teachers across the state, and as a result I think there should be more job satisfaction – they’re being compensated well for the work that they do,” Dye said.

Dye said mounting student debt is unfortunate, but the state is not suited to handle the problem. She said giving students easy access to loans inflates the cost of education, and the state should encourage people to make prudent financial decisions based on their own abilities to pay for their education.

Goulet suggested returning to prerecession funding for student loans, in which the state covered two-thirds of the cost. She said the debt crisis is hurting the economy by forcing graduates into financial submission.

She also said the state should fund apprenticeships and trade schools to fill positions in the workforce being created by retiring labor union members.

Dye said she is troubled by the “myth” of the secondary labor track. She suggested reducing regulations on high school students who want to go into the labor force, as well as making education more exploratory and less specific.

9th legislative district House position 1 Mary Dye, Republican Age: 57 Education: Graduated South Fremont High School in St. Anthony, Idaho. Earned bachelor’s in plant science management from University of Idaho.

Work experience: Co-manages third-generation wheat farm since 1987. Previously served as agricultural educator in Peace Corps in Ubon, Thailand.

Political experience: State representative representing 9th Legislative District since 2016. Serves on House Environment Committee, Capital Budget Committee, and Appropriations Committee.

Family: Married. Has three children.

Jenn Goulet, Democrat Age: 41 Education: Graduated from Kennewick High School.

Earned an associate degree from College of DuPage near Chicago in general studies. Earned a bachelor’s in applied management at Columbia Basin College.

Work experience: Works from home. Small-business owner performing instructional design services for Microsoft. Previously was a training specialist at the HAMMER Federal Training Center and a technical writer supporting the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup efforts on the Hanford site.

Political experience: Ran for same position in 2016.

Former chairwoman of Franklin County Democrats.

Family: Divorced. Has two children in their teens.

3RD DISTRICT Continued from 3 really wish I could – that they were exhibiting racial profiling,” said Taylor.

Taylor, who is white, said he and others he knows have been victims of racial profiling, but he delinced to provide specifics. He said he eventually complained to the governor’s office and to Riccelli and state Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, about his concerns and problems he experienced when filing public records requests..

“They dismissed it outright,” Taylor said.

Taylor said he was so frustrated by the lack of action that he decided to challenge Riccelli’s re-election bid.

“Like I don’t have anything personal against the guy, I mean, it’s not that. It’s just you know, you expect a certain kind of representation when you go to them and it’s not a sense of disappointment more so than you know that this person is a career politician,” he said. “That they

! "#$%&

genuinely don’t care about the law. That if they are able to bend it or break it if they can, if they can get away with it, they will do so.”

Taylor’s campaign has remained low budget due to his commitment to stay away from party politics.

Taylor said he has accepted no money for his campaign and has spent minimal on the bid himself.

“I am Republican but I don’t feel the need to take have to take money from people to run a campaign,” Taylor said. “I feel like I can do this through social media. I feel like I can go about it by myself with my wife, my friends, with others I’ve met.”

If elected Taylor plans to work to inform his constituents, mainly via social media.

Then through phone calls, social media, and Facebook polling he would gauge what the majority of constituents want. Then he would vote according to the majority.

“I think it’s incumbent upon a representative to vote in accordance with what the majority wants,” Taylor said.

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9TH DISTRICT / EAST VALLEY SCHOOLS

Challenger hopes to ride ‘blue wave’ into office be covered if they choose.

According to a March report from the Department of Financial Management, 8.5 percent of 9th District residents are uninsured as of 2016 – above the state’s average of 5.4 percent.

K-12 education figures to be another contentious topic in the 2019 legislative session. In 2017, the state Legislature significantly boosted education funding in response to a state Supreme Court decision that said the state wasn’t adequately funding education. Schmick voted against the state budget that included the new funding.

He also opposed changes in the property tax system that also were part of the agreement.

Sutherland said the state needs to go far beyond the boost already made and find a sustainable source of revenue so that taxpayers no longer have to front the costs of education through levies and bonds.

Schmick said he supports lowering tuition at state institutions and increasing the amount the state budgets for need grants for prospective students. He said he is concerned with the debt students are leaving college with, but also wants to make sure they are getting degrees in fields with job opportunities.

Sutherland said he favors a tuition cap to curb skyrocketing student loan debt. “It’s getting to the point where we are pricing working families out of educational opportunities, and that’s not fair,

By Ryan Blake FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

For the first time in a decade, a Democrat is challenging state Rep. Joe Schmick for his seat representing southeastern Washington.

Matthew Sutherland, a graduate student at Washington State University, hopes to benefit from a nationwide “blue wave,� with Democrats hoping voters dissatisfied with President Donald Trump will vote for their party down the ballot.

But he faces a significant challenge. Sutherland finished more than 20 percentage points behind Schmick in the August primary.

Democrats, however, saw a silver lining in the result. Sutherland had the best performance by a Democratic candidate in races for either 9th Legislative District house seat since 1992. “I don’t think the blue wave isn’t anything that isn’t earned,�

Sutherland said. “We’re going to earn, every day, each piece of achievement we have.�

Schmick said enthusiasm from Democrats this election season means he will have to work harder. “I think you saw a pretty clear pathway out of the primary, but ultimately the voters will decide who sits and who’s the best person to represent them in Olympia,� Schmick said.

Sutherland’s campaign has raised $64,000 compared with the $104,000 raised by

Sutherland

Schmick

Schmick’s re-election effort.

Among Schmick’s top contributors are Avista Corp., Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and United Health Group Inc., along with a variety of other pharmaceutical and health insurance corporations. Sutherland’s campaign is backed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union, as well as number of other regional trade unions.

Sutherland said he hopes his campaign is boosted by 1,500 students who have registered to vote at Washington State University since classes began.

Health care initiatives comprise a significant portion of Sutherland’s platform. He said he backs a publicly funded “Medicare-for-all� health care system. His plan includes cutting out health care insurance corporations, saying they are wasting taxpayer dollars and doctors’ time while prescribing unwarranted care to patients.

Schmick said other states – such as Vermont and North Carolina – tried publicly funded health care models before concluding it was too expensive.

He said he believes patients will lose control of their health care decisions. He added those who are uninsured have options to

Security deficiencies key items in East Valley School District levy a few cameras, but we have a number of blind spots,� Shea said.

The laundry list also includes interior deadbolts, single point of entry at all schools and emergency lockdown buttons.

Meanwhile, the HVAC system is becoming less cost-effective every year, and replacement parts are increasingly difficult to buy.

Outside, the Forker Road project is forcing relocation of several athletic fields, including those for football, softball and baseball.

Also in the levy are gym dividers in the middle schools and a new parking lot at 22year-old Trentwood Elementary – the district’s newest school. “That was the last major renovation,�

Shea said. “We’ve tried several bonds since then ‌ now we’re trying to use general funds, but many of these things outlived their time.â€?

The $13,064,000 levy would be collected in 2019 ($6,997,000) and 2020 ($6,067,000).

Even with the levy, cost per thousand would decrease thanks to the McCleary decision, from $6.65 per thousand of assessed value in 2018 to $6.22 the following two years.

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Aging infrastructure is catching up with the East Valley School District and its sense of security for students and staff.

During a recent audit with the district’s insurance carrier, it was found that several supposedly locked exterior doors at several schools could be pulled open. “Those doors are wearing down,� said Superintendent Kelly Shea, whose district hasn’t passed a bond since 1996.

Outdated security, an old heating and airconditioning system and the need to move several playing fields are the main reasons the district is putting a two-year, $13 million capital levy on the Nov. 6 ballot.

And even when they are secure, school personnel have no way of knowing whether someone has propped them open. That’s because East Valley schools have no system that would alert staff of a problem.

It gets worse, said Shea, who notes that schools also have antiquated public-address systems. “It’s dependent on where you are in the building as to whether you can hear an announcement,� Shea said. “In emergency systems, it’s vital to make sure that you can be heard in all places.�

Buildings in the East Valley district “have

House, position 2 Joe Schmick, Republican Age: 60; Education: Graduated from Colfax High School. Has bachelor’s degree in accounting with minor in economics from Eastern Washington University; Work experience: Farmer and small-business owner for 35 years; Political experience: State representative representing 9th Legislative District since 2007. Served on Washington Barley Commission from 1990 to 1997 and National Barley improvement Committee from 1991 to 1996; Family: Married. No children.

Matthew Sutherland, Democrat Age: 26; Education: Graduated from Rogers High School in Puyallup, Washington.

Has bachelor’s degree in political science and pre-law from Washington State University. Working on master’s degree in global security policy; Work experience: Joined U.S. Army at 17. Deployed on a humanitarian aid mission to El Salvador as an noncommissioned officer. Currently officer in Washington National Guard; Political experience: Vice chairman of Whitman County Planning Committee. Current member of the Pullman Board of Adjustment and Pullman Police Advisory Committee; Family: Single.

that’s not the American dream,� Sutherland said.

Sutherland also said he supports providing two years of free community college, as well as funding apprenticeships, trade and tech programs as alternatives to college.

Schmick said he wants to continue creating jobs across the district while living within the means of the budget. He said he wants to ensure small communities have an opportunity to be successful and run their businesses locally. “We need to make sure overregulation doesn’t preclude people from starting businesses,�

Schmick said. “We need to make sure the state is not being the problem so that we are promoting small business and let them have a chance.�

4TH DISTRICT Continued from 4 called “Revelation: Dawn of Global Government,� featuring Infowars’ Alex Jones and musicians Ted Nugent and Charlie Daniels, among other stars in the far-right “patriot� movement. “Liberal policies are destroying America,� Shea says in a video on his campaign website.

A link at the top of that site directs to another website touting plans to turn Eastern Washington into a 51st state called Liberty. There, Shea appears in another video, speaking to a crowd in Colville in January about the merits of secession, the importance of “Judeo-Christian values,� the dream of the American Redoubt and the looming threats of Communism and “Soviet Islamic terror.�

Cummings called Shea’s rhetoric “fear-mongering,� and he specifically took issue with the lawmaker’s characterizations of Islam. “Our community is not an area where we should welcome or tolerate hate,� Cummings said, “and I

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believe that’s what this man is espousing.�

Cummings also criticized Shea for taking part in a “Liberty or Death� rally in August, where the lawmaker joined armed militia members and other activitists to protest Washington Initiative 1639, which would raise the minimum purchase age for semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21 and establish new training requirements and safe-storage rules. (That’s the same demonstration where Shea called journalists “dirty, godless, hateful people.�) “Don’t get me wrong,�

Cummings said. “I own guns. I hunt. I fully respect the Second Amendment. I have no desire to infringe on anyone’s right to bear arms.�

Asked if he would support raising the minimum purchase age for semi-automatic rifles, Cummings replied: “That’s problematic. You can be drafted in the military at 18. It’s something that I would look at.

It’s not initially something that I think I would support. I would much prefer maybe a requirement that you get gun training, you know, like hunter safety.�

He said he’s somewhat more amenable to a proposal to raise Washington’s smoking age to 21, which is likely to resurface in the Legislature next session. “I have no problem with it,� he said. “No one is being harmed by not being able to smoke a cigarette. But I much prefer the sin tax.�

Cummings has complicated feelings about abortion – which Shea often describes as murder. Although he is a devout Catholic, Cummings said he would not impose his personal beliefs on constituents, and he has secured an endorsement from Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho. “The choices that (women) make, as long as they’re lawful, are between them and their conscience and their god, if they have one, and my job is to see that they’re treated equally under the law,� Cummings said. “And it really disturbs me that this person (Shea) is going out there and basically attacking women based on his personal beliefs.�

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5047 chadso@spokesman.com

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

East Valley School District board districts DETAIL AREA

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I am focused on the future of education at every level, on public safety, especially in our VFKRROV DQG RQ DFFHVVLEOH DQG DƹRUGDEOH healthcare for everyone. I care about you and your family’s future. I ask for your vote.

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MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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THE SPOKESM

5TH DISTRICT CONG

CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS 1986

May 22, 1969

Graduated from Columbia River Christian Academy

Born in Salem.

in Kettle Falls.

1960

1970

1980

1990

Nov. 8, 1994

Nov. 2, 2004

Aug. 5, 2006

Graduates from college with a bachelor’s degree in pre-law

Wins first election

Elected to Congress

Marries First son, retired Cole, Navy Cmdr. is born.

Brian Rodgers.

to the state House.

in the 5th Congressional District.

from Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida.

1990

January 1994

Heads up Bob Morton’s campaign for the state House

Family moves to Kettle Falls

Appointed to Rep. Bob Morton’s seat in the state House of Representatives.

then works as his legislative assistant.

from British Columbia.

Ma

Vo Se the the Ac

2000

November 1990

1984

April 29, 2007

2002

November 2002

Earns executive MBA

Named leader of the House Republicans,

from University of Washington.

the first woman to achieve that feat.

July 18, 2006

Nov. 19, 20

Votes in favor of a constitutional amendment that would define marriage

Elected leadersh

Elected a chair of t Republica

as between one man and one woman.

CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS

Source: Staff research, Kip Hill

TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Cathy McMorris Rodgers speaks Aug. 23 during a town hall on at the Spokane Convention Center.

From Kettle Falls to the Capitol, McMorris Rodgers used conservative bona fides to rise through the ranks THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

A rural, Christian upbringing and education

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has gone from tooling around northeast Washington in a rear-wheel-drive Ford Thunderbird to an audience with the president in 16 years.

Like her political opponent in the November election, the seven-term U.S. representative cut her political teeth in the early 1990s in the Washington House of Representatives. In 2002, she was covering dozens of miles around her district in that car as head of the minority party, part of a quick rise through Republican ranks. She would eventually turn what was a political appointment as a 24-year-old legislative aide into a position of power in the national Republican Party.

To secure an eighth term in Congress, McMorris Rodgers has been battling the same charges that dogged Tom Foley, the nearly 30-year veteran lawmaker who was ousted after becoming House Speaker: That she’s out of touch with her constituents, many of them who have been represented by the congresswoman at either the state or federal level for close to three decades.

McMorris Rodgers has countered that her ascent to a position of authority is not a liability, but an asset to the people she represents.

On arguably the biggest stage of her long political career, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers cast herself to a nationwide audience as “a girl who worked at the McDonald’s drive-thru to help pay for college.”

It was Jan. 28, 2014, in the televised Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union.

From the beginning of her public life, McMorris Rodgers has emphasized that everywoman upbringing, and the education she received through that college has defined her political experience.

McMorris Rodgers grew up in what she described to The Christian Broadcasting Network in a 2014 follow-up interview to that national address as “a cabin without electricity, without running water” in British Columbia, where the family relocated after she was born in Oregon. She moved to Kettle Falls with her family in 1984.

From there, she attended Pensacola Christian College in Florida and earned a bachelor’s degree in pre-law. The institution of now roughly 5,000 students first attained accreditation in 2013, some 23 years after McMorris Rodgers’ graduation.

The college maintains a specific list of

By Kip Hill

5th Congressional District OKANOGAN

PEND OREILLE

Republic

Colville FERRY

DOUGLAS

395

STEVENS

Davenport

2

LINCOLN GRANT

Newport 2

Spokane SPOKANE

90 195

Ritzville ADAMS

N

WHITMAN

Pullman FRANKLIN

0

GARFIELD Pomeroy WA L L A 12 WA L L A C O L U M B I A

20 miles

82 BENTON

Walla Walla

Dayton

Clarkston ASOTIN

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Articles of Faith, basic tenets of biblical-driven belief that include the conviction “that God created the heavens and the earth in six literal days, and that God created all life.” That includes a rejection of evolution.

In response to a question from an audience member at a debate last month, McMorris Rodgers reiterated those views.

“The account that I believe is the one in the Bible, that God created the world in seven days,” she said in response to the question. “I’m amazed by His creation.”

McMorris Rodgers has also invoked her faith in talks with supporters. At a fundraiser in late August, the congresswoman said that this chapter of American history would be the one where we “reclaim our Constitution, and we reclaim our Judeo-Christian values.”

State Sen. Mike Padden, who served with both McMorris Rodgers and Lisa Brown in the state House of Representatives in the early 1990s, said faith is important to the congresswoman, as it is to many voters in the district. But she doesn’t flaunt it, he said.

“Cathy, I don’t think, wears her religion on her sleeve or anything,” Padden said. “But she is a person of faith.”

Those religious beliefs continue to guide McMorris Rodgers’ political action. Early in her career, she was critical of efforts to redefine traditional marriage in Washington state, and in See MCMORRIS RODGERS, 16

LISA BROWN Oct. 9, 1956

June 1984

January – May 1990

Nov. 3, 1992

Nov. 5, 1996

November 2004

March 2008

Born

Charged with two misdemeanors

Travels to Nicaragua,

Wins first election

Elected to state Senate by defeating incumbent

Elected Senate majority leader

As leader of the Senate

in Robinson, Illinois.

1960

after protesting U.S. aid to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

1970

1980

first as an observer of elections and later on sabbatical to teach macroeconomics at a university in Managua.

to the Washington House of Representatives.

by Democrats.

Republican state Sen. John Moyer.

1990

Brown asks the state Sup lawsuit to rule on whethe majority of the chamber i taxes. The court declines

2000

May 1981

December 1986

February 1992

June 1995

2001

Jan. 27, 2006

April 2009

Earns bachelor’s degree in sociology and economics

Earns Ph.D. in economics

Son Lucas is born.

Named floor leader

Begins teaching

of the Democrats in the House of Representatives.

organizational leadership at Gonzaga University.

Brown votes for civil rights protections

Brown m income t

in housing and employment for the gay community.

The bill narrowly passes.

at the sta individual The idea f

from the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign.

Source: Staff research, Kip Hill

from University of Colorado at Boulder.

Begins teaching at Eastern Washington University.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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GRESSIONAL RACE

rch 21, 2010 –

otes against the enate’s version of e health care bill, e Affordable Care ct.

2010

2012

August 2013

Jan. 28, 2014

May 18, 2016

Serves as state chair of Mitt Romney for President campaign.

Sponsors a bill that would speed the regulatory process for retrofitting certain dams to produce electricity.

Gives GOP speech

Votes for Donald Trump in primary

after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

indicating she did so while “still getting to know him” and that the vote wasn’t made enthusiastically.

The bill is signed into law.

2011

08 –

to GOP hip team.

as the vice he House an Caucus.

2012

2013

November 2013

December 2010

Nov. 14, 2012

First daughter, Grace, is born.

Becomes fourthranking Republican.

Second daughter, Brynn Catherine, is born.

Elected as the chair of the House Republican Caucus.

2015

2014

May 4, 2017

Aug. 7, 2018 –

Votes for a replacement for the Affordable Care Act.

Wins primary

The Republican’s plan is called the American Health Care Act.

2016

2017

in her eighth contest to retain Eastern Washington’s House seat with 49 percent of the vote.

2018

Dec. 19, 2017

March 2014

December 2016

The House Ethics Committee declines to open a formal investigation into a complaint from a former staffer

Rumored to be considered for Secretary of the Interior

that McMorris Rodgers inappropriately used official staff time and resources to aid her campaign for the in Donald Trump’s caucus chair position. McMorris Rodgers denied the administration. allegations and filed a detailed rebuttal of the charges.

Votes for tax reform, a GOP proposal, which cut corporate and individual rates and was endorsed by Trump. The measure is approved by the Senate.

MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

LISA BROWN

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Congressional candidate Lisa Brown speaks Sept. 13 during the 2018 Inland Northwest State of Reform Health Policy Conference at the Spokane Convention Center.

Building on her roles as educator and legislator, Brown a formidable opponent for congressional seat

By Kip Hill THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Lisa Brown has always had one foot planted in academia, and the other in politics.

Supporters point to Brown’s bona fides as an economist and a college administrator, as well as her work in political leadership in Olympia, as leading the 62-year-old to this moment in her political career. Long rumored as the Democratic Party’s best chance to retake a red district, Brown ended speculation in August of last year and has since mounted a money and vote-chasing battle with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers that is closer than Eastern Washington has seen in decades.

Along the way, Brown has had to battle claims that have spanned her political career, dealing with work as a young academic writing about socialist economic systems and a trip to the Central America political hotbed of Nicaragua.

Between then and now, Brown has led a political and scholastic career that she’s argued puts her in a position to be the new blood in Congress that Eastern Washington needs.

Early activisim, scholarship Brown’s career speaking politically

e’s majority,

reme Court in a r a two-thirds s needed to raise to rule on the case.

2010

didn’t begin in Olympia.

In a video that was seized upon by conservative critics after being published online last month, Brown told a gathering of Washington State University students in May that she “started on the activist side of politics. I worked in opposition to U.S. policy in Central America, which I felt was supporting governments that were not supporting the human rights of the people in the countries, and creating war and refugees that I became friends with.”

That included participation in a demonstration outside the U.S. courthouse in June 1986. Brown was one of 12 people who pleaded no contest to misdemeanors after reportedly blocking entry to the courthouse in opposition to the U.S. sending $100 million in aid to the Contra rebels fighting in Nicaragua, according to an account in The Spokesman-Review.

Brown said her critics are conflating a later trip to Nicaragua, as an observer of the 1990 elections and as a college instructor, with those activist years.

“Those were two separate periods of time,” Brown said. “I was talking about Iran-Contra, and I was referring to opposition to U.S. policies that I didn’t think were helping to create democracy and human rights.”

The sale of arms to the rebels fighting

the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, then led by Daniel Ortega, resulted in the indictments of more than a dozen officials in the Reagan administration.

She said publicly in a debate in September that she didn’t support the regime of Ortega, the current and former head of the government in Nicaragua where hundreds have been reported killed in political violence both the United Nations and U.S. State Department have condemned. A March 1990 story that appeared in The Spokesman-Review, cited in national media stories on Brown’s ties to Nicaraguan politics, indicated she’d joined a pro-Ortega march then after his defeat at the polls to Violeta Chamorro, a candidate who promised an end to the ongoing bloodshed.

Larry Winters, former pastor of the Cheney United Church of Christ, visited Nicaragua with Brown in 1990. Winters, who has made political contributions to Brown’s campaign, said she, like all other members of the delegation, met with a variety of people on the trip.

“We talked to people who supported various candidates,” Winters said. “We just really wanted information.”

Brown’s political activism also wasn’t relegated to courthouse protests or international travel. In the pages of The Spokesman-Review, the associate

professor of economics made the argument to raise the state’s minimum wage, then $2.30, in an op-ed published in February 1988.

“The 1980s have seen a disturbing trend toward greater inequality in income and wealth distribution; the U.S. Census Bureau reports that not only are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, but the middle class also is relatively shrinking,” Brown wrote at the time, in a statement that could very well reflect her current thoughts about the GOP’s latest tax bill.

Conservatives continued to link Brown to socialist ideas in subsequent races for office. That included her first run for office in 1992, against Chuck Potter. In a story that ran Oct. 26 of that year, Brown denied claims of being a Marxist, comparing them to the “red-baiting of the past.”

“My economic views are pragmatic.

They are not ideological,” Brown said at the time. “I want something that works for people, that’s fair, that’s efficient within the framework of the system.”

Brown repeated that message in an interview last month, saying the latest round of attacks is a distraction from what she called “a compelling human rights issue” that has been developing at See BROWN, 17

May 2011

October 2016

May 5, 2017

Oct. 10, 2017

A capital budget deal is reached in Olympia that includes $35 million for construction of the Biomedical and Health Services Building on the campus of WSU in Spokane,

The WSU-Spokane medical school

Brown steps down

receives preliminary accreditation to open.

as chancellor of WSU-Spokane.

Marries Brian McClatchey.

a request that was originally left out of Gov. Christine Gregoire’s budget proposal. Brown helps organize the deal in her role as majority leader.

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

May 2012

November 2012

December 2016

August 2017

Aug. 7, 2018

makes the case for a “high-earners” tax to make up a budget shortfall

Brown announces she won’t run for another term in the state Senate.

Brown shoots down speculation that she’ll run for Congress,

Brown announces her intention to run

te level. It would impose a tax on an l’s income exceeding $250,000 a year. fails to gain traction in Olympia.

Brown announces she’ll be taking the job as chancellor

Brown finishes second in the blanket primary

of WSU-Spokane at the request of WSU President Elson Floyd.

as rumors swirl of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers leaving her spot in the House for Trump’s Cabinet.

for the 5th District congressional seat.

The WSU-Spokane medical school officially opens.

to Cathy McMorris Rodgers with 45 percent of the vote.

MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Familiar opponents face off in county

By Amy Edelen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Spokane County Commissioner Mary Kuney and challenger Rob Chase will compete for public office for a third time in November as the two Republicans face off for a county commissioner seat.

The race mirrors a split in the Spokane County Republican Party between more traditional Republicans who have lined up behind Kuney and those whose influence grew in the past decade with the rise of the tea party, who have mostly backed Chase.

Chase, the Spokane County treasurer, defeated Kuney in a re-election bid for treasurer in 2014. But, last year, Kuney was selected over Chase by Gov. Jay Inslee to fill a vacant seat on the county commission after Shelly O’Quinn resigned to take a job as CEO for the Inland Northwest Community Foundation.

Chase, who finished behind Kuney the primary, said his accomplishments in the treasurer’s office include improving online payment options and availability of tax statements online, reducing wait time by 80 percent in the office and leading the effort in passing partial payment legislation on property taxes in Washington.

Kuney – a certified public accountant as well as a former state auditor and the former Spokane County chief deputy auditor – worked for private accounting firms, launched two businesses and is president of the Hutton Settlement board of trustees.

Kuney said she didn’t intend to run for county commissioner, but was approached by O’Quinn as well as business and community leaders asking if she would run for office.

“I thought long and hard about it and decided to put my name in and have been commissioner for almost a year,

Kuney

Chase

and I think all that experience has come together well to make me a great county commissioner,” she said.

Kuney said her accounting background coupled with experience auditing the county can be applied towardserving as commissioner, especially when tackling the budget.

