Only one challenger for Liberty Lake council seats

If you count the mayor, there are five positions up for election on the eight-member Liberty Lake City Council.

But only one position is contested.

Former councilman Josh Beckett is challenging incumbent Dan Dunne. Mayor Steve Peterson and council members Bob Moore, Shane Brickner and Cris Kaminskas are running unopposed.

A little more than 8,000 people live in Liberty Lake. The town boomed in the early 2000s as high-tech companies located there, bringing with them a well-educated citizenry.

Dunne has been on the City Council since 2012, and he was on the planning commission prior to that. Dunne came to Liberty Lake from Seattle for a job opportunity and has lived there for 12 years.

He said making the construction of two baseball fields in the middle of the city possible is one of his biggest accomplishments as a council member.

“The fields are here because of a groundswell of volunteers who helped out,” Dunne said, noting that a collaboration between the city and the Central Valley School District also was important for the project.

Dunne said the roads and streets of Liberty Lake are excellent and that the city is a “very safe and incredibly well run municipality.”

If he’s elected, Dunne would like to push ahead with the construction of a new recreation center.

“We would need to pass a bond in 2016 to fund that facility,” Dunne said. “That’s a very important and strategic reinvestment in our community.”

Beckett did not return phone calls or emails requesting an interview.