Mayor Being Challenged By Political Newcomer

Medical Lake

Incumbent Mayor Sharie Stearns is a longtime activist in Medical Lake who points to her accomplishments in recent years.

Her challenger, Jim Hill, is a retired Air Force master sergeant who is in the middle of a second career as a Washington state trooper.

Hill, a political newcomer, said he believes he can do a better job than Stearns of attracting new business and managing the money in the city.

The race boils down to insider versus outsider and whether the voters are in a mood for a change.

Hill, 44, has been critical of the city’s planning for a new sewer treatment plant. He said the mayor and City Council wavered on a $20 million plant and lost a grant of about $4 million as a result.

Now, the project has been scaled back to $14 million and, even with other grants and loans, the city’s sewer users are facing bills in excess of $32 a month, he said.

The city should have planned further ahead for the new project and saved more money for a kind of downpayment, he said.

“I think the mayor has to be responsible for the citizens’ money,” Hill said.

Stearns, 56, said the city’s share of the project has been reduced to $5 million, which will be paid with a loan, a state grant and $1 million of savings in the sewer fund.

Because the funding issues are resolved, Stearns said, “I think the rates are pretty well stabilized.”

Stearns likes to characterize the sewer debate as another one of the positive projects she’s been overseeing in her first term as mayor.

Martin Hall, an unused building at the mental hospital, has been renovated into a regional juvenile detention center. It opens next month and will be run by a private contractor. She said the center was her idea.

The Spokane Transit Authority has completed a new covered bus stop in Medical Lake.

New pavement, curbs and water lines were installed on Lake Street earlier this year, with grants paying the bulk of the $400,000 cost. More paving money is being sought.

There’s also a new composting center and improvements to the recreational loop trail around Medical Lake.

“I’m proud of what I’ve done,” she said.

She now sits on the boards of the regional health district and STA.

Before becoming mayor, Stearns spent eight years on the City Council and has been active in numerous community organizations.

Stearns is also a foster mother. She provides temporary care for babies born to drug-abusing mothers. She and her husband, who is retired from the Air Force, have lived in Medical Lake for 22 years.

Hill moved to Medical Lake in 1984 while serving at Fairchild. He retired from the Air Force in 1992, and became a state trooper later that year.

He currently works rotating shifts for the patrol and said he will have plenty of free time for city business.

The small-town atmosphere of Medical Lake is something Hill wants to preserve.

He said he doesn’t believe the city is doing enough to ensure that new housing developments are being built to a high standard of quality.

The downtown area is sluggish, he said.

“There’s been no great revitalization of downtown. We need to go out and actively recruit businesses.”

He likes to talk about being pro-active instead of reactive.

Two complaints were filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission against Hill. They were filed by Stearns’ supporters.

One involved a meeting with city union employees at City Hall. Hill said he was invited to the meeting, which is completely legal.

His opponents also complained about a campaign sign hand-painted on a garage because it did not immediately identify the political sponsor.

Hill said the two issues are so petty they may say more about his opponents who filed the complaints.

“It’s small-town politics,” he said. “It’s harassment.”

In a different controversy, Stearns recently lined up with Medical Lake’s bar owners who wanted to get rid of two anti-drunken driving signs posted on the fringes of the town.

The signs list the number of drunken-driving arrests so far this year. Bar owners wanted to get rid of the signs and circulated a petition, which Stearns signed.

Hill believes the city should keep the signs. This year’s arrests are down from last year’s total of 36, so the signs apparently are working, he said.

Bar owners argued the signs discouraged business. Stearns said she supports substance abuse programs, but never had a strong opinion about tearing down the signs. She said she was trying to help a group of citizens be heard.

Advisory ballots were mailed in utility bills this past month to gauge community sentiment before the City Council decides what to do.

, DataTimes