Powers Has Edge In Reducing Conflict

Someday the issues that now divide Spokane will be settled and will fade. It has happened before: The freeway. Expo ‘74. Septic tanks. The Pacific Science Center. Solid waste disposal. The Ag Trade Center. Once, those were fighting words. No longer.

In the future, new opportunities for controversy will arise.

In the future, a new feature of Spokane’s political landscape might alter the way the city responds, might lift the community’s eyes toward unifying goals. This fall the city elects its first strong mayor. Those who fill this post in coming years will not be messiahs, they’ll be humans - like everyone else in town. And yet, a good leader can set the tone, identify priorities, point to common ground and bring out the best in us all.

Two people seek the job. Each has good qualities and many supporters.

John Talbott, the current mayor, offers a genuine desire to help people. But his desire to help has not carried through into a reconciliation of people with differing opinions about the city’s current problems. Although he certainly is not the only player, conflict on his watch intensified and Spokane’s reputation suffered damage, as far away as Wall Street.

John Powers is the other choice. Because Powers has not stood in the political limelight or suited up in the latest battles, his allegiances are not entrenched. To underscore his independence, Powers has rejected some offers of support. His backers come from less political realms, where he has spent his time. They include people from his Catholic parish and other congregations in the city, families whose kids played on the youth football teams he coached, volunteers in Habitat for Humanity, folks who work with the developmentally disabled, clients from his business law practice, and fellow members of the bar association. His signs appear all over Spokane, in poor neighborhoods as well as wealthy ones.

Powers’ style might best be understood in an anecdote he proudly tells. He and some friends set out to establish a couple of homes for the developmentally disabled. To prevent opposition they invited neighbors to meet the would-be disabled residents. The result? Fear dissolved, hearts warmed and the homes opened.

Powers challenges Spokane’s establishment, including this newspaper, to face with greater sensitivity and concern what surely is our deepest problem: poverty. The gap between rich and poor.

These are hallmarks of a leader who could inspire us to become a better community than we are today.