Democrats eye county seat

On the issues, not much separates the Democratic candidates seeking their party’s nomination for Spokane County Commission.

They believe the county should consider impact fees on new construction to help pay for infrastructure. They stress the need for county leaders to better cooperate with cities. They support light rail, at least in the long term. They believe more services, such as wastewater treatment, should be regionalized to save money. They say the county has allowed haphazard growth that threatens the quality of life and the environment.

Most of all, they say, GOP incumbent Phil Harris must go.

What’s left for the candidates to debate is their demeanor, their style, their experience and their electability against a three-term incumbent who has amassed more campaign money than the three of them combined.

The Democratic hopefuls are:

“Barb Chamberlain, 43, who was elected to one term each in the Idaho House and Senate in the early 1990s, making her the youngest woman to have been elected in each chamber.

“Bonnie Mager, 55, a co-founder of the Neighborhood Alliance of Spokane County, who has run a grass-roots campaign that has raised twice as much as either of her primary opponents.

“George Orr, 63, a retired firefighter and former Central Valley School Board member whose folksy, tell-it-like-it-is style won him two terms in the state House in the early 1990s.

Electability

Orr is the only Democrat to have served Spokane Valley in the Legislature in the past quarter century, a designation that he says proves he has the name recognition and support to win countywide.

“My name just isn’t associated with the west side of the county,” said Orr, who moved from the Valley to the city of Spokane in 1995. “It’s all over the county.”

Mager argues that her neighborhood support and hands-on knowledge of county issues would give her an edge in November. She has attended most weekly county commission briefing sessions for more than a year.

“For the last 19 years the community has been my special interest,” Mager said, echoing her campaign slogan. “I have a really strong base.”

Chamberlain has compiled a bipartisan list of endorsements including business leaders and, perhaps surprisingly, former GOP Commissioner Kate McCaslin. That’s proof, she says, of her ability to beat Harris.

“This is a county that in many ways tends to vote Republican, so you have to have independents and Republicans supporting a Democrat to be able to take Phil out.” Chamberlain said.

Style

Of the three candidates, Orr is the most forward in saying he would shake things up as a commissioner.

“I’m a little bit impatient. So if you don’t like impatience, you’re not going to like me,” Orr said. “I think my counterparts are a little more collaborative.”

Mager, who has had a rocky relationship with members of the County Commission, says she’ll stay focused on issues and not personalities to get things done.

“I like to say my table is big enough for everyone,” Mager said.

As director of the Neighborhood Alliance, Mager has tried to push commissioners to televise more meetings and hold them in the evenings. She also has accused commissioners of not complying with a records request from the alliance for documents related to the county’s 2005 hiring of Harris’ son, Stephen Harris, as a development assistance coordinator.

In May, the alliance filed a lawsuit against the county for not complying with the request. County Commission Chairman Todd Mielke said at the time that the county wasn’t withholding any documents and accused the alliance of using the lawsuit to further Mager’s campaign.

Mager noted that she had taken a leave of absence from the group when the decision to file the lawsuit was made. The action was likely regardless of whether she entered the race, she said.

“The mission of the Neighborhood Alliance is to hold government accountable,” Mager said in May.

Chamberlain has made collaboration a theme of her campaign.

“It’s not enough to just throw out the bad guy,” Chamberlain said. “You want a competent county commissioner who can work on the full range of issues that are in the portfolio.”

While Orr and Mager say more county meetings should be televised, Chamberlain is more cautious, saying though she supports the idea, cost must be considered.

The issues

The candidates at least thus far have kept their primary election campaign promise run clean.

“One of the problems is that the first person that speaks says stuff and the other ones say, ‘Me too, me too,’ ” Orr said while the three were interviewed by The Spokesman-Review’s editorial board.

Still, with some probing, variations emerge.

Although each says urban areas generally should be in cities rather than unincorporated areas, there are at least subtle differences on annexation issues.

County commissioners currently are fighting an attempt led by Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession to annex property on the west side of Division Street north of Francis Avenue, including the Costco store.

