Four Competing For Auditor Position Democrats Dalton, Elliot, Lampert Seek Right To Face Gop’S Mccoy

For voters who care about such things as experience, style, age, Luke Skywalker and guns, the Democratic candidates for Spokane County Auditor offer a clear choice.

Vicky Dalton, Noel Elliott and Barbara Lampert are seeking your vote in the Sept. 15 primary. The winner will face Republican Matt McCoy in the general election for the chance to be the first new auditor in 16 years.

Auditor Bill Donahue is retiring from a job that sounds as thrilling as loading the dishwasher.

Yet four people are eager to take on the task. The winner will be in charge of the office that issues marriage licenses, sells vehicle tabs, processes accounts payable, conducts elections and records property deeds and the acts of the commissioners.

A $59,000-per-year salary also is included.

Winning, however, may be an expensive reward. Candidates estimate that it may cost them a year’s salary to taste victory. Donahue, as a popular incumbent, spent only $5,262 on his 1994 re-election campaign.

The candidates agree that the auditor’s top priority is managing the division’s 53 employees, who do most of the work. But they disagree on who has the right stuff for the job.

Here’s how the candidates differ:

Vicky Dalton is the youngest of the field, and the most fiery. Born about the time Lampert entered politics, the 37-year-old Dalton is the closest thing the county has to a consumer advocate.

As internal auditor for nearly a decade, Dalton has ferreted out government waste and helped keep the courthouse honest. She’s uncovered problems in how parcels were divided for taxes, recommended changes at the fairgrounds and written policy for county travel and cell phone use.

“I’m always looking at what’s next,” says Dalton, who read three sets of encyclopedias as a fourth-grader in Priest River. “I want to bring people up to what should be, not what has been.”

Dalton, a certified public accountant, wants to provide citizens with periodic reports on county spending, to establish performance measures for county departments and to provide employee training on budgeting and accounting. She acknowledges that her aggressive ideas have alarmed some county employees.

“People who are concerned should be concerned,” says Dalton, who earns $50,350 per year.

Outside the office, Dalton enjoys weaving at her Greenacres home and target shooting with her favorite rifle, a Ruger .22-250 caliber.

Noel Elliott is a career-long county employee who’s racked up 30 years under the county assessor and auditor. The 52-year-old, who remarried this summer, says he waited years to run for this office because he had vowed not to oppose Donahue.

“It’s a whole new arena to be the boss,” says Elliott, assistant director of elections. “If you come in with an attitude that ‘it’s my way or the highway,’ staff productivity will go downhill.”

Elliott, a Lewis & Clark High School graduate who earns $36,000 per year, is such an expert at organizing elections that he decided not to hire a campaign manager. Elliott trains the 1,100 workers who operate the county precincts on Election Day.

The former union shop steward wants to launch a school program to encourage 18-year-olds to vote. He wants to add part-time help at the county to reduce the turnaround of processing property deeds and he wants to work closely with the Legislature to enact better election and record-keeping regulations.

“You’ve got to interface a lot in this job,” he says.

Elliott is opposed to a proposal to move the county elections office out of the courthouse and says a voter’s pamphlet is too expensive.

Away from the office, Elliott enjoys playing golf and racquetball. He’s a member of the Magnuson Club and loves watching the “Star Wars” movie trilogy.

Barbara Lampert is a professional candidate and is gradually becoming a household name. This is her fourth shot at a major office in six years.

Lampert, 52, has been involved in politics since 1960 when she organized a neighborhood campaign for John F. Kennedy. In 1995, Lampert lead an unsuccessful recall of controversial county coroner Dr. Dexter Amend. Lampert has sought election as a county freeholder, City Council member and state legislator.

Lampert says she will wait until she’s elected before proposing changes in the auditor’s office.

“I’m a stick-in-the-mud about respecting others and appreciating those who went before you,” she says.

Lampert is a former union organizer and civil rights protester who belongs to a reading club and enjoys yard work.

Lampert also is Spokane coordinator of Running Proud, an organization that encourages gay men and women to run for public office.

Currently on sabbatical, Lampert lives in north Spokane with her mother on an annual income of $6,000. Lampert has held many jobs, including claims examiner, nursing assistant and waitress.

She plans to spend just $1,400 on her campaign.

Matt McCoy, a 38-year-old Republican and baseball fan, is a business development officer for United Parcel Service. He personally handles more than 1,000 accounts for the company.

McCoy says his business experience will help him to find a way to speed up recording of property deeds at the county and finance publication of a voter’s pamphlet.

“It’s a political job; I’m not going to audit anyone,” he says. “This is something I was born to do, I was meant to do.”

See individual profiles by name of candidate.