Half-Dozen Candidates Seek Seats On Newport City Council Water, Cemetery District Levies Also On Pend Oreille County Ballots

Six candidates who don’t know much about one another are running for three Newport City Council positions.

Several of their platforms share some planks: promote economic development, plan for growth, provide constructive activities for kids.

Elsewhere in Pend Oreille County, Tuesday’s election ballot includes a one-year special levy for maintenance and operation of the Sacheen Lake Water and Sewer District. The levy would cost 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and would raise $21,460.

Also, residents of Cemetery District 1 is seeking a one-year special levy of 5 cents per $1,000 that would raise $33,000 to maintain and operate the Newport Cemetery.

Here is a look at the Newport City Council candidates in alphabetical order:

Position 1

Ted Holden wants to retain the position to which he was appointed in September 1998 so he can help “maintain the positive momentum we have generated over the past year in bringing the city into current times.” He cited the downtown renovation and the hiring of a police chief and a new city administrator.

Holden, 44, has lived in Newport for 15 years, and has been a Washington Fish and Wildlife game warden for 17 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management from California Polytechnic Institute at San Luis Obispo. Holden and his wife have two teenage children.

Challenger Shirley Sands, 34, also has lived in Newport for 15 years. She is a graduate of Priest River (Idaho) High School and is a clerk at the Newport Safeway store. Sands and her husband have two school-age children. She has served on the city Park Board since June and is co-chairman of the Newport Junior Miss program.

In addition to providing activities for youths and older people, Sands wants to promote tourism. One way she would do that is by educating residents about the city’s colorful history so they can give interesting answers when visitors ask questions.

Position 2

Incumbent Sandra Henry, 58, was appointed to the council in July 1998, and thinks communications among city staff members and with the public has improved. She also thinks the city has made “great strides” with its street improvement program.

Henry has lived in the city for 19 years while teaching English and foreign languages at Newport High School and was on the school district’s strategic planning committee for five years. She has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in administration and curriculum from Gonzaga University. Single, Henry has two adult sons.

Challenger Judy Smith, 32, is a graduate of Newport High who has worked as a Safeway clerk for eight years. She serves on the city Park Board and wants to improve the city’s image and the image of its youths by highlighting the good things about both. Smith is a single mother of two teenage children.

She said she decided to run for council in part to demonstrate that “our younger generation does care about what happens.” The city’s financial and police problems are major concerns for Smith.

Position 3

Pend Oreille County appraiser Fred Anderson and Carol Cherry, a Newport business owner and accountant, are seeking the council position from which Marrian Gerimonte is stepping down.

Anderson, 52, has lived in Newport all his life, and has been an appraiser in the county assessor’s office for 13 years in two hitches. He also has worked in construction, and in auto parts and real estate sales. A graduate of Newport High, he also has a two-year degree in automotive merchandising from Spokane Community College. He ran unsuccessfully for county treasurer in 1986.

Anderson is a past chairman of the Pend Oreille County Planning Commission and a part-time assistant pastor of the New Testament Church. He and his wife have two adult children. Anderson wants to use his planning experience to help the city revise its comprehensive plan and satisfy its Growth Management Act requirements.

Cherry, 30, has lived in Newport for 15 years. In addition to seasonal accounting work for two companies, Cherry does the books for the Whistlestop Bakery she owns with her husband. The couple has two young children and one of Cherry’s goals is to attract a roller-skating rink or some other recreational facility where parents could go with their children.

Cherry also wants to lure better-paying industries to the city by improving its roads and utilities. She serves on the Five Star Enterprise Community that administers federal economic-development grants in northeastern Washington, and on the city Park Board. Cherry has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Eastern Washington University.