Spokane City Council dist. 2
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Snyder | 7,267 | 55.49% |
| John Ahern | 3,190 | 24.36% |
| LaVerne Biel | 2,640 | 20.16% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
About the Race
This is one of three council seats up for grabs in November. District two serves the southern area of Spokane. Pay for this position is $30,000/year with full benefits. It is a four year term.
The Candidates
Jon Snyder
- Age:
- 55
- City:
- Spokane, WA
- Occupation:
- City Council member and former owner of a monthly outdoor magazine
Career: City Council member and former publisher of the Go Green Directory and Out There Monthly magazine, which is focused on outdoor recreation. Founder and first board chairman of KYRS Thin Air Community Radio.
Education: Graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1987. Earned bachelor’s degree from Evergreen State College in 1991.
Political experience: Won current Spokane City Council term in 2009. Serves on Washington Traffic Safety Commission, Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington board and Spokane Regional Health District board. Formerly served as Spokane Regional Transportation Council member and Spokane Transit Authority board.
Family: Married. Has two school-age children.
John Ahern
- Age:
- 89
- Occupation:
- Business owner, former Washington Representative
His Words: “I’d be glad to give you a full blown interview after I win the election. Like a colleague of mine said to me in the House, he pulled me aside and said, ‘Ahern, what you don’t say can’t hurt you.’”
His Pitch: According to what Ahern has said at open forum during Spokane City Council meetings, under Stuckart the City Council has lunged to the left, making the city undesirable for businesses and unsafe for citizens. As the council’s leader, Ahern would outlaw marijuana and move to clamp down on immigrants who are in Spokane illegally.
Notable Experience: Former Republican legislator who served five terms in the House of Representatives between 2001 and 2012. Unsuccessfully challenged Councilman Jon Snyder in 2013, when he won 35 percent of the vote. Long-time owner of Janco products.
Education: Graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Earned bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Denver.
Neighborhood: Comstock
LaVerne Biel
- Age:
- 72
- City:
- Spokane, WA
- Occupation:
- Business Owner
Her words: “Part of being a CEO is understating that hard discussions need to happen, and they need to happen transparently. Your employees need to know what’s going on. We can’t just keep them in the dark. That also has to happen at City Hall. The citizens need to know what’s going on. There’s less heartache in that.”
Her pitch: A business leader who will bring focus back to City Hall’s mission statement of delivering efficient and effective services.
Notable experience: CEO and owner of Access Unified Networks, which installs voice and data systems for businesses. Served as chairwoman of the East Central Business Association in 2010-2011. Served as president of Associated Builders and Contractors in 2003. Currently works with the East Central Community Organization. Earned a master’s degree in business at age 57. Currently a Board Member for Friendsview Retirement Home.
Education: Graduated from Concord (California) High School in 1970. Earned associate’s degree from Spokane Falls Community College in 2001. Earned bachelor’s degree in management communications from Western Baptist Bible College (now called Corban University) in 2003. Earned master’s degree in business administration from Corban University in 2010.
Neighborhood: South Perry (East Central)
Complete Coverage
City Council campaign ads contain false claims
Beware. With money pouring into two Spokane City Council races at a frenzied pace, the campaign material arriving by mail, on the radio, on TV and on the Internet may be misleading or plain wrong.
Doug Clark: Council campaign fortune could be better spent
It takes a lot to shock me after nearly 40 years of journalism. I once had to conduct an interview while standing next to a charred corpse that lay among the scattered wreckage of a plane crash.
Shawn Vestal: Public shares blame for smear tactics in campaigns
And so we come to another election season when we are asked to consider: Whose interests are “special”? And whose are simple, pure, virtuous and just? Just kidding. We’re not asked to consider it – i.e., think about it – in any way whatsoever. We already know the answer: Our interests are simple, pure, virtuous and just. Theirs are special, and all that that implies.
