Two new candidates have thrown their names in the hat to join the Spokane City Council.

John Ahern, a former Republican legislator and failed Spokane City Council candidate, has filed to run again in the south of town for the seat recently left vacant when Councilman Mike Allen said he wouldn't seek re-election.

Randy Ramos, who works at the Spokane Tribal College, is the first opponent of Councilman Mike Fagan in the eastern end of the city. Ramos has never run for public office.

Ramos made news most recently when he joined Council President Ben Stuckart and Brian McClatchey, vice president of the city’s Plan Commission and a former tribal lawyer, in leading an effort to resurrect a defunct government-owned corporation to bring a Native American cultural center downtown. The corporation, called the United Native Americans of Spokane Public Development Authority, is a quasi-governmental organization that has bonding and borrowing power similar to city government. It has the potential to deliver job training and health care assistance to Native Americans living away from reservations.

Ramos is also a a recruiter with the Spokane Tribal College, which is accredited under the Salish Kootenai College of Pablo, Montana, and offers two-year degrees and certificates. Ramos was a winner of the Inlander's Peirone Prize last year, which honors people for the philanthropic efforts. 

Ahern has long been on the political scene. He was trounced by incumbent Councilman Jon Snyder two years ago, when Snyder was voted in by a two-to-one margin. At that time, Ahern was unclear on what he would do as a councilman. On the budget, he said the city shouldn't "spend more than what it's taking in."

During that 2013 race, Ahern suggested he had more common sense than Snyder - and perhaps a better understanding of gravity. "I know up from down," he said.

At recent council meetings, Ahern has said that the council should outlaw marijuana and enact strict rules on illegal immigration, arguing that those two actions would solve many of the city's ills. 

When Allen said he wouldn't run again, and LaVerne Biel said she'd take a run at the seat, local Republicans said there was an organized effort to convince Ahern to run for the school board instead of the city council. In 2013, Ahern edged Biel out during the primary, despite many in the GOP saying Biel had a better chance to win on the (kind of) Democratic South Hill. 

Lori Kinnear, Councilwoman Amber Waldref's aide, and John Waite, who owns Merlyn's, have also announced campaigns for the seat representing the city's South Hill.

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