First new mayor of Millwood in over a decade will be one of two serving city council members

Two Millwood City Council members are hoping to take the next step in their town’s hierarchy this November.

Patent agent Shaun Culler, a member of the council for 17 years, and Washington State University health researcher Shawna Beese, a two-term councilwoman, are vying to be the next mayor of Millwood. Incumbent Kevin Freeman has not filed for re-election after 12 years at the helm.

Millwood, which is hemmed in on three sides by the city of Spokane Valley and the Spokane River to the north, is one of the smallest municipalities in the county. The decision between the two candidates, who both have established roots in the small town, is in the hands of just 1,389 registered voters.

Culler, 45, is a third-generation resident of Millwood who joined Colby Nipper, a law firm specializing in patents, in 2009 after spending eight years as an electrical engineer and design lead at General Dynamics, formerly Itronix. He hopes to advance the economic health of the city, local businesses and residents while maintaining Millwood’s character.

There are a few factors that contributed to Culler’s decision to seek the top job, he said.

“Kevin is stepping down, we’re wrapping up the Argonne (road) project,” Culler said. “And I feel like we need to work on the city’s commercial districts, businesses.”

Beese, 51, spent 20 years in private health care before earning her doctorate in nursing from Washington State University in 2023. The lifelong resident of Millwood is now an assistant professor of rural health promotion for her alma mater in the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. She said she was encouraged to run by several community members, mulled it over and decided it was an opportunity she could not pass up.

“These are my neighbors. This is my community,” Beese said. “Whether I was an elected official or not, I’m always going to be supremely interested in the reality of the people who are closest to me.”

Beese’s seat on the council also is up for election this year, and state law prohibits a candidate from appearing twice on the same ballot. That means Beese will not have the same opportunity to return to her council role that Culler does if she is unsuccessful.

The candidates said Millwood’s unique charm and character must be maintained, but they have different visions for the town’s path forward.

Millwood’s role as a water purveyor was addressed at length by both Beese and Culler in interviews last week.

Beese believes one of the more pressing issues on the horizon regionally, and by extension Millwood, is water security. She said local water districts are facing challenges in serving their customers, and she’d like to formulate a plan that ensures Millwood’s users are protected well into the future.

One example would be the recent agreement between Airway Heights and Spokane to ensure West Plains residents have access to clean drinking water following the PFAS continuation stemming from Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport. Beese expects more jurisdictions to look upstream to secure water from other districts as the region continues to grow.

“I would like us to do more than just the mandated planning and really rise this up as one of our top issues because it’s the one that impacts our citizens the most,” Beese. “They go to their faucet, we’re the ones that have to provide the water. And they want good and clean and affordable water, and so that is going to require comprehensive strategic planning beyond what we’ve done before.”

Culler agrees that thoughtful planning regarding Millwood as a water purveyor is needed. He does not expect increased demand pressures within city limits because of the lack of available space to develop within its borders, but there are other water districts in need. He would like to develop agreements to wholesale some water while maintaining the rights, in order to help keep costs low for customers and defray the costs of upcoming repairs.

Much of Millwood’s system is through cast -iron pipes that are aging out and will need to be replaced, Culler said. Wholesaling water to a neighboring jurisdiction could help fund that infrastructure work, he said.

“If we don’t wholesale water to other districts, it’s going to get more expensive on us,” Culler said. “We’re facing millions of dollars in infrastructure costs.”

Culler said his focus, if elected, would be on addressing inflation, taxes and utility fees for Millwood residents. He’s interested in loosening the town’s requirements for things like parking and interior square footage to encourage more mixed-use development to help keep those costs low by growing the user and tax bases.

With its borders less than a mile from each other, Culler said Millwood needs to be efficient with development. The changes would also help Millwood stay competitive locally, he said.

“The city of Spokane, they don’t have any parking restrictions anymore,” Culler said. “So if you’re a developer looking to fund a development of a building, if you get 20% more leasable space, where are you gonna go?”

Culler said he supports establishing a public development authority for the town’s main commercial stretch, as well as shared parking lots for the businesses there. The left -turn lanes being added to Argonne Road through that stretch should make it easier to access those businesses, he added.

Beese sees a need for stability and transparency within Millwood’s government. She said there has been some staff turnover that she would like to get to the root of, and that town residents feel there is a lack of communication from city leaders. She said the Argonne project is a good example; some Millwood business owners felt the city failed to engage with them as it moved through City Hall.

Increasing public involvement in Millwood’s government is something she’s championed as a councilwoman, she said, pointing to her support of procedural changes for the council that implemented a two-touch rule. Now, when the council is briefed publicly about a matter, they do not vote on it until a later meeting to allow time for more public feedback.

“Sometimes even six sets of eyes, you know, the mayor and the five city council members, is insufficient,” Beese said. “… Citizens have brought forward some very substantive things that we didn’t pick up on.”

Culler agrees that a healthy Millwood City Hall starts with an engaged public. Millwood City Council only meets once a month, and he would like to ensure council meeting agendas are posted with more advance notice, and in more dynamic ways, to encourage as much public involvement as possible.

“If we just started posting stuff throughout the month, maybe more people chime in on it,” Culler said.