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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Three Cheney Council Members Face Challenges

Tom Sowa And Mike Prager S Staff writer

City Council politics are hot in Cheney this year with three contested races. The Cheney School Board, meanwhile, has only one two-way race.

Council incumbents Ilene Wahl, Dwayne Paul and Barbara Boots are challenged by people looking for their first taste of public office.

One challenger - 22-year-old Justin Franke - is student body president at Eastern Washington University. Another, 43-year-old Adelina Gonzales, is a former EWU student president.

Franke is challenging Wahl, while Gonzales, student president in 1993-94, is contesting Paul’s seat.

Cheney Realtor K.C. Bergland, 40, is battling incumbent Boots.

One council seat - filled in 1994 by Cheney Free Press Managing Editor Kevin Hanson, 38, is unchallenged.

If Franke can defeat Wahl, it would be the first time an Eastern student takes a seat on the Cheney City Council, said Cheney Mayor Al Ogden.

Franke, a business major and senior, bases part of his campaign on the need for better council representation of Eastern students, who make up a significant portion of Cheney’s residents and who spend millions each year in the community.

Wahl, an administrative secretary at EWU seeking her second term, said she would like the council to improve its budget decisions.

“With growth occurring, we have to keep our finances in control,” she said.

The Paul-Gonzalez contest offers the city’s most obvious contrast in candidates.

Paul, 61, is a retired fire chief who’s served on the council for nearly 20 years.

Gonzales is a Chicano single mother, a strong advocate of social services and critic of how the council has conducted its affairs.

“So much of what happens in city government here is not public. The city needs to help people know what’s going on,” she said.

Paul acknowledged he’s a council insider, not a touchy-feely communicator: “I like to be involved in making decisions and knowing before others what’s really happening,” he said.

Paul said his chief asset is the experience of having worked in local government for dozens of years.

Gonzales said she’s well informed on federal and state issues and can help guide the council through a transition likely to affect Cheney residents as federal programs face downsizing.

In the Boots-Bergland race, both candidates urge a cautious, careful-growth approach to help keep Cheney from trying to become bigger than it needs to.

Boots, a 42-year-old EWU financial aid employee, contends that Cheney officials must do a better job of managing growth.

“I’d like the city to keep close tabs on state decisions so that we can keep our residents better informed,” she said.

Bergland, a former Alaska bush pilot, said he is a “cautious, pro-development” proponent.

“I don’t want to see Cheney turn into a bedroom community for Spokane,” he said.

In the Cheney School District, businessman Thomas Best is running against city planner Allen D. Schmelzer for an open seat being vacated by board member Greg Staeheli, who is not seeking re-election.

Best is co-owner of Utec Metals Inc. in the Spokane Valley, a firm that specializes in fabrication and design. He is married and has three children.

Best said he wants to repay the district for the education it has given his children, two of whom have graduated.

Schmelzer is a planner in the community development department for the city of Spokane. He works with federal grants, including those to upgrade low-income housing. He is married and has four children, all in Cheney schools.

He said he will keep a close eye on spending.

Three incumbent school members are running unopposed. They are Susan Lienhard, Kathy J. Bumgarner and Dale Lamphere.

, DataTimes