The 19th century populists who wrote Washington’s constitution saddled 21st century voters with a burden.

They made many arcane state and county offices subject to popular vote – such as county assessor – but they failed to guarantee that acceptable candidates would run for those offices.

In Spokane County this fall, Assessor Ralph Baker faces a challenge in the Republican primary from Spokane City Councilman Brad Stark.

Baker has peeved community members, frustrated employees and annoyed some other county officials, notably County Commissioner Todd Mielke, a fellow Republican.

There is tension between Mielke and Baker, who criticized the Board of County Commissioners for appointing Ozzie Knezovich as sheriff. But Mielke says he’s concerned by the number of citizens who, thinking the assessor works for the commissioners, call his office with complaints.

For example, although former Assessor Duane Sommers and Baker have made needed technology improvements in the assessor’s office, Baker is trying to force them on all citizens, even those who are uncomfortable dealing with the office via a keyboard. In a highly publicized episode earlier this year, he rearranged his office, making it harder for in-person citizens to get help, and less comfortable for them to wait for it. Some employees said in a letter to their supervisors that they feared being reprimanded if they offered a visitor a chair.

When Baker ordered the removal of field books containing years of appraisal information, employees cautioned against it, saying the conversion of data to electronic records was flawed and incomplete and the books had to remain accessible to assure reliable information. Baker rejected their advice and warned them against trying to retrieve any of the materials they were about to lose.

In Stark, the voters have a 26-year-old challenger with four years’ experience as a district executive for the Inland Northwest Council, Boy Scouts of America. He has no background in property appraisal and hasn’t completed the four-year City Council term he was elected to. He’s delinquent in filing some of the public disclosure forms required in conjunction with his fundraising for that office, and he’s overstated some of his criticisms of Baker. The supposedly inaccurate information Stark says Baker’s office provided to city officials turns out to have been a preliminary estimate of property tax receipts, something the city’s chief financial officer says didn’t trouble him.

But Stark seems to recognize his own lack of knowledge and says he’d draw heavily on the in-house expertise of the career appraisers in the office. Mielke, who’s worked with Stark in various intergovernmental settings, considers him an official who would surround himself with talented workers and give them the latitude to succeed.

Baker is the beneficiary of a legacy system that has been common in Spokane County government, especially in the assessor’s office. Sommers made Baker (who had lost an election for auditor) his chief deputy. When Sommers stepped down in midterm, Baker was appointed to fill the vacancy. Now he has the advantage of running as an incumbent and claiming familiarity with the job.

He’s also accountable for the problems that have arisen under his watch.

Stark is raw and untested, but his approach to the job shows respect for citizens and staff. That alone would be an improvement.