Even before he officially took office, Mayor-elect David Condon shook up City Hall on Friday when he informed three top administrators that they won’t be back to serve with him as mayor. Receiving notice were City Administrator Ted Danek, Public Works and Utilities Director Dave Mandyke and General Administration Director Dorothy Webster. Read more

{“dataSourceUrl”:”//docs.google.com/spreadsheet/tq?key=0AiKA-_1kSsWkdHFtTXU5cEJhSVBudzFYV0dGczZfSmc&transpose=0&headers=1&range=A1%3AB11&gid=0&pub=1”,”options”:{“vAxes”:[{“title”:null,”minValue”:0,”viewWindowMode”:”pretty”,”viewWindow”:{“min”:0,”max”:300000},”maxValue”:300000},{“viewWindowMode”:”pretty”,”viewWindow”:{}}],”reverseCategories”:false,”title”:”Spokane mayoral campaigns since 2000 that raised more than $100K”,”backgroundColor”:”#FFFFFF”,”legend”:”right”,”logScale”:false,”reverseAxis”:false,”hAxis”:{“maxAlternations”:1},”hasLabelsColumn”:true,”isStacked”:false,”width”:525,”height”:371},”state”:{},”chartType”:”ColumnChart”,”chartName”:”Chart 1”} Just before conceding, Mayor Mary Verner published a scathing comment on Facebook about her opponent’s campaign which she said is a “turning point for the way campaigns are conducted in Spokane.” “David Condon’s race for a non-partisan local office was woven into a … larger partisan domination strategy with out-of-town consultants, push polls and shrewd positioning of issues in collaboration with media mouthpieces. … Read more

Washington voters checking their ballots this weekend for the first time may feel a sense of déjà vu. They voted last year on proposals to get the state out of the liquor business, and in 2008 to require more training for home health care workers. And while it isn’t immediately clear from the ballot language, the initiative on road and bridge tolls resurrects some of last year’s initiative requiring supermajorities in the Legislature. Read more

The Spokane County Republican Party, which has previously declined to endorse candidates running as Republicans against Democrats when they declined to sign the county party's platform, has sent out recommendations for how to vote in Tuesday's nonparitsan city elections. The picks include: David Condon for mayor, Mike Fagan, Steve Salvatori and Mike Allen for City Council and Dennis Hession for City Council president. … Read more

Former Mayor Dennis Hession and Ben Stuckart, director of Communities in Schools of Spokane County, debate the $20 annual vehicle tab tax that was approved earlier this year. Hession and Stuckart are running for Spokane City Council president. Read more

Former Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession and Ben Stuckart, director of Communities in Schools of Spokane County, explain how they would run meetings differently than Council President Joe Shogan if they are elected council president. Read more

Former Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession and Ben Stuckart, director of Communities in Schools of Spokane County, debate why they feel they are the best candidates to be the next Spokane City Council president. Read more

Primary election voters in Spokane didn’t seem eager for a change. They gave incumbent Mayor Mary Verner a big victory over her opponents and former Mayor Dennis Hession a first-place win for City Council president as they head to November. Read more

A new campaign ad that’s been posted on YouTube by the campaign of Dennis Hession starts with him making the following statement: “Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.’ I believe that. … Read more

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner said last week that a campaign statement on the Otto Zehm matter wasn't meant to pin blame on others. Responding to a news release criticizing her response to the Otto Zehm cases from her election opponent, David Condon, Verner released her own statement on Sept. … Read more

When Spokane Mayor Mary Verner promised this month that there will be an internal review examining the death of Otto Zehm, it wasn’t the first time a city leader has made such a pledge. Indeed, the city has had an open contract with a police consultant for more than five years to perform that review. Read more

The Spokane Police Department’s top two officers are on their way out, leaving city officials to find new leadership as they struggle with the continuing legal fallout surrounding the death of Otto Zehm. Assistant Chief Jim Nicks announced Tuesday his upcoming retirement will coincide with the previously announced departure of Chief Anne Kirkpatrick. Read more

While most of the political news is swirling around City Hall this morning with the press conference over the Otto Zehm case (read about that here), there was a development in the Council President race. Councilman Steve Corker, who finished third in the primary for the job last month, announced he was endorsing former opponent Ben Stuckart for the job: “Ben represents a bright, new voice for Spokane.” Stuckart thanked Corker for the endorsement and “for his many years of service to the City of Spokane.” Corker also pointed out the key element of the primary results as the city looks ahead to the Nov. … Read more

The race for Spokane City Council president would appear to be a tossup, particularly in many north Spokane precincts where a clear favorite has yet to emerge. No duh, you might say, considering that winner Dennis Hession got only slightly more than a third of the vote in a four-person field. Read more

• March 18, 2006: Otto Zehm, 36, a mentally ill and unemployed janitor, is beaten, Tasered and hogtied inside a Zip Trip convenience store by seven Spokane police officers after being wrongly identified as a suspect in a possible theft. Acting police Chief Jim Nicks says Zehm was combative and “lunged” at the first officer on the scene, Karl Thompson, forcing the use of defensive tactics. Officers say Zehm has a prior arrest for assaulting a police officer. • March 20, 2006: Zehm dies at Deaconess Medical Center. Police acknowledge that the potential theft report that led to the confrontation was unfounded. Read more

The Spokane City Council President race would appear to be a toss up, particularly in many North Spokane precincts where a clear favorite has yet to emerge. No duh, you might say, considering that winner Dennis Hession got only slightly more than a third of the vote in a four-person field. But Spin Control does not make such prognostications lightly. … Read more

(Click on map to enlarge.) Vote totals from the Thursday evening ballot count. Read more

Unlike Spokane's mayoral race, which has a clear favorite based on the primary results, the council president race is a more interesting mix of support around the city for the top three candidates. As things stand now, former Council President and Mayor Dennis Hession would face political newcomer Ben Stuckart in the November general. … Read more

(click on map to enlarge) Dennis Hession is currently first in the Spokane City Primary for council president. This map shows the percentage of the votes he got in each city precinct. Click to return to story Read more

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