Chase aims for more transparency between commissioners and the public, adding that he brought employees into decision-making processes at the treasurer’s office.

“I don’t think there’s enough transparency at the county,” he said. “A lot of county officials don’t really know what’s going on sometimes and especially the public too, so that’s one of the big complaints I’ve gotten as I’ve door-belled.”

Kuney’s goals, if retained, are to support public safety and economic development initiatives to generate revenue for the county through sales tax from new businesses and property tax from new construction, which could help reduce future budget shortfalls.

“That helps drive the revenue side, so we don’t have to raise taxes,” she said.

Kuney said the West Plains Public Development Authority – a partnership between the county, city of Spokane and the Spokane International Airport – is crucial for economic development.

She said she’s also worked with commissioners and the superintendent at Freeman High School to add a public safety officer. Previously, Liberty and Freeman school districts shared an officer.

“To me, that’s a really im-

portant thing that’s happened and a way of being efficient and effective to make sure we are meeting the needs of our citizens with our budget,” she said. “I think without strong public safety, we aren’t going to have a strong economy. People aren’t going to want to be here if there’s a lot of crime running rampant.”

Kuney said the county’s budget has been in decline because, unlike cities, the county can’t collect utility taxes.

While the county can raise property taxes by 1 percent a year, it doesn’t keep up with expenses.

“We’re going to continue to see this. Right now, sales tax revenues are coming in strong, but we know that’s only a limited event,” she said.

“That’s not going to happen forever.”

Chase said he’s reluctant to increase taxes, stating that commissioners used $5 million that could have been used for roads to make up deficits and took the 1 percent property tax increase after the legislature created a new property tax to boost school funding, causing taxes to go “skyhigh.”

“I think the best way, really, to have a good economy is to not increase taxes, but to make sure you are spending the money you do have correctly,” he said. “And, like I said, I haven’t really seen that here.”

Chase added if he had to take a 1 percent property tax increase, he would look into starting a reserve fund.

“If I raised the 1 percent, I’d probably dedicate it to that, because you never know what’s around the corner,” he said.

Both Chase and Kuney want to increase efficiency within county departments, but differ on approach.

Chase advocates for efficiencies in county departments through evaluating spending and looking at options to contract out some

French faces challenger Anthony

By Amy Edelen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

If you want experience, Al French is probably your pick for Spokane County Commission.

He served eight years on the Spokane City Council, is running for a third term on the commission and he serves on 40-some government boards and committees.

If you want something different, Robbi Katherine Anthony is your choice. Yes, Anthony is transgender, but her run is not so much about that – though she doesn’t deny that being the first transgender person to run for a major office in Spokane County played at least a small part in her campaign slogan “Elect different.”

Different is more about being new to politics. And from a different generation – she’s 41 years younger than the incumbent. And she’s from the Democratic Party, which hasn’t been represented on the commission since French defeated Bonnie Mager in 2010.

French and Anthony both believe the West Plains is poised for growth with the addition of Amazon’s fulfillment center.

Both candidates also agree on funding public safety and creating jobs in the county.

But the two candidates disagree on their approaches to balancing the county’s budget and state legislation expanding the board from three to five commissioners beginning with the 2022 election.

French said he’s running to continue efforts on reforming the criminal justice system and furthering economic development in the county.

“I’m running, because as a businessman, architect, designer and investor here in this community, I’ve come to love Spokane and I feel there’s a lot that I can give back,” French said.

Anthony said while she agrees with some of French’s opinions, their differences make the commissioner race a competitive one.

Anthony is reaching voters through social media and took a pledge to only accept contributions from individuals. If

French

Anthony

elected, her goal is to bring diversity to the table and ensure Spokane County remains inclusive for everyone development. “(The board of commissioners) has been unilaterally controlled by one party, and I think whatever party affiliation you have – or if you have no party affiliation – you want to see balance in your government,” she said. “Part of my candidacy is representative of that and being able to bring just a different perspective, new depth and new breath to the board of commissioners that may have been overlooked in these last 10 years.”

Anthony, owner of two businesses, Praxis Coworking and Firedove Technology, said her business background can assist in effectively managing expenses, raising revenue and introducing new solutions to help generate a budget surplus for the county.

There’s a need to increase revenue for the county, but the best approach will require a lot of thought and deliberation, she said, adding that she would consider raising wages for county employees and police to increase retention rates.

“It’s much easier to retain people and it’s much more expensive to rehire,” she said.

“So, that’s one area that we can focus on – making sure that the employees of Spokane County are in a position where they feel like they’re really valued, they’re getting a fair deal and that’s going to keep more expertise at the table and reduce turnover.”

French said the county learned to evolve while surviving unfunded mandates from the state, annexations from cities including Spokane, Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake as well as the recession – all of which have diminished revenue in the budget.

To address the more than $9 million shortfall in the 2018

budget, the county balanced it by realigning departments and using some reserve funds instead of increasing taxes, he said.

“As we go into 2019, we’re in very good shape, and that’s a result of a good economy, good construction and major efficiencies that we’ve achieved in the county that have reduced our cost,” French said. “And, so these are the things that you do as a leader to try and make sure that you live within your means and you’re providing services the taxpayers have asked you to provide.”

Last year, facing budget woes, county commissioners opted to raise taxes earmarked for roads and transfer them to the general fund to help balance the budget. In general, state law allows local governments to raise property taxes by 1 percent annually without asking voters. If a government opts not to raise the taxes one year, however, they bank the ability to take the increase later. In the county’s case, they had “banked capacity” for its road fund.

French said financial pressures created by the Legislature and the Growth Management Act have forced counties to shift money reserved for roads to their general funds, but Spokane County is already reducing its reliance on reserve road funds.

“If we don’t get away from using the road tax this year, I think, very comfortably, we’re going to be able to do it next year and get back to where we’re just relying on the revenues that come to the county through property and sales tax, and other services, and then put that banked capacity back into roads and road improvements,” he said.

Amazon’s planned fulfillment center in the West Plains is expected to bring more than 1,500 jobs to the area – a deal that French helped facilitate as the county representative on the West Plains-Airport Area Public Development Authority.

There’s long been competition between the city and county on attracting businesses to the area, and it’s counterproductive, French said. The

District 2 candidates Mary Kuney, Republican Age: 53 Education: Graduated from Central Valley High School in 1983. Graduated from Gonzaga University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Political background: Appointed Spokane County commissioner, District 2 in 2017. Ran unsuccessfully for Spokane County treasurer in 2014. Former Republican Precinct Committee Officer.

Work experience: Spokane County commissioner.

Certified Public Accountant since 1993. Served as Spokane County chief deputy auditor for 2 1⁄2 years.

Was a Washington state auditor for 10 years. Was auditor in charge of Spokane County audit. Launched two small businesses. President of the Hutton Settlement board of directors.

Family: Married to Max Kuney. Has two children.

Rob Chase, Republican Age: 65 Education: Graduated from Kellogg High School in 1972. Graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, operations management. Certification in Production and Inventory Management.

Political background: Elected Spokane County treasurer in 2010. Republican Party Precinct Committee Officer. Ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2000, U.S. House in 2002 and Spokane County Commissioner in 2012.

Work experience: Current Spokane County Treasurer. Expeditor with Haakon Industries. Held mortgage origination and real estate licenses. Served in U.S. Army Reserves from 1972-1978.

Family: Married to Chris Chase. Has four children and two grandchildren.

services – such as IT or payroll that are currently performed by county workers.

Kuney said the county already has studied outsourcing possibilities and knows that contracting out would benefit the county. She said she would evaluate the county’s long-term contracts to ensure costs are billed and dispersed properly.

Kuney added she would continue to support electronic permitting between the assessor’s office and planning department for increased efficiency.

Gov. Inslee signed a bill this year to expand the board of commissioners from three to five members, which will take effect in 2022. Currently, commissioners run by district in the primary and then countywide in the general election. Under the bill, commissioners would run in their district for both the primary

and general elections.

Chase supports expanding the board to five commissioners because it would provide better representation with a “good diverse mix of commissioners,” but Kuney isn’t in support because a similar initiative was voted down in 2015 by citizens.

“I’m not a proponent for it going to Olympia and then telling us now in Spokane County what we have to do because Spokane County was the only county that this actually affected,” she said.

She added that under the bill, each commissioner would represent only 20 percent of the county – their district – and would not be elected by the county as a whole.

That, she said, could pose difficulty in passing a budget because each commissioner would advocate for resources benefiting their district.

“And, so you’re going to

District 3 candidates Al French, Republican Age: 67 Education: Bachelor’s degree in architecture with a minor in business finance from the University of Idaho Political experience: Spokane County Commissioner since 2011. Currently sits on 40 boards, commissions, councils from the local to regional and state levels. Served on the Spokane City Council from 2002 to 2009. Recipient of “Outstanding Board Member of the Year” in 2008 from the American Public Transportation Association.

Work experience: Architect. Real estate developer.

Principal and owner of Al French Architects, PLLC. Licensed in Washington, Idaho and Montana. Former real estate agent and broker in Washington and Idaho.

Family: Wife Rosalie French,one daughter and one grandson.

Robbi Katherine Anthony, Democrat Age: 26 Education: Graduated from Gonzaga Prep High School in 2010. Graduated from Evergreen State College in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree.

Political background: First run for elected office.

Worked on Andrew Biviano’s 2016 campaign for County Commissioner. Participated in campaigns to defeat Initiatives 1515 and 1552.

Work experience: Owner of Praxis Coworking and Firedove Technology.

Family: Wife Lillian Warto

Public Development Authority, he said, was a key in bringing Amazon to the area by sharing revenue and economic development goals through the partnership to benefit the community.

French and Anthony disagree on the five commissioner bill signed into law

by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year to expand the board from three to five commissioners in Spokane County by 2022.

Under the law, commissioners would run by district for both the primary and general elections. Commissioners currently run in their district for the primary election, then countywide in the general election.

French said the law takes voting rights away from citizens who voted down an expansion to five commissioners in 2015. He added the current election system ensures commissioners are responsible for the entire county – not just their district – which is 20 percent of the population.

French, who sits on the board of the Washington State

Association of Counties as well as its legislative steering committee, said members are discussing legal action over the legislation.

“The association has picked this bill as one of the top legal battles that the association is willing to take on because they feel it violates the Washington State Constitution – much like we do – and they’re also concerned that if the Legislature can come in and arbitrarily control what happens in Spokane County, then they could do it in any county and that just violates the constitution in so many different ways, particularly the uniformity clause in the constitution, he said.”

Anthony is in favor of five commissioners because it gives voters better representation.

“I am really excited for the expansion. Currently, the commissioner-to-citizen ratio is 1-to-160,000 and going to five would lower it to 1to-100,000, so I think that’s a positive,” she said. “I think it would move up the number of votes required for a majority

have all five of those commissioners now fighting over those resources, instead of right now with everyone elected in the general countywide – they are looking out for the greater good of Spokane County because it’s not just your district,” she said.

“You have to look at the entire county because that’s your constituency.”

Both candidates have been co-endorsed by the Spokane County Republican Party.

Chase, a one-time Libertarian candidate for Congress, has the backing of all three Spokane Valley legislators, including Rep. Matt Shea.

Kuney is backed by Republicans Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, County Commissioner Al French, Spokane Mayor David Condon and a few Democrats, too, including Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton.

She also has a mix of endorsements from business groups and labor unions that are often on opposing sides.

Kuney during the August primary election secured 58 percent of the vote, with Chase obtaining about 39 percent of voter support.

Washington State Public Disclosure Commission data shows Kuney raised more than $84,000 in campaign contributions, with $53,000 in individual donations.

Chase has raised more than $24,000, with a majority of that amount from individuals.

Chase, who opposes Avista’s sale to Hydro One Ltd. of Toronto because he’s concerned about foreign ownership of a local utility and the potential for rising rates, wrote a letter to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission telling the state to coordinate with county government on sale deliberations.

But, the UTC indicated in a letter that a portion of the law Chase is referring to doesn’t apply to Avista’s sale, and Kuney said county commissioners would not have legal standing to pursue the coordination.

Both candidates said if elected, they would work well among current commissioners.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

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from currently two to three, so it requires greater consensus.”

Both candidates agree on criminal justice reform at the Spokane County Jail.

French said the jail has been overcrowded for years and was built on an old formula for managing detention facilities, but the county is now looking at how to reduce the jail population through diversion and treatment programs.

The county received a $2.4 million grant from the state to build a 16-bed mental health and chemical dependency treatment facility, he said.

“We just talked this week about being able to put that facility in place on the ground floor of the current jail, so that we can implement that program sooner,” French said.

“We could do that now and we’ve started the process of finding how we integrate that.”

Anthony agreed it’s important to put a high priority on diversionary and mental health programs to address chemical dependency and prevent deaths in the jail.

“Obviously, we need to do everything we possibly can to reduce the likelihood of someone dying in the jail, but that just shows kind of a crisis point that we’re at, so greater focus on mental health, I think, would go a really long way,” she said. “I’m really excited to see organizations such as I Did the Timecrop up because they have that firsthand, one-to-one insight and they’re going to be really informative for that conversation moving forward.”

