Allen concedes council race to challenger

Incumbent Spokane City Councilman Mike Allen conceded Thursday in his reelection bid to magazine publisher Jon Snyder. Because Allen was appointed to his seat to fill a vacancy, Snyder will take office as soon as the vote is certified. That’s expected Nov. 24. After Thursday’s count, Snyder led Allen with 53.5 percent of the vote. Snyder won strong support in a large portion of the area north of 29th, but also won some precincts around 37th and Regal, near where the City Council approved a deal allowing big box stores. During the campaign, Snyder sharply criticized Allen’s vote in support of the change. Allen gave credit to Snyder’s campaign for the outcome, but added: “In retrospect even though the position is nonpartisan, you need party backing,” Allen said. Snyder was endorsed by the Democratic Party. Allen ran as a fiscal conservative, but he has a moderate stance on social issues and did not seek party backing from the GOP for the city council bid. Also in Spokane, the city’s fire bond inched a bit closer to passage on Thursday after the third round of ballots were counted. The 10-year property tax would raise $33 million for equipment, trucks and stations. It needs 60 percent approval. After Thursday’s count, it is failing with 59.2 percent support. That’s up from 58.6 percent on Tuesday. “We remain optimistic,” Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams said Thursday. About 15,000 ballots are left to count countywide. Another set of results are expected Friday evening. In the Spokane School Board elections, the slight leads held by the two incumbents grew Thursday. Rocky Treppiedi, who is seeking a third term, leads Laura Carder with 51.6 percent of the vote. Jeff Bierman, who is seeking his first full term after being appointed to the board, leads Heidi Olson with 51.3 percent. A look at precinct results shows that Carder ran extremely strong in Northeast Spokane, while Treppiedi carried most of the southern part of the city. Northwest Spokane was relatively split between the two candidates. The pattern is similar in Bierman’s race against Olson.