November 10, 2011 in News, City

It’s now Spokane Mayor-Elect Condon

Jonathan Brunt The Spokesman-Review

Tags:2011 electionsBen WickDavid CondonMary VernerRichard RushSpokane mayor

Colin Mulvany photo

David Condon, wife Kristin, and children Hattie, 16 months, and Creighton, 2, greet supporters Tuesday at Barrister Winery after early returns showed him in front.
(Full-size photo)

33 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

Birdog on November 10 at 7:13 p.m.
Live in Spokane Valley, but hurray for the city…….get a noose on the bad cops and Guild, do away with the horrid water fees, fire Nicks, and all the cops that lied to save Thompsons butt, give the firefighters what ever they want….these guys earn their $$$$…….ah…so much to do, but Condon’s gonna raise some floor boards!
lowtechmaster on November 10 at 7:34 p.m.
Spokane has been bought by the Republican Party…with VERY questionable donations, and all to make sure that Mary Verner has less of a platform to challenge our current Rep to Congress!
Condon, “nonpartisan,” is a joke! He has no experience and is bound to be a one-term mayor also. Just hope he doesn’t destroy the city first!
misjustice on November 10 at 8:11 p.m.
Well, it won’t be long till he buckles and does what the “powers that be” tell him to do (Rocco, The Guild, and No-Charge Tucker); I give him a month to catch onto the hang of things…
Save as it ever was.
Except for one thing, with a name like Condon it will be easier to make 3rd grade level jokes…
; )
another_perspective on November 10 at 8:35 p.m.
Condon will do the work of three men. Larry, Curly and Moe.
crossfire on November 10 at 8:37 p.m.
If I was Condon, the first official act I would make is to fire Rocky T.
That would send a message loud and clear.
BlondeSquawker on November 10 at 8:44 p.m.
MisJ, are you ribbing him over his name? ; )
Dazzeetrader11 on November 10 at 9:01 p.m.
J’s always modifying names. Make HER look like a teenbrain.VERY disrespectful .
Condon will make those adjustments . He promised. He will.
BlondeSquawker on November 10 at 9:08 p.m.
I must wonder how long that comment will stay up.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 10 at 9:13 p.m.
You people are going to be pissed in 3 years when Condom….I mean Condon ends up just like is worthless boss and does NOTHING to help Spokane, but only what helps himself and his wealthy republican friends. People that already think individuals like the Cowles and Walt Worthy own the city now, just give it a few years and see how much more control the rich have and who really is running this city.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 10 at 9:16 p.m.
Dazzeetrader11 - Yes, and politicians from BOTH parties are so good at keeping their promises. They say what they need to get elected and then do what helps themselves when in office, again thats politicians from both parties.
BlondeSquawker on November 10 at 9:42 p.m.
Really, really?
BlondeSquawker on November 10 at 9:43 p.m.
I can’t believe I got condomned for that comment.
DickAdams on November 10 at 9:47 p.m.
I had the fat lady singing yesterday at 5:30pm after the second count. And Verner said she was unjustly treated regarding the Otto Zehm crime. That ain`t what the voters had to say. Hey Verner, tell your sob story to the Zehm family.
I`ll look forward to what the DOJ has to say about the cover-up. Those that are guilty of it, I`ll wager aren`t sleeping very well. Heart burn does that sometimes.
BlondeSquawker on November 10 at 9:49 p.m.
Ya know, Dick, tragic as it is, Thompson is gonna walk. He’ll be a free man in a coupla weeks after the Yakima Judge grants him a new trial.
ChiefsFan21 on November 10 at 10:32 p.m.
Verner has now paid for her part in the Zehm cover-up.
Truthhurts on November 10 at 11:13 p.m.
ChiefsFan21: Verner has perhaps not paid enough.
Verner has more to answer for. Losing the election was her penalty for doing nothing after the Thompson trial made her complicity in the cover-up obvious. Her “now we can heal” as opposed to “now I see the task before me” (blasting the cover-up) cost her the election.
But she has more to answer for.
This is a profoundly immoral civic cancer — the cover-up more than the crime — and it must be fully rooted out.
Verner is now as politically dead as Hession for her inaction on Zehm, but everyone in her administration needs to be investigated for criminal conspiracy, as well.
Finally, Condon already promised to fire Treppiedi, so if he fails in that regard, he will be a lameduck with a recall in the works..
Truthhurts on November 10 at 11:15 p.m.
And I bet she still will not fire the people who gave her all this bad advice, and who (with her complicity) manipulated Verner’s view of the world. They will “sadly” wave good-bye to Verner, and, as they turn to try to control Condon.
selkirks on November 10 at 11:31 p.m.