Orr says annexation should not happen without support from citizens who live in the proposed annexation area.

“If the citizens at Costco want to annex or not, it should be their choice and you should facilitate that any way you can,” Orr said.

Chamberlain said she needs more information on the effect of the proposal to city and county budgets before knowing if she would fight the annexation attempt.

“My general philosophy is that we want growth in cities, in urban areas, where the services are there to support them,” Chamberlain said. “When I drive up North Division I have a hard time thinking I’m not in a city.”

Mager says it’s unfortunate that some residential property has been attached to the city’s annexation attempt, but questions whether the county commission could win the battle.

“If they don’t have real grounds to fight it, I think it’s disingenuous to spend our taxpayer money on lawsuits that they know they can’t win,” Mager said.

November preview

At a West Plains Chamber of Commerce candidates forum last week, it became clear that no matter which Democrat wins, he or she will make Harris – and his sons – a prime issue.

Mager discussed concerns she hears on the campaign trail that the county is corrupt, and Orr and Chamberlain pointed directly to the hiring of Harris’ children.

All three of Harris’ sons have been hired by the county since he became a commissioner.

“A lot of people are concerned about nepotism,” Orr told the gathered business leaders. “How do you supervise somebody whose father is your boss?”

He said as a commissioner he would work to pass an ordinance prohibiting next of kin of commissioners and department heads from gaining county employment.

Harris responded that the Democrats should focus less on him and more on improving citizens’ lives.

“Every time you attack the family you continue to lose votes,” Harris warned at the forum. “I’m very proud of my family.”

Chamberlain later told Harris people have lost faith in county leaders because of the perception created by the hires.

“People talk to me and tell me things that concern them about county government,” Chamberlain said in an interview. “Whether it’s real or not, the perception is very troubling.”

Barb Chamberlain

Age: 43

Personal: Divorced. Mother of two school-age daughters. Lives on Spokane’s South Hill.

Education: Graduated University High School in Spokane Valley, 1980. Received English and linguistics bachelor’s degrees from Washington State University, 1984. Received master’s in public administration from Eastern Washington University.

Professional experience: Employed as the communication and public affairs director for Washington State University’s Spokane campus since 1998.

Political experience: Elected to Idaho House of Representatives, serving Kootenai County, 1990. Elected to Idaho Senate, serving Kootenai County, 1992. Lost bid for state Senate re-election, 1994. Elected to North Idaho College Board of Trustees, 1996.

Campaign finances: Raised $10,120.

Web site: www.votebarb chamberlain.com.

Bonnie Mager

Age: 55

Personal: Married. Mother of two grown children and a school-age son. Lives near city of Cheney.

Education: Graduated Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles, 1968. Received fashion degree from Los Angeles Trade Tech College.

Professional experience: Served as executive director of Citizens for Clean Air, which was formed in response to the Waste-to-Energy Plant in the late 1980s, for three years. Served as Eastern Washington coordinator for the Washington Environmental Council for 10 years. Co-founded Neighborhood Alliance of Spokane County. Currently on leave as the Neighborhood Alliance’s executive director.

Political experience: This is Mager’s first run at elected office. Served on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee for 12 years.

Campaign finances: Raised $22,948, plus $1,734 in in-kind contributions.

Web site: www.votebonnie mager.com.

George Orr

Age: 63

Personal: Divorced and remarried. Father of two grown daughters. Lives in Peaceful Valley.

Education: Graduated St. Anthony’s High School in Long Beach, Calif., 1960.

Professional experience: Served in U.S. Navy (2 years active, 4 years reserve). Firefighter for Spokane Valley Fire Department for 28 years. Fire inspector for Spokane Valley Fire Department for five years.

Political experience: Served on Central Valley School District board, 1983-1990. Elected to state House of Representatives in 1990 and 1992, serving Spokane Valley. Lost state House re-election bid, 1994. Lost state Senate bid, 1996. Served on Washington state Gambling Commission, 2000-2005.

Campaign finances: $10,610, plus $50 in in-kind contributions.

Web site: www.votegeorge orr.com.