Three men nominated for possible appointment as Spokane County treasurer

The next Spokane County treasurer will be one of two men with years of experience in the county treasurers office or a retired colonel who recently concluded a 35-year career in the U.S. Army largely specialized in high-level contracting and acquisitions.

Chief Deputy Treasurer and state Rep. Mike Volz, treasurer’s office employee John Christina and Army veteran Robert Miceli were nominated by the Spokane County GOP on Saturday after a five -hour marathon session of speeches and numerous rounds of votes.

Republican Rep. Michael Baumgartner vacated the treasurer’s office earlier this month for his newly elected position in Congress. State law requires the outgoing incumbent’s affiliated county party, in this case the Spokane County GOP, to nominate three candidates to the County Commission to appoint their successor.

Eight candidates applied and were vetted by party officials.

Regardless of who is appointed by the commission, the position will be up for a public election later this year. The winner in the November general election will hold the position through the end of Baumgartner’s term at the end of 2026.

Volz was the first candidate to gain majority support from the party. He has served as the second-in-command in the treasurer’s office since 2011 and for seven years as state representative of the 6th Legislative District, which includes Airway Heights and much of the West Plains, areas north of Spokane and portions of the city’s North Side, including Indian Trail and Hillyard.

Volz highlighted his work ethic, noting that during the legislative session he works upwards of 100 hours per week between his two jobs. He pointed to the complexity of the office’s duties and his wealth of experience both doing the job and winning elections, noting that the election for the treasurer’s seat would begin in earnest in just a couple months.

“Everybody on the list (for appointment) is a good Republican; there’s no question about that,” Volz said before highlighting the elections he had won previously, including a 2016 race when he was significantly outspent by his opponent.

Volz pledged Saturday to resign his seat in the state Legislature if he is selected as county treasurer, though he would serve the remainder of the year.

Christina has worked in the treasurer’s office from 2015 to 2020 as a finance deputy focused on investments and was recently hired back in the same capacity. He served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, including as chief financial officer for three separate Air Force installations, and went to work in government financial management after retiring from the military, including a stint as Chief Financial Officer for Spokane Regional Health District.

He has served in various positions in the local Republican Party for decades, including as the secretary and state committeeman, and was described by one of the precinct committee officers who nominated him as someone who had long supported “candidates outside of the political class who opposed globalism over 30 years ago – he just didn’t have a MAGA hat.”

Christina had one of the shortest speeches of the morning, highlighting changing accounting software in the office and a need to prepare for upcoming retirements and arguing that the county treasurer should lobby the Legislature for reduced taxes.

Miceli was the dark horse of the afternoon, having relatively little prior involvement in the party or local government but the clear favorite following the two men who currently work in the treasurer’s office.

During his speech to the county party, Miceli spoke of his roots in the community, graduating from University High School in 1988 and meeting his wife while enrolled in Gonzaga University’s ROTC program. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1992 and began his military career as an armor officer, later moving to various contracting and acquisition roles.

In 2018, he was made chief of staff for U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and in 2019 was selected as the deputy director of contracting for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers focused on then-President Donald Trump’s border wall initiative. He later served as deputy commander for overseas operations with U.S. Army Contracting Command and retired from military service in October.

“I am guided by the values of character, integrity and personal courage,” he told the county GOP on Saturday. “And I have witnessed firsthand the consequences when we fail to uphold those values…I have seen unqualified individuals placed in significant positions despite merit, performance and accountability, and like many of you, I have felt those burdens that are left behind.”