Spokane Valley elects Laura Padden as mayor, Hattenburg as deputy

Spokane Valley has a new mayor.

Laura Padden is replacing Councilwoman Pam Haley in her role as mayor in Spokane Valley after receiving four votes from her fellow council members during a council meeting on Tuesday night.

Every two years, Spokane Valley’s City Council votes on who will serve as mayor and deputy mayor for the next year. Spokane Valley has a city manager form of government, and the council votes to select one of its own to fill the role of mayor, who runs the weekly council meetings and also fills a ceremonial role.

There were three nominations for mayor during the council meeting: Councilman Tim Hattenburg nominated Haley, Councilwoman Jessica Yaeger nominated Padden and Councilman Ben Wick nominated himself.

Padden, Councilman Al Merkel, Councilman Mike Kelly and Councilwoman Jessica Yaeger voted for Padden as the Valley’s mayor for the next two years. Councilman Ben Wick voted for himself, while Hattenburg and Haley voted for Haley.

Tuesday was Kelly’s first time on the dais as a councilman.

“I’m really excited and pleased,” Padden said.

Padden wasn’t surprised by the votes, she said, even though she didn’t do too much campaigning for herself.

“I’ve been involved in politics for years, I’ve learned the ropes now and have been very interested and learned a lot more about the city. I think I can do some things and I have some ideas, so I want to give it a shot,” Padden said.

Her role as mayor was something Padden has recently discussed with her husband, Mike Padden, who was a Republican Washington state senator from 2011 to 2025.

“He’s supportive and he’s also very aware,” Padden said. “He knows what it takes.”

Hattenburg was voted to be re-elected deputy mayor by Haley, Padden, Yaeger, and Kelly. Merkel nominated Wick to be elected deputy mayor, but only he and Wick voted for the nomination.

Hattenburg said the votes for mayor and deputy mayor did not surprise him.

“It was leaning that way,” Hattenburg said. “I was consulted by both the candidates for mayor and they said they’d like me to be deputy mayor.”

During her comments at the end of the meeting, Padden said that the Valley’s biggest challenge is the state of Washington and “their continuing efforts to usurp functionality and power that is best left to local level decision making.” Padden also mentioned the Valley’s challenges in housing costs and home ownership, but said the city has had great business successes in projects like the Course and Dave and Busters, both of which recently were built.

Padden is serving her second term on the Spokane Valley City Council and was first elected in November 2021. In her most recent election against Brad Hohn, Padden garnered over 62% of Valley votes.

Padden, 72, has a bachelor’s degree in political science and administration and a computer science bachelor’s degree. She is a Spokane native. She and Mike Padden have five sons and four grandkids.

After the vote, Haley said she was a little relieved by the results, particularly since she recently finished rehabilitation after having a heart attack earlier this year.

Haley was first elected as mayor in 2022 and has been on the council since 2016. Haley also served as deputy mayor in 2018. If she had been selected as mayor again this year, she would have been the longest serving mayor in the history of Spokane Valley.

Yaeger, Padden and Hattenburg thanked Haley for everything she did during her time as mayor.

“We’ll still be team players,” Hattenburg said, smiling.