Our Spokane County assessor really needs some help. Our county assessor failed us. Our assessor took an oath of office to abide by our laws. Instead, our assessor was negligent and broke the law.

Our assessor, either defiantly or ignorantly, failed to fulfill a simple public records request. This is unacceptable. As a result, our assessor was fined over $26,000. The problem is this is only the first fine. There are other fines pending. But who really pays? We do, not the assessor.

The $88,000-a-year question is: “Do we now reward or punish this failure?” How many more fines are we willing to withstand under the current administration? The honorable action would be for the assessor to resign or pay the fine from personal funds. But I highly doubt these are even being considered.

Please pay attention; our tax dollars are being spent on fines because of negligence. Support a new assessor who will actually abide by the law.

Kevin Best

Spokane