u 2010 Washington General Election

Next week’s regional Solid Waste Summit will occur with or without Spokane participation, County Commission Chairman Al French announced Friday. The two-day gathering of local government officials throughout the county is intended to outline a new framework for the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, which is owned and controlled by the city of Spokane. Read more

Aw, Bonnie. Say it ain’t so. How disappointing to learn that former Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager has been spending her post-election days trying to wreck her laudable legacy. Read more

Former Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager on Tuesday announced a Public Disclosure Commission complaint accusing her successor, Al French, of libel. With exhibits, Mager’s complaint is 107 pages long and covers many of the issues in her race against French. However, Mager’s cover letter focuses on a barrage of e-mails in the week before the Nov. 2 general election. Read more

Former Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager Tuesday announced a Public Disclosure Commission complaint accusing her successor, Al French, of libel. Read more

Spokane County commissioners slogged through garbage issues for three hours Tuesday on their way to a Solid Waste Summit. They authorized Chairman Al French to join Spokane Mayor Mary Verner in sending invitations to the Feb. 2-3 summit at the CenterPlace Regional Event Center in Spokane Valley. Read more

New Spokane County Commissioner Al French was tested in doggy court Tuesday during his debut meeting. He cut to the chase in an appeal on behalf of Chaos and Henry, a pair of mastiff-St. Bernard mutts accused of mauling a moose. Read more

Washington’s election system has many virtues, but speed isn’t one of them. Only 40.6 percent of last month’s Spokane County general election ballots were counted on election night. Read more

Last-minute pleas to preserve land on Beacon Hill failed to persuade county commissioners to shuffle a priority list for Conservation Futures property acquisitions. Eight people urged the commissioners to give a higher priority to a package of 11 parcels on Beacon Hill, a popular hiking and mountain-biking site overlooking Hillyard. Read more

Next year’s Spokane County budget will dig deeper into county reserves, not taxpayers’ wallets. County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday not to impose legally permitted 1 percent increases in property tax levies for the general fund or the road fund. Read more

Data from Spokane County Elections Office/Computer analysis by Spin Control Read more

Spokane County commissioners may dip into reserves to save jobs and offset some of the most painful cuts in their 2011 general fund budget. Commissioners Mark Richard and Bonnie Mager called for preserving safety-related programs by reducing reserves from 10 percent of the $136.8 million general fund to perhaps 8 percent. Read more

Spokane County commissioners decided Tuesday evening to charge more for dog licenses and change the way building permit fees are calculated. No one objected. Almost no one was there. Read more

Potential taxes on new development approved two years ago would finally be collected under a proposal being considered by the Spokane City Council. The taxes are one-time “impact fees” paid by developers of homes, businesses and other projects that are expected to generate additional traffic demands on city services. The fees would have to be paid before building permits could be issued. Read more

Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager conceded defeat Wednesday in her bid for a second term. The election is to be certified Friday, and the latest results show challenger Al French with 50.8 percent of the vote to Mager’s 49.2 percent. Read more

A public relations contract to promote a Spokane County jail construction bond measure will be extended four months at a cost of $46,156. In other action Tuesday, county commissioners voted to increase golf fees and the charge for access to the county sewer system. Read more

Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager conceded defeat Wednesday in her bid for a second term. The election is to be certified Friday, and the latest results show challenger Al French with 50.8 percent of the vote to Mager’s 49.2 percent. Read more

Democrat Chris Marr conceded defeat Wednesday night in the record-breaking million-dollar battle for a Spokane County state Senate seat. Marr made up some ground in the second day of ballot counting against Republican Michael Baumgartner, but he said it was too little to make a difference. Read more

An anonymous e-mail that began circulating this week falsely accuses Spokane County Commissioner Bonnie Mager of cheating on her taxes. Her election opponent, former Spokane City Councilman Al French, denied any knowledge of the e-mail Thursday afternoon. Read more

County Commissioner Bonnie Mager and her general election challenger, former Spokane City Councilman Al French, peppered each other Tuesday with allegations of unethical conduct. As in a similar exchange earlier this month, French fired first and Mager blasted back. Read more

Seen the new attack ad on Chris Marr? I won’t repeat any of it, other than to note that it formally marked the moment when the local election season went from discouraging to scumbaggy. As it always does. This is the wearying season for people who follow politics. Things get stupider and meaner as they become more important. But on Thursday night – while Patty Murray and Dino Rossi slugged it out at KSPS – there was another event on the Spokane political calendar that offered a reminder of the other, sometimes invisible political world. Read more