City Council Races Crowded; 13 Running For 3 Seats
FOR THE RECORD (AUG 3, 1995): Spokane City Council candidate Steve Thompson moved to Spokane from Redmond, Wash., in 1990. The year was incorrect in Tuesday’s paper.
Spokane voters can’t complain about a lack of city council candidates on September’s primary ballot.
Thirteen people - including two incumbents - will vie for three council seats.
It’s a diverse crowd, ranging from the owner of a car dealership to an urban planner, a retired U.S. Army colonel to a retired steelworker.
There are only two women in the group.
Seven people will face off to take the seat Councilman Joel Crosby has held for the past eight years:
Roberta Greene, 51, a former teacher, is co-owner of Empire Ford with her husband. She serves on several boards, including the Community Colleges of Spokane, Momentum, and the Joint Center for Higher Education.
Jim Kolva, 49, recently resigned after seven years on the city’s plan commission. He has a master’s degree in urban planning and is a partner in Anderson-Kolva Associates, a firm that provides land-use planning services.
Ron McArthur, 61, hosts the “Recovery” talk show on KXLY radio and is a chemical dependency counselor.
A Spokane native, McArthur graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in journalism and worked at radio stations across the country before returning to Spokane in 1983.
Robert Schroeder, 63, is a retired steelworker who delivers papers for The Spokesman-Review.
He twice has run unsuccessfully for the council.
David Holter, 24, is an administrator with the Spokane Student Center, a non-profit youth outreach program connected with the First Assembly of God church.
Holter, a Spokane native, graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in government.
Larry Bacon could not be reached for comment.
Incumbent Orville Barnes, 68, is ending his first four-year council term. A commercial real estate manager, he resigned from Goodale & Barbieri Cos. in June and plans to do limited consulting through his own firm, Barnes Management and Development Co. Three people are challenging Barnes for his council seat:
Greg Works, a former social worker and Okanogan city councilman, could not be reached for comment.
He ran unsuccessfully in 1992 for the 3rd District seat in the state House of Representatives.
Steve Thompson, 39, is a native of Bakersfield, Calif., who moved to Spokane two years ago. He works as a manager for RCW Sound & Communications, a telecommunications business.
John Talbott, 61, is retired after serving 29 years in the Air Force. He could not be reached for comment.
Talbott ran unsuccessfully for council in 1991 and mayor in 1993.
William J. Housam filed for Barnes’s seat but withdrew Monday.
Incumbent Bev Numbers, 54, recently retired after 18 years in real estate. She was appointed to the council in 1990 and ran unopposed for re-election in 1991. She will face challenges from two candidates:
Ken Withey, 35, is an energy management specialist for the Central Valley School District. A Spokane native, he ran unsuccessfully against Councilwoman Phyllis Holmes in 1993.
Jeff Colliton, 54, is a retired U.S. Army colonel. He grew up in Spokane and spent 26 years in the military.
Colliton returned to Spokane eight years ago and is a marketing representative for the Spokane Pulltab and Bingo Supply Co. and the Party Palace.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for a freeholder position in 1992.
, DataTimes