Mann, Towey confirmed

The Spokane Valley City Council confirmed Mayor Rich Munson’s appointment of two new planning commissioners Tuesday.

The vote was unanimous for Joe Mann III, who is an associate broker for the Windermere Valley real estate firm as well as chairman of the Spokane County Board of Equalization.

“I can’t recommend a person higher,” said Realtor Arne Woodard, who also applied for the Planning Commission vacancies.

Mann and Tom Towey will replace commissioners Fred Beaulac and Gail Kogle, who are stepping down when their terms expire at the end of the month.

Councilmen Dick Denenny and Steve Taylor unsuccessfully opposed Munson’s selection of community activist Towey.

Towey is a retired Washington Trust Bank transaction auditor and longtime Rosauers supermarket manager. He now directs the sheriff’s volunteer Incident Response Team and has been president of the Central Valley and University SCOPE organizations.

Towey ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign last year for Taylor’s council position.

Denenny said he thought Allan deLaubenfels, a recently retired Spokane County planner would be a better choice because of his experience.

In addition to his 11 years with Spokane County, deLaubenfels has been a planner for the state and King County. He also was chairman of the Tumwater, Wash., city planning commission.

Taylor said deLaubenfels wouldn’t necessarily have been his choice, but the 14 applicants included others with experience in development and planning whom he would have preferred over Towey.

But Councilman Bill Gothmann said Towey and Mann would bring “balance” to the commission. Along with people experienced in real estate and land planning, “I think it’s important that we have some people that are just plain residents of the community,” Gothmann said.

Taylor said he thought four of the seven commissioners – Ian Robertson, Marcia Sands, Craig Eggleston and John Carroll – already fall into that category.

Councilwoman Rose Dempsey said she gave extra weight to community volunteer work such as Towey’s when she reviewed the applications.

“I felt that if someone took the time out of their lives to volunteer in the community that they had perhaps more of the community’s heart in their mind,” Dempsey said.

In other business, the council gave final approval to a number of previously discussed actions:

• Adopting an ordinance requiring property owners to obliterate graffiti. For those who can’t paint over graffiti on their own, juvenile delinquents can be assigned to do the job free.

• Vacating a portion of the Fifth Avenue right of way between Progress and Newer Roads to accommodate a small subdivision. Developer Brent Elliott plans to substitute a new section of St. Charles Road.

• Increasing a host of fees charged by city departments and the Spokane Valley Fire Department.

• Allocating $400,000 of next year’s expected motel tax receipts to five organizations that promote tourism. State law allows no other use.