Natasha Hill, Tony Kiepe debate public safety, housing in KSPS debate

Republican Tony Kiepe promised to work in a bipartisan manner and Democrat Natasha Hill said she will bring the voice of “lived experience” to Olympia in a debate taped Monday afternoon at KSPS.

The two candidates who are competing for state House Position 2 representing central Spokane’s 3rd Legislative District debated housing, public safety and health care.

In the KSPS debate taped Monday afternoon, Hill said she “never thought” she could become a state legislator as a woman of color growing up in the Hillyard Neighborhood.

“I want to be a representative with lived experience,” she said. “I got involved in politics to bring voices to the table and to listen to folks that don’t feel that they’ve been represented for a long time.”

Hill is a lawyer and community organizer who unsuccessfully ran for Congress against U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in 2022. She also previously served as interim editor of the Black Lens.

Kiepe said he is a Republican who wants to reach across the table for a bipartisan mandate.

“In this district, I need 6,000 Democrat votes if I’m going to win. I need those 6,000 votes for different Democrats or Republicans to have a chance. You can work with Tony. He will work for us,” he said.

Kiepe is an insurance agent who has twice run unsuccessfully for Spokane City Council and is hoping to take a seat that has been in Democratic hands for decades.

Asked about public safety, Kiepe said he will seek police funding as his top priority in Olympia.

“We have a shortage of police officers right now. We need to get more police officers hired. We need to make sure their hands aren’t handcuffed. We have to enforce our laws,” he said.

While calling for more police funding, Kiepe also said he would right the state’s fiscal ship.

“We need to fund our public safety. That’s the No. 1 issue with the people. We need to fund our infrastructure,” he said. “But once that’s funded, everything else is extra.”

Hill said the state cannot “police our way out of” the state’s public safety issues.

“We have to look upstream. One of the biggest things that we can use is invest in child care and early childhood education,” she said.

Hill said she would invest in treatment services for those struggling with opioid-use disorder.

“Growing up in a community like Hillyard, you see a lot of substance abuse. It was social programs that helped people in my family get off drugs,” she said. “This touches me close to home and we know that three days of treatment isn’t enough. A month isn’t enough. We need 90 days in patient care and we need six months to a year of ongoing services to help save people’s lives.”

Asked how she would pay for her proposals, Hill said she would look toward the wealthiest Washingtonians to pay their fair share. Kiepe took issue with that response.

“What is fair share? How much do we have to pay? Corporations are paying their fair share,” he said.

The KSPS debate was joined by a studio audience of high school students from the Community School, who also provided a pair of prerecorded questions for the candidates.

The debate will air on KSPS at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Spokesman-Review reporter Amanda Sullender served on the debate’s reporter panel with Spokane Public Radio journalist Brandon Hollingsworth.