Incumbents file, find no opposition for seats

Incumbents looking for another term wasted little time Monday filing for office in the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley, and had no announced opposition by day’s end.

But a few contested races were shaping up for open seats.

Six Valley council members and two Spokane council members who want to keep their jobs made it to the Spokane County Elections Office Monday to file their formal petitions of candidacy.

An open Spokane City Council seat had three candidates by the end of the first day of filing, and the job of Millwood mayor, up for grabs with four-term incumbent Jeanne Batson retiring, had two.

Robert Paul Mankin and Daniel M. Mork filed for the mayoral spot, which has an annual salary of $720. Millwood also has two council seats on the ballot – one of them is occupied by Mork, who will give up the council seat to run for mayor. Neither council seat drew a candidate on Monday

Nancy McLaughlin, Judith Gilmore and Steve Corker each filed for the council position in Northwest Spokane, which is being vacated by Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers, who is retiring because of term limits.

Also filing for office in the city of Spokane were Al French, who is finishing his first four-year term from the Northeast District, and Mary Verner, who was appointed to a vacancy in the South District after Dennis Hession was elected council president in 2003.

In the Spokane Valley, council members Diana Wilhite, Steve Taylor, Mike DeVleming, Gary Schimmels, Richard Munson and Dick Denneny are seeking re-election after finishing off the three-year terms they won after the Valley incorporated in 2002. The seventh council member, Mike Flanigan, decided not to run and Bill Gothmann, a member of the planning commission, filed Monday for the open seat.

The fall elections include municipal elections for all cities and towns in Washington. In Spokane County, that includes the cities of Airway Heights, Cheney, Deer Park, Liberty Lake and Medical Lake, and the towns of Fairfield, Latah, Rockford, Spangle and Waverly. School, fire, water, sewer and cemetery districts also have board elections.

All of those positions are nonpartisan. Spokane County’s fall ballot will also feature a partisan race for county assessor, to fill the unexpired term of Duane Sommers, who retired at the beginning of 2005. His assistant Ralph Baker was appointed to the spot, and is expected to file for election.

Candidates may file for election before 5 p.m. Friday at their county elections office. For most Eastern Washington counties, that’s in the courthouse, but in Spokane County the office is about two blocks north, at 1033 W. Gardner.