Council races in Spokane, Spokane Valley draw primary challenges
Spokane voters throughout the city will have primary decisions to make this summer after positions in all three council districts filled up on the last day candidates could file for office.
Spokane Valley and Medical Lake also have primary races for city positions, as do some school districts, including Spokane Public Schools.
South Spokane voters have a four-way primary after Bruce Vonada and Andy Dunau filed for the District 2 seat. They join a race that includes appointed incumbent Breean Beggs and health care consultant Tony Kiepe.
Vonada, 69, is a retiree who said he’s “done just about everything,” including teaching and working as an airline pilot. He lived in Spokane for a while in the 1960s and returned in 1989. He decided to run after his wife told him to stop complaining about the council and “go do something about it.”
“In general, I find them pretty embarrassing,” said Vonada. It’s his first run for office in Spokane, although he did run unsuccessfully for city council in Walla Walla in the 1970s, he added.
Dunau, 57, is a former member of the Spokane Park Board who runs Dunau Associates, a communications consulting firm. The company manages three small nonprofit organizations, including the Spokane River Forum, and Dunau serves as executive director of all three.
He described himself as a fiscal independent who supports infrastructure projects, and said the city needs streets, water and parks to make it a place where people want to grow a business and raise a family.
Brian Burrow, 38, a project manager with Avista Utilities who has lived in Spokane most of his life, filed for the Council District 3 seat in northwest Spokane. He’s a member of the PRIDE Prep charter school board, and has been active in Greater Spokane Inc., Leadership Spokane and the city’s Citizens Financial Advisory Committee.
Burrow said he has spent years getting to know the needs of local business.
He contends the council has spent too much time “sidetracked by ideas that don’t necessarily make sense and even create hardships for our small business owners.”
He will run in the primary against incumbent Candace Mumm and Matthew Howes, co-owner of Adelo’s Pizza, Pasta and Pints.
Northeast Spokane’s Council District 1 primary features Tim Benn, who owns a child care facility with his wife; retired university instructor Kathryn Alexander; and legislative aide Kate Burke.
The top two vote-getters in each primary race face off in the November general election. Races with only one or two candidates will be on the November ballot as well.
Some local districts didn’t attract any candidates for positions scheduled for this year’s ballot. The town of Latah has five positions with no candidates when filing closed Friday, as did several fire districts, water districts and Liberty Lake Sewer District. The Spokane County Elections office will schedule a special filing period for positions with no candidates.
Spokane County Superior Court
Position 6: Tony Hazel, Jocelyn Cook, J. Scott Miller
7th Legislative District
Senate: Shelly Short, Karen Hardy
House: Jacquelin Maycumber, Susan Swanson
Spokane
Council District 1: Kate Burke, Kathryn Alexander, Tim Benn
Council District 2: Breean Beggs, Tony Kiepe, Bruce Vonada, Andy Dunau
Council District 3: Matthew Howes, Candace Mumm, Brian Burrow
Municipal Court 1: Tracy Arlene Staab
Municipal Court 2: Mary Logan
Municipal Court 3: Michelle Szambelan
Spokane Valley
Council Position 1: Chris Jackson, Al Merkel, Rod Higgins
Council Position 2: Brandi Peetz, J. Caleb Collier
Council Position 4: Ben Wick, Ed Pace
Council Position 5: Pamela Haley, Robert (Rocky) Samson, Ingemar (Lloyd) Woods, Tanner Emerson, Angie Beem
Council Position 7: Linda (Hatcher) Thompson, Mike Munch
Airway Heights
Council Position 1: Kevin Richey
Council Position 2: Steven Lawrence
Council Position 4: Jared Lacambra, James Weathers
Council Position 5: Doyle Inman
Cheney
Mayor: Chris Grover
Council Position 1: Paul Schmidt, Tim Gainer
