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July 22, 2009 in City
Union contracts contentious issue in six-way council race
Candidates argue over worker pay, City Council compensation
It’s not easy to goad Nancy McLaughlin into a fight.
Even during the most passionate Spokane City Council debates, she’s among the least likely of the seven members to shout, go on the attack or personally criticize her colleagues or audience members.
That doesn’t mean she won’t speak her mind, however.
McLaughlin, 51, is the only City Council member who identifies herself as a conservative on social as well as fiscal matters, and she sometimes is on the losing side.
She voted against the purchase of a $3.6 million heating and air conditioning system for City Hall, questioning the price, which was about one-third the assessed value of the building.
She voted against the acceptance of the mayor’s Sustainability Task Force report, citing concerns that its nonbinding suggestions could be too costly.
And, she voted against two employee contracts that she says the city can’t afford.
That last vote has stirred criticism from unions and one of her opponents in the primary election, who point to her helping create a salary commission that raised City Council pay to $30,000 a year, from $18,000.
McLaughlin notes that City Council pay hadn’t risen in almost 20 years and says 97 percent of city workers make at least as much as council members do.
The debate about employee pay and council compensation has become one of the more heated issues in the race.
In the battle for her seat, McLaughlin faces five challengers. They are:
• Karen Kearney, 57, a former member of Spokane’s Human Services Advisory Board, who says City Council members haven’t been responsive to the people of the district. Kearney, a former regional operations manager at Capital Savings Bank in Seattle, worked at banks for more than 20 years before moving back to Spokane in 1997.
• Barbara Lampert, 63, a retired nurse’s aide who has run for office every year for more than a decade. She says the city should hire an additional 100 police officers by eliminating middle management positions. She also wants the city to install bus benches at every bus stop and outlaw vicious dogs.
• Victor D. Noder, 49, a Navy veteran who used to remodel homes. He says he’s trying to build and sell Arts and Crafts-style furniture out of items he gets from the dump. He argues that the council isn’t getting along and needs to act as a team. He believes there is state stimulus money available to help balance the city’s budget.
• Christopher P. Stevens, 36, who is the co-owner of a medical marijuana dispensary called Change. He did not respond to requests for interviews last week. He has missed deadlines to file required paperwork on his candidacy with the state Public Disclosure Commission.
• John Waite, 45, who owns Merlin’s, a downtown comic book, game and science fiction store. He says government is “completely broken” and adds that his beliefs, which he says are socially progressive and fiscally conservative, are the best fit for the district.
McLaughlin, who with her husband owns D-Mac Construction, a kitchen and bath remodeling company, notes that in the past four years the city has shored up its reserves and greatly improved its bond rating. Among her accomplishments, McLaughlin sponsored an ordinance that creates seats on many city boards for high school students.
“It’s important to help train young leaders,” she said.
Kearney is critical of McLaughlin’s vote against union contracts. One of those contracts was for the largest city union and included 5 percent annual pay increases and retirement concessions.
“You can’t vote yourself a raise and deny other people a raise,” Kearney said.
McLaughlin said council pay was low enough that it made it difficult for most citizens to run for office.
Although the City Council votes on union contracts, Kearney says she would not oppose contracts that had been agreed to by unions and the mayor’s office.
McLaughlin responds that it would be irresponsible for a council member to vote for an employee contract that adds millions to the city budget if it’s clear there isn’t revenue to cover it. She has said that a recent demand from city administrators for workers to make concessions or face layoffs validates her vote.
Waite agrees with McLaughlin that the city can’t afford the increases that officials have approved in recent contracts. He said benefits should more closely resemble what’s paid in the private sector.
“I don’t want to see any more services cut and I don’t want to see any more jobs cut,” Waite said. “If we don’t fix our budget, cities like us could be heading into bankruptcy.”
With issues such as domestic partner benefits and the environment as potential wedges, Waite believes the district is ready to embrace a political moderate like him. While the northern part of the district – Indian Trail and Five Mile Prairie – leans Republican, 54 percent of voters in the district voted for Barack Obama last year.
City policy allows unions to bargain for benefits for workers’ unmarried partners. Inclusion of that right was one reason McLaughlin cited when she cast her vote against the contract for the city’s largest union last year. If re-elected, McLaughlin said she will continue to vote against union contracts that include such benefits.
Kearney says she wouldn’t vote against a contract that had the benefits if negotiated by the mayor’s office, but she says she generally opposes granting them.
Waite and Lampert say the city should offer benefits to unmarried partners.
“People that have domestic partners should be treated exactly equal with everyone else that chooses to get married,” Waite said.
The candidates offer differing views on the future of light rail in the city. Kearney opposes it. Waite and Noder support it. McLaughlin, who serves on the Spokane Transit Authority board, says there should be continued exploration of light rail or other systems, such as a bus rapid transit.
