There is officially a vacancy on the Spokane City Council. Steve Salvatori, representing district three in northwest Spokane, resigned as of July 8th to focus on the business he runs. Steve Salvatori makes it clear that leaving Spokane has been a very hard decision.Salvatori: “I feel Spokane’s the best place to live in the United States, but unfortunately I do have other responsibilities as well.”
He’s the CEO of Salvatori-Scott, a grocery products broker, which just moved from California to Texas. He says the transfer caused a cascade of personnel issues, and he needs to be back at the helm, so he moved to Dallas.
Since his election in November 2012, Salvatori focused on civilian oversight of the police department. He says he’s optimistic about this year’s agreement between city officials and the police guild. He also says he has confidence the council will do a good job replacing him.
Salvatori: “I’m sure they will pick a good person, and if they don’t, or if they do but the citizens don’t think so, that person is going to be out in a year and a half.”
It’s up to voters during normal election cycles, but the city council votes on council or mayoral vacancies.
The city council is now accepting applications for the open position, until July 24th. Candidates must have lived in district three since August 18th, 2013. Applications are available at Spokane-city-dot-org, and at the front office in city hall.
As for Salvatori, he says he and his wife may be back in Spokane one day.
Salvatori: “It won’t be the dog hanging his face out the window when we leave, it will be me looking back. I’m going to miss Spokane greatly.”
Copyright 2014 Spokane Public Radio