Washington State Public Disclosure Commission data shows French has raised more than $92,000 in campaign contributions, while Anthony has raised about $3,500.

Anthony during the August primary election secured more than 54 percent of the vote in District 3, while French took about 44 percent.

The third commissioner district is the most Democraticleaning of the three commissioner districts. The full county, which will decide the race in the November election, leans Republican.

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SPOKANE COUNTY

Experience, goals divide candidates sey and then I want to do e-filing. I think that’s really important,” he said.

Fitzgerald’s challenger, Kirk, was raised in South Carolina and spent more than 15 years working in youth and family ministry before relocating to Spokane three years ago. He said he’s running because service is “central to my identity as far as what I want to do with this life – to serve other people and do the best I can to make the world better than I found it.”

Kirk said the clerk’s office is the backbone of the legal system and is a position that requires a great deal of attention and care.

“That’s very much the way in which I was trained – that administration and people are worthy of our utmost care and that administration and advocacy go hand-in-hand when it comes to making a difference,” he said.

Kirk said because the county clerk has a permanent seat on the Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council, that provides an opportunity to improve access to the legal system and work on criminal justice reform.

“As I see it, every elected official is a representative of the people,” he said. “And if they see there’s a way in which the people are not being served well by the system that has been set up, then yes, it’s incumbent upon them to work with people within the county government and without if necessary.”

While there’s been extensive turnover in the clerk’s office due to retirements, pro-

motions to higher paying county jobs or other reasons, both candidates advocate for salary increases to retain employees, which they say can be achieved by streamlining the office.

“A salary increase would be a great benefit for folks in the office,” Fitzgerald said. “That would help retain them.”

Fitzgerald said when the county notified the clerk’s office of a 7 percent budget cut for this year, he made it a priority to retain all employees by restructuring a supervisory position and changing procedures.

“Our cuts were incredibly minimal in the clerk’s office,” he said. “Not a single person got a pink slip.”

Kirk said, if elected, he would like to incorporate a team leader position in the clerk’s office and promote internal leadership development to fill positions as well as retain experienced employees. He said he would push county commissioners to boost funding to the office.

“We’ve had a long stretch of not rising up to meet the needs the county has. I would say that it’s important to advocate to the commissioners to do their duty as far as making sure we do increase that pile, to make sure we respond to the needs of the county,” he said. “In the case of the clerk’s office, it does mean more personnel. It does mean pay raises. It does mean investment in technology.”

Open assessor seat draws two GOP candidates

allows instant photo uploads to the county’s website.

The assessor’s office encountered a staffing shortage last year when six appraisers retired and their positions weren’t immediately filled. As a result, property valuations were more than four months late.

Both Christian and Konis said they would take steps to ensure the office is fully staffed in the future by implementing a process to train

By Amy Edelen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Two candidates for county clerk, incumbent Tim Fitzgerald and challenger Michael Kirk, aim to improve efficiency and technology within the office to better serve the public.

But the Republican Fitzgerald and his Democratic opponent Kirk disagree on whether the city clerk’s duties should include social reform.

Kirk said if elected, he would focus, in part, on reform, including adjusting some court fees to remove financial barriers for people and improve online access to court documents.

“It’s something that we already have the technology available to do. That would save people with limited means a fair amount of trouble and resources,” he said. “Parking downtown, well, it costs.

Time to get off of work and get down to a place, it costs. For some people, those costs are a much higher percentage of what they bring home. So, I think that’s something that’s important to address.”

Fitzgerald said social reform should be a duty for legislators, not the county clerk, whose primary task is to act as executor of the law.

“I don’t make the law and I don’t rule on the law, I simply just execute the law as it’s written,” he said. “The key thing is to do it in a fair and balanced manner. We serve all the constituents of Spokane County.”

The county clerk’s office is responsible for maintaining

Fitzgerald

Kirk

Superior Court records, managing legal documents, issuing warrants and handling financial transactions for eight case types as well as juvenile court.

Fitzgerald, a retired colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps, said his more than 30 years of military leadership, background in organizational management and belief in public service make him the best candidate for county clerk.

“I really enjoy the office.

We’ve built a great team and we are getting a lot of good stuff done on behalf of the community, constituents of the county and our taxpayers,” he said. “We’ve come a long way and I’m very excited about that. I want to finish up what I started.”

Fitzgerald touted efforts made during his first term of office such as establishing electronic forms, automating the phone system and implementing a new court computer system, Odyssey, which goes live Nov. 5 and replaces a more than 40-year-old system. He said he also has worked with advocate groups on the Legal Financial Obligation program to stop arresting offenders if they fail to make restitution payments.

“I will continue making modernization efforts with the implementation of Odys-

By Amy Edelen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Spokane County voters will choose between two Republicans to serve as the next assessor.

But both candidates are stressing their nonpartisan credentials, agreeing that while they believe the office should be filled by someone who is elected, it would be better if the office were nonpartisan.

Vicki Horton, who is finishing her second term as assessor, is retiring. Her potential replacements are former Konis state Rep. Leonard Christian and Tom Konis, who works in the assessor’s office and was recruited by Horton to Christian run.

The Spokane County assessor’s office is responsible for assessing property values, calculating levy rates and processing various exemptions.

The election is only a few months from when the assessor’s office notified property owners of significant property value increases. Spokane County’s property valuations hit a record high at $49.7 billion this year and some homeowners saw double-digit increases in assessed values.

“I’m truly concerned with the way our escalating prices are. I don’t know how young people could afford their first house,” Konis said. “On the commercial side, we are seeing a big influx of out-of-town buyers coming in and they are paying substantially more than we’ve seen before.”

Christian said he’s also concerned about the rise in property valuations after receiving a 17 percent increase on his home.

“I thought it was pretty steep. Because as a Realtor, I’m currently out in the market and I’m not seeing a 17 percent increase currently in the market,” he said. “It’s definitely a significant increase.”

Christian said it’s important that assessments are accurate.

“We have some folks out there that have talked to me about their (assessments) and I think one of the things that drives a higher or lower assessment is that something is not accurate in the computer,”

Assessor candidates Leonard Christian, Republican Age: 52 Education: Graduated from Ferris High School in 1984. Earned an associate degree from the Community College of the Air Force and a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Earned an MBA from Webster University.

Political background: Appointed state representative in 4th Legislative District in January 2014 when Rep. Larry Crouse retired early. Lost primary election to keep the seat in August 2014. Ran unsuccessfully for Spokane County auditor in 2010.

Work experience: Joined the U.S. Air Force in 1984 and worked as a recruiter, jet engine mechanic and oversaw implementation of aircraft computer systems before retiring as a master sergeant after 20 years of service. Former real estate broker for Windermere Real Estate and Tomlinson Black Real Estate. Current real estate agent with Live Real Estate. Member of Spokane County’s Board of Equalization, which handles appeals of assessment valuations.

Family: Married. Has two children and two grandchildren.

Tom Konis, Republican Age: 61 Education: Graduated from Cheney HS in 1975.

Political background: First run for office.

Work experience: Commercial and industrial appraiser for Spokane County. Has been employed at the Spokane County assessor’s office for nearly 25 years as an accredited residential and commercial appraiser. Spent five years as a Realtor for Tomlinson Black.

Family: Married. Has four daughters and nine grandchildren.

he said. “So, that’s something I’ll be focusing on is getting those records accurate.”

But the main difference highlighted by the two candidates is experience.

Konis said his technical knowledge of the job makes him the better candidate. He’s been employed with the county assessor’s office for close to 25 years as an accredited residential and commercial appraiser.

The assessor, Konis said, isn’t a “learn on-the-job” position because of many state and mandated requirements.

Christian said it’s more important to have a managerial background like his, pointing to his experience as a state legislator, where he sat on the capital budget, government operations and oversight committees. The annual budget for the county assessor’s office is more than $3 million.

“So, it’s not about going out and assessing a home … the assessor is managing all the folks who do that duty,” he said.

“And I believe I’m the best candidate for that job.”

Konis said if elected he would improve staff training,

explore new technology options to boost efficiency with property valuations and expand communication between the assessor’s office and residents.

“I want to be out front telling people what the assessor’s office does,” Konis said. “I want the increases that we are experiencing now not to be a surprise to them when they get the postcard in the mail.

We need to tell them that’s coming.”

Both candidates want to improve technology to ensure streamlined appraisals.

Christian said appraisers are still using digital cameras to take pictures and upload them in the county’s system, which is a cumbersome process. He said he will focus on obtaining better technology for appraisers, which will save time and labor costs.

“Anytime you can save five to 10 minutes per house, that’s saving the taxpayers money,” he said.

Konis said the assessor’s office is limited by its appraisal software purchased a few years ago, but may consider iPad usage in the future that

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5581 amye@spokesman.com

Clerk candidates Tim Fitzgerald, Republican Age: 58 Education: Graduated from Robinson High School in Fairfax, Virginia. Earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the Virginia Military Institute and a master’s degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Graduated from Naval Flight School and designated a Naval aviator in 1985.

Political background: Appointed Spokane County Clerk in 2014 and elected to a four-year term later that year. Former co-director of legislation for the Washington State Clerks Association. Vice president of the Washington State Association of County Clerks.

Work experience: Served more than 30 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including as a deputy operations officer for the Multi-Nation Force West in Iraq in 2008 and 2009 and chief of staff of the First Marine Expeditionary Force Forward in Afghanistan in 2012 and 2013. Retired from Marines as colonel. Served as chief of staff for Regional Command in Afghanistan. Member of the Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council. Board member for Spokane Veterans Court, Spokane United Way and associate member of the Spokane County Bar Association.

Family: Single. Has four children.

Michael Kirk, Democrat Age: 34 Education: Graduated from Southside High School Center for International Studies in Greenville, South Carolina. Earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and classical languages from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and a master’s degree in systematics from St. Vincent College and Seminary.

Political background: First run for office.

Work experience: Stay-at-home dad. Freelance writer/editor. Youth and family ministry with the Diocese of Charleston. Taught high school with the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Youth and family ministry with the Diocese of Rochester.

Family: Married to wife, Noelle Kirk, and has a daughter.

and recruit new employees.

Christian said there are plenty of former Realtors with excellent real estate knowledge who would be good candidates for employment.

“If you want to recruit people, you just don’t stick an ad in the paper,” Christian said.

“I’m not a big fan of sticking a sign out saying we’re hiring … you go out and look for talented people to come be part of the office.”

Konis said the county’s hu-

man resources department typically doesn’t post a job opening until the position is vacated, but the office is taking steps to recruit by adjusting the job description to attract more applicants.

“We hired four people that had never appraised property before. All four of them are fantastic,” he said. “Right now, top to bottom, the 43 employees in the assessor’s office are the best I’ve seen in 25 years I’ve been there.”

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GENERAL ELECTION 2018

Hutchison has uphill climb in race against Cantwell

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Susan Hutchison may have one of the toughest assignments on Washington’s ballot.

The former state Republican Party chairwoman, a conservative who strongly backed nominee Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, is running for the U.S. Senate where statewide races tend to favor Democrats and most polls give the president low approval ratings.

Some say it could be a good year for female candidates, but she’s running against another woman, three-term incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell, so that possible advantage is negated.

Cantwell has the advantages of office: Name recognition, connections to major national issues that generate media attention and the ability to announce federal largesse for local projects, like money for buses in Olympia, runways in Pullman or an account to fight wildfires in the West.

And she has more money.

Cantwell had raised $9.8 million as of late July, the last deadline for Federal Elections Commission reports. Hutchison had reported about $540,000 by

Cantwell

Hutchison

the same deadline, but said recently she was up to $1 million.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell isn’t making life any easier for Hutchison by threatening to keep the Senate in session through the end of October, which complicated the scheduling of debates that could raise Hutchison’s profile with voters.

Hutchison accused Cantwell of ducking debates, but Cantwell eventually agreed to participate in two. She has argued she is elected to represent the state and she won’t miss votes to campaign.

They are far apart on most issues.

Cantwell voted against the Trump tax cuts, saying they would put Washington at a disadvantage by taking away deductions for the state sales tax and giving disproportionate cuts for wealthier individuals.

Hutchison said she would have voted for the tax bill, which she said has boosted the economy and helped

grow employment.

Hutchison criticizes Cantwell’s support of the Affordable Care Act, saying it was set up by Democrats who expected it to fail so the country would go to socialized medicine. Cantwell opposed Republican changes to the ACA, criticizing plans to reduce Medicaid that boosted coverage for Washington residents.

Cantwell would fight the growing problem of opioid addiction with penalties on drug companies that “turn a blind eye to reckless distribution” in communities.

She’s proposed legislation that would sharply increase civil and criminal penalties on manufacturers and distributors and provide some $280 million for joint federal, state and local enforcement. Hutchison would tighten prescriptions and prosecute illegal drugs coming in from other countries. The opioid crisis in Seattle, she contends, is the fault of city officials who “enable and tolerate more of the same.”

Both cite the importance of agriculture in the state.

