French launches mayoral bid

Al French, the most senior member of the Spokane City Council, announced Tuesday that, as expected, he’s running for mayor.

With the Spokane River and Riverfront Park in the background, French formally kicked off his campaign at a news conference where he said the city needs decisive leadership to take advantage of the good times Spokane is experiencing. He promised to build a collaborative relationship between the mayor and the council by “fully engaging the council in the processes of city government.”

“Both the mayor and the council need to be strong,” he said.

French enters the race against incumbent Mayor Dennis Hession, who announced his campaign last month. Both were elected to the council in 2001; both ran for council president in 2003. Hession won that race and held the office when Jim West was recalled by voters in December 2005 and the council appointed him as the replacement.

Like the rest of the council, French voted for Hession to fill the mayor’s spot in 2005. On Tuesday, French said that was because at the time he “thought stability in Spokane’s city government was paramount.”

In recent months, he has been among the council’s more vocal critics of Hession and his administration. The council has disagreed with some of the mayor’s choices to head city departments, and French complained that he had to file an open records request to get the mayor’s papers on the decision to hire an out-of-town candidate to lead the solid waste department.

Last Friday, Hession gave his annual State of the City address and described Spokane as “a city of promise.”

French countered Tuesday that the city should move past promises to action.

“We need new leadership … not only in the office of the mayor,” he said, adding that as mayor he would not retain Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch and probably would abolish the job of deputy mayor in favor of an “operating officer” who could oversee certain daily functions of city government.

French acknowledged that his announcement comes as no surprise. He and Hession have been the only two candidates mentioned for the mayor’s race for weeks, although prospective officeholders have until June 8 to decide to run in the August primary.

Three years ago, the mayoral race cost West about $221,000, and Tom Grant, the other candidate to survive the primary, about $106,000. French said Tuesday he expects his campaign to cost about $250,000. He’s received pledges but no contributions at this point, he added.

The job pays about $147,000 a year.