Shogan sworn in as City Council president

Alexander J. “Joe” Shogan Jr. was sworn in Monday as the Spokane City Council’s new president.

He replaces Dennis Hession, who stepped up to the mayor’s office after the recall of first-term Mayor Jim West last month.

“I pledge to give it my best shot, the best I can do to be council president,” Shogan said during brief remarks after taking the oath.

He said the city has a good mayor in Hession and a council that is willing to work hard. As council president, Shogan pledged to devote himself to serving the public. “Service will be my motto as I fulfill this office,” he said.

Spokane District Judge Vance Peterson, a friend of Shogan’s for more than 30 years, administered the oath during the 5 p.m. ceremony in Council Chambers at City Hall. Shogan’s wife, Maureen, and sons, Christopher and Stephen, stood a few feet away. Other family members were in the audience.

Also joining Shogan, 57, for the ceremony were fellow council members, City Hall officials, neighborhood leaders and friends.

In his new $40,000-a-year post, Shogan will chair council meetings and manage the agenda that includes up to three full council meetings each week.

Shogan joined the City Council two years ago after winning election in council District 3 in northwest Spokane. Previously, he had been chairman of the Northwest Neighborhood Association.

A Spokane attorney specializing in mediation and bankruptcy law, Shogan has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a law degree, both from Gonzaga University. He served in the 11th Cavalry of the Army during the Vietnam War and was a five-time Volunteer Lawyer of the Year in Spokane.

Shogan served under Hession as council president pro tem and was unanimously appointed to the council presidency in a vote by the City Council last Tuesday. He will serve the remaining two years of Hession’s term.

Applications to fill Shogan’s vacant District 3 council seat are being accepted at the City Council office through 5 p.m. Thursday.

After Monday’s ceremony, Shogan laid out ground rules during his first meeting as council president. He said he will require speakers addressing the council to direct questions to him and not to individual council members.

During the session, council members unanimously approved two 10-year property tax exemptions for multifamily housing projects – one with eight units at the northwest corner of 29th Avenue and Garfield Street and another with 21 units in the upper portion of the former J.C. Penney building downtown.

The tax exemptions are only for the value of residential improvements. The project in the former Penney building across Main Avenue from River Park Square will include commercial space on the ground floor and a fitness center on the second floor.

Council members said the tax breaks are intended to encourage development in locations where more residents and greater densities are desired, including downtown.

George McGrath, a city resident, said the city should not be subsidizing private development. “I would suggest we get out of these businesses,” McGrath said.

Council members pointed out that the developments would pay sales and utility taxes during the 10-year period of the property tax exemption and also said the developments would encourage higher values for surrounding properties.

“There is no loss of tax revenue associated with this program,” Councilman Al French said.

The council also unanimously approved its 2006 legislative agenda, which is essentially a wish list for changes in state laws and for state funding of local needs.