5 Candidates Run For Mayor In Kettle Falls Sept. 19 Ballot Includes Funds For Several Area School Districts

The race to replace Kettle Falls Mayor Eric Weatherman is the hottest municipal primary in rural northeastern Washington.

It would have been the hottest contest even without five candidates. No other city in Stevens, Pend Oreille, Lincoln or Ferry counties has a primary race for council or mayoral positions.

Weatherman’s Aug. 15 resignation because of business pressures brought contenders out of the woodwork while many other offices had trouble attracting any candidates. All the candidates agree, though, that no big controversy prompted them to run.

Meanwhile, the dominant money issue on the Sept. 19 ballot is a $4.1 million bond measure in the Reardan-Edwall School District in Lincoln County. The 20-year measure would cost taxpayers an estimated $1.49 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The proposal would create Reardan Middle School with a 10-classroom metal building. Currently, the district has only an elementary school and a high school on its campus in Reardan.

Superintendent Tom Crowley said the bond measure also would add two classrooms to the high school. All of the construction would cost about $3.9 million.

The rest of the bond measure would be used to buy land and drill a well for a future elementary school in the northeastern part of the district in the area called the Coulee Heights corridor.

The district has failed in three previous attempts since the mid-1980s to pass a bond measure.

In Stevens County, the Loon Lake and Summit Valley school districts are seeking operating levies.

Loon Lake is seeking a two-year $99,000-per-year levy that would cost taxpayers an estimated 93.4 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Summit Valley proposes a two-year, $26,000-per-year levy that would cost an estimated $1.39 per $1,000.

The Republic School District in Ferry County is seeking a $165,000 operating levy for 1996 that would cost an estimated $1.06 per $1,000 of assessed value, and a $173,000 levy for 1997 that would cost about $1.12 per $1,000.

Kettle Falls mayoral candidates include:

Kim Cotter, 38, a former paralegal and United Parcel Service driver who is trying to establish himself as an author. He is single, has no children, and came to Kettle Falls about a year ago from Calaveras County, Calif. Cotter attended St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., about three years. He has no previous experience in public office, but has been a Teamsters shop steward and organizing committee member. He wants to cut the police force from five to three officers.

Jerry Davis, 63, a retired building contractor who has lived in Kettle Falls off and on since 1959 and continuously since 1980. He served eight years on the City Council until about a year ago, when he “figured it was time for a rest” and resigned. Davis, a graduate of Cheney High School, is married and has four grown children. He thinks the city is in “fair shape financially,” and his experience and ability to work full-time will keep things on track.

Linda Lewis, 43, a lifelong resident who served on the City Council for 7-1/2 years in the 1980s. A graduate of Kettle Falls High School, Lewis has two children, ages 18 and 21. Lewis works mostly evenings in the janitorial service she operates, and says she’d be better able than some candidates to devote adequate time to the job. She wants to help senior citizens and work more closely with the Kettle Falls Chamber of Commerce to promote small businesses.

Ron Osgood, 50, has lived in the area 16 years and represents Eastern Washington for Northshore Finance of Tacoma. He worked 22 years for the Milwaukee Railroad, leaving as an assistant foreman, and has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Nevada. Osgood thinks the city is “sitting still” and needs new leadership.

Steven West, 47, a 15-year resident who has been on the City Council for six years and is the acting mayor. He graduated from high school in Cathlamet, Wash., attended community college in Longview, Wash., for about a year and is a millwright at the Boise Cascade plywood mill. West is married and has three children, ages 12, 13 and 15. He thinks Kettle Falls is “basically heading in the right direction.”

, DataTimes