Council Position 3: John Taves
Council Position 4: Teresa Overhauser
Deer Park
Mayor: Robert Whisman. Tim Verzal
Council Position 1: Mary Babb
Council Position 3: Richard Schut
Fairfield
Mayor: KayDee Gilkey, Derek Knecht
Council Position 1: Melissa Lunsford, Angela Warner-Harvey
Council Position 2: Darcie Sainsbury
Liberty Lake
Council Position 2: Hugh Severs
Council Position 4: Odin Langford, Jeanette Nall
Council Position 6: Mike Kennedy, Dylan McGuire
Medical Lake
Mayor: Shirley Maike, Laura Parsons, Mikeal Suniga
Council Position 1: John Paikuli
Council Position 2: Monica Manza, John Merrick, Elizabeth Rosenbeck
Council Position 3: Arthur Burton
Council Position 4: Destiny Stein, Tony Harbolt, Don Kennedy
Council Position 5: Gary Plumlee, Michael Deeley, Theodore Olson
Millwood
Mayor: Jay Molitor, Kevin Freeman
Council Position 1: Shawna Beese
Council Position 2: Daniel Sander, Mary Kate McLaughlan
Rockford
Mayor: Carrie Roecks
Council Position 1: Timothy Fricke
Council Position 2: Brian Laude
Spangle
Council Position 1: Ron Cockle
Council Position 2: Rebecca Johnson
Council Position 5: Steven Anderson
Waverly
Mayor: Paul Curtis, William Tensfeld
Council Position 1: Lori Stark, Kim Billington
Council Position 2: Joel Martensen
Council Position 4: Alexander Fuchs, Devin Billington
Council Position 5: Bree Killstrom
School districts
Spokane – Position 2: Deana Brower; Position 5: Mike Wiser, Miranda Ackerman, Jennifer Muroya Thomas, Jessica Yocom
Central Valley– District 2: Tom Dingus; District 5: Camilla Kane, Mysti Reneau
Cheney – District 1: Marcie Estrellado; District 2: Suzanne Dolle
Deer Park – District 2: Brad Erickson; District 3: Joanne Greer
East Valley – District 3: Justin Voelker, Nathaniel Rooney; District 4: Fred Helms, Emily Provencio; District 5: Mike Novakovich
Freeman – District 2: Ed Cashmere; District 4: Neil Fuchs Jr.
Great Northern – Position 1: Ken Pegg; Position 3: John Pegg; Position 4: Lynn Schaff; Position 5: Mary Patrick
Liberty – District 2: Chad Denny; District 3: Chad Cornmesser; District 4: Scott Simmons
Mead – District 1: Chad Burchard; District 5: Carmen Green
Medical Lake – District 1: Leo Spilker, Kelly Fouts; District 5: Peggy Schweikhardt
Nine Mile Falls – Position 4: Vicki Daggy, Kyle Yancey; Position 5: Greg Flemming
Newport – District 1: Rick Hughes
Orchard Prairie – Position 2: Suzanne Savall
Riverside – District 1: Gary Vanderholm; District 2: Jon Roman, Scott Ellsworth; District 5: Brandi Maynard
Reardan-Edwall – Position 1: Simon Butterfield; Position 3, Nick Landt; Position 4: Ian Wagner
Rosalia – District 4: Raymond Anderson
St. John – District 1: Shantyl McGuire; At-Large Position: Kelli Melhus
Tekoa – District 2: Mary Marsh; District 3: Shane Monroy; District 5: Fran Martin, Brandon VanDalsen
West Valley – District 1: Dan Hansen, Gerald Rosenbaum; District 2: Robert Dompier, Keith Acord; District 5: Pam McLeod
Fire districts
Spokane Valley – Position 1: Patrick Burch, Stan Chalich; Position 5: William Anderson, Larry Rider
FD 3 – Position 3: Howard Marsh
FD4 – Position 3: Jack Hensley
FD5 – Position 3: Larry Edmonds
FD8 – Position 3: Gregory Hesse
FD9 – Position 1: Thomas McGarry
FD10 – Position 3:, Scott Mericle
FD13 – Position 2: Teresa Phelps; Position 3: Kathleen Small
Water districts
East Spokane – Position 1: Ed Peck
Four Lakes – Position 3: Scott Rushing Sr.
Irwin – Position 2: David Bennett
Spokane County 3 – Position 2: Kevin McMulkin, Nathan Jeffries; Position 3: Mary Wissink
Strathview – Position 1: Bonnie Stimson
Valley of the Horses – Position 1: Tony Teeters
Whitworth – Position 1: Jean Pond, Rick Koller; Position 2: Steve Irwin, Dave Tewel
Cemetery districts
Elk – Position 3: Rob Culp
Milan – Position 3: Pete Munk
Moran – Position 3: Jennifer Pollack Gill
Waverly – Position 1: Helda Fuchs; Position 2: Evelyn Heinevetter
West Greenwood – Position 3: Donald Hyslop
Sewer districts
Williams Lake – Position 2, Mark Kimm
Park districts
Rosalia – Position 3: Becky Quincy; Position 4: Piper Dickinson, Shelly Beach; Position 5: Roberta Messinger