New Liberty Lake councilman appointed to fill vacancy says he brings curiosity and open mind

The Liberty Lake City Council has appointed its second new council member this year, selecting Jed Spencer to replace councilwoman Jamie Freeze Baird, who moved out of the state in May.

Spencer, who was born and raised in the Spokane area and first moved to Liberty Lake when he was 9, is a vice president at NBS Promos in Liberty Lake. Spencer said he’s looking forward to learning more about how city government works and that he wants to make sure the city makes sound financial decisions.

“I don’t really have an agenda,” he said.

Spencer graduated from Central Valley High School in 1999 and went on a two-year mission to Panama through his church. Upon his return, he attended classes at BYU Idaho before getting married and moving back to the Spokane Valley area in 2004. He moved back inside the Liberty Lake city limits in 2016 and finished his bachelor’s degree in business management from BYU Idaho in 2018.

He’s worked at NBS Promos, which sells branded promotional products, for the past 17 years. His parents founded the company in 1991.

Spencer, who has no previous political experience, first applied for a vacant city council seat earlier this year when former councilman Mike Kennedy stepped down. He was not selected for the seat, but the seed had been sown and he was considering running for election next year, when several city council seats will be up for election.

“I’ve just kind of been interested in politics,” he said. “It thought it might be an interesting opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of government.”

No particular issue sparked his interest, Spencer said, but making sure the city doesn’t incur unnecessary debt is important to him.

“I did hear a lot about the Trailhead capital project,” Spencer said, referring to plans to upgrade and expand the facilities at the city-owned Trailhead Golf Course. “That kind of piqued my interest.”

Spencer said he didn’t expect another chance to be appointed to a vacant council seat, at least not so soon.

“When I was not selected, I stayed in touch with some of the council members and continued to attend council meetings,” he said. “I felt a lot more confident this time around.”

There were several other applicants for the position, including Kennedy, who applied for another council position after stepping down, and Mike Behary, who ran against Freeze Baird when she was first elected to the city council in 2021. Each candidate answered the same questions posed by the council during interviews at the June 8 council meeting.

Kennedy was nominated for the vacant seat by a councilmember, but Spencer was nominated first and the voting went in the order that the candidates were nominated. Spencer received four votes from the six council members, ending the voting.

Spencer said he plans to run in the 2023 election to keep the seat to which he was appointed.