Spokane Valley at crossroads

We are a beautiful city with lots of promise and history. After carving out our independence from neighboring jurisdictions, we have spent several years now blowing up tax-saving regional partnerships on services like garbage, road maintenance, and the caring for our homeless and mentally ill among others.

The current City Council majority’s approach has been to pretend we don’t have people who are homeless, causing nonprofits and even our fire department to unethically ship our homeless into the city of Spokane for them to care for while illegal camps, crime and, worst of all, the number of students in our schools identifying as being homeless rise.

Strong undertones of racism (inappropriate comments, alignment with radical factions and refusing to join a regional coalition of leaders standing against racism, for instance) and cronyism (pre-planned votes and the stifling of public input in council meetings) threaten our future and our core values as a community.

One person who shines above that, demonstrating integrity and a willingness to listen and collaborate is Brandi Peetz. Brandi exhibits the kind of servant-leadership I want in my elected officials and I ask that you please join me in voting for her reelection.

Mark Richard

Spokane Valley