Lone competitive Medical Lake City Council race features two newcomers to politics, and one new to town

A race for Medical Lake City Council features two political newcomers, a U.S. Army veteran turned tradesman and a real estate professional who operates a children’s boutique.

Heath Wilbur, 48, and Kathleen Morse, 62, are vying for an open seat on the town’s governing board after incumbent Don Kennedy opted not to run for re-election.

Wilbur spent five years in the Army as a mechanic, command staff orderly and maintenance manager before retiring in 2015 to spend more time with his family. He said his two special needs sons were transitioning into middle school, and he stepped aside to assist his wife, Suzanne Wilbur, with what can be “a lot of work for just one parent.”

The family landed in Medical Lake, where both of his sons attended school and graduated with their high school diplomas. Now, Wilbur is hoping to give back to the community his family has called home for years as an elected official.

“It’s our job to make sure that the town’s running smoothly so people have those opportunities to develop culture, or community,” Wilbur said. “If the city isn’t running well, if it looks like a ghost town, or the city leaders have a feeling of us against them, the people will know. That’s something I hope to help avoid.”

Morse is the owner of the European Child, a boutique children’s shop that opened in Medical Lake last fall. She’s worked in real estate for years, including in title insurance and escrow, as a certified agent in Washington and Idaho, and as a photographer, with her work split between Seattle and Coeur d’Alene.

Morse opened the European Child in the heart of the town’s business district at the tail end of 2024. The specialty boutique offers a cultivated selection of imported children’s clothing and equipment, and is the second iteration of a business Morse managed in the Puget Sound years ago. She said the success of the town’s business community is what has motivated her to run for office.

“The bottom line is that I have a home here, I have a business here, and I love Medical Lake,” Morse said. “I want a healthy downtown business district, I don’t want vacant buildings.”

Morse is frank about sharing she’s a new arrival in Medical Lake and maintains she is in compliance with state law regarding eligibility for public office.

In an August 2024 interview with The Spokesman-Review before her shop opened, Morse said she lived on a farm in Nine Mile Falls. The Medical Lake home she listed in order to run for office was purchased by Morse in June 2024, according to property records.

State law dictates that a candidate must have permanent residency and be a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which they are running for office. It further establishes that a candidate needs to have lived in the jurisdiction for at least a year prior. Morse said she reviewed the statutes and checked in at Medical Lake City Hall prior to filing to ensure she was in compliance.

Morse called Medical Lake her “adopted town,” and said that she lives in the house full-time. The fixer-upper was part of a few investments she made in town after receiving a large inheritance. She also owns the building featuring her shop and an empty lot in the town’s borders she plans to use as a staging area for construction projects nearby. Medical Lake, decimated by wildfire in 2023, is abound with opportunities as it rebuilds, she said.

“I’m all in, I plan on dying here,” Morse said. “… I have plans to buy buildings and do this and do that, so I’m all in. I’m never leaving.”

The two candidates agree that economic development in Medical Lake should prioritize mom-and-pop shops, and have each backed a vacant property ordinance implemented by the current council more than a year ago.

Morse said the ordinance is doing wonders for Medical Lake’s business district, but that there’s more work to be done to transform the area while preserving the “small-town USA feel.”

The ordinance requires property owners to register their vacant buildings, post information on how to buy or lease the property and inspections from code enforcement officers to identify needed work in order to occupy it, so that information can later be passed on to prospective tenants or owners. The ordinance also carries associated fines that can increase the longer a building is vacant and an owner is out of compliance.

While acknowledging she’s not up to speed on current efforts in City Hall, Morse said she believes more could be done to drive visitors to Medical Lake year-round so new businesses can thrive. She does not have concrete suggestions for what that driving force could be, but suggested exploring ways to take advantage of the recreational opportunities in the region like the local lakes.

“I don’t know what it would look like,” Morse said. “Being an outsider, I’m bringing outside ideas, that people may lose their mind or whatever.”

In addition to encouraging more visitors year-round, Morse would like to see an expansion of the local events that attract folks for a few weekends each year, like concerts by the lake and the farmers market. She would also like to lend her expertise in real estate to weigh in on land-use decisions as more housing goes up on the West Plains.

“Being a Realtor, you think I’m all for development,” Morse said. “I’m actually not. I don’t like subdivisions. Personally, I like old, quaint communities.”

As a tradesman and full-time student at Eastern Washington University studying urban planning and development, Wilbur believes his background will be an asset in City Hall. The town needs thoughtful planning as it grows, whether it’s around expanding the local sewer system, road maintenance, housing or public transportation, he said.

If elected, Wilbur said one of his guiding philosophies will be “working for the people, not corporations.” He’s against having chains open up in the small town, and would rather see local businesses take advantage of available space. He’s in favor of the ordinance, and said he would support bolstering it to include annual increases in property taxes for absentee owners.

“I want to see positive growth in the city, not stagnation,” Wilbur said. “So locally owned businesses, not larger franchises, corporations coming in.”

Wilbur added that he would also advocate for more opportunities for teens and young adults in Medical Lake, whether it’s an internship program in collaboration with the local school district and business community, or the city standing up those opportunities as well. Wilbur pointed to the recent gift of Waterfront Park from the state to the city, following multiple decades of the city leasing the property, saying that the city could organize a program in which local youth oversee snack sales and recreation rentals to visitors.

“I’d really like to introduce programs like that, and maybe see if we can get any type of grants where we can pay these young people,” Wilbur said. “So they can develop these personal relationships, empathy, and gain some new job experience where they otherwise might not be able to.”

Wilbur’s interest in opportunities for local youth extends to parks and recreation, he said. He would like to explore the idea of creating a rec center in the small town, which could generate revenue for the city and help foster a sense of community.

Morse’s campaign is centered almost entirely around economic development and advocating for the business district, but she said she looks forward to the opportunity to learn more about the city’s challenges, programs and current efforts. If elected, she’d hope to preserve Medical Lake’s character while promoting growth.

“It’s a new world to me, but, ultimately, I just want the very best for this town in all aspects,” Morse said. “I’d like it to look good. I’d like it to be safe. I’d like all the things that people want, you know what I mean? And to keep it smalltown-USA.”

Wilbur said he wants to focus on all the technical aspects and planning that go into ensuring a small town thrives, spanning public safety, transit, solid waste and wastewater systems, housing and economic development. He said his studies have prepared him well to be part of the planning behind the many facets of local government, and he hopes his bid for office encourages other local residents to get involved with shaping the community they live in.

“I thought to myself, if I want to see these changes, I should probably step up and be here for the people,” Wilbur said.