We’re still weeks away from that familiar moment when Spokane’s next one-term mayor will slide behind the desk in that spiffy City Hall office with a view. Although quite frankly, if Mary Verner keeps refusing to concede last Tuesday’s election, David Condon may have to call for an eviction.

The best thing for political junkies about an off-year election – and arguably the worst thing for everyone else – is there’s another election so close we can feel it in our bones. We’ll barely have time to catch our breath. But before the general population gets overwhelmed with more Republican presidential debates and the minutiae of selecting presidential delegates through the caucus system, Spin Control wants to take just a few minutes to recall the highlights and lowlifes of Campaign Season 2011.

Fire departments and fire districts in the area surrounding Spokane Valley largely came away from the polls with disappointing results this week as several levy and bond requests failed. The exception was the town of Spangle, population 280 or so, which passed a fire levy and a police levy. Spokane County Fire District 13 in Newman Lake asked for a $2.2 million construction bond to build a new station to replace one that is old, too small and doesn’t meet current building codes. As of Friday morning it had received just 47.95 percent yes votes. The measure requires a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

Three races in Liberty Lake have been decided this week – Proposition 1, which would have changed the form of government from a strong mayor/council form to a city administrator-led council, failed with an overwhelming 69.5 percent of the voters rejecting the measure. Former Mayor Steve Peterson defeated current Councilman Josh Beckett for mayor by almost 75 percent of the votes. “We’re very happy,” Peterson said. “We’re delighted.”

A group of people unhappy with the status quo who ran together on a “Positive Change” slate in the 2009 Spokane Valley City elections are a single seat away from total control of the council after Tuesday’s election. One race is still too close to call. Election night totals showed Ben Wick 20 votes ahead of Marilyn Cline in the race to replace Councilman Bill Gothmann. “It is a very tight margin,” Wick said. “It could go either way.”

Now comes that post-election moment for rationally minded pundits to scientifically pick apart how David Condon, a political upstart, made up a Goliath-size disadvantage to knock off a sitting Spokane mayor Tuesday night. Remember the August primary?