The 2018 general election was nearly a