Incumbent Medical Lake councilwoman stands by sheriff’s contract; challenger open to forming police department

The two candidates for position 2 on the Medical Lake City Council agree the city’s fire department needs paid staff, but they disagree on how to provide law enforcement to the town.

Incumbent Elizabeth Rosenbeck, 54, aims to retain her seat on City Council against candidate John Merrick. She was appointed to the council in 2016 to fill the late Howard Jorgensen’s position.

“I want to be involved is really the bottom line,” she said. “I’ve lived in Medical Lake for 17 years. I’ve enjoyed it and I want to give back.”

Both candidates want to make the downtown area enjoyable for locals and hospitable for new businesses.

“I would love for more businesses to come in,” Rosenbeck said. “I’m not sure what it’s going to take to do that.”

Re*imagine Medical Lake – a group that promotes the city’s business environment – is implementing ways to spark business interest in the city, which Rosenbeck would like to see continue.

Her opponent, John Merrick, 45, said if the city wants to promote economic growth, officials might start with the vacant buildings around town.

“We can’t bring businesses in if all the other buildings look run down,” he said. “Businesses don’t want to come in and have that run-down business as their neighbor.”

Rosenbeck said there’s a group of people that feel the city is run down with a lot of dilapitated buildings, but that’s an exaggeration.

“We don’t have an ugly looking city. There are a lot of vacancies that could be filled with businesses,” she said. “Most buildings are owned by private people, and it’s up to them to clean up and make them marketable.”

Both candidates want to upgrade the Medical Lake Fire Department from its all-volunteer status, by hiring a new fire chief at the very least.

“I would like to see a full-time fire chief and possibly an assistant,” Rosenbeck said. “But, it’s all dependent on the (city’s) budget and how we can swing that.”

Rosenbeck said she would like to research possible options for the fire department’s future with help of current volunteers.

Merrick said hiring a new fire chief is within the city’s means if they re-evaluate priorities of existing resources.

While Merrick is open to renegotiating Medical Lake’s contract with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Rosenbeck opposes creating a full-time police force in the city.

Doug Ross, the city administrator for Medical Lake, said the contract is worth $890,000 and pays for four and a half officers to patrol the area.

“I am a strong supporter of the Spokane Sheriff’s department contract, and I think we get really good service,” Rosenbeck said.

Medical Lake doesn’t have the resources to man their own police department because of budget constraints, Rosenbeck said.

“I know we can’t afford to bring back the Medical Lake Police Department,” she said. “We’re likely to run into the same issues before.”

Medical Lake had an independent police force until the city council opted to contract with the sheriff’s office for law enforcement in 2009. The town struggled to keep the department staffed because many other departments paid better, Rosenbeck said.

Merrick said he wants to meet with all parties involved and really understand the costs and benefits associated with restarting the Medical Lake Police Department. Merrick said he wouldn’t want to make a decision yet, but in two years when the contract is renegotiated.

Merrick said negotiations with the sheriff’s office might include ensuring at least one deputy is in town at all times.

“We’ve got to have more coverage, not huge coverage,” he said. “We are a large enough town that we need to have someone in town 24/7.”

Merrick said he hopes to start conversations about projects to increase the city’s revenue such as a community composting facility, a dog park and a splash pad, some of which might bring in new revenue.

“If other people have ideas,” he said, “I’m willing to look at those two, anything that will bring money into the city.”