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Council to tackle firefighter contract
Spokane city leaders are readying for a showdown with the Spokane Firefighters Union over a three-year contract negotiated between the firefighters and former Mayor Mary Verner in the final days of her administration. But challenging the deal could prove risky for the City Council and force the city to give the union a more generous contract than the one now before them.
Spin Control: Not everyone wants voter registration tweaks
OLYMPIA – Washington voters have a very good track record of casting ballots – among the best in the country. Is it perfect? No. Could it be better? Yes. Are there people who should vote but don’t? Probably. Is it worth making major changes to the current system to capture some shoulda-woulda-coulda voters?
Billig bill preregisters youth vote
OLYMPIA – One of the most popular ways to register to vote is to sign up when applying for a driver’s license. Unless you’re 16 or 17, the time when most drivers get their first license but are too young to vote. State Rep. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, thinks the state should help those young drivers and all 16- and 17-year-olds become good voters by letting them “pre-register” to vote so they’ll automatically be added to the rolls when they turn 18.
Votes usher in new power
There’s a new majority in town. The Spokane City Council’s new, more conservative majority flexed its muscle in its first meeting of the year on Monday when it voted 4-2 to strip an automatic appointment of the Spokane City Council president to the Spokane Airport Board.
New council already has its feathers ruffled
The honeymoon period for the new Spokane City Council may have ended before its first regular meeting, with a debate about which council member should represent the city on the Spokane Airport Board highlighting the dynamics of the new council. Voters in November elected four new members to the seven-person council, resulting in a more conservative majority. The number of members affiliated with the Republican Party is now four, compared with one of seven on the previous council. Even so, the council will be led by new City Council President Ben Stuckart, who was backed by the Democratic Party.
Spokane’s new mayor takes the reins
Now all David Condon has to do is wait. After a year of researching, campaigning, debating and fundraising in what some thought was a long-shot bid to become mayor of the second-largest city in Washington, Condon took the final step required by law to take office. He took the oath to become Spokane’s 44th mayor Friday morning in a short ceremony in front of the Clocktower at Riverfront Park.
Shawn Vestal: Completing streets might prevent more ghosts
They call them Ghost Bikes. You’ve likely seen them around town over the past year or so: bikes painted all white, chained to a post or fence. They memorialize, in a simple, powerful way, cyclists who died on Spokane’s streets: Matthew Hardie, David Squires, Frank Red Thunder, David Widener …
Some legislators opt to cut pay in solidarity
OLYMPIA – About half of the 15 members of the Spokane-area legislative delegation have volunteered for the same 3 percent pay cut they imposed on state workers. Many who have done it, such as Rep. Kevin Parker, R-Spokane, say it’s a personal decision.