Two more candidates file for Valley council

On the last day to file their candidacies, two more people signed up to run for Spokane Valley City Council.

On Friday, political newcomers Joseph L. Edwards and Rose Dempsey joined Planning Commissioner David Crosby in bidding for the council seat being vacated by Councilman Mike DeVleming.

Incumbent Councilmen Bill Gothmann and Steve Taylor will run unopposed.

Dempsey, 63, is the music director at an Episcopal church in Coeur d’Alene. Between her and her husband, there are six adult children and 14 grandchildren in her family.

“The only reason I put my name in is it seems that nobody was stepping up to the plate,” she said.

Before Friday, candidates for all three council positions on the ballot were running unopposed.

While noting that she’s not ready to second-guess decisions the City Council has made, Dempsey said that in talking with her neighbors “there’s a fair amount of unrest over the land development and how it’s being done.”

She also said she opposes a proposal to turn the Sprague-Appleway couplet into two-way streets, wants to keep an eye on taxes and would like to see the three Valley school districts consolidated to save administrative costs.

Edwards, 57, has two adult children and runs Edwards Taxi in Spokane Valley with his wife. He moved to the area six years ago from Kentucky, where he was elected to the municipal office of constable in 1990.

“The people (are) what makes the government,” he said.

If elected, Edwards said he would like to reduce city spending. Additionally, he’d like to see the Spokane Valley mayor’s office become an elected position rather than one appointed by others on the council. “It’s not doing the people justice for a mayor to be appointed,” he said.