Spokane will have a new mayor and council president after the November election, but there’s new and then there’s new. Two candidates are seeking promotions from their current elected offices. The status quo has left Spokane stalled on too many critical issues. We therefore recommend newcomers Nadine Woodward for mayor and Cindy Wendle for council president over those office climbers. They will bring much-needed balance to city leadership. The majority of the current council receives heavy backing from public employee and other unions. That has tied leaders’ hands when it comes time to make tough decisions about personnel and organizational structure. Spokane has seen that play out when it comes to everything from homelessness to the controversy over a combined dispatch center.

Having studied the candidates’ records and positions on the issues, we recommend Katey Treloar, Kelli MacFarlane and Kevin Morrison for the Spokane Public Schools board.

The city is just about out of time if it hopes to do better than last year providing shelter to homeless residents. Temperatures this week could drop to freezing at night in Spokane. And that’s nothing compared to how chilly things have gotten at City Hall.

Spokane County commissioners are interested in remaking the Public Defender’s Office into a private, nonprofit organization. But there’s a larger question that must be answered.

“Curing Spokane” is less a blueprint for solving acute challenges this region faces and more an indication of the depth of frustration with the lack of progress.

Gov. Jay Inslee has been a fixture in state politics for three decades. Now that his second term as governor nears its end and his run for the Democratic presidential nomination has bombed, he should retire with grace.

Eastern Washington’s 4th District needs someone who can produce results, not just scandal.

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Spokane City Council members shouldn’t give up on a potential homeless shelter in East Central, especially without a solid alternative that can be quickly implemented. Another winter without more public shelter space should not be an option. Not so long ago, it seemed like the proposed shelter in a former Grocery Outlet store on East Sprague Avenue was heading toward reality. There were some kinks to work out and planning to do, but the end was in sight.