Spokane7
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October 27, 2011 in Opinion
Editorial: McKereghan would bring sound voice to council
The race to replace Bob Apple on the Spokane City Council has been winnowed from six candidates to two: Donna McKereghan and Mike Fagan. Both have led neighborhood councils and tasted defeat in previous council races. Both say they are appalled at how the Otto Zehm case has been handled.
One of them will win this time, and we think McKereghan is the clear choice for District 1 in northeast Spokane.
McKereghan has extensive experience in civic matters, particularly in helping the city devise its ethics ordinance. She has served on the state legislative ethics board and is an award-winner for her work in opening up government.
She supports – albeit haltingly – the new $20 car tab fee to help finance transportation projects, but would be open to repealing it if the city finds a better funding source. She also backs the use of red-light cameras. Fagan is on the wrong side of both issues, which is in keeping with his reflexive desire to attack and repeal any revenue generation.
McKereghan isn’t proposing new fees and taxes, but she does have a firmer grasp of the realities of running municipal government. On the other hand, she is against pursuing changes in binding arbitration laws that could bring about more realistic compensation packages for public safety workers.
Fagan is stronger on this key issue, but he is so extreme on most everything else that he comes off as a fringe candidate who would be unable to work with other council members. His idea of compromise is agreeing with others when they come around to his viewpoint. That didn’t occur with the Tea Party of Spokane, so he helped found the Spokane Patriots, a group obsessed with presumed sovereignty intrusions by outside entities, such as the United Nations. His belief that local government should run virtually unimpeded ignores the reality of overlapping county, state and federal jurisdictions and the coordination that’s needed among governments.
Fagan touts job creation by slashing some environmental regulations the city does not entirely control. He touts his “unique skill set” in working with Tim Eyman to battle taxes and fees, but he has no experience in reacting to the changes wrought by those voter initiatives. It’s one thing to pass an anti-government measure; it’s quite another to govern.
McKereghan is correct when she says that the one area where the city can directly create jobs is to rebuild infrastructure. That takes money, and she says she is willing to take the unpopular votes to raise the necessary revenue. Fagan, meanwhile, promises to work on reversing previous fundraising votes.
City Hall does need to run leaner and smaller, but it cannot be powered by automatic “no” votes and anti-government cliches.
McKereghan’s experience, common sense and willingness to work in a nonpartisan fashion make her the better choice for responsible voters.
To respond to this editorial online, go to www.spokesman.com and click on Opinion under the Topics menu.
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another_perspective on October 27 at 12:52 a.m.
A review of past S-R articles reveals.
Fagan publishes false endorsement
http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/spincontrol/2011/aug/05/fagan-publishes-incorrect-endorsement-opponent/#comments
and this:
What does it look like to you?
http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/spincontrol/2009/jun/18/what-does-it-look-you/
I think we should require all candiates to provide proof of a current rabies inoculation.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on October 27 at 6:19 a.m.
Donna is a very fine person… her heart is with “us” the folks that are part of the “community of other”… she is very bright and capable and would be a great asset who’s going to vote her conscience … and not be swayed by outside forces. She is not an ideologue.. and will speak with her own voice, and not lockstep partisan concerns. What a wonderful addition to our city government she will be. John Olsen Spokane
gonzomo on October 27 at 7:39 a.m.
Can someone please tell me one job that Donna has had in the last 20 years. Anything? Much like Richard Rush, I have a hard time supporting someone who has not gone to work in decades. How can they understand the needs of either business or working people if they are neither.
mmspowaus on October 27 at 1:04 p.m.
I found this link on another local Spokane website….it is about the failed set of Donna McKereghan lawsuits against the City of Spokane the SR Editorial board neglected to mentioned to their readers….
http://www.lexisone.com/lx1/caselaw/freecaselaw?action=OCLGetCaseDetail&format=FULL&sourceID=gdjd&searchTerm=eXaj.bXca.UYGY.EciQ&searchFlag=y&l1loc=FCLOW
Mike Fagan I trust will be the best City Council member since Cherie Rodgers…..
Verbal on October 27 at 1:52 p.m.
Of the two, McKereghan is the better choice, if for no other reason than she is not Fagan.
The_Seer on October 27 at 2:05 p.m.
Nice catch, Matt Monroe. McKereghan sued the city complaining she wasn’t hired for the PIO job because she was disabled. Really? Notice she had to represent herself in this case because no lawyer would ever take a case based upon such easily refuted nonsense.
another_perspective on October 27 at 5:07 p.m.
and so McKereghan didnt get the PIO job, but instead we got Feisted by an incompetent who created lies aka FAQ’s that Verner swallowed hook line and sinker and that the U.S. Attorney refuted.
Nice job.
LuvleeWA on October 27 at 7:32 p.m.
Mike Fagan has been dedicated to helping our Community for over 10 yrs that I know of. He helped get the funding for Our Skateboard Park and Physically helped build it. That is just one of many things he has done to make Hillyard a nicer place to live. Mike is Pro jobs and lower taxes.
On the other hand Donna and Amber Waldorf tried to get junk mail stopped. While I don’t like junk mail myself I realize how many jobs would have been lost if they had succeeded. Think about it.
Mike has earned my vote. The bonus is; HE HAS COMMON SENSE!
Ed Byrnes on October 27 at 10:38 p.m.
The SR is right on target with this one. Ms. McKereghan has ample experience working within government, rather than railing against it from the outside. She is educated, diligent and guided by reason and ethics rather than by ideology.
Ed Byrnes
mmspowaus on October 28 at 4:30 a.m.
Ed:
With all due respect….Donna McKereghan might be somewhat of an academic but what has she done with her advanced training?
Besides, history has shown that academic achievement does not always generate a great leader.
Jimmy Carter was nearly a PhD and Obama a HARVARD law phenomenon but both will go down in history as failures as presidents….
Leadership Rule #17: Advanced education does not always translate into an outstanding leader….
George Washington, Abe Lincoln and Harry Truman never went to college and Ronald Reagan went to Eureka College and graduated with an economics and sociology, degree; yet all are considered to be among the greatest presidents ever….
Leadership Rule #18: The lack of advanced education does not always translate into a poor leader….
mmspowaus on October 28 at 5:02 a.m.
The other point I attempted to make which no one commented on was the Editorial Board of this paper of record did not mention the Donna McKereghan frivolous lawsuits against the City of Spokane in their assessment of the two candidates…
Most folks I believe would agree this is a significant detail that was purposely omitted….
Considering the Editorial Board of the S-Review is endorsing Donna McKereghan, It seems the Editorial Board is playing favorites at best or playing king maker at worst….
It is not the job of Editorial Board of the S-Review to hide the sleazy laundry of the candidates they endorse….,
The City of Spokane deserves a better, more honest assessment of candidates from the Editorial Board of the their paper of record…
––––
The bottom line is this folks in District #1 of the City of Spokane;
Which candidate do you trust to monitor and spend several millions of YOUR tax dollars?
Ed Byrnes on October 28 at 12:58 p.m.
Better to have a more educated person who also has some government experience than a less educated one whose only government experience is to rail against it.
Ed
WillyPeter on October 29 at 8:12 a.m.
Ya, Ed, that’s just what we need……educated, “government experienced,” city suing, policy wonks on our city council….HOOT!