Incumbent Dunne will face Marshall in Liberty Lake City Council race

Longtime Liberty Lake City Councilman Dan Dunne likely will face former civil engineer Larry Marshall in the general election after an impressive showing in Tuesday’s primary.

Dunne leads the field with 70.4% of the vote, followed by Marshall with 19.2%. Keith Kopelson, a former city councilman who works in property management, trails with 9.6%.

“I’m very grateful for the support, the numbers are appreciable,” Dunne said.

The 54-year-old Dunne is an engineer who’s served on the City Council since 2012. Marshall, 81, is a political newcomer and retired civil engineer who used to work on hydroelectric dams, freeways and abandoned mine reclamation projects.

Neither candidate has made many specific campaign promises, but whoever wins the race will have a say as the City Council continues debating who should have oversight of the Liberty Lake Municipal Library.

The council has had lengthy discussions over the past year about where the library board’s authority should end and who should have the final say over which books belong on the shelves.

Dunne has said he’s running for re-election specifically because he doesn’t want the City Council meddling with the library board’s decision making.

Marshall has said he believes the City Council should have more oversight over the library board, but also thinks the council’s previous attempts to craft a new library law have been imperfect.