Cantwell is critical of the Trump administration’s tariffs with Washington farmers so dependent on exports; she is part of a bipartisan group that called for aid for the state’s cherry

crop, which had been subject to tariff-generated losses. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced recently that cherries would be added to the list of commodities receving aid.

Hutchison said many trade deals are outdated and need to be renegotiated and that Washington should have a Republican senator who can lobby the president for state interests.

It’s an example of where Hutchison is trying to walk a line in a state where voters split in 2016 – Trump carried every Eastern Washington county except Whitman but was swamped by Hillary Clinton in the Puget Sound area – by appealing to at least some in each camp.

“When President Trump is good for Washington state, I’ll support him, and when he’s not, I can talk to him,” she says.

Cantwell, 59, is a former state legislator who won a seat in the U.S. House in 1992, the year of the woman, and lost that seat in 1994, the year of the Republican tidal wave. She was an executive for a Seattle tech firm until 2000, when she narrowly defeated Republican Slade Gorton. Her two previous re-election campaigns were easier, topping attorney Mike McGavick by

Candidates set to debate in Spokane Oct. 20: Maria Cantwell and Susan Hutchison will hold a town hall-style debate at Spokane Community College.

You can submit questions in advance by visiting tinyurl.com/y73d6ph4

17 percentage points in 2006 and Spokane state Sen. Mike Baumgartner by 21 points.

She serves on several workhorse committees of the Senate – Energy and Natural Resources; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Finance; Indian Affairs; Small Business and Entrepreneurship – which are not likely to raise her profile as could the Judiciary, Intelligence or Budget committees, which are more likely to make front page headlines and generate invitations to cable news shows. She was, however, paired with Sen. Bernie Sanders against Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Tim Scott for a live Town Hall on CNN last November.

Candidates Baumgartner, Green differ on role of Spokane County treasurer

By Amy Edelen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Both candidates for Spokane County treasurer have lots of experience.

But they differ on the kind of experience that’s better suited for the job and how to use that experience.

The two candidates, state Sen. Michael Baumgartner and local accountant David Green, have different kinds of economic expertise.

Green is a financial planner and has been a certified public accountant for nearly 35 years.

Baumgartner has helped craft state budgets as a Baumgartner state senator and worked in economic development in multiple places around the globe.

They disagree on Green whether the role of treasurer should involve policymaking. Baumgartner says he would be an advocate for policy changes and search for waste in county government, while Green says he would focus on improving service and investment practices to earn more money for local governments.

Green, a Democrat, also has promised to serve a full four-year term, a pledge Baumgartner, a Republican, has declined to make.

Incumbent Treasurer Rob Chase declined to run for a third term so he could run for county commissioner.

The treasurer’s office is responsible for collecting property, real estate and excise taxes as well as investing county funds.

Baumgartner, a two-term Republican senator, announced in February that he was running for treasurer, allowing him to remain closer to home.

He said he’s running for treasurer because voters want a trusted elected official who has strong fiscal and conservative values with a track record of working across the aisle to deliver results for Spokane.

“If you look at what I’ve done in the state Senate working with both Democrats and Republicans on important issues, like solving the McCleary decision, writing the state budgets, bringing us a new medical school and bringing us, finally, full funding for our north-south freeway, I think there’s a lot of demonstrated ability in what people want

Spokane County treasurer candidates David Green, Democrat Age: 61 Education: Graduated in 1975 from Brecksville High School in Brecksville, Ohio. Graduated from Georgetown University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in international economics. Earned law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1982. Earned graduate law degree in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989.

Political experience: First run for elected office.

Work experience: Owns tax practice David Green CPA, PLLC. Certified public accountant since 1984.

Certified financial planner professional since 2008.

Passed the Series 65, Uniform Investment Advisor Law Examination in 2006. Has worked at two of the Big Four accounting firms and was a tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Former adjunct instructor at Gonzaga University’s Graduate School of Business. Former officer/board member of the Fox Theater organization, Spokane Symphony, Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, and Spokane Estate Planning Council.

Family: Married. No children.

Michael Baumgartner, Republican Age: 42 Education: Graduated from Pullman High School in 1995. Graduated from Washington State University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Graduated from Harvard University in 2002 with a master’s degree in public administration.

Political experience: Washington state senator for eight years. Previously served as vice chairman of Senate Ways and Means Committee and chairman of Commerce and Labor committee.

Work experience: Business consultant, diplomat and counterinsurgency adviser. Was a teaching fellow in economics at Harvard. Served as an economics officer at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad during the Iraq surge in 2008. Was adviser to a U.S. State Department-funded counternarcotics team in southern Afghanistan. Worked on economic development and investment projects in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Provided predeployment advisory to U.S. military on counterinsurgency. Lecturer on counterinsurgency at Sciences Po University in Paris.

Family: Married. Has four children.

in an elected official – someone they trust that’s committed to fiscal responsibility that can work in a bipartisan fashion to deliver results,” he said.

Baumgartner said there’s a policy component to the position as well, noting that as state senator, he partnered with Chase to help change the law to allow residents to make partial payments for property taxes.

Green said he’s choosing to run for elected office because his skill set matches the position of treasurer.

“Politicians are exposed to budgets because they passed them, but it’s not hands-on experience,” he said.

He believes that policy is left up to legislators and not the treasurer. If elected, he’ll focus on the county’s investment performance.

“I think we’re asleep at the switch right now,” he

said. “I think that since July of 2017, Spokane County’s investment portfolio has done worse than the local government investment pool that the state runs and I think that’s costing local government entities money.”

Green said the county has $173 million in an account that could be earning more than four times the interest if a portion of the money was shifted from the county’s investment pool to the local government investment pool, provided the county has a good handle on cash flow needs.

“If that amount were to stay constant for an entire year, that’s an extra $4 million that’s available for the county, the airport board, the school districts,” he said.

“So, I think that we don’t need to change law, we just need to change practice and be more intelligent about

how we are investing our money.”

Baumgartner said he would advocate against wasteful spending or tax policies that aren’t good for the local community or government.

Green said Baumgartner described the role of the county commissioner.

“If he’s interested in looking for wasteful spending and having impact on how money is spent, he really should be running for commissioner rather than county treasurer,” he said.

Green said he attended the Washington State Association of County Treasurers conference this summer and met with 31 county treasurers.

“I walked away from that meeting with a clear understanding that county treasurers in our state don’t set policy,” he said. “I also walked away with a clear understanding that Spokane County is not implementing best practices.”

Both candidates said transparency between the treasurer’s office and the public is imperative.

Baumgartner wants to improve transparency in the treasurer’s office by showing tax dollar spending with a model used from the Ohio state treasurer’s office that features interactive budget models. They would appear on the county website.

“It will be a start with that website and I think everybody in Spokane should be able to track every single tax dollar that they spend and know where those things go,” he said. “So, that’s an important part of transparency.”

Green added he had to submit a public records request to the county for four months of investment reports because the treasurer’s office hadn’t uploaded them to the website since March.

“I think we got a website that’s up there, we got reports that could stay up there for months at a time – as opposed to one month at a time,” he said.

State Rep. Mike Volz, who is running for re-election to his state House seat in the 6th Legislative District in November, serves as the chief deputy treasurer for the county. Both treasurer candidates said they would retain Volz and could work well with him.

Green said he’s wellequipped to run the office while Volz is away for a long legislative session.

“I think it’s important to have somebody with financial skillsets, with accounting skillsets in the office, if the chief deputy is going to be in Olympia for a 105-day

legislative session,” he said.

Baumgartner said Volz is an asset to the treasurer’s office despite his absence.

“I think he’s on the fast track to be very influential in writing the state budget,” Baumgartner said. “We work well together. I’ve enjoyed working with him as a seatmate and I think we’ll continue to work well in the county treasurer’s office.”

As of early October, Baumgartner had raised more than $101,000 in donations, including financial backing from the Washington State Republican Party, PHRMA, Microsoft and Anheuser Busch, according to Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission. About $61,000 of his campaign fund is from individuals.

Green raised more than $60,000 in donations, with more than $42,000 selfcontributed to his campaign.

“By putting a fair chunk of my own money in, I am not beholden to anybody,” he said.

Baumgartner secured 57 percent of the vote during the August primary election.

Green signed a pledge to not accept another state, city or federal appointment if elected to a four-year term as treasurer and challenged Baumgartner to do the same. Halfway through his first term as a state senator, Baumgartner ran for U.S. Senate – a race he lost to Sen. Maria Cantwell. He announced his intent to run for Congress in late 2016 when rumors swirled that U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers would be appointed the interior secretary and her seat would become open.

Baumgartner said he’s hesitant to sign the pledge because he doesn’t know what the future holds.

“I like serving the public and I don’t know what will come next, so that wouldn’t be something that I would want to commit to right now,” he said. “But, it is my full intention to serve the full four years and that’s my focus – is being a good county treasurer.”

Green said by signing the pledge it indicates he’s only interested in serving as treasurer.

“I think it’s important for voters to know that there’s some people that just want to be the treasurer. They are going to be really, really good as treasurer because their skillsets match up to the job perfectly,” he said. “I have no interest in any other office and I would love to serve this county as treasurer for the next four years.”

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Hutchison, 64, is a former television journalist and anchor in Seattle who later served as the executive of a Seattle-based foundation and held positions on several civic boards. She easily outdistanced the rest of the primary field of 28 Cantwell challengers with more than 10 times the vote of the third-place finisher, farright activist Joey Gipson.

But a problem for Hutchison in that primary vote – with a wide range of candidates of almost every imaginable political stripe – was the fact that Cantwell pulled in nearly 55 percent of the votes, more than twice as many as Hutchison.

To change that for the general election, Hutchison will need strong turnout by Republicans in Washington’s red counties and hope that gun-rights advocates and tax foes will come out in such force to vote on state initiatives that it will turn normally deep blue Puget Sound counties at least to an even shade of purple.

Cantwell, however, could ride any blue wave that develops – whether it is a ripple or a tsunami – to a fourth term.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 879-7461 jimc@spokesman.com

WHAT IF VOTERS PICK LATE MACLAY?

By Amy Edelen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

After Michael “Scott” Maclay – who changed his name to DumpOzzie Dot Com in a campaign to unseat Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich – died in a motorcycle crash last month, it was too late to remove his name from ballots for November’s general election.

Although Maclay received only about 12 percent of the vote in primary, while Knezovich secured more than 86 percent, it still raises a question.

What would happen if Maclay were certified as winner in the general election?

“Normally, what would happen if a candidate dies during an election cycle, they aren’t removed from the ballot. They remain on the ballot,” said Spokane County Auditor Vicki Dalton. “If the individual was to win, then, essentially, the position is filled through the normal appointment process. The candidate’s political party would forward three names to the board of county commissioners and they would make a determination.”

However, that presents a predicament because Maclay was registered under the Independent Party, which doesn’t have an official branch in Spokane County.

So, if he were certified as winner in the general election, it’s unknown what would occur.

“There is no party structure to put forward a list of three to nominate to go to the board of county commissioners,” she said. “It’s an area of law that does need attention.”

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, Republican Education: Graduated from Rock Springs High School in Wyoming.

Graduated from Weber State College with an integrated studies bachelor's degree in 1985.

Political experience: Appointed Spokane County sheriff by county commissioners in 2006 and won election to the post in November of that year. Re-elected in 2010 and 2014 Military: U.S. Army airborne medical specialist and combat medic, served in Korea, 1987-90.

Family: Married. Has three grown children.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 10, 2018

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health.

As a legislator and chancellor of WSU Spokane, Lisa Brown worked to expand affordable healthcare and was a leader in creating medical education and health sciences research in our region.

In Congress, Lisa will work to lower prescription drug costs, fight policies that deny people with pre-existing conditions health coverage, and protect and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid.

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INITIATIVES I-940

I-1631

Why adversaries joined, then split

Environmental groups face off against oil companies

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Politics often makes strange bedfellows. But an initiative that would change state laws governing the use of deadly force by police managed to turn adversaries into allies early this year, then back into adversaries for the fall campaign.

They hope to become allies again in a few months.

While that may be confusing, it tracks the political trajectory for Initiative 940, the offagain, on-again November ballot measure.

Community advocates and law enforcement groups agree I-940 isn’t the best way to improve state laws on the use of deadly force by police. Both agree that a different plan, with the compromises they hammered out – and that the Legislature approved on the final day of the 2018 session – would be better.

Those who worked to create the initiative say Washington’s law makes it nearly impossible to charge an officer who uses deadly force, even if the officer acted in a reckless manner, because the law requires an officer to have acted with malice.

Proving malice is difficult.

After Otto Zehm, an unarmed janitor who suffered from schizophrenia, died in Spokane police custody in March 2006 following an encounter with police that included multiple baton strikes, being hogtied and shocked with a Taser, county prosecutors declined to file charges. Former SPD Officer Karl Thompson Jr. eventually served four years in prison after he was convicted on federal charges.

Change advocates and a majority of legislators hoped they could pass I-940 and the negotiated changes in legislation they wrote to accompany the initiative. They hoped the changes would take effect the day after the initiative became law as a way to keep everything

MCMORRIS RODGERS Continued from 10 recent years has invoked her beliefs in calling for a reduction of funds for Planned Parenthood, the reproductive health clinic that also offers abortion services.