I actually think Spokane is in a far, far better place now than when Mary Verner took office…she’s done a lot of great things for the City.
The University District has had nothing but successes lately. Local businesses in Garland and South Perry have been flourishing. Downtown keeps getting better and better. Major multinational and national retailers are now starting to look to Spokane (see: Apple, Trader Joe’s, The North Face). The South Hill has seen a ton of reasonable development. Certain niches are doing great. Dropout rates are down in Spokane Public Schools. We’re getting a medical school(!). We saved the MAC. Our roads keep improving by orders of magnitude. The first half of the North Spokane Corridor is almost finished. Spokane is being looked at for growth by forward-thinking companies like McKinstry. Spokane International Airport just extended its runway. We’re getting a new recycling center and a “green industry corridor” near the Waste-to-Energy Facility that could create many, many jobs. Caterpillar is coming in. There is a major effort underway to get Boeing to build its 737MAX plant here. I look around, and I see some adept maneuvering by business leaders and Mary Verner, as well as others. We have managed to create growth in a down economy. People tend to look past these wonderful successes.
Anyone who tries to disguise it as otherwise is kidding themselves.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 11 at 6:33 a.m.
selkirks, very well said, its a shame people in this city are to lazy to look past one issue though. I am upset with the whole Otto thing also, but sorry there is not enough evidence (despite what some posters on here say) that warranted Verner losing re-election. After all the good she has done during the worst depression this country has seen since the 1930’s this city seems to take two steps forward only then to have the citizens keep making it take one step back. We just elected a man who has no record of doing ANYTHING and working for a woman with no record of helping people in Spokane. Good job Spokane, that will show everyone, lets replace a good mayor with a man with no experience and a man who was paid to be put into office by rich Spokane men…..go take a look at his donor list.
Also, can we please make sure this Otto Zehm thing is not dragged on for 10-15 years like that stupid parking garage debacle.
I do love the tea baggers on here complaining about government spending, yet screaming and shouting for the feds to spend MORE tax money to investigate everyone from the Mayor to the store clerks at the Zip Trip where this happened. Lets all MOVE ON. The mayor lost, the police chief resigned the officer is going to jail. Its time to heal and move on Spokane, stop dragging this thing out.
Byrdie714 on November 11 at 6:44 a.m.
LIRWL—two out, one more to go—Trepeddi!
Steve Eugster on November 11 at 6:56 a.m.
It seems as though the race for mayor was partisan. The Democrats advanced thier candidate and the Republicans touted theirs. Elected positions in the city are supposed to be non-partisan. How do we get back to that? Should we switch back to a council - manager form of government?
Another thought — where is the true leader the strong mayor form of government makes possible to come to the fore? We have had ten years of the strong mayor system and still no real effective leader, except perhaps for Jim West.
Steve Eugster on November 11 at 7:00 a.m.
When I said “except for Jim West” I was dead serious. Jim was a good mayor. In my opinion he was drummed out of office because of his sexual orientation. That was the real reason he was recalled. All else is mere rationalization.
Spokane Indoctrination on November 11 at 7:00 a.m.
Lib, is it so bad that someone who happens to be wealthy and also agrees with a persons politics that he would donate for his election? To think so is the usual small minded liberal thinking, because I could say the exact same thing about liberal-democrats.
You liberals forget that you all voted for Obama after knowing he had absolutely no experience holding any kind of political leadership role. I hate to somewhat derail a discussion on our towns mayor with our current president… but you add nothing to the discussion.
Verner wasn’t the sole reason this town is growing. Anybody could have been in office for this to happen. These were no brainer decisions that she probably didn’t think of or even decide for herself. She didn’t have any kind of leadership qualities and it became obvious not soon after her first year as our mayor. I wish Condon the best of luck and fortune.
Spokane Indoctrination on November 11 at 7:03 a.m.
I agree Steve. People are too caught up in the us vs. them (democrat vs. republican) type of thinking that nobody can get to common ground on what we, as a town, as a community, want to accomplish together.
another_perspective on November 11 at 7:09 a.m.
Selkirks is Verners former campaign manager trying to drum up post election votes.

