New Fairfield Town Council member faces challenger

Fairfield Town Councilwoman Jamie Paden is facing a challenge from Mark Matherly as she seeks to keep the position she was appointed to last year after it was vacated by a council member who moved.

Paden said she started attending City Council meetings soon after she moved to Fairfield three years ago because she wanted to be involved in her new community.

When the council vacancy opened late year, Paden applied.

“I was so vested at that time and I loved the town so much that it just seemed like the next step,” she said. “I’m very passionate about the council and the town. I feel like I can make a difference.”

Matherly said he’s running because of the response he got from the city when he was having water chlorination problems at his home.

“I didn’t like the answers the council gave us when we were having some issues,” he said.

Matherly said his wife worked in the city’s maintenance department for a few months and noticed several problems, including some relating to water quality and a lack of required safety equipment. He said that when she raised concerns about the problems she was let go. Matherly said he believes winning a seat on the council is the only way to get answers.

“Otherwise they don’t answer my questions at the City Council meetings, or they answer them very vaguely,” he said.

Matherly was born in Spokane but grew up in Chewelah, where he graduated from high school in 1994. He earned his commercial driver’s license at age 18 and worked for Chewelah Septic Service for seven years before the business was sold. He worked as a card dealer at the Chewelah Casino and Lilac Lanes in Spokane for a few years before working as a mechanic for the 49 Degrees North ski area for eight years. He currently works for DU-Mor Recycling in Spokane, where he has been for the past 13 years.

He and his wife moved to Fairfield in 2007.

“Fairfield looked like a really nice town,” he said. “We wanted something smaller where the kids could play.”

He said he has been volunteering with sports teams his youngest son has been a member of. “It’s a great little town,” he said. “The people in the town are really nice.”

Paden grew up in the small town of Franklin, Georgia. She worked before staying home with her young daughter for a little over a year and then took a job with Chromalloy, where she worked until taking a job at Conklin Metal Industries 11 years ago. She still works for the Georgia company as a steel purchasing manager even though her family moved to Washington in 2009.

Paden said they were living in Spokane and looking to downsize when they discovered Fairfield.

“Fairfield kept popping up on my radar,” she said.

Paden said since joining the council she has been working to get the town eligible for Community Development Block Grant funding again. She said she wants to create opportunities in the community to bring people together.

“I kind of look at Fairfield as family,” she said. “Families have a lot of strife sometimes but they still love each other. If more people were to be involved, more people would know each other. There would be less ‘he said, she said.’ ”

She volunteers with the Fairfield Museum and is also a volunteer firefighter and EMT with the town’s fire department.

“If people look at my involvement in the community, it would show that I am invested and passionate about the community,” she said. “I do not mind giving my time and pouring myself into Fairfield.”

Matherly has not previously held an elected office.

“It will be a learning experience,” he said.

He said he’d like to focus on water quality and roads if he’s elected.

“I’m going to be transparent and honest and try to get honest answers and address everything that is put in front of us,” he said.

Paden said she likes the fact that two of the four council races on the ballot this year drew challengers.

“That means people are paying attention, and that’s a good thing,” she said.