Condon has more money, name recognition than challengers for Spokane mayor

Four years ago, David Condon’s name didn’t mean a lot to a lot of people.

As an aide to U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, he entered the mayor’s race as an unknown challenging a well-liked mayor. His first time before voters, in the summer of 2011, he had a primary election success that looked more like a crushing defeat.

Mary Verner, Spokane’s mayor at the time, cruised to an easy primary lead with 59 percent of the vote. It was so big that if all four of her challengers somehow combined into one person, she still would have won by 18 percentage points, or 6,000 votes.

But Condon managed a distant second, keeping his campaign alive through the fall, through increased water rates and, perhaps most significantly, through the trial and conviction of former Spokane police Officer Karl Thompson, who was found guilty a week before the election of excessive force and lying in the death of Otto Zehm.

When the dust cleared that November, Condon was mayor, and now he seeks to do what Verner couldn’t – become the first re-elected Spokane mayor in more than four decades.

Condon – who has raised more money than any municipal candidate in the state of Washington, a designation he’s held for at least a year – said his proudest accomplishments as mayor have been instilling trust in the police department, getting utility rates under control while still meeting federal environmental standards and bringing down the city’s crime rate.

“We are going in the right direction,” Condon said. “It’s an exciting time.”

Condon, who hails from Republican Party circles, chased off challengers with higher profiles than his current opponents; Council President Ben Stuckart and Democratic state Rep. Marcus Riccelli both contemplated runs at one time.

Police reform

Still, two candidates are in the race against Condon.

Shar Lichty, a political organizer with the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, said Condon’s biggest weakness as an incumbent is the city’s troubled efforts at police reform and accountability.

The police ombudsman position has been unfilled since January, when Tim Burns resigned. The Police Ombudsman Commission has been defunct for a month following the alleged misconduct by three of its five members – including the disgraced civil rights leader Rachel Dolezal – leading to either their removal or resignation from the board.

“It’s the issue he won the election on and he’s completely failed on it,” Lichty said.

Lichty took Condon to task for what she said was a failure to implement Proposition 1 from 2013, which asked voters to add the office of the police ombudsman to the city charter as well as give the ombudsman the power to investigate alleged police misconduct independently of the police department. Voters overwhelmingly passed the measure.

“He failed to bring forth the article in the city charter that voters approved with 69 percent of the vote. That’s a loud voice,” Lichty said. “The citizens still are not satisfied. Many of us still believe it’s a violation of the city charter.”

Mike Noder, who is challenging Condon from the right as a “libertarian Constitutionalist,” also took aim at Condon for what he described as a flawed police oversight system.

“The citizens have spoken very clearly they want oversight,” he said. “You can’t expect the police to vindicate themselves. He’s just giving lip service to the people who voted for it.”

Noder said Condon had a responsibility to do everything in his power to reform the police department and make the ombudsman apparatus work.

“If you can’t find somebody to sit on this ombudsman committee, you do it yourself,” he said.

Noder acknowledged he hasn’t volunteered to sit on the committee, but he said he “probably should do that. It didn’t occur to me.”

Condon dismissed Lichty and Noder’s criticisms about police oversight. He said 40 people have applied to join the ombudsman commission, and a search for a new police ombudsman drew more than 40 applicants nationwide. He said the commission and ombudsman commission would “definitely” be filled by the fall.

He acknowledged that the search for a new ombudsman had taken longer than he anticipated.

“Are we somewhat behind? Absolutely. But to what extent?” he said. “Are we behind 60 or 90 days? Probably.”

With Proposition 1, Condon said “as you implement any initiative, the guiding principles need to comply with state and labor laws.”

Finally, Condon said the work that began in the Verner administration, and which was “continued and broadened” under his administration, has made Spokane a national leader in police reform and oversight.

“Who would have ever guessed three years ago that this would have become a national discussion?” he said. “Realize where we are now. We are the second in the nation to have the Justice Department come and review us. We are among the first in the nation to have a citizen’s commission for police oversight, and it is the most independent in the state of Washington.”

The money fight

Both Lichty and Noder recognized their underdog status against Condon.

According to the state Public Disclosure Commission, Lichty has raised about $9,000. Noder has raised nothing. Condon’s hauled in more than $296,000.

Lichty said his fundraising total is “a ridiculous amount of money” and that his administration is more interested in the affluent than the working class.

“In too many branches of government, we are being represented by the upper class, whose policies benefit the upper class,” she said. “Then there’s the rest of us, the 99 percent of us.”

Noder echoed Lichty’s concerns.

“I’m tired of the wealthiest in town getting their fees waived and not the small businesses,” he said. “We have to reverse that.”

Condon defended his fundraising total as a symbol of support from the community for his policies. He added that it was important for a mayor to have the resources to effectively talk to voters about the “issues of the day.”

Noder, who has run for mayor twice before without ever making it through the primary, said he thought his campaign would end Aug. 4, the day of the primary election. Still, he was running to promote “less government, more freedom.”

He also wanted to use his campaign to push Condon to use his mayoralty more aggressively against what he described as overreach by the state and federal governments.

Lichty said not to dismiss the underdog, pointing to Condon’s election four years ago.

“I went into this race with far more name recognition in some circles than he had at this same point,” she said. “Don’t underestimate me. I work hard. I’ve worked hard my whole life. If I have to work three times as hard to go against his big money, I will.”