Editorial: Stratton, Verduin best City Council choices for general election

The race for Spokane City Council District No. 3 is the most competitive on the primary ballot, with four good candidates vying for the seat vacated by Steve Salvatori one year ago and now occupied by appointee Karen Stratton.

We recommend voters advance Stratton and newcomer Evan Verduin to the November general election.

Dave White has been attending council meetings as one of the Eighth Man conservatives. An inspector with Spokane County, White says he would focus on infrastructure improvements and lowering barriers to business.

White says police forces are becoming over-militarized, but said Spokane police Chief Frank Straub is improving transparency. The police ombudsman commission was undone by members who had an agenda, he says.

Kelly Cruz has been a community organizer in the West Central neighborhood – he headed the neighborhood association – who says the city should find ways to modify ordinances that impose excessive parking and other unreasonable requirements on small businesses, and keep too many storefronts vacant.

The proposed paid leave ordinance is another example, he says.

Cruz supports Smart Justice as an alternative to incarceration, and would put a community corrections facility with resources to treat inmates behind the Spokane County jail.

Verduin owns a small design business and is a member of the city Plan Commission.

He shares many of the small business and neighborhood concerns noted by Cruz, and says part of the answer is zoning that allows a mix of uses within buildings that fit the cityscape.

He says partisanship is poisoning relations between Mayor David Condon, who has endorsed him, and the now veto-proof council, which needs more balance. He would post council voting records (past and present) where they could be easily found.

Although we think the 31-year-old Verduin would bring a fresh voice to the council, we have two concerns: He views the position as half time, which would surprise incumbents; and downplays the need for an ombudsman commission, which he says has been tainted by the conduct of three members who recently resigned or were dismissed.

Stratton’s appointment disappointed those who wanted someone with Salvatori’s conservative, pro-business record. Stratton, both of whose parents preceded her in politics, has spent her professional career working for Washington State University and the Community Colleges of Spokane, private nonprofits, and the city of Spokane, more recently as city clerk.

She says communication has deteriorated between the mayor and council, and the council and business, which is wary of paid leave and other policies. She is looking for ways to rebuild trust, and says the city should find incentive-based ways of encouraging employers to improve pay and benefits.

A community “bank” of sick leave or shift-swapping are worth exploring, particularly for restaurant workers who should not be around food, says Stratton, who adds that she does not want a system that requires the hire of someone to check compliance.

She says the conversion of Monroe Street to one lane each way with a turn lane has been pushed out to 2018 in response to business concerns.