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Spokane City Council Candidate Zack Zappone Hopes To Focus On Economic Opportunity, Housing

Courtesy of Zack Zappone

This week, we begin a series of thumbnail sketches with people who have announced their candidacy for Spokane city council seats. We'll focus this week on the five candidates in the Northwest district, starting Monday with Zack Zappone.  

Zappone said what sets him out from the pack of candidates is his deep ties to the Northwest region of the city. Zappone is a graduate of North Central High School and a substitute teacher for Spokane Public Schools. He also previously taught in Kennewick School District.

 

"I would tell my students to work really hard, and that they could overcome these problems, but I just saw a system that was stacked against them over and over again when it came to healthcare, transportation, housing and good paying jobs.

 

If elected, he said he would use evidence-based approaches to address homelessness and policing and advocate for infill to address the affordable housing crisis.

 

“I’m a strong believer in making decisions based on data, looking at what is proven to work and implementing those strategies.”

 

Zappone said he supported a housing first approach to homelessness, saying people need shelter to address deeper barriers to long term housing.

 

Zappone also said he was supportive of investing in more mental health resources and personal in policing.

 

“The police do play an important role in our community in enforcing the law and preventing crime from happening, so there will always be a role for police in our community. But there is a lot of times that the police are not equipped for the skills the situation calls for, and a lot of times, that’s mental health crisis, or substance abuse crisis. I strongly believe that we need to get the appropriate response to the appropriate place at the appropriate time.”

 

Zappone is running for a seat in city council district three which includes West Central, Indian Trail and the Shadle Park area. This is the seat Candace Mumm is leaving because of term limits. This is Zappone's second run for office. He unsuccessfully ran for state representative in the sixth legislative district last year.

 

He is running against Lucrecia “Lu” Hill, Mike Lish, Christopher Savage and Karen Kearney.  A full interview with each candidate will be posted online and Zappone's interview can be found here.