Greene, Kolva Top Six-Way Race

Why is Spokane’s City Council held in such low esteem?

High on our list of explanations is a perception of arrogance. That perception is not always deserved, but it has been fueled by officials who appear to enjoy the sound of their own voices more than they enjoy listening to the general public.

Spokane would witness a noticeable improvement in the tenor of local government if voters would elect more people like Roberta Greene and Jim Kolva. Unfortunately, these two City Council candidates are running for the same seat. So are four other people.

If voters decide in November to consolidate the city and county, we hope Greene and Kolva will file for posts in the new government. But for now, here’s our take on the best choices in this six-way council race:

Roberta Greene was a social worker, bank officer and college economics professor before moving to Spokane. Since arriving here in 1986, she has been co-owner of Empire Ford. She shows her wide-ranging commitment to Spokane social and economic betterment with service on the community colleges board, the Momentum board, the Chase Youth Commission and her church’s board of stewards, as Lilac Festival president … and more.

As a business person, she supports efficient city budgeting, limited tax burdens and healthy neighborhoods, downtown included. She calls for neighborhood involvement in crime prevention. As an African-American acquainted with racial harassment, she would give the city a valuable perspective in crafting law enforcement policy.

Greene asserts that “leadership doesn’t mean telling people what to do. It means listening to citizens’ concerns and making the tough choices to help.”

Jim Kolva has earned a fine reputation practicing the style Greene advocates.

As president of the city Plan Commission, he involved neighborhood groups and other citizens in tough zoning decisions and in rewriting city planning policy. Kolva watched in frustration as the City Council rewrote his commission’s work on a zoning code to please development interests. But Kolva was vindicated when public uproar forced the council to back down.

Spokane’s growth troubles mean the City Council could use Kolva’s thoughtful style and his expertise, gained on the Plan Commission and also from his years on the urban planning faculty at Eastern Washington University.

For the primary, we don’t wish to choose one of these two candidates over the other; we warmly recommend them both.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = EDITORIAL, ENDORSEMENT, COLUMN - Our view CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board