Oh, What A Wonderful Vote

Here’s a refreshing outlook on Spokane’s 1994 congressional election, one usually remembered for hostility and divisiveness.

You may need to sit down.

“Our district had a wonderful choice in 1994,” said Jim Shamp of Cheney. That’s right, he said “wonderful.”

“Tom Foley and George Nethercutt are both extremely competent and principled men,” said Shamp. “This was the hardest vote of my life.”

Would that all elections could be just as hard for the same reasons - and that all voters could recognize a contest between philosophies is not necessarily a showdown between good and evil.

But Shamp wasn’t done. He had other suggestions in response to “Bagpipes”’ invitation for the names of political figures who deserve public respect. And he trampled traditional political dividing lines as he collected them.

He named former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, a Montana Democrat, as well as former Washington state Sen. Sam Guess, a Spokane Republican.

“Sam had some wild ideas, but no one was more courteous or responsive to his constituents,” said Shamp.

He also mentioned former Spokane Mayor Jim Chase and former state Rep. Mike McGinnis, a Spokane Republican.

“For the future,” he added, “if talk show host Alex Wood is elected, I expect he will have an extremely civilizing effect on the Legislature.”

While he was at it, Shamp also identified a bipartisan handful of nasties. We’ll let it go at that.

Meanwhile, “Bagpipes” is still taking nominations.

Who will serve a Kaiser rollback?

Last week a judge ruled that Spokane County has overcollected property taxes from Kaiser Aluminum Corp. to the tune of $5.14 million since 1990.

The news jolted several public entities that will have to swallow their respective shares of the refund if the judgment stands up. Mead and East Valley school districts, for instance, may lose $1 million each.

If Kaiser was overbilled, it’s only fair that they get their money back. But such an impact on EV and Mead youngsters seems unfair, too.

What do “Bagpipes” readers think would be a fair resolution to this dilemma?

, DataTimes MEMO: “Bagpipes” appears Tuesdays and Thursdays. To respond, call Cityline at 458-8800, category 9881, from a Touch-Tone phone; or send a fax to 459-5098 or e-mail to dougf@spokesman.com. You also can leave Doug Floyd a message at 459-5577, extension 5466.