Late filers bring competition

As time was running out to file for office in Washington late last month, several surprise candidates filled the empty spaces on the Spokane County ballot.

The late entrants created primary competition for three-term incumbent County Commissioner Phil Harris and ensured that the winner of the high-profile GOP sheriff’s race between Ozzie Knezovich and Cal Walker won’t be assured final victory.

Of the seven county offices up for election, only the incumbent county clerk, Republican Thomas Fallquist, is without competition in the primary and general elections.

Here’s a look at the surprise candidates who filed for county office on the July 28 deadline.

For prosecutor:

With late entries, the race for Spokane County prosecutor went from having no Democrats to two in the course of a few hours.

Jim Reierson, a Spokane resident who has worked as a Kootenai County deputy prosecutor for about seven years, was the last person to file for office before the deadline. Reierson had been weighing two races for several months, having already filed registration papers with the state Public Disclosure Commission for prosecutor and for a District Court judge seat.

Reierson had run unsuccessfully for the court twice before, in years when few candidates were willing to challenge sitting judges. But with 18 candidates vying for nine positions this fall, he said that didn’t seem to be a problem this year.

“People kept saying ‘How come somebody’s not running’ ” against incumbent Prosecutor Steve Tucker, Reierson said. “I think we need some new leadership in that office.”

As the county’s chief law enforcement official, Reierson said, the prosecutor needs to be more visible to the public and more accessible to the news media.

He contends the prosecutor’s office plea bargains too often, and he’s particularly critical of the deal that allowed serial killer Robert Yates to avoid execution in exchange for life in prison.

“It might have been convenient, but the question is, what is right for the victims?” Reierson said.

At 56, Reierson has been an attorney since 1981, served as a deputy prosecutor in Walla Walla for eight years and had a one-year stint as a public defender in Seattle. He served five years on the judge advocate general’s staff for the Air Force Reserve.

He’ll be in the Democratic primary against Bob Caruso, 68, a private attorney who became a lawyer after retiring as a businessman. Caruso said he is the former owner of Linoleum and Carpet City, a former general contractor and has served on the city’s Zoning Board.

He retired and discovered “golf didn’t cut it and travel didn’t cut it.” He went to law school at 58 and opened his private practice in 1999, where he does a mix of civil and criminal defense work.

Caruso, too, was critical of Tucker, saying the incumbent has “no accountability, no accessibility and no transparency.” Tucker should do more to investigate incidents like the death of Otto Zehm, a Spokane man who died after a confrontation with police, he added.

“That needs to be investigated,” Caruso said. “He can empanel a grand jury, but he’s seen fit not to.”

If elected, Caruso said he’d appoint a person in his office to handle complaints from the public, and would be “personally available for members of the community.”

It will be his first run for office. While Reierson is stressing his experience as a prosecutor, Caruso is pointing to his experience in business.

Government officials, he contends, don’t know how business works or how to stay within their budgets.

“The question is, is money being wisely spent?” he asked. “People are sick and tired of business as usual.”

For sheriff:

Businessman James Flavel is another newcomer to Spokane politics who entered the fall campaigns in the closing minutes of filing week. Flavel said he’s been active in technology startups in the Spokane area since 1981. He filed as a Democrat for the job of county sheriff, a move that surprised even Democratic Party officials who had predicted they would have no candidate.

“I felt it was important to have a candidate that was qualified,” he said. “I saw a need that needs to be filled.”

Flavel, who gave his age as “almost 60,” is a veteran of the Idaho State Police who was the resident officer in North Idaho from 1972 to 1978. In that position, he worked with local police and sheriff’s offices from Athol to the Canadian border. He was a captain in the Idaho National Guard engineering units in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, and in 1978 ran unsuccessfully for a Bonner County commissioner’s post.

Like Caruso, he’s stressing business experience for the political job he’s seeking.

“The sheriff’s job is administrative, with a big chunk of the county’s budget you’re responsible for,” Flavel said.

He’s reluctant to call for any major changes in the Sheriff’s Department at this point.

“I like to step into a situation and listen a lot,” Flavel said. “You’ve got to have sensitivity toward your fellow officers.”

He’ll face the winner of the Republican primary between Knezovich, the current sheriff, and Walker, the Spokane Valley police chief.

For county commission:

Larry R. Vandervert hasn’t run for office in a quarter century. But now that he’s retired, Vandervert says he wants to bring his ideas for running local governments to county leadership.

He’s facing incumbent Phil Harris, who raised $63,000 in campaign funds through June. Vandervert, 67, said he thinks he can beat Harris even though he isn’t planning to raise money or create campaign signs.

Vandervert, who served as a psychology instructor at Spokane Falls Community College for 31 years, lost in Democratic primaries for a state Senate seat in 1972 and 1976. He was elected to the Spokane Public School board in 1973, but resigned in 1975 to pursue a doctorate at Washington State University. While on the board and after leaving the position he was a vocal advocate for building a new North Central High School. In 1981 he ran unsuccessfully for another term on the school board.

He’s running as a Republican this time around, he said, because he has become disillusioned with Democrats over the years and believes in small government. He’s never attended meetings for either party, he said.

“To me, (party affiliation) is not a huge issue,” Vandervert said.

County commissioners do too much micromanaging, Vandervert said. If elected, he said he would delegate more responsibility to the county’s CEO and concentrate more on ideas. He said he would donate $20,000 of his $93,000 commissioner’s salary annually to Gonzaga’s leadership doctorate program.

If he loses in the primary, Vandervert said he likely will endorse Harris. But he predicts Harris won’t be able to beat whichever of the three Democratic candidates survives the primary.

Harris said Vandervert’s prediction isn’t reflected in telephone polling done by his campaign.

“All that does is just energize me,” Harris said. “I love campaigning. It doesn’t bother me at all.”