Candidates Disagree On State’s Growth Act Mccaslin Wants To Repeal Gma, While Orr Says It’s Not Perfect, But It’s Not Bad

The two candidates vying for the 4th District seat in the state Senate represent 20 years of legislative experience.

After four terms - 16 years - as a senator, Republican Bob McCaslin says he has things left to accomplish. Democrat George Orr, who served two terms as a state representative before he was defeated in 1994, disagrees.

Orr will try to unseat McCaslin in the Nov. 5 election.

At the top of McCaslin’s to-do list is repealing the state Growth Management Act passed in 1990.

The law, which mandates that counties and cities plan for urban development, artificially inflates housing costs and gives the state too much control, said McCaslin, a former real estate agent.

“We need growth management, but that should be at the local level,” McCaslin said.

If McCaslin succeeds in winning another term, he will head to Olympia with drafts of two bills tucked under his arm.

The first, if passed, would eliminate the Growth Management Act. Since that’s unlikely to happen, McCaslin has a backup plan that would allow counties to opt out of the state law.

His chief complaint about the law is that a three-member hearings board made up of appointed officials has too much decisionmaking power.

“Really what it comes down to is two people can overrule the county commissioners,” McCaslin said. “There needs to be some drastic changes.”

McCaslin also proposes to do away with the 60-day legislative session, meaning it would be up to the governor to call a special session when needed.

He talks tough on crime and says he won’t vote for any tax increases.

McCaslin also plans to go to bat for Mirabeau Point, a 70-acre multi-use community center proposed for the heart of the Spokane Valley. He says the state should be able to come up with $4 million or $5 million to help pay for the project because it would become a regional attraction.

“I think that’s one of the best proposals we’ve had in the whole county,” McCaslin said. “I’m excited. I can envision the whole thing finished.”

The project also has grabbed Orr’s attention, but he said he’s not ready to throw state money at it just yet. Orr wants to wait for local agencies to put up some money before committing state dollars.

As a former Central Valley School Board member, Orr prefers to talk about education. He touts a school-to-work transition program as one of his major accomplishments during the four years he spent as a state representative.

The program, which helps students plan for life after high school, is aimed at reducing dropouts and violence while increasing youths’ abilities to get jobs.

Orr does not support either the voucher system or charter school programs that will appear on the November ballot.

The voucher system would give students who already attend private school a financial break, Orr said. Meanwhile, students whose families cannot afford to send them to private schools now still won’t be able to pay the tuition balance, he said.

The charter school proposal does not offer enough restrictions, he said.

“We’ve got a system to set standards and charter schools are outside those standards,” Orr said. “Why should I pay my tax money for something that I don’t know what I am going to get?”

Orr, who leads a group of school-children on yearly fishing trips to Bear Lake, also is a champion of natural resources. As a state representative, he was a driving force behind a new warm water fish hatchery being built near Ringold Springs.

A member of the local Walleye Club and Inland Empire Wildlife Council, Orr aspires to be chairman of the Natural Resources Committee in Olympia.

That would allow him to help protect the 30,000 acres the state loses to development every year, Orr said. The land is important not only to hunters and fishermen, but to the population at large because of the people it draws to the state, he said.

Among Orr’s other desires are to roll back the business and occupation tax and ease sales taxes for contractors who work on public buildings and roadways.

On the Growth Management Act, Orr concedes that the law is not perfect, but says “the philosophy itself isn’t bad.”

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This sidebar appeared with the story: THE JOB The 4th Legislative District covers most of the Spokane Valley and part of Hillyard. State representatives serve two-year terms, while senators are elected for four years. Both are paid $27,100 a year.