Hospital Worker To Seek House Seat

A hospital worker from Newman Lake is running for the Legislature to help people who feel government is overwhelming them.

Mary Chey Austin, 56, said Tuesday she wants people “to realize they are their government” and funnel their solutions to the state’s problems through her.

A Democrat, Austin said she will run for the state House of Representatives seat now held by Republican Mark Sterk.

Sterk was appointed to that seat earlier this spring when Mike Padden resigned to become a Spokane County District Court judge.

Austin said she would oppose any tax increase and work to improve public schools and colleges. “Education is where we will solve a lot of our problems,” she said.

An administrative coordinator for the blood bank at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Austin said she would like to expand the state’s basic health program to cover all uninsured residents. She suggested a graduating scale for premiums based on a family’s income, with the state paying less as income levels rise.

Asked how she could improve education and expand health care, while holding the line on taxes, Austin said she would ferret out fat in government.

Austin is active in local Democratic politics, but this is her first run for elective office. She has lived in the Spokane area for most of the past 48 years. She and her husband, Philip, have six children, 15 grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren.

, DataTimes