From Pensacola, McMorris Rodgers traveled to Olympia, where she got her political start in 1994.

Voting her district This year’s race against Brown may seem like McMorris Rodgers’ closest political battle, but another of her races was decided by just a single vote.

It was January 1994, and a 24-year-old McMorris Rodgers was trying to convince the county commissioners spread throughout the 7th legislative District that she was the right choice to succeed Bob Morton, her political mentor, in the House of Representatives. She won the seat on an 8-7 vote.

Her freshman term found her seated next to Mark Schoesler, the Ritzville Republican who’d also been shepherded by Morton.

Schoesler remembers the pair seated “in the farthest, darkest corner of the House.”

“She had to, you know, show people that she was able to serve,” Schoesler said.

“Typically it was older men that represented that district.”

One of the young lawmaker’s first legislative victories was a bill that enabled certain court hearings to occur via closed circuit television, an effort to speed proceedings in far-flung rural areas of the state. Padden suggested the idea for the bill to a young McMorris Rodgers, he said, but she was the one who worked on getting the bill on the governor’s desk.

“She ran with it and did all the work,” Padden said.

“You’ve got to convince the House, and the Senate, and all the committees.”

It was signed by Gov. Mike Lowry less than four months into McMorris Rodgers’ first term.

Schoesler said that typified McMorris Rodgers’ time in Olympia: A focus and position that reflected the views of the rural, conservative district.

“She knew her district, she learned her district, and she voted her district,” Schoesler said.

off the ballot.

But recently, a sharply divided Washington Supreme Court ruled I-940 must go on the ballot unchanged, while the legislation cannot. Lawmakers tried an unconstitutional end-around to laws that govern initiatives the public sends them, the court ruled.

With I-940 headed for the November ballot and the accompanying bill headed for the legislative scrap heap, the groups that came together for the compromise disagree on the next step: Pass the original now, and try to make the changes in the 2019 session; or defeat I-940 in November, and try to pass the improved version next year?

De-Escalate Washington, the group that sponsored I-940 and gathered nearly 360,000 signatures to send it to the Legislature, will work to pass it now and support legislation in 2019 that contains the changes.

People who signed the initiative showed they want to vote on it and they deserve that chance, said Heather Villanueva, campaign manager for I-940.

De-Escalate Washington had raised more than $2.1 million as of early October, although most has been spent on the signature gathering campaign and the legal challenges others filed over what the Legislature did.

But it has several large donors, including several West Side tribes, the ACLU and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, who could be tapped for the fall campaign.

By comparison, opposition group Coalition for a Safer Washington had raised about $112,000 almost all of it from the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, a key lobbying group for law enforcement officials that was involved in developing the compromise, will op-

That doesn’t mean her ideas didn’t raise eyebrows elsewhere in the state. An early proposal that would have ended state funding for public art projects in schools and prisons, saving the state roughly $1 million, drew vocal opposition from some Democrats and the arts community in 1995. A young Rep. Lisa Brown wondered to a Spokesman-Review reporter if such cuts were necessary if the budget wasn’t being overly stressed.

But McMorris Rodgers also worked across the aisle, said former Rep. Alex Wood, a Democrat. The longtime broadcaster and talk show host was elected to Brown’s seat in the House of Representatives in 1996, when she left for the state Senate, and the Republican from Colville helped get Wood’s first bill – a piece of legislation aimed at improving safety measures on elevators – through the Labor and Commerce Committee and onto the House floor. Wood said concerns about dangerous malfunctions crossed party lines.

“We got it through,” Wood said. “It was a disaster waiting to happen back in those days.”

Wood said for the Republicans, McMorris Rodgers was a young, driven, friendly face and that it was no secret she’d go on to higher office. Most assumed it would be Brown who would challenge her, he said.

“Those of us on the sidelines were predicting this 10 years ago,” Wood said.

“Sooner or later, both of them are going to go for the federal seat.”

McMorris Rodgers was first, announcing her intentions a couple of months after Rep. George Nethercutt announced in summer 2003 he wouldn’t seek his sixth term in the U.S. House of Representatives and would instead mount an unsuccessful challenge for Sen. Patty Murray’s seat.

Rise to national prominence It’s a question McMorris Rodgers has had to answer multiple times, because of both the history of the district and her position of power within the party.

At a town hall in August, one of the congresswoman’s supporters lobbed it from a microphone at the Spokane Convention Center: Would she be interested in Paul Ryan’s job as Speaker of the House?

pose the initiative and push the Legislature next year to introduce and pass a bill like what was struck by the Supreme Court.

The language in the rejected legislation was simpler and more direct, said Steve Strachan, the group’s executive director. It changed certain requirements for a police officer to provide first aid in an active shooter situation, training rules and independent investigations of shootings.

But the key point of contention for law enforcement officials was the change in the standard for reviewing situations in which an officer uses deadly force.

Current law says an officer can’t be held criminally liable for deadly force that is used without malice and with a good-faith belief the use is permitted under state law.

I-940 would remove the protection against criminal liability for using deadly force without malice. Instead, it provides that protection only if deadly force meets both an objective and subjective goodfaith test. An objective goodfaith test means the officer believed deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious harm to himself or someone else.

A subjective test means the officer believed there was a lawful purpose and it was warranted under the circumstances.

The rejected legislation would have removed the objective and subjective tests, and would have protected an officer from criminal liability if the facts, circumstances and information the officer knew at the time would cause a “reasonable officer” in a similar circumstance to believe deadly force was needed to prevent death or serious injury.

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“I’m focused on the people of Eastern Washington, and I’m working hard right now,” the congresswoman responded, a line that she’s used in the past when questioned about any potential move upward, including swirling rumors of a Cabinet position two years ago.

Schoesler said that answer isn’t lip service. McMorris Rodgers, who gave that national address four years ago and is a weekly fixture at House leadership news conferences, is content in her role as conference chair, the fourth-ranking position in the House, a position she’s held since 2013, he said.

“The arguments against Cathy moving up in Congress are pretty lame,” Schoesler said. “Cathy and I talk privately and regularly.

Becoming speaker is not her priority in life.”

The question isn’t far-fetched. First elected to the congressional seat in 2004, McMorris Rodgers rose quickly to become the fourth-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives.

Along the way, she’s joined efforts by Republicans to repeal all or parts of former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, introduced and pushed for passage of legislation that is intended to speed up hydropower production and provide care to people with disabilities.

The issue is personal for McMorris Rodgers. Her first son, Cole, was born in 2007 with Down syndrome, and the congresswoman formed a caucus on Capitol Hill to address the chromosomal birth defect, which now affects one out of 700 babies born in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Caucus membership now includes 55 representatives in the House, from both political parties.

McMorris Rodgers, once a rumored running mate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has recently taken heat from political foes for the actions of a president for whom she initially offered tepid support.

Since then, McMorris Rodgers has been quicker to praise Trump. She’s brought several of his top lieutenants to town to bolster her campaign in the past several weeks, including Vice President Mike Pence, and even adopted his campaign

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Initiative campaigns in Washington frequently have one side or the other that is low on funds and claims to be David fighting Goliath. Initiative 1631, which proposes that Washington place fees on carbon pollution, isn’t one of them.

One side of the campaign has deep pockets, the other side even deeper. Both have shown an ability to reach into them to support or oppose a sweeping plan to fight pollution by collecting an estimated $2.3 billion by 2023, and setting up a system to spend that money for a wide range of projects.

Clean Air Clean Energy Washington, the proponents, have support from local, regional and national environmental organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club. They say those projects will create good-paying jobs in the growing clean-energy sector while taking carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases out of the environment to fight global warming.

“Climate pollution is affecting real people right now,” said Mark Vossler, a Seattle cardiologist and member of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, when the campaign turned in its petitions this summer.

As of early October, Clean Air Clean Energy Washington had raised more than $7.1 million.

While that amount is substantial, it’s dwarfed by the No on 1631 organization, which collected at least $4 slogan – “Make America Great Again” – in her introduction of Pence at a fundraiser.

In an interview in 2016, former Rep. Doc Hastings, who represented central Washington in Congress from 1995 until 2015, praised the congresswoman’s leadership abilities and said it wasn’t surprising that she’d risen to a position of power within the

million each from Phillips 66, BP and Andeavor, which was formerly Tesoro. Although the No on 1631 campaign describes itself on its website as “a growing coalition of small business owners, farmers, community leaders, organizations and individuals,” oil companies account for all but about $100,000 of the campaign’s $21.3 million in contributions.

The Association of Washington Business, which functions as a state Chamber of Commerce for large and small companies, also opposes the initiative.

“We share the goal of protecting the environment, but this initiative will raise the cost of energy for families and employers while offering little assurance it will result in meaningful reductions of carbon emissions,” AWB President Kris Johnson said in a news release announcing the group’s opposition.

The system proposed in I-1631 is different from other proposals to rein in carbon pollution, which have been introduced in the Legislature only to languish and die.

Sponsors appear to have developed the initiative to answer some of the main concerns about those previous ideas.

The first difference is that it proposes a fee, not a tax.

Although the No on 1631 campaign is more likely to call it a tax, under Washington law there’s a distinction.

Faced with a court order to spend more on education, Gov. Jay Inslee proposed a carbon tax in 2017 that would use some of the money raised for public schools. It failed to get legislative support, but Inslee, who has made fighting climate change one of his

signature issues, is backing I-1631.

Money raised by a fee must be used for activities related to the source of the fee. I-1631 would put the money in a Clean Up Pollution Fund, and after administrative expenses would put 70 percent into a fund for Clean Air and Energy projects, 25 percent into a fund for Clean Water and Healthy Forests projects and 5 percent into a fund for Healthy Communities projects.

The initiative also exempts certain businesses and fuels.

It exempts the state’s only coal-fired power plant, TransAlta in Centralia, which is scheduled to shut down by 2025, and electricity from the Colstrip power plant in Montana, which is also set to shut down by the end of that year and provides some power for Washington utilities. It exempts pulp mills, some metal and chemical companies and aircraft manufacturers.

While that could blunt opposition from some large employers, the No on 1631 campaign contends it’s unfair and doesn’t make sense.

The fees would fall mostly on gasoline and other motor fuels sold in Washington, and electricity that utilities generate with fossil fuels, although the companies could get credit for investing in approved clean energy investments. The fee would start at $15 per metric ton of carbon content in 2020, and rise at least $2 a year until certain targets in state law for reducing greenhouse gases are met, and then would be adjusted only for inflation.

conference.

“I just think she brings some very quiet strength to the Republican Party and the House,” Hastings said in 2016.

“Anybody that’s in leadership, has the challenge of doing that and representing your constituents at the same time.”

Schoesler said he believes McMorris Rodgers has done that for Eastern Washington,

and can continue to do it better than her challenger, whose constituency during her time in the state Legislature was mostly centered in urban Spokane.

“It’s more conservative than that,” Schoesler said of the district.

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Voter Guide

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OCTOBER 10, 2018

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SPECIAL 17

INITIATIVES I-1634

I-1639

Superior Court ruling kicks Measure would ban local taxes gun debate into high gear on groceries, including soda

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

For about a week, it looked like Washington wouldn’t vote this year on a sweeping gun control initiative that would restrict the sale of semi-automatic rifles and require firearms to be stored safely in the home.

But neither supporters nor opponents of Initiative 1639 took a break between a Thurston County Superior Court judge’s ruling the measure could not go on the November ballot and a Washington Supreme Court ruling that it must. Both had campaigns in full swing as soon as the high court said questions about the size of type and formatting in the initiative language weren’t enough to kill it.

“We’ve always been planning to run a full campaign,” said Tallman Trask, a spokesman for the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. “We still had a full field operation working.”

Phil Watson, campaign manager for Save Our Security No on I-1639, one of two opposition campaigns, said fundraising was a bit more difficult while the status of the initiative was up in the air.

“It’s really tough to get support for or against any initiative until people know it’s going to be on the ballot for sure,” Watson said. But the court decision was final just before Labor Day and “that’s when people start getting serious about it.”

I-1639 has several elements that gun control advocates

BROWN Continued from 11 the American border, and with the uncertainty of people brought to this country illegally by their parents.

“It’s distracting people with a very bizzare claim, that I’m sympathetic to Communists,” Brown said.

“Which is absolutely not true.”

An early instigator in the Legislature No one wanted to admit they’d cried foul about a single mother comforting her baby boy on the floor of the Washington House of Representatives.

Alan Thompson, then-chief clerk of the House of Representatives, said several lawmakers had objected to then-freshman state Rep. Lisa Brown bringing her 1-year-old son, Lucas, onto the floor during a late vote in March 1993. He wouldn’t reveal their names to an Associated Press reporter at the time.

“But this week, it was hard to find an anti-baby politician,” an Associated Press reporter wrote in her account of the incident on March 25, 1993. Brown had been in her seat just 12 weeks.