“We are not too early to be planning and preserving that right-of-way,” McLaughlin said.
They also disagree on the powers of the city’s new police ombudsman. McLaughlin, Waite and Noder say the position should have investigatory power. Some residents have said they want an ombudsman who has authority to conduct independent investigations of police misconduct.
Kearney supports the creation of the office, but agrees with the city administration’s “wait and see” position on pushing the union to add investigatory powers to the job. Lampert says the job is a waste of taxpayer money.
None of the candidates offered criticism of police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick. Kearney is the only candidate in the race who criticizes fire Chief Bobby Williams, who has had a rocky relationship with the city’s firefighters’ union for years. She points to votes of no confidence from the group.
“The bottom line is I think that it’s time for Chief Williams to retire,” said Kearney, who received the endorsement of the firefighters’ union. “He’s been here long enough, and it’s time for him to move on.”
Staff writer Jim Camden contributed to this report.
MAC faces angry crowd 
ChefGus/ John Olsen on July 22 at 6:07 a.m.
Jim thanks as always for the fine article. I do NOT agree with Councilwoman MCLaughlin on many things… but she will and does listen to most discussions… her “style” and gentle way are a real plus, and i think/feel over time she is educable … on issues that are of importance….. and may not be so much in the pocket of business interests as she is now.
I have noticed that her yard signs, which are large and many.. do not have a Union Label on them and I guess that is for a good reason. John
BT on July 22 at 7:50 a.m.
Let’s talk about domestic partner’s shall we…I understand that some city residents feel that domestic partner’s should be able to obtain medical/dental coverage, but have you thought about the fact “you” as a taxpayer are going to pay for them!!! Well that contributes to the deficit that everyone is soooo worried about! This also contributes to the higher premium rates for businesses. Domestic partners are fine with me, but I don’t feel as a tax paying citizen I should have to pay higher taxes just so that two people can live together with 10 kids, and have me pay the bill!
liarsinnews on July 22 at 8:49 a.m.
Councilwoman McLaughlin promoted increasing council salaries saying, the increase would generate more interest for “good” people to run for office. Seems to me, she would crawl through ground up glass to be reelected at a much lower wage. She forgets to mention the benefits, like for example, if she wins, she will be elegible for a city retirement pension. After her term is over, she can start collecting the pension right away, no penalty against early retirement. Honest!! Ask her. Most voters are not aware of that fact. And how about medical insurance? The answer if YES, which includes it for each councilmember (their family too).
lewis8457 on July 22 at 10:52 a.m.
write a letter to Councilwoman McLaughlin and see if she bothers to respond…….NOT!
George_Sands on July 22 at 1:27 p.m.
While I was not a big fan of NM, especially during her campaign when she testified regarding the partner benefits. She popped right up to the podium and said to Council President Hession, “Hi I’m Nancy McGlaughlin and I’m running for City Council”. A violatoin of rules of presetation.
Her “bubbly, if not frothy” Council Meeting Verbal Reports are droll with references to her hubby and her church etc., both whom were not elected.
Regardless of the above prejudice Cheff Gus does have some good points regarding her openness to listen. I think some of that is from becoming uninformed and there fore has to listen.
It is noticed that she re-established her email address on the Council web site, where as only Bob Apple wants people to be able to email him.
Her somewhat ignorance on Global Warming was interesting and I was waiting for her to make a pitch for the Flat Earth Society in concert with her “there is no global warming” beliefs. I guess if its in the bible it MUST be true, mentality is a bit tiresome.
I do like her tough stance on balancing the budget and that probably comes from her business owner acumen. While City Governemtnt isn’t exactly a for profit business, it certainly shouldn’t be run at as a “for loss business”.
The City Employee unions have bloated their pay and compensation to the point its time to cut a lot of the FAT that grew during prosperous years and get back to a lean, mean government. The Unions are blinded by the fact that City employees get great retirement, medical plans and cant be fired excepft for 1st degree murder this used to be in balance for lower wages, however they have smoke and mirrored everyone by attempting to point out the bogus logic of why they should also be paid prevailing wages along with their Golden benefits. No one has yet to justify why there are so many employees w/over $100K paychecks? Especially like Webster/Franklin whom have no college degrees.
People gave Jim West the boot, but failed to realized his tough love and balanced the budget for the first time in 25 years. Without his taking direct action to get the city finances undercontrol, we would be in a lot worse shape than we are now.
I’m with Lewis, if our representatives do no want to respond to our correspondance, then perhaps they should be showed the door come election day.
Megan_B on July 22 at 1:38 p.m.
I hope people become more open to considering electing John Wiate. He seems to represent the greater (often ignored) population of Spokane. The problem is this population doesn’t vote as much, because they are so used to being ignored. I hope John pumps up the campaigning a little bit to let people know he’s a refreshing option!