Spokane City Council, northeast council district
The Candidates
Kathryn Alexander
- Party:
- No party
- Age:
- 81
- Occupation:
- Founder and owner of Quick Video Productions, a tech consulting firm
Her words: "Housing is still a big driver for me. I think housing is a lever that just answers so many other questions. It offers job opportunities, it reduces crime, just a lot of things."
Her pitch: Alexander said she'll use her experience teaching and consulting both in academic and professional settings to suggest to City Hall new ways of interacting with residents and addressing issues at a neighborhood level. The Detroit native, who moved to Spokane in 2014 to be closer to her daughter in Seattle, quickly joined the Bemiss Neighborhood Council, which she now co-chairs, and became a representative to the Community Assembly, which pulls from all neighborhood councils to provide direction to City Hall on improvement projects. Alexander said the successful revival of the Bemiss neighborhood group can translate to the rest of the city, which will lead to more informed policy decisions from the city council.
Education: Bachelor's degree in business administration, and a master's in organizational development and transformation from John F. Kennedy University, a private school in northern California. Continuing studies toward a Ph.D. at Saybrook University, an Oakland, California-based school founded in 1971 and focused on humanistic psychology.
Professional experience: Founder and owner of Quick Video Productions, a tech consulting firm based in Spokane. Taught master's level at colleges and universities in California, Colorado and New Hampshire, including 12 years at Regis University, a private, Jesuit school in Denver.
Political experience: First run for public office. Current co-chair of the Bemiss Neighborhood Council.
Family: Single. One adult daughter.
Neighborhood: Bemiss
Tim Benn
- Party:
- No party
- Age:
- 46
- City:
- Spokane, WA
- Occupation:
- Co-owner of day-care center
His words: "I don’t think a lot has changed. I still don’t see a City Council that’s focused on the issues that I’ve heard about over the years, being active in the community."
His pitch: A long history as a district resident and previous work lobbying City Hall for school safety measures in the northeast are both reasons voters should support Benn's candidacy, he said. He criticized the current City Council for focusing too much on ideological issues and being forced to backtrack on certain decisions when he said they stepped outside their authority. More needs to be done to inform residents in the district about planned construction ahead of completion of the North Spokane Corridor highway, he said, and the homelessness issue in the town should be addressed by restricting the flow of illicit drugs onto Spokane's streets.
Work experience: Owns a child day care center, Little Precious Ones, with his wife in the Minnehaha neighborhood of North Spokane.
Education: Graduated from Faith Christian Academy in 1996. Received associate degrees from Spokane Community College in general business, business management and marketing in 2005. Received child development associate’s degree from Blue Prints for Learning in 2011.
Political experience: Defeated in 2017 campaign for the northeast district seat by City Councilwoman Kate Burke. Defeated in 2012 and 2014 general elections as Republican candidate to represent Legislative District 3 in Washington House of Representatives, both to Marcus Riccelli. Current chairman of Minnehaha Neighborhood Council. Led effort to challenge day-care regulations that he says are duplicative and burdensome.
Family: Married. Two adult sons, and a daughter in high school.
Neighborhood: Minnehaha
Kate Burke
- Party:
- No party
- Age:
- 35
- Occupation:
- Legislative aide for state Sen. Andy Billig
Her words: "After working in the nonprofit sector for so long, and then changing over to writing policy with Sen. Billig, I saw how many more people's lives you can touch with good policy. I've always wanted to run, since probably the seventh grade, but that kind of solidified the fact that I was doing the right thing."
Her pitch: A career spent advocating on behalf of nonprofit groups, like the Spokane Edible Tree Project and Project Hope, has prepared Burke to champion projects affecting northeast Spokane at City Hall, she said. A vision of that older, more impoverished part of town that is revitalized by targeted investments like what has occurred in Hillyard and other neighborhoods in town will drive her work at City Hall. Burke also said her contacts from working in Olympia will allow her to tap into relationships that could benefit Spokane through grants and other opportunities.
Work experience: Current legislative aide to state Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane. Previously served on board of directors for Project Hope, a West Central-based nonprofit promoting job training and other social services through training on small urban farms. Founded the Spokane Edible Tree Project, a volunteer group collecting fruit from trees in public areas of Spokane that are donated to local food banks.
Education: Received associate's degree from Spokane Falls Community College. Graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 2007.
Political experience: Filed to run for Spokane Public Schools school board, but dropped out to eventually support Jerrall J. Haynes.
Family: Unmarried, but has a partner. Mom, dad and brother all live in Spokane.
Neighborhood: Nevada Heights
Complete Coverage
Sue Lani Madsen: Spokane City Council’s focus on national issues takes away from its attention to local problems
There is a national progressive movement using municipal legislation to drive state and federal policy through the courts. Does Spokane want an increasingly political City Council, or one that focuses on city business?
Editorial: Burke gets the nod for City Council
As campaigners, Kate Burke and Tim Benn say similar things, but they have support from opposing political forces. Voting for either will require a leap of faith if the goal is to place a nonpartisan, moderate person on the council.
Northeast Spokane City Council candidates campaigning in defiance of partisan labels
Kate Burke and Tim Benn say the problems facing the district they hope to represent transcend party politics. But a clear ideological divide has sprouted around their candidacies.
Beggs and Mumm post strong showings in Spokane City Council primaries, Burke and Benn face off in northeast
The two incumbents on the primary ballots for Spokane City Council earned the majority of votes counted Tuesday in their districts. Kate Burke will square off against Tim Benn in northeast Spokane.
Editorial: Alexander a fresh voice for council
Alexander strikes us as an independent thinker who would provide a fresh perspective.
Open City Council seat in northeast Spokane draws 3 challengers advocating change at City Hall
With the departure of City Councilwoman Amber Waldref due to term limits, three candidates seeking their first election to political office want to change the way the city engages with neighborhoods in the northeast part of town. Kate Burke, Tim Benn and Kathryn Alexander bring different ideologies and political experiences to the race, but all agree the focus needs to shift back to neighborhoods in that area of the city.
Three candidates seek open seat in northeast Spokane council district
Voters in Spokane’s northeast council district will have a contested primary, choosing between at least three potential replacements for Amber Waldref, who cannot run for re-election because of the city’s term limit ordinance.
Two candidates have already filed to replace outgoing City Councilwoman Amber Waldref
Nonprofit leader Kate Burke and Bemiss neighborhood advocate Kathryn Alexander have both filed already to compete for Amber Waldref’s seat in northeastern Spokane. Waldref, who will term out of office in November 2017, says she’ll take some time to spend with her family before pondering another run for office.
Tons of apples gleaned keep the food banks full
It’s peak apple season and across the area a large crop is weighing down neighborhood trees. At the Resurrection Community Garden behind the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection on East Eighth Avenue in Spokane Valley, about a dozen old apple trees are reminders of Spokane Valley’s history as a an orchard and vegetable farming town.