Editorial

The new year brings a new political season to Spokane and all of Washington. Here are some key issues that voters should keep an eye on in 2020 as state and local politics resume. Growing the economy

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, the region’s most important provider, is operating in the red. The real challenge, however, is much bigger than one hospital.

State Rep. Matt Shea will best serve his constituents by resigning immediately. He can no longer represent Eastern Washington effectively in Olympia. Voters knew about many of Shea’s radical extracurricular activities when they handily re-elected the Spokane Valley Republican in 2018. It was a race without a good candidate, but Shea was the incumbent whose views more closely aligned with the generally conservative 4th District.

If the public doesn’t get a chance to comment on major spending changes, the City Council shouldn’t approve them. Transparent government of the people is as simple as that.

The Spokane City Council made a wise decision when it shelved a proposed landlord-tenant ordinance.

Any Stevens County Republicans who ever thought about running for local office ought to start talking to neighbors and preparing to launch a campaign. The county’s three commissioners deserve to be replaced as their terms expire, but that can only happen if they don’t run or credible challengers file. For those who haven’t been following the goings-on in Stevens County that have landed the commissioners in court, here’s a quick recap. (Check out Spokesman-Review reporter Chad Sokol’s excellent coverage for a much more thorough telling.)

The state Public Disclosure Commission, which enforces campaign finance laws, concluded that two labor-backed political action committees violated the rules during the hotly contested Spokane mayoral race. Then it let them off

Washington voters last week handily

A roundup of The Spokesman-Review’s recommendations for the Nov. 5, 2019, ballot.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve offered recommendations to voters on initiatives and in local races that appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. Today we have a few final suggestions in a handful of hotly contested races. Specifically we took a careful look at the Spokane Valley City Council and Liberty Lake mayoral races. Spokane Valley City Council

Three Spokane City Council positions are on the Nov. 5 ballot. These are very competitive races with strong candidates and no easy decisions.

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.

While Americans have focused tremendous national angst on next year's presidential elections, Washingtonians shouldn't forget that there's an election coming up Nov. 5. Over the next few weeks, we will provide voters with analysis of the various ballot measures and local races that they must decide. Today, we start with three statewide initiatives and two Spokane propositions.

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.