Shogan to seek position again

Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan said Wednesday that he will compete to keep his job.

Shogan, 58, was appointed to the post in January 2006 after the former council president, Dennis Hession, was named mayor.

City Councilman Rob Crow said Wednesday that he likely will challenge Shogan in the election.

Shogan said he worked to get things accomplished “without volatility.”

“We have a reputation of having a good, hardworking, business-like council, as opposed to the days when we were the laughingstock of the Northwest,” he said.

Before being elected to City Council in 2003, Shogan served as the chairman of the Northwest Neighborhood Council. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and has a law degree from Gonzaga University.

The council president presides over council meetings and is a voting member. The position pays $40,000 a year.

Shogan said he hasn’t decided if he agrees with Mayor Dennis Hession’s decision not to ask voters to approve extra property taxes. A two-year tax aimed at saving police, fire and other city jobs will expire at the end of this year.

“I want to wait and see what the 2008 budget looks like,” he said.

Shogan said he’s skeptical of recommendations made in a city efficiency report to cut police jobs.

But he added that will withhold judgment until a formal proposal is offered.

If at least three people run for council president, it will appear on the primary ballot, which will be sent to voters by Aug. 3. Otherwise, the race will be decided in the Nov. 6 election.

The only city of Spokane election thus far with three candidates is the race for mayor.

Shogan said that he will not endorse a mayoral candidate and offered praise for each of the three declared choices.

If Crow runs against Shogan, that will leave a seat up for grabs in the Northwest council district.

No one has declared their intention to run for the position.

Barbara Lampert, who has run for City Council five times, said Wednesday that she will file for a city office but has not decided which one.

Karen Bell, vice chairwoman of the Northwest Neighborhood Council, said she is considering a run for the seat.

The deadline for filing for election is June 8.