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Last day of filing concludes; two City Council picks emerge
The last day of filing for political office attracted two new choices for Spokane City Council, but candidate lineups for mayor and City Council president didn’t change. Races for the Spokane Valley City Council also were unchanged Friday. No one filed after Tuesday for any of the three Valley seats on this year’s ballot.
Only two new Spokane City Council candidates on last day of filing
The full list of people who applied for elected office in Spokane County.
Candidates wanted for local races
With just today left in filing week, the Spokane County elections office said Thursday there were more than three dozen elective positions with no candidates filed.
Two more file for 9th District House seat
Candidate filings on Thursday included two challengers to appointed state Rep. Mary Dye in the 9th Legislative District House race.
Filing week Day 2: Mid-morning roundup
Local races starting to fill out.
Filing week Day 1: Mid-morning roundup
It’s Filing Week in Washington state. Candidates with hopes and dreams of winning a local political office have to get their paperwork in by Friday. The mid-morning list for Spokane County can be found inside.
Spin Control: Eight rules for political candidates
OLYMPIA – It’s the weekend between Bloomsday and the Lilac Parade, and that can only mean one thing. Well, two things if you count the fact that half the people in Spokane have allergies acting up. This week is filing week for candidates in Washington. Some people have been running for election or re-election for months, but that’s just prologue to the real campaign season, which starts Monday morning with the opening of the office doors in county elections offices around the state. Fill out your form, pay your money and take your chances for offices like mayor and city council member, and in southeast Washington’s 9th Legislative District, state House of Representatives.
Mike Fagan will run for second term
Mike Fagan may be the Spokane City Council’s most controversial figure, but he also has strong ties to the Hillyard community he represents. Fagan announced Thursday that he’ll run for re-election.
Doug Clark: Quick, someone give the mayor a run for his money
Sound the air-raid sirens. We interrupt today’s Clark column with the following announcement that Spokane is in a Defcondon 1 state of emergency.
STA transit sales tax increase fails
Late returns counted Wednesday failed to give Spokane Transit Authority’s Proposition 1 ballot measure enough votes to overcome an election night deficit. With less than 1,000 votes remaining to be counted, the chance of the measure passing is “almost impossible,” Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton said.
STA sales tax increase failing
Spokane County voters on Tuesday were turning down a 0.3 percent sales tax increase to pay for improvements to public transit. But the measure still was too close to call, according to supporters of Proposition 1 from the Spokane Transit Authority.
STA sales tax proposal too close to call; voters rejecting 2 school bonds
STA sales tax increase OUTCOME: Too close to call. YES: 49.4 percent50 NO: 50.6 percent
Shar Lichty to challenge Condon for Spokane mayor
Spokane Mayor David Condon gained his first challenger Tuesday in his race to be the first re-elected mayor since the era of Expo ’74. Shar Lichty, an organizer with the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, said Monday she is running for Spokane mayor, declaring that she is “one of the people” and drawing a contrast with Condon, whom she called the “millionaire mayor.”
Condon pushes for vote on salary
The issue of how much Spokane’s top elected official should be paid was revived Monday by Mayor David Condon, who challenged the City Council to “look to solutions rather than just the problem.” Condon called on the City Council to put a measure on the “next available ballot” asking voters to approve a plan to have the city’s Salary Review Commission set the mayor’s pay. The commission currently determines compensation for City Council members and Municipal Court judges.
French draws ire of fellow commissioners talking up STA tax on TV
The usually monolithic Spokane County Commission showed signs of cracking Tuesday as Shelly O’Quinn and Todd Mielke took colleague Al French to task for using a monthly TV program to highlight a ballot measure that would increase taxes for bus service. French said the program was meant to be informational, not an endorsement or condemnation of the proposed 0.3 percent sales tax increase that would fund several proposed Spokane Transit Authority projects through 2025.
Local schools gain bond support
Central Valley School District’s bond continued to gain support Wednesday, reinforcing the success of its campaign and its community support. With more than 64 percent approval, the measure has passed, according to results released by the Spokane County Elections office on Wednesday.
Court orders initiative vote
Envision Spokane, the twice-failed initiative seeking to bolster environmental protection and neighborhood and labor rights, will be before voters again, after a decision Thursday by a state appellate court. The ruling reverses a 2013 decision by a Superior Court judge to remove the controversial measure from that year’s general election ballot. The court ordered the city to put the measure on the next available ballot.
Doug Clark: Franklin Elementary needs bond and levy for old-school reasons
On a totally selfish note, there’s a lot more at stake in the upcoming vote about schools than just giving my beloved alma mater, Franklin Elementary, the makeover it so desperately deserves. Sure, passing the bond and levy for Spokane Public Schools is vital for building matters like security and technology (the bond) and learning issues like programs and staff (the levy).
Spin Control: Weighing candidates’, voters’ return on election investment
How much should a reasonable person spend to secure a $42,000-a-year job? A job with pretty good benefits, like a strong health care plan, generous expenses for food and lodging, and a decent pension – if you keep the bosses happy and they keep you around for a while. It’s mostly inside work, no heavy lifting, although you may have to spend time with people who disagree with you, and some who can be downright disagreeable. You have to agree to work 105 days straight, although no one ever does. There’s no clock to punch, and no one docks your pay if you don’t show up on one or even most of those days.
STA reports record ridership in 2014
Five years after a recession-caused slump in Spokane Transit Authority bus ridership, the agency this week reported that 2014 brought a record number of 11.3 million passenger trips. That number exceeds the previous high of 11.2 million in 2009 at the start of the economic slowdown triggered by the Great Recession that year.