Millwood mayor faces recall campaign

Millwood Mayor Jeanne Batson has said she won’t run for re-election when her term expires in 2005.

But that’s not soon enough for Tammy Parsley.

“She needs to be out of there now before she messes anything else up,” Parsley said of Batson. “We need somebody in there that’s fair and honest.”

A judge is scheduled to decide later this month whether the complaints against Batson have merit and a recall effort can go forward. If a judge allows the issue to go forward, Parsley and others will try to get enough signatures to place the recall vote on an election ballot. Many Millwood residents got a flier this week, outlining the plan to get Batson out of office.

“I think it’s ridiculous because everything they put in there is false,” Batson said. “So I guess, let them have their little fun.”

Parsley heads up Citizens for a Better Millwood. The group formed earlier this year when Millwood officials decided to lay off one of three full-time firefighters, citing budget constraints. Parsley blames Batson for the fire department’s eventual demise this summer.

Batson, 82, is serving her fourth term as mayor and is a lifelong resident of Millwood, a town of 1,649 sandwiched between the Spokane River and Trent Avenue.

“I think it’s terrible,” Batson said of the recall effort. “The town has been a great little town all these years. It’s too bad it will be ruined by all these idiots. Why don’t they get a life and do something that’s worthwhile?”

Batson irked Fire Department supporters when she put Chief Bill Clifford on administrative leave in May. Nearly all of Millwood’s volunteer firefighters quit to protest the decision.

Batson said she wanted to keep the town’s largely volunteer fire department, but was forced to contract with the Spokane Valley Fire Department when the Millwood volunteers quit. She, in turn, blames Clifford for the department’s demise and points out that his wife, Kris Clifford, is part of the recall effort.

Valley Fire took over Millwood’s fire protection and emergency medical services in July. Clifford and the three full-time firefighters were absorbed into Valley Fire.

The court hearing on the recall effort is currently scheduled for Sept. 29.