Spokane Valley’s longest-serving council member faces a familiar opponent

The longest-serving council member in Spokane Valley history wants to secure a fourth and final term in office this November, but he’ll need to beat a familiar opponent who’s making his third run for City Council in six years.

Arne Woodard, 70, was appointed in 2011 and has won election every four years since. He had a fairly eclectic background before taking office, with stints in construction, real estate and bread baking.

Al Merkel, 37, ran unsuccessfully for the Spokane Valley City Council in 2017 and 2019. He currently co-owns a dog grooming business with his wife, but he’s spent most of his adult life as a contract specialist for a handful of companies.

Candidates on the issues: Woodard v. Merkel

Woodard describes himself as a “conservative,” an “independent” and a “Constitutionalist.” He’s been unafraid to take stances that may be unpopular among some Valley residents.

For instance, he was the lone City Council member last year to vote in favor of a 1% property tax increase that would have cost the average homeowner less than $4 a year. Woodard argued taking the 1% would help the city’s bond rating and applications for state grant funding.

If voters “don’t like the way that I’m making decisions for them, they’ve got the opportunity to replace me,” he said.

Merkel describes himself as a traditional Republican.

“For me, that means very clearly that I want low taxes,” he said.

On June 6, Woodard suffered a major heart attack. He only missed two City Council meetings because of it and said he’s doing well.

Woodard said he’ll have three main priorities if re-elected: public safety, infrastructure and economic development. Local politicians shouldn’t stray far from those big three, he said.

“If a person loses sight of those priorities, I think you lose sight of what we’re here for,” Woodard said. “I’m going to stick with the basics of what the Constitution and state Legislature has said we’re supposed to do.”

Merkel said he’d be particularly focused on development. He said he believes the Valley should be forcing developers to pay their fair share for infrastructure improvements and prohibiting certain kinds of construction in some areas.

“To simplify it for voters – apartments don’t belong in the middle of single-family zones,” Merkel said.

He also emphasized that he’s a big supporter of Valleyfest, one of the city’s biggest annual events.

The Spokane Valley City Council gave Valleyfest $17,000 in 2022, but voted against giving the festival any money in 2023 after council members Woodard, Pam Haley, Rod Higgins and Laura Padden thought the city’s dollars would be better used by other nonprofits and charitable organizations.

In 2019, Merkel was arrested for driving under the influence after crashing into a man’s front yard at 2 a.m. His blood alcohol content was over the legal limit, based on breathalyzer tests. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving, a lesser charge.

“I deeply regret my decisions that night,” Merkel wrote in a statement provided to The Spokesman-Review. “I made a very big personal mistake for which I have apologized to the community and continue to do so.”

Here’s a look at where both candidates stand on the issues facing the city.

Should the Valley have its own police department?

To all outward appearances, Spokane Valley has its own police department.

Its officers drive around in custom-painted SUVs marked “Spokane Valley Police.” The city even has its own police chief: Dave Ellis.

But Ellis, and all of the Valley’s officers, don’t technically work for the city. They’re employees of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, and their boss is Sheriff John Nowels.

For years, Spokane Valley leaders have debated whether the city should end its contract with the Sheriff’s Office and form its own police department.

Woodard said the Valley will need its own law enforcement agency eventually.

“At some point, Spokane Valley is going to have its own police force,” he said. “We’re the largest city in the state without our own police force; one of the largest cities in the nation that contracts for those services.”

For now, however, Woodard said he believes the Sheriff’s Office contract is working fine. The city won’t need to create its own agency in the near future, he said.

Merkel said he “loves the power of the contract” and doesn’t want the Valley to form a separate police department.

Thanks to the Sheriff’s Office contract, the Valley can fine-tune its law enforcement needs more easily than most cities, Merkel said.

Woodard said he believes forming a separate police department would give the Valley a greater ability to fine-tune its law enforcement response.

New taxes for road maintenance?

City staff have been telling Spokane Valley City Council members the same simple story about roads for years.

Today, Spokane Valley’s streets are in good shape. But in order to keep them that way, the city will have to more than double its annual road spending from about $8 million to more than $16 million.

Barring some dramatic cuts to city spending, there’s only one way for the Valley to come up with another $8 million or so annually: A new tax.

Both Woodard and Merkel are supportive of a new tax to pay for preventative road maintenance.

Merkel said the best option would be a fee on license plate tabs. He also stressed that he believes the city could save money if it’s able to persuade more contractors to submit bids for road projects.

Woodard also said a license plate tab fee would be a good idea. A sales tax is a possibility as well, he said.

Should the Valley have homeless shelters?

Spokane Valley has more than 100,000 residents and no homeless shelter beds, although Family Promise plans to add a few in the near future for families.

Woodard said it’s OK if a nonprofit wants to open a shelter in the Valley, so long as it complies with the city’s shelter rules. City law allows the creation of homeless shelters if they have fewer than 20 beds and are a mile or more apart.

The Valley shouldn’t emulate Spokane when it comes to homelessness, Woodard said. While he’s a proponent of the Valley’s new staff positions dedicated to homelessness, he doesn’t want the city to have a greater role managing homelessness.

“The city of Spokane Valley and the public do not want us to get involved with the quagmire of being the ones that provide all those services,” he said.

Merkel acknowledged that the Spokane region as a whole needs more homeless shelter beds, but he said he doesn’t want to see any homeless shelters in Spokane Valley unless they’re part of a regionally coordinated homelessness response.

“I think the city going off on its own, like it’s doing right now, is going to essentially be a waste of taxpayers’ money,” Merkel said, “because we’re trying to tackle a problem that is so far bigger than what our city itself is trying to put forward.”