Public Periscope

Time’s a-wasting

Spokane County commissioners are putting a full-court press on establishing a citizens committee on salaries. Approved by voters Sept. 19, the 10-member panel will recommend salary ranges for the county’s elected officials, including commissioners. … Six members will be chosen randomly from lists of registered voters; four will be appointed by commissioners. The committee is advisory, but commissioners Kate McCaslin, Phil Harris and John Roskelley have said they will give its recommendations considerable weight.

McCaslin scheduled a special meeting for Thursday to pick the commissioners’ appointees. That could get the panel up and running, with a recommendation possibly by the end of the year. … Why the hurry? Could be that commissioners can’t approve raises for themselves during their current terms in office, but they can give raises now to the two commissioners who will start new terms on Jan. 1. … Need we mention that McCaslin and Roskelley, who make $61,000 per year, will start new terms on Jan. 1 if they are re-elected?

Talk about a close one

Next time someone starts whining and moaning that his or her vote doesn’t count, please refer that person to the results of Fire District 8’s bond vote. Residents of the south central Spokane County district approved the bond with nary a vote to spare. None. Zippo. Nada. … As a bond issue, the $4 million proposal for new fire stations required 60 percent approval. On election night, it was a few votes up; after one batch of absentee votes had been counted, it was one vote down. But after all ballots had been counted Friday, the proposal’s 2,796 “yes” votes were exactly the number it needed to make 60 percent. … If one supporter had stayed home or one more opponent had shown up, the district would be trying to get another bond proposal on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you

If you want to vote in the Nov. 7 election, you’ve got to be registered. If you aren’t, you’re running out of time. … Saturday is the deadline to sign up to vote the traditional way at neighborhood polling places. You probably can find a registrar at any public library, government office building or fire station and at most schools, so any excuse about not being able to locate a handy place will be considered lame. … If you registered ages ago but haven’t voted in the last four years, you may be off the rolls. Check with your county elections office, which in Spokane can be reached at (509) 477-2320.

Catch the candidates

Presidential candidates will debate Tuesday, and vice presidential candidates will go head to head Thursday, both starting at 6 p.m. on television. … Candidates for Spokane City Council president have a 15-minute give-and-take scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Friday on KSPS-TV (Channel 7). … Candidates for Spokane mayor, council president and county commissioner will address youth issues at a forum sponsored by the Chase Youth Commission and the Citizens League of Greater Spokane at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 in the City Council chambers at Spokane City Hall. … Watch this space for more information about campaign events.