Brown’s day care dilemma became her rallying cry in her first year in Olympia in 1993, prompting calls for more day care options for young mothers. But the mystery of the legislator who’d complained about Lucas Brown’s appearance during an after-hours vote quickly gave way to an issue that fellow Democratic lawmaker Dennis Dellwo said typified Brown’s early years as a lawmaker.

“I just remember that she was such an advocate for the poor, the hungry, and trying to help the students,” said Dellwo, who served with Brown as a seatmate for four years ending in 1996. “Those were her key issues at the very beginning.”

Dellwo remembered Brown as a strong candidate right out of the gate. She won her first election handily over Potter with 65 percent of the vote. She’d later earned her seat in the Senate by defeating incumbent Repbublican Sen. John Moyer with 55 percent of the vote.

That seat had been held by more centrist Democrats in the past, said Sen. Mike Padden, a Republican who joined the Senate in 2011 toward the tail end of Brown’s time as majority leader.

“I remember the more conservative Democrats, like

and gun rights activists have been debating for years.

It would put new restrictions on the sale of semi-automatic rifles, raising the age of purchase from 18 to 21 and requiring more extensive background checks, so buying one of those rifles would have the same limitations as buying a handgun in Washington.

It would also require gun owners to keep their firearms in locked storage or otherwise secured in the home when not in use, making them criminally liable if someone obtains their unlocked gun and uses it in a crime or an accident.

The Legislature has tried, and failed, to ban or restrict the sales of military-style semi-automatic rifles and pass some type of safe-storage law.

An effort to put similar restrictions on the sales of what were listed as semi-automatic tactical weapon died in the closing days of the 2018 Legislature. I-1639 was filed slightly more than a month later.

Along with the age restrictions, it requires a buyer to provide proof of completing a firearm training program within the last five years which includes instruction on basic safety rules, secure gun storage, talking to children about guns and preventing suicide with firearms.

The state Department of Licensing would keep a copy of the applications to purchase or transfer a rifle, and allow gun dealers to charge a $25 fee for the background (William S.) “Big Daddy” Day, who lost in 1980, and Lois Stratton,” Padden said.

“Margaret Hurley and Lois were both very strong, pro-life Democrats, and Lisa was 180 degrees on the other side of that issue.”

One of Brown’s early legislative victrories was a push to allow local governments to levy their own property taxes to support housing for low-income residents. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Mike Lowry, and since then has been adopted by the city of Bellingham and Jefferson County. Some Spokane lawmakers hinted at its possibility to address the growth of the homeless population as recently as last year.

The vote created an ideological divide among Spokane’s lawmakers, one that has become a sharp contrast in this year’s congressional campaign.

Republicans were concerned about the possibility of a simple majority raising local taxes, and said it should be a 60 percent threshold instead, the same as a school levy. The issue would rear its head again, on a much bigger scale, 15 years later when Brown led the Democratic Party in the Senate.

Alex Wood, who joined the House of Representatives on urging from Brown after she’d decided to leave for the Senate in 1996, put it bluntly.

“That’s the basic difference between the two parties,” he said. “People say Democrats are tax and spend, and Republicans are don’t tax and don’t spend.”

After being named leader of the Senate’s majority party in 2004, Brown the economist was about to tackle that question head-on.

Leading the Senate, then WSU Spokane Brown found herself in the most powerful position of her political career just in time for Washington state and the country to experience a generational economic downturn.

Budget shortfalls totaled in the billions of dollars, and Brown took the state to court in 2008 to press the issue of how many votes were needed to raise taxes to bite into that deficit. Voters had approved several initiatives requiring a two-thirds majority of legislators to approve a tax increase, which Brown believed allowed a small number of lawmakers to prevent efforts to balance the books in a state without an income tax.

“I don’t want to be logjammed by a minority of legislators,” she told

checks and paperwork.

While the text refers repeatedly to “semiautomatic assault rifle” – and supporters routinely use the term in campaign materials – the definition in I-1639 covers any rifle that allows a round to be fired by pulling the trigger after the previous round has been fired. It excludes rifles that require bolt, lever or pump action between rounds, antiques, and those that are inoperable.

Opponents point out that covers practically all semiautomatic rifles, from small caliber rifles used for target shooting to those that resemble military weapons and have been used in some mass shootings.

“What we’re talking about here is the specific deadliness,” Trask said, the ability to fire many rounds quickly.

Twenty-seven states have some type of law requiring safe storage of firearms, Trask said.

But the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence indicates most of those are restrictions designed to prevent access to guns by minors. Only 11 require some sort of locking device on some or all firearms in a home, and only Massachusetts requires all firearms to be stored in a locked container or with a tamper-resistance safety device, similar to what I-1639 would require.

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reporters after a hearing in Olympia on the case. Justices tossed that lawsuit, saying it could be solved by the actions of lawmakers. The high court would later reverse that ruling in 2013, after Brown had left to head up Washington State University’s Spokane campus.

Rep. Timm Ormsby, the longtime Democratic lawmaker who represents the same district as Brown, said the lawmaker’s efforts amounted to “trying to get the trains to run on time.”

“We were trying to find the money for critical government services, when our normal revenue was inadequate,” Ormsby said.

“We were going to be having glaring gaps in our service delivery.”

Among the ideas floated by Brown, which are now being highlighted in ads by McMorris Rodgers, was a push for a state income tax.

That plan was never floated in a vacuum, Brown responded in an interview last month, but she continued her criticism that Washington’s sales- and business-tax-only system hits the poor the hardest. In 2002, she chaired a state committee that supported installing an income tax, but only if the state’s property tax was done away with and sales tax amounts were reduced.

Brown pushed a tax proposal in 2009 that would have taxed earnings of greater than $250,000, what was referred to as a “high-earners tax” at the time.

“Low-income people pay a lot more in sales and property taxes,” Brown said.

“Property taxes are passed on to renters.”

While navigating these contentious taxation waters, Brown as leader kept her eye on a planned medical campus in Spokane’s University District, supporting several pieces of legislation that laid the groundwork for what has become WSU’s medical school. At the end of 2012, after announcing she wouldn’t seek another term in Olympia, Brown was pegged by then-WSU President Elson Floyd to lead the development of the medical school as chancellor of the university’s branch in Spokane.

Sen. Andy Billig, the Democrat who would succeed Brown in the Senate and watched the negotiations as a member of the House of Representatives, pushed back on claims by opponents that Brown didn’t deserve significant credit for the

By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The nation’s soda industry wants Washington state voters to send their local governments a message this November: When looking to boost your budgets with new taxes, stay away from soda.

Initiative 1634 would ban any new local taxes on soda and all groceries, and the “vote yes” campaign emphasizes keeping government’s mitts off everything in the grocery cart. But the soda companies are the prime backers of the campaign, and sugary drinks are the only items that have caught the eyes of local governments.

Seattle instituted a tax on soda that began this year, and New York, Philadelphia and several California cities also have a soda tax. The Spokane City Council briefly – and not very seriously, according to council members – looked at a soda tax last year as a way to hire more police officers, but dropped the idea in the face of vocal opposition.

Dennis Kelly, owner of five Spokane-area Zip’s restaurants, joined the yes campaign because he’s become more aware of local governments’ efforts to raise taxes and believes taxes on food hit people the hardest.

“The battle to increase taxes always does seem to go on,” Kelly said. “It makes sense to push back against any kind of tax.” school’s arrival in Spokane.

“It was a team effort, and Lisa was the quarterback,” Billig said. That included her time as chancellor, he said, helping Floyd usher through authorizing legislation that allowed the school to open its doors.

After five years, however, Brown’s interests swung

Jeff Philipps, president and chief executive officer of Rosauers, said food taxes are regressive and there’s also a bit of “social engineering” in local governments deciding what people should eat and levying a tax to reduce consumption.

Suppose the city of Spokane Valley decided to tax soda and the city of Spokane taxed foods with high carbohydrates, Philipps said.

Stores in each city would have to set up special systems to track different kinds of sales and calculate the taxes to be sent in.

“It becomes a nightmare trying to manage this through our system,” he said.

Spokane City Councilwoman Kate Burke agrees that a soda tax hits hardest on low-income people who can least afford it and already face a regressive tax system.

But she’s part of the opposition campaign, arguing the state shouldn’t limit the options of local governments that are better at tailoring taxes to their communities.

“By no means does this mean I think we should do a soda tax,” said Burke, who wasn’t on the council when the tax was mentioned last year. “I do think it should be left up to local government.”

She considers ads warning of broad grocery taxes “disingenuous” because she’s unaware of any effort for a local government to tax any other food product.

When asked for examples

of efforts by local governments to tax any grocery items other than soda or beverages, the staff of the Yes to Affordable Groceries campaign could only point to California’s efforts to regulate methane produced by cattle, Washington’s excise tax on commercial fish and unsuccessful efforts in New Mexico to reinstate a sales tax on all food.

Business owners who joined the initiative’s campaign are concerned about the way the Seattle tax is structured, Melissa Schwartz, a campaign spokeswoman, said.

“The Seattle tax exploited a loophole that allows a tax on distributors, which is then passed on to customers,” Schwartz wrote in an email. “I think what scares Washington small business owners the most is that a few years ago they didn’t see this coming either, and they wonder what else could be next.”

I-1634 is prospective, so it wouldn’t repeal the Seattle tax of 1.75 cents per ounce on sugary drinks.

The initiative also wouldn’t restrict the Legislature from passing a statewide tax. But lawmakers with a sense of history would be wary of such a move because voters tend to protect their grocery carts from taxes.

again to the political. After being rumored as a candidate for several offices, Brown made it official in August 2017, declaring her intention to run against McMorris Rodgers.

For Wood, it’s a pairing that has been decades in the making, since the two were on the same floor of the

House of Representatives 20 years ago.

“Sooner or later it was probably going to be those two butting heads,” Wood, the former Democratic lawmaker, said.

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WE HEAR YOU! Healthcare Economic Fairness Education Affordable Housing A Dignified Retirement

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SPECIAL 18

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OCTOBER 10, 2018

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

BONDS

Relocation to Shaw Middle School

BUDGET $1,970,000

BUDGET $14,190,000

BUDGET $5,100,000

CURRENT SQ. FT. 10,600

CURRENT SQ. FT. 17,800

CURRENT SQ. FT. 8,230

PROPOSED SQ. FT. No change

PROPOSED SQ. FT. 29,000-31,000

PROPOSED SQ. FT. 7,000-9,000

The Indian Trail Library would add usable outdoor space to the library, improve the children's area and undergo maintenance improvements.

The Shadle Library would double in size and its entrance would move to an atrium to face the Shadle Aquatic Center. New meeting rooms and a cafe would be added to the existing structure as well.

If both the school and library bonds pass, the Hillyard Library will relocate across the street to Shaw Middle School. The new facility would be about the same size, but would feature more open spaces and meeting areas.

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“The urban experience,�

Spokane Mayor David Condon calls it, that certain something that draws people to a city and holds them there.

And gives them something to cheer – as long as they don’t get too grumpy over finding a parking spot. “I think that for Spokane, the urban experience is about arts, culture and sports,�

Condon said recently as he expounded on the desir-

ability of a new high school outdoor stadium downtown to complement Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

The Arena has been a fixture since 1995. And now a new indoor sportsplex on the north bank of the Spokane River is nearing the design phase.

A 5,000-seat stadium downtown would complete the trifecta, say backers of a stadium, including the mayor. It also has the potential to host outdoor music events.

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Current East Side Library

BUDGET $1,970,000 90 PROPOSED SQ. FT. 2,000-3,000 A small new library facility would be built near the Libby Center which would include meeting space and normal library spaces. The facility would be between 2,000 and 3,000 feet and host Spokane Public School training and the public’s events.

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Remodel first floor, redesign upper floors

Interior redesign

Relocation to Liberty Park

BUDGET $28,530,000

BUDGET $3,240,000

BUDGET $7,570,000

CURRENT SQ. FT. 45,600

CURRENT SQ. FT. 15,000

CURRENT SQ. FT. 6,340

PROPOSED SQ. FT. 55,000-58,000

PROPOSED SQ. FT. No change

PROPOSED SQ. FT. 11,000-13,000

If the bond passes, the downtown library will open up the first floor to the public, which is currently used as storage, staff offices and meeting rooms. The interiors of the upper floors would be redesigned to make the building more flexible for library events.

The South Hill Library would get improved disability access and updated interior design by improving the children’s spaces and quiet study areas.

The East Side Library would move to Liberty Park near the Liberty Park Aquatic Center.

Spokane Public Schools Shelley Redinger said libraries and schools would work out more safety and daily operation details during the design process.

Library Trustee Lara Hemingway said free gathering spaces and technology can be hard to come by and the renovations will help the libraries serve Spokane’s evolving needs. “It’s not a place where you go and get shushed anymore,� she said.

Both the Shadle and downtown libraries will stay at the same locations, but the planned renovations will significantly change their layout.

Both would get cafes and more space. The downtown branch will open up the bottom floor, which is currently used for meeting rooms, storage and staffing. They also will create a better view of the Spokane River and will purchase furniture that is lighter and can be easily moved.

All the libraries would get improved children’s areas, shelving, meeting rooms and quiet spaces.

Chanse said most of the first year, if the bond passes, will be spent on design, and voters will begin to see more changes in 2020. The library estimates that the bond would result in an approximate $200,000 a year increase in the system’s operations cost, an amount that officials said would not require new taxes.

Roy Yates visits the Shadle branch almost every day and supports the library proposal.

He spends most of his hours at the library reading the newspaper, building puzzles and visiting with other regulars.

He remembers many of Spokane’s early libraries, which weren’t built with today’s technology in mind. “I grew up when libraries were pretty dull places to go,� said Yates, a retired Hanford electrician. “But that’s not true anymore.�

Where to play? Voters on school bond will advise on Albi or downtown site THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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Like many Spokane Public Library patrons, Jessica Rumley’s only access to the internet is through her phone and gaming device. Rumley, a mother and college student, said she likes borrowing science fiction books, but she needs to use the library’s printers, scanners and computers to turn in legal documents. “There are things you can do on a computer that you just can’t do on your phone,� she said recently during a recent visit to the Hillyard branch.

That library, the second smallest in the city’s library system, is one of seven that would be substantially remodeled or replaced if a $77 million property tax bond is approved by voters in November.

Rumley said she likely will support the proposal, as long as Hillyard and other smaller branches see increased programming and services that tend to be centered at the main library downtown.

Spokane Public Libraries Director Andrew Chanse said boosting services at all locations – especially the neighborhood branches – is a major goal in the bond. The proposal, he said, is about keeping in step with developing technology, the community’s needs and equity.

The library estimates that renovations at the two largest libraries, downtown and the Shadle branch, would cost a combined $43 million to expand. The East Side branch would be rebuilt at Liberty Park, about five blocks from its current location, at a cost of an estimated $7.6 million. The Hillyard branch would become one of two collaborative facilities with Spokane Public Schools and cost $5.1 million to build. The second collaborative library would be built near the Libby Center, 2900 E. First Ave., and would host teacher training, events and function as a second library in the East Central neighborhood, costing about $1.6 million. The South Hill and Indian Trail branches would receive smaller renovations and infrastructure updates, which would cost a combined $4.8 million.

While library program attendance, which includes story time, movie nights and classes, has nearly doubled over the last four years, the number of checkouts, visitors and internet sessions have mostly remained steady. Chanse said he hopes the improvements at all the libraries, which haven’t had major updates since they were built in the 1990s, will encourage people to use them more. He added that the renovations at the smaller branches might motivate people who have been using larger branches to visit their smaller neighborhood library.

Amanda Donovan, Spokane Public Libraries communications director, said the libraries plan to make large technology and building changes, but basic infrastructure such as roofing, shelving and disability access will be updated as well. She added

that the heating and air conditioner systems break down regularly and staff are repairing rips and tears in the carpet with tape.

Most of Spokane’s libraries were remodeled or replaced between 20 and 24 years ago through a $28.9 million bond that was supported by 63 percent of voters. At 19 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, this year’s proposed bond would cost a taxpayer who owned a $240,000 home $45.60 a year and would mature in 25 years.

Maria Brown, a patron at the South Hill library, which will receive comparatively few renovations if the bond passes, said she doesn’t believe rebuilding libraries is worth the property tax increases. She said housing on the South Hill is already out of most people’s price range and she couldn’t support even small increases in property tax. “Find a different way to improve services,� she said.

Brown said she doesn’t believe the buildings are an issue right now and the library should instead focus on improving staff service and programing.

Donovan said the designs for the libraries are only about 10 percent complete and some options, such as the location of the Hillyard library, are dependent on whether the Spokane Public School’s proposed $495 million school bond measure also passes in November. Among other improvements and updates, that bond would replace three middle schools and add an additional three middle schools.

Library and school leadership still are discussing the amount each group would contribute to the new facilities.

Rumley said Hillyard’s children and young people need a free, safe place like libraries to spend the day and she supports increasing access. She is, however, concerned that the proposal to move the branch to the Shaw Middle School campus across the street would create security concerns and decrease access for low-income or homeless patrons.

Chanse said security is a priority and that library patrons would not have access to the school unless they are a student.

The bond would be added to property tax bills just as Spokane residents will see a reduction in their property tax due to the state legislature’s fix to a Supreme Court decision that ruled the state was not properly funding education. The net effect of the changes increased taxes in some school districts and lowered taxes in others. In the Spokane school district, even if the proposed school bond passes, the levy rate for all school taxes would fall from $7.91 per $1,000 in property value in 2017 to about $6.95 in 2020.

Donovan said the school district and the city library system are currently in discussion on how much library and school bond money would be used for the joint facilities at the Libby Center and in Hillyard. Superintendent of

S H A D L E PA R K L I B RA RY

Interior redesign

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By Rebecca White THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

I N D I A N T RA I L L I B RA RY

Assembly

Bond would fund renovations, replacements, school branches

Here are the changes proposed to Spokane Public Libraries if voters pass a $77 million bond in November.

Grove

Spokane libraries to ask for $77M

UPDATING SPOKANE PUBLIC LIBRARIES

If voters approve next month’s $495 million bond measure, Spokane Public Schools would have about $31 million to demolish 68year-old Albi Stadium in northwest Spokane and replace it.

The question is “Where?�

At the Albi site? Or downtown?

The big crowds of yesteryear’s football games have collapsed in recent years. Instead of thousands of fans jamming Albi, the crowds have dwindled to a few hun-

dred. No one is predicting a new stadium will reignite football game attendance, but a new stadium downtown, backers say, will continue what they call a renaissance transforming the north bank.

The bond and stadium siting will be left to voters to decide, sort of.

While funding for a new stadium is folded into the overall bond, there is a separate nonbinding advisory vote See STADIUM, 19

Source: Spokane Public Library MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Elect

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CHASE Dear Neighbor,

It has been an honor to serve as your Spokane county Treasurer these past eight years. I made a pledge to only run for two terms as Treasurer, and I’ve kept that promise. Now, I want to take my proven leadership from that office to the office of Spokane County Commissioner.

By focusing on people and accountability as Treasurer, I improved online payment options, made tax statements available online, and reduced peak wait time by 80%. I am also proud to have led the effort in passing partial payments legislation on property taxes for the first time in Washington State history to help keep people in their homes.

As Commissioner, I will continue to focus on making Spokane County run efficiently, attractive to business, and a safe community.

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

OCTOBER 10, 2018

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WEDNESDAY

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SPECIAL 19

SCHOOL AND LIBRARY BONDS

$495M bond includes big projects, but with smaller taxpayer bill

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by Albi Stadium – whether or not the stadium will be demolished or downsized.

“It’s about outcomes, about bringing these pieces together,” Condon said.

“This is a magnificent use of government-owned assets.”

Three existing middle schools dating from the 1950s

The City of Spokane would provide the site for a high school stadium. Spokane Public Schools would build the stadium. The drawing below shows the footprint of a 5,000-seat stadium.

(The actual design would come after the November election.)

27

MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Source: City of Spokane, Spokane Public Schools

Proposed downtown stadium

– Glover, Shaw and Sacajawea – would be replaced near existing sites.

The move would ease K-3 overcrowding by moving sixth-graders into the middle schools beginning in 2021 and offering those same sixth-graders a more comprehensive educational experience.

“We’re thrilled for a new school,” Glover Middle School Principal Mark Lund said. “We are so ready to handle students and help them with adolescence.”

Also in the bond is an $18 million project for a new cafeteria commons at Lewis and Clark High School, additional space for options

programs at the Libby Center and the On Track Academy, including Spanish immersion, and smaller improvements for all schools.

“A chicken in every pot,” Anderson calls it.

Finally, the bond earmarks $31 to either renovate Albi or build a new stadium downtown.

Amenities included in the stadium budget estimate of $31 million • Artificial turf • 5,000 seats • Lighting • Sound system • Scoreboard

• Concessions • Restrooms • Two locker rooms • Ticket booth • Bus drop off

Boone

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Continued from 18

City would provide the site for a high school stadium.

SPS would build a 5,000seat stadium.

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STADIUM on the stadium location.

School board members will listen to voters, but ultimately they will decide where a stadium gets built if the bond passes.

The stadium advisory vote may be close. A survey conducted by the school district in July with 1,000 online participants “came out about 50-50” on where to build, according to associate school superintendent Mark Anderson.

The vision for a downtown stadium is clouded by many questions: G Will the parking be free for high school events? Yes. The Spokane Public Facilities District – which would manage the downtown stadium – has assured the school district parking will be free for school district events.

G Is a $10 million parking garage still part of the project?

Maybe. A recently completed survey shows that parking in the Arena area is underutilized, lessening the need for a parking garage. Meanwhile, the city has reached out to facilities such as Rock Pointe, to expand parking options.

G If the stadium remains in northwest Spokane, would it still hold 30,000 seats? No. Regardless of location, the new stadium would have a capacity of 5,000. That’s because no matter where the new stadium is built, the district will build a new middle school near the Albi site, and a larger stadium wouldn’t allow enough space.

G Would traffic be manageable with the addition of a new stadium and sportsplex? Probably. The city is nearing full implementation of an intelligent traffic system that, according to Mayor Condon, would dissipate traffic faster than at the Albi site.

G Why can’t the district move football and other sports back to high school sites, as the Mead and Central Valley districts have done? The district says “no,” because individual

New middle school

New construction

Spokane

Ind

Expansion of fields at Merkel Park

The state will add an additional $57.9 million to the projects if the bond passes for a total cost of $553.2 million.

At the same time, the city of Spokane is offering a $77 million library bond that could include projects tied to approval of the school bond.

It would add three new libraries and modernize four others.

The bond also has funds for a new football stadium, either a rebuilt version at the site of Joe Albi Stadium, where the district’s high school football teams play home games, or a new facility north of downtown.

The bond would have cost significantly more without a partnership formed with the city of Spokane. City leaders have agreed to provide unused city land to the district for the new middle schools in exchange for the ability to build new libraries on school property.

“People we’ve spoken with, they generally understand government, they love the partnership,” Spokane Mayor David Condon said last week. “The No. 1 reason people live where they do is the access to their schools.

“This is how you build a school district of choice.”

By extension, Condon said, the bonds will build neighborhoods of choice – including East Central, where a remodeled Libby Center and a new library could be transformative.

The biggest piece of the bond – about $360 million – will be the six middle schools. The bond would put two of those new middle schools on city land, one near Mullan Road Elementary School and another in northeast Spokane on North Foothills Drive.

A third middle school will

LEGEND

Spokane city limits boundary

Indian Trail Library modernization

ile M ne Rd.

For the Spokane Public Schools board of directors, the “ah-ha!” moment came last spring.

During a workshop on May 9, associate superintendent Mark Anderson presented a series of scenarios that would allow the district to take advantage of the landmark McCleary decision that places the tax burden for basic education back on the state of Washington.

“A window of opportunity,” Anderson called it, as he invited the board to take a peek. They liked what they saw: a chance to build six new middle schools and ease overcrowding for young students and make other substantive improvements – all while handing taxpayers a smaller bill.

Less than three months later, the board unanimously approved a $495.3 million bond for the Nov. 6 ballot.

“Our taxpayers have been paying more than their fair share for education for years,” Superintendent Shelley Redinger said. “Now it’s our taxpayers who are getting a break.”

If approved by at least 60 percent of voters, the portion of taxes property owners pay for school construction bonds would increase by about 70 cents per $1,000 of property value in 2020 compared to 2017. But it’s happening around the same time that state leaders have revamped the tax system for schools, which will lower other school taxes in the Spokane tax district. In 2017, homeowners in the Spokane district paid $7.91 per $1,000 in assessed value for schools.

If the bond passes, that would still fall to $6.95 per $1,000.

While the proposed downtown sports stadium has drawn the lion’s share of the attention, a proposed package of bond-funded civic projects by the city and the school district would include improvements in every corner of town. The City Council and School Board will consider putting bond propositions on the ballot in November that would fund a range of collaborative efforts. The map below shows the primary school and library projects that would be included.

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By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Proposed bond funding of schools and libraries

Proposed site of sportsplex

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Voter Guide

Cataldo

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Sources: Spokane Public Schools; City of Spokane MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

stadiums are costlier to build and maintain. Also, parking and lighting are insufficient at current school sites.

The biggest uncertainty is the look and feel of the stadium itself. Early renderings are “very preliminary (and generic) to ensure it could fit,” said Rick Romero, who heads special projects for the city.

Those drawings appear to show a bare-bones stadium that would fit within the project’s proposed boundary.

However, Anderson said the stadium – regardless of where it’s built – will include artificial turf, lighting, a sound system and scoreboard, concessions, restrooms, two locker rooms

and a ticket booth.

Because of the constraints of city streets, the downtown stadium would have a northsouth orientation.

Lost in the hand-wringing over the downtown location is the potential impact of expanded playing fields for soccer and other sports at the Dwight Merkel complex near Albi.

Condon contends the expansion of Merkel could make the facility an attractive venue for regional soccer events, but the financial impact is unclear.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509)459-5437 jima@spokesman.com

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SPECIAL 20

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WEDNESDAY

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OCTOBER 10, 2018

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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