The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
52°F
Current Conditions
Few clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Our View: Experience, easy transition tip three-way race

To understand what happens at the state treasurer’s office, think what happens at your bank or credit union. You deposit your money. The bank “holds” it for you until you use it to pay bills. Banks grow their funds by loaning customers’ savings to others. The state treasurer acts as the state’s banker, paying the state’s bills from money collected in taxes. The treasurer also grows state funds through investments.

Mike Murphy, the current state treasurer, decided against running for a fourth term. Three qualified and impressive candidates filed to replace him. ChangMook Sohn, who is endorsed by former Gov. Gary Locke, served as director of the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council for 23 years. He is well-known in government agencies and in the Legislature for disseminating reliable and accurate economic information. Jim McIntire, of Seattle, a former state legislator who was chairman of the House Finance Committee, is an economist who also teaches at the University of Washington.

The third candidate, Allan Martin, has worked for Murphy in the state treasurer’s office since 1998, first as deputy state treasurer and now as assistant state treasurer. Murphy, a Democrat, has endorsed him. Martin is a Republican, but in this state office partisan politics shouldn’t matter, just as it doesn’t matter what political party your banker is affiliated with.

“The state treasurer’s office is a strongbox, not a soapbox,” Martin points out.

Both Sohn and McIntire possess deep knowledge about economics and understand its practical applications in businesses, states and municipalities. But neither has managed large numbers of people. The treasurer’s office has 66 employees. Martin is already in charge of much of the office’s day-to-day management, and before he took the state job, he served as the Chelan County treasurer. For Martin, the transition would be seamless. He has received endorsements from most of the state’s 39 county treasurers. We add our endorsement to his list today.