Whitworth Water Commission race draws intense interest (after it didn’t)

What started out as a race with no choices now has more candidates than any race on the November Spokane County ballot.

The contest for Whitworth Water District Position 3 has five candidates. All other races anywhere in the county have one or two choices.

When an elected position has no candidates file for it during the annual May filing week, a special filing week for positions with no candidates is held in August. No one signed up in May. Five did in August. But it’s not because of any perceived issues in the district. The candidates said they just want to help out.

Among those candidates is the incumbent, Lee Legnon, who said he didn’t file in May because the Spokane County Elections Office didn’t notify him of the filing period. Legnon said he did receive a notice the last time he filed to be on the ballot.

“I wasn’t notified that the window was open for registration,” he said.

The first candidate to file for the seat in August, teacher Cynda Weitz said she was shocked when so many other people also filed to run after she did. She said she signed up because nobody else had.

“It seemed like a shame that there was no one signed up for something so important,” she said. “It was a job that needed to be done, and I was willing to do it.”

Weitz said she’s been doing a lot of professional development with science teachers and has had guest speakers in her classroom to talk about the local aquifers, which piqued her interest in issues like water quality.

“This seems like a very important issue,” she said. “I’d like to be involved.”

Dan Byrne, a retired chief financial officer and CEO at local banks, said he heard about the water district position from an email sent out by the Republican Party listing all the positions without candidates. He said he thought his financial experience could be useful on the board.

“I’d like to be able to help them out,” he said. “I’ve got a vast amount of financial background. Whitworth has done a really good job, in my opinion.”

Bodee Maxwell, a retired chemical engineer, said she heard about the water district seat from her daughter and said it seemed like a good fit because she had always been interested in protecting the environment.

The fifth candidate, Kristen Ross, did not respond to requests for an interview. She also has not submitted information to Spokane County’s election guide.

Legnon, who formerly worked in cyber security, was first appointed to a vacant seat on the Whitworth Water District board in 2021.

“I really enjoy my position working with the other commissioners and district leadership team,” he said.

Growth is the biggest issue in the water district right now, Legnon said, noting new developments going in near Costco and the YMCA. The district also has been working to replace aging water mains.

A big project in recent years has been the Little Spokane River Water Supply Resiliency Project. The district sits above two aquifers, the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer and the Little Spokane River Aquifer. Withdrawals from the Little Spokane River Aquifer lower stream flows in the river and create water shortage issues, so the resiliency project was created to dig new wells and put in several miles of pipe to pump water from the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer to the Little Spokane area.

Legnon said the project is mostly complete, though the district’s website was a couple years out of date as of early October.

“It’s sort of ongoing,” he said.

Maxwell said she’s disappointed that the district’s website hasn’t been updated about the project because she would like recent information.

“Getting information to people is crucial,” she said. “It doesn’t cost a lot of money to update. It would be nice to have project updates.”

Byrne said he was at a recent board meeting where a wetlands regulation issue that has stalled part of the project was discussed.

“They seem confident they’ll get the approval,” he said.

It’s important that the district has a plan for how to deal with the growth in the area, Legnon said.

“Dealing with population growth is a big issue for us,” he said. “It just seems like the district is involved in so many different things.”

Byrne said the district has handled growth well.

“We seem to be a little bit ahead of the growth factors,” he said. “From what I can tell, people are responsive and helpful.”

Maxwell, however, said that she’s not aware of any long-term growth plan looking forward 10, 20 or 50 years and would like to see one.

“I don’t see a long-term vision as far as how do we sustain growth,” she said. “The worst thing is to be reactionary.”

Legnon said that when he first joined the board, it took about six months to get up to speed, and he would anticipate any other new member having the same learning curve.

“If I’m re-elected, we won’t miss a beat,” he said. “I’ll continue to provide seamless leadership without requiring that ramp-up time. I’ve already got my hands in the middle of all those projects. It’s a lot to understand.”

He said he’s not surprised that so many other people filed for what appeared to be a vacant seat in August.

“They saw an open position and jumped on it,” he said.

Byrne said he’s not actively campaigning for the seat.

“If I get the position, I’ll help out,” he said. “They have an incumbent who appears to be well-liked.”

Weitz said that while she isn’t actively campaigning, she’d like the opportunity to serve on the water district board because she’s been looking for a way to be more involved in her community as her children leave home.

“Whitworth Water District has some of the cheapest water and some of the best water,” she said. “I’d like to be a part of that.”

Maxwell said she’s been visiting with people in her neighborhood about the position and hopes she can work on the board.

“I’m in things for the long haul,” she said.