Smart Bombs: Duck and cover, Spokane
So I’m enjoying the low-key excellence of “CBS Sunday Morning,” when a pungent political ad pierces the calm with noise about … the Spokane City Council race? You mean the PAC-generated ads that were universally panned in state and national races last year have seeped into smaller races for nonpartisan offices? Afraid so.
Greenstone disavows ad campaign attacking Mumm, Snyder
The president of Greenstone Corp. has disavowed any connection between his company and a negative television campaign against Spokane City Council candidates Jon Snyder and Candace Mumm. At the same time, business interests funding the ad campaign upped the ante on Monday, adding another $25,500 to the independent television ad buy for a total of $48,700.
Jon Snyder, Candace Mumm target of PAC-funded attack ad
A group of business-backed political action committees has launched a new television attack ad against two candidates for Spokane City Council, marking the opening salvo in what could become the most expensive council races in city history. Councilman Jon Snyder and candidate Candace Mumm, seeking separate seats in this fall’s general election, are targeted by a PAC called Jobs & Prosperity for Spokane, which received funds from three other PACs to help pay for $23,000 in television advertising against them. The ads began appearing on Spokane TV stations last week.
Spokane City Council candidates square off in debates
Two debates filmed Tuesday showcasing candidates for Spokane City Council races had two distinct tones. A debate between Michael Cannon and Candace Mumm, who are vying for a seat representing northwest Spokane, was testy.
District 2 City Council candidates Snyder, Ahern don’t see eye to eye
There’s more than an “h” separating Jon and John. Jon Snyder, 44, is an incumbent Spokane city councilman known for his focus on transportation issues, recently sold outdoor magazine and unsuccessful fight to protect the South Hill’s Fire Station No. 9 from budget cuts.
Riverfront Park bridge checks sought by Jon Snyder
As a man pedaled through on his way to work and a woman in running clothes pumped by, Spokane City Councilman Jon Snyder was preoccupied with the exposed rebar and rusted pins underfoot on a pedestrian bridge in Riverfront Park. “Most of these bridges weren’t built to last forever,” Snyder said of the bridges erected for Expo ’74. “This bridge may be built to last a nuclear blast. I don’t know. But when I see this rust, it makes me wonder.”
Stuckart 1, Condon 0
None
Incumbents survive their primary challenges
Washington voters – or at least the relative few that cast ballots in the summer primary – seemed willing to stick with the familiar Tuesday. Turnout was light in most areas, but incumbents seeking to extend their terms in office survived primaries for the Spokane City Council, Spokane Valley City Council and the 7th District state Senate race.
Spokane City Council 2nd District candidates disparate
Jon Snyder knows he’s in a fight for his political life. His two opponents in the race to represent Spokane City Council District 2, John Ahern and LaVerne Biel, are making sure he knows it. Two years after joining the council in 2009, Snyder watched two of his progressive compatriots fall to their more conservative opponents.
State statute of limitations extended in child abuse cases
OLYMPIA – Virginia Graham’s journey to get justice for victims of child sex abuse isn’t over, but after nearly 10 years of pleading and prodding the Legislature she can take a breather. A bill that extends the statute of limitations on child sex crimes, to allow charges to be filed until the victim turns 30, was signed into law Thursday afternoon. The Spokane mother of three stood at Gov. Jay Inslee’s right hand as he put his signature on the bill. Former state Rep. John Ahern, who fought for much of that decade to change the law, was nearby, as was newly elected state Rep. Jeff Holy, who picked up the fight when he succeeded Ahern.
Spokane pot businesses on hold
The number of businesses in Spokane specializing in medical marijuana will be frozen at about a dozen for at least the next six months. Fearing the proliferation of businesses that sell pot before Washington even finishes crafting regulations for the state’s new legalized recreational marijuana industry, the Spokane City Council on Monday instituted a moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries and related businesses.
City draws map of pot areas
Spokane leaders on Tuesday got a glimpse of where the first pot for recreational use might be grown or sold legally within city limits. The map is heavily dominated by areas north of Interstate 90 and east of Division Street, especially east Hillyard, along East Trent Avenue and several commercial areas north of Francis Avenue.