Concur with Eugster.
Our Strong Mayor/Weak council form isnt working.
I suggest an elected Mayor with titular powers to lead, A hired, trained, and capable City Manager and a council to act, monitor and take direction from the citizens they represent.
huskerinwa on November 11 at 7:31 a.m.
I agree with Steve, Jim West was the best mayor Spokane has ever seen.
Mary did an excellent job, but with Zehm, Mike Fitzsimmons, water rates & a candidate that has twice the funds (outside $$) it wasn’t in the cards.
So Spokane, you have a Tbagger mayor. Let’s see how fast he can screw up the city.
Best mayor money could buy!
Mary should consider running against Cathy Boehner McMorris, it’s time for some actual representation & not just a lemming.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 11 at 7:35 a.m.
Steve, Jim West might have been a decent mayor, but sorry, meeting young men online while in the mayors office and bribing them with jobs to sleep with them DOES NOT make you a good mayor and it had NOTHING to do with his sexual orientation.
Heck, I was even hit on MANY times by Mr. West online, very flattering, but thankfully I wasn’t attracted to dirty old men who fought against their own best wishes like what he did while in the state government.
Spokane_Citizen on November 11 at 7:38 a.m.
Steve, for a guy that helped engineer the city’s governmental structure towards ‘strong mayor’, what makes you change your mind now? I believe that you somehow thought that a ‘strong mayor’ was like some sort of ‘big daddy’ who would straighten everything out. What it really means is that we will continue to elect well-meaning amateurs, and PERHAPS get lucky one day with a decent human being with good large organizational management skills, and an ear for what the public wants.
As for your concern for partisan politics entering this fray…what other mechanism is there to field a sufficiently funded candidate to run for mayor? Just between the two final contenders I believe about a half a million dollars were spent. That kind of money will never really be generated for grass-root candidates. You helped create a form of municipal government were monied interests will continue to rule the day. And I believe that’s the opposite of what you intended.
And as far as West was concerned…having directly observed his antics, I’m of the opinion he was just another windbag bs politician who just said what people wanted to hear, regardless of his intended action. What got him canned by the voters wasn’t his sexual orientation, but rather his abject and craven hypocrisy.
Spokane Indoctrination on November 11 at 7:41 a.m.
I agree Lib, he was the Mayor at the time and needed to be held to higher standards than the rest of us. If he were to want to meet up with men on his own time, then that would be alright.
It was all the other things that he was doing outside of looking for gay men that made him a good mayor.
IHike4Fun on November 11 at 7:46 a.m.
Glad to see Prop 1 failing!
mary1958 on November 11 at 12:37 p.m.
Mary Verner could have helped with many things here in Spokane although I think on these posts she has been given some credit for what others have done. Even if she stopped global warming over our fair city the Otto Zehm situation is unconscionable. That’s like saying Karl Thompson was justified in the death of Otto Zehm because he went to Vietnam. He was a dedicated policeman for so very long–let him slide on this one. The judge gave him credit for his history– to stay out of jail until sentencing. Well, let’s give Mary a gift card to the Milk Bottle. Humans have in the past often been dual. We see all kinds of leaders who have brilliance and cowardice, righteousness and criminal intent. It is often the last thing a person does that people remember. Lincoln had slaves. He freed them. Mary Verner did not have a shining moment that would overcome Otto Zehm’s death.
spnelson on November 11 at 5:51 p.m.
I still rememer Ma Verner on the front page of this paper in August, with her “great” primary victory. “Mugging for the camera” was an understatement, hand writen note and everything. Why even vote? Ma Verner was just going to own Spokane anyway! Yeah….. guess that didn’t work out afterall. Of course, there still are several thousand votes to count, Ma Verner’s pals like our wonderful Governor really know how to cheat, so this isn’t over yet. I also see that a prominent Police Official has chosen today to announce her retirement. Hmmm. wonder if that has anything to do with trying to dodge prosecution? It seems that all this paper and the local media can focus on is the mantra of “Spokane hasn’t had a 2 term mayor in years”, implying that this is somehow the fault of the voters- conveniently avoiding the fact that Ma Verner and her minions were a bunch of goons. Another blogger to this paper stated that the “Republicans have bought Spokane” in this election. I thought Ma Verner was independent? Guess she was a democrat afterall. Of course you are right- this election was all about Republican intrigue, and had nothing to do with Ma Verner covering up the beating to death of a retarded man. Ma Verner is LUCKY she is just going to be unemployed- if true justice was served- she’d be in the jail cell next to Clubber Karl.
Shelala on December 10 at 11:22 p.m.
Whoever is in office has the Spokane citizens watching closely. There is not a lot of wriggle room to advance personal agendas, special interests or press forward with an unpopular decisions. Unless Condon has been living under a rock, he knows that the community will demand accountability and transparency. It is no longer business as usual and nor should it be. Spokane citizens were slow to anger, but have finally had enough and have found their voice. We are ready and able to hold the politician’s feet to the fire. The issues that have came to the forefront aren’t going to “blow over” with time. Verner and Kirpatrick tried to appease the public by holding town meetings and press conferences that were nothing but fluff. Big mistake. It;s a different climate and a different game. If Condon is looking forward to a cushy public job with some power and prestige, he better feign a heart condition and leave office now, because he will be forced to make good on every single one of his campaign promises. I suggest he take down the standard photos of family that seem to grace every politician’s desk and replace them with photos of Zehm, RPS and more to serve as a constant reminder why he sits at the mayor’s desk.