Impact fees popular at candidate forum

Contenders for the second-ever Spokane Valley City Council disagree on whether they should accept corporate campaign contributions. But among the eight candidates at a forum Thursday, a majority supported impact fees on new development.

Five of the six candidates for contested seats attended a League of Women Voters debate at the Spokane Valley library, as did three incumbents running unopposed.

Five said they support fees on new developments to defray the cost of roads, schools and services.

Developers generally oppose such fees, saying they raise the cost of new homes. In a city where nearly every politician vows to be business-friendly, impact fees were not an issue during the city’s first council elections.

Two years, apparently, has brought changes.

“I support impact fees,” said candidate Jennie Willardson, whose opponent, incumbent Councilman Steve Taylor, was out of town on city business. Taylor did not address impact fees in a written statement that was read at the event.

Candidate Ed Mertens said he would not rule out impact fees, and neither would incumbent Mike DeVleming.

Impact fees were part of a broader discussion about neighborhood planning. Residents in several neighborhoods, like Ponderosa and Greenacres, have fought small-lot developments.

Mertens’ opponent, Bill Gothmann, emphasized the city’s yet-to-be-adopted 20-year comprehensive land-use plan, which calls for new construction to match what’s already in a neighborhood. Gothmann, a member of the city planning commission, helped write the comprehensive plan.

Mertens said he has watched the Valley grow since the 1940s and wants to assure that land purchased before rules are changed is protected by grandfather clauses.

Howard Herman, DeVleming’s opponent, said he tried to prevent small lots in places like Ponderosa when he was on a transitional planning committee as the city was incorporating. DeVleming said the city is working through the problem.

“Our comprehensive plan will be the tool to reach that balance,” he said.

Neighborhood planning has been a staple of the Willardson campaign, and was reflected in several of her statements.

A question on campaign contributions generated the most contention.

“To get people to support you is like pulling teeth,” Mertens said. “You have to make up your mind who you are going to take money from.”

Mertens and Gothmann said it was up to the individual candidate whether to accept money from businesses.

Willardson said that if elected to the council, she will recuse herself from any decision affecting a campaign donor.

“Most of my campaign contributions have been in the $25 to $30 range,” she said.

Taylor and DeVleming both have taken contributions from many businesses. Herman opposes that.

“It is wrong for public officials to be taking money from people who are doing business with the city,” he said.