Public Periscope

He’s no dummy

Spokane’s 6th Legislative District will wait another week to have its vacant state House seat officially filled. Newly appointed Rep. Duane Sommers won’t be sworn in until Nov. 28 when legislators gather in Olympia for meetings. … Sommers resigned from the Spokane County Republican Party chairmanship Wednesday, the day after his appointment. Then he went on a previously planned vacation to Mexico. … He thought it best to stay off the state payroll until he gets back. “I did not want to be drawing pay while out of the country. It’s just not a good idea,” said Sommers, noting someone in the press or among the public might object. … He could have been sworn in right away, but told the House clerk to start his pay as of Nov. 28. This was just easier, he said.

Selective reading

In the midst of the ongoing budget debate in the other Washington, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., was nice enough to read a portion of The Spokesman-Review into the Congressional Record to prove how terrible this partial shutdown of the federal government has been. But only a portion of the article. … Saying it couldn’t be more to the point, Murray quoted a Spokane man who couldn’t obtain a passport because the office had been closed. “This is a dream in my heart that finally manifested,” Drew Van Dyche told columnist Doug Clark. “The government is getting in the way of people’s dreams.” … While we appreciate the mention on the Senate floor, we think it interesting the senator left out one of the other threads of Clark’s column - that Republicans are just keeping their campaign promise to balance the budget while President Clinton “has countered with nasty TV ads that tar the GOP as a pack of heartless jackals.” Maybe one of the Republicans will offer up that part of the column.

We goofed; we admit it

In passing out postelection awards last week, our companion column, “Campaign ‘95,” incorrectly stated that Mary “Chey” Austin had changed her political party when she changed her husband. This came as quite a shock to the Austins, who are not divorced. … Austin, the unsuccessful Spokane Valley legislative candidate, ran for office in Montana as a Republican years ago. She told local Democrats just before this year’s election that she didn’t know much about the two political parties back then and ran under the GOP label because her husband was a Republican. … Her later decision to become a Democrat only means that they have a mixed marriage, like Democrat James Carville and Republican Mary Matalin, Austin said when calling last week to point out our error.

Do we detect a change in tune?

You may remember how hard the state Democratic Party fought to keep CityVote off the ballot in Washington. But it seems the party conveniently has forgotten. … The front page of its postelection newsletter trumpets, “Clinton Sweeps CityVote in Washington,” then goes on to talk about the president’s romp in the straw poll. Mighty nice assessment from the party that unsuccessfully sued four counties over CityVote, calling it detrimental to the election process.

Yule love this one

The U.S. Postal Service is so interested in having you do your mailing early this Christmastime that it’s willing to give you a present. Or at least, a shot at one. … Coming soon to your mailbox will be a Mail Early card, which, if you fill it out and bring it to a post office with at least 10 pieces of mail before Dec. 9, will be entered in a drawing. Winners will receive prizes or gift certificates from a 6-foot-long stocking which has been hung, with care, at the J.C. Penney Co. store entrance at NorthTown Mall.

, DataTimes MEMO: “Public Periscope,” published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. If you have a question about government, growth or development, we’d like to help find an answer. Write us c/o The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane 99210. Or call Cityline at 458-8800 on a Touch-Tone phone, then press 9120 to leave a message. Or send e-mail to jimc@spokesman.com.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports