Candidates give voters a choice at deadline
Two more city council positions contested as filing period ends
Two city council incumbents in Spokane County face challengers who declared their intent to run for office Friday, the last day to file.
Spokane Valley Councilman Rod Higgins will again face Linda J. Thompson, who he beat in a coin toss in February for a vacant seat, while Spokane Councilwoman Amber Waldref will be opposed by Mark Hamilton, whose city residency is disputed.
Spokane Valley City Council used the coin because the remaining council was split 3-3 in choosing Brenda Grassel’s replacement after she resigned from the Position 1 seat.
On Friday, Thompson, 59, forced a rematch that will be decided by voters this fall. Thompson filed for the seat Friday. She is the executive director of the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council.
Higgins, 70, retired director of the International Society of Mine Safety Professionals, filed earlier in the week.
Friday was the last day of candidate filing at the Spokane County Elections Office.
In other filings, DeeDee Loberg jumped into what is now a three-way primary race for the Position 4 Valley council seat.
Loberg, 49, was elected two years ago as director of the Washington State PTA. She ran for City Council two years ago and lost.
Loberg faces incumbent Councilman Gary Schimmels and a second challenger, Ed Pace.
Schimmels, 74, is former owner of a locksmith business. Pace, 66, worked in the electronics industry and is the pastor of caring ministries at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Spokane Valley.
For Position 5, incumbent Councilman Chuck Hafner is now facing an opponent in Don Morgan Jr., 28, a newcomer to Spokane Valley politics.
Hafner, 81, is a retired school administrator.
In Spokane, Hamilton filed on Friday to run against incumbent Waldref in District 1 in northeast Spokane.
Hamilton, 60, listed 217 E. Pacific Ave. as his address, but there have been questions about whether he has lived there for a full year as required by city law.
He is the pastor of the former Spokane Christian Fellowship, now called 1Body Ministries, and a real estate broker.
Waldref, 36, is a neighborhood advocate with extensive involvement in environmental and community issues.
Elsewhere in the region, three candidates have filed for an unexpired term for the state Senate seat in the 7th Legislative District in Northeast Washington.
The incumbent, Sen. John Smith, of Colville, will face fellow Republicans Mike Brunson, of Springdale, and Brian Dansel, of Republic.
Smith, 40, a farmer, was appointed to replace retiring Sen. Bob Morton last January.
Dansel, 30, is a Ferry County commissioner. Brunson, 57, has been politically active in recent years.
Candidates
Here is a list of candidates filing for local office in Spokane County. They will appear on the ballot this fall.
Airway Heights City Council
Position 1, Patrick D. Rushing
Position 2, Jack Collins, Steven Lawrence
Position 4, Tanya Dashiell
Position 6, Doyle M. Inman
Cheney mayor
Tom Trulove
Cheney City Council
Position 1, Fred Pollard, Chris Grover
Position 3, Dan Hilton, John Taves
Position 4, Teresa Overhauser
Deer Park mayor
Robert D. Whisman
Deer Park City Council
Position 1, Mary Babb
Position 3, Tim Verzal, Lucy Harmon
Fairfield mayor
KayDee Gilkey
Fairfield Town Council
Position 1, Emily Thomas, Harry Gibbons
Position 2, Alene Felgenhauer, John Jesseph
Latah mayor
Charisma (Chari) Conklin, Douglas Arnold
Latah Town Council
Position 1, Patricia Neumann, Melanie Meagher
Position 2, Teresa Galvin, Larry La Bolle, Dan Keller
Position 3, Yvonne Warren, Gary Greenwalt
Position 4, Steven (Steve) Leitz
Liberty Lake City Council
Position 1, Lori Olander, Debbi J. Haskins
Position 2, Jeff Sitton, Hugh Severs
Position 4, Odin Langford, Mike Tedesco
Position 6, Keith Kopelson
Medical Lake mayor
John Higgins, Mikeal Suniga
Medical Lake City Council
Position 1, Brenda Redell, Chris Stein
Position 2, Shirley Maike, Donald B. Kennedy
Position 3, Arthur (AJ) Burton
Position 4, Destiny Stein
Millwood mayor
Kevin M. Freeman, Dennis Hamlin
Millwood City Council
Position 1, Richard Schoen
Position 2, Daniel (Dan) Sander
Rockford mayor
Micki L. Harnois, Steve Meyer
Rockford City Council
Position 1, David Thompson, Steven Lyle Christman
Position 2, Carrie Roecks
Position 5, Larry Van Every, Chuck Collison, Robert Tollefson
Spangle Town Council
Position 2, Ralph Sunwold
Spokane Municipal Court
Judge 1, Tracy Arlene Staab
Judge 2, Mary C. Logan
Judge 3, Michelle “Shelley” Szambelan
Spokane City Council
District 1, Amber Waldref, Mark Hamilton
District 2, John Ahern, Jon Snyder, LaVerne Biel
District 3, Candace Mumm, Michael Cannon, Kelly P. Cruz, Curtis Fackler
Spokane Valley City Council
Position 1, Rod Higgins, Linda J. Thompson
Position 4, Gary Schimmels, Ed Pace, DeeDee Loberg
Position 5, Chuck Hafner, Donald (Don) Morgan Jr.
Position 7, Bill Bates, Fred Beaulac
Waverly Mayor
William Tensfeld
Waverly Town Council
Position 1, Kimberly Billington
Position 2, Joel Martensen
Position 4, David M. Stark
Central Valley School District
Director 2, Tom Dingus
Director 5, Amy Mason, Gina McCauley
Cheney School District
Director 1, Marcie Estrellado
Director 2, Suzanne G. Dolle, Kippie Shadix
Director 3, Henry C. Browne Jr.
Deer Park School District
Director 2, Lisa Jordan
Director 3, Joanne Greer
East Valley School District
Director 3, Justin Voelker, Heidi Gillingham, Marvin T. Moore
Director 4, Fred Helms, Kerri Lunstroth
Director 5, Deanna L. Ervin, Mike Novakovich, Stormy Frederickson, Roger E. Trainor
Freeman School District
Director 2, Edward A. Cashmere
Director 4, Neil J. Fuchs Jr.
Great Northern School District
Director 4, Lynn Scharff
Director 5, Mary Patrick
Liberty School District
Director 2, Marci Green
Director 3, R. Chad Cornmesser, Janet Johnson
Director 4, Scott Simmons
Mead School District
Director 1, Maureen O’Connor
Director 5, Tom Hunt
Medical Lake School District
Director 1, Kelly Fouts
Director 5, Margaret (Peggy) Schweikhardt
Newport School District
Director 1, Paul R. Wilson
Director 4, Keith Cordes
Nine Mile Falls School District
Director 4, Vicki Daggy
Director 5, Greg Flemming
Orchard Prairie School District
Director 1, Steve Flinn
Director 2, Suzanne Savalli
Reardan-Edwall School District
Director 1, Robin D. Landreth
Director 3, Nick E. Landt
Director 5, Arne Seim
Riverside School District
Director 1, Gary D. Vanderholm
Director 4, Roger B. Pratt
Director 5, Chris Nieuwenhuis
Rosalia School District
Director 5, Heather Smith
Spokane School District
Director 1, Susan Chapin
Director 2, Bob Douthitt, Sally Fullmer
St. John School District
Director 3, Janet Leifer
Director 5, Kelly R. Lundberg
Tekoa School District
Director 2, Duane Groom
Director 5, Shane Monroy, Nicole (Nikki) Lehn
West Valley School District
Director 1, Jim Williams
Director 2, Robert N. Dompier
Director 4, Adam Mortenson
Director 5, Pam McLeod
Spokane Valley Fire District
Position 1, Kolby Hanson
Position 2, Michael DeVleming, Ronald (Ron) Schmidt
Position 3, Michael (Mike) Pearson
Fire District No. 3
Position 1, Sharon J. Colby
Fire District No. 4
Position 1, Roger Krieger
Fire District No. 5
Position 1, Isla Durheim, Lee A. Walth
Fire District No. 8
Position 1, Dennis L. Ross
Fire District No. 9
Position 3, John Bjork, Jim Bennett, Judith (Judy) Personett
Fire District No. 10
Position 1, David Scher, James McKelvey
Position 2, Ken Pegg, Susan Leonetti
Fire District No. 11
Position 1, Brian LaShaw
Fire District No. 13
Position 1, Eileen Weyrauch
Greenwood Cemetery District
Position 1, Edward Lynch
Moran Cemetery District
Position 1, Kenneth Williams
Elk Cemetery District
Position 1, Denise McNamee
Position 3, Rob Culp
East Spokane Water District
Position 1, Richard L. Scott
Four Lakes Water District
Position 1, Ed Rutledge
Liberty Lake Sewer and
Water District
Position 1, Steve Skipworth
Position 2, Kottayam V. Natarajan Jr.
Spokane County Water
District No. 3
Position 1, Frank Pierson
Strathview Water District
Position 1, Bonnie J. Stimson
Position 3, Steven Russell
Valley of the Horses Water
District
Position 3, Ronald R. Jared
Whitworth Water District
Position 3, Chan Bailey
Williams Lake Sewer and
Water District
Position 3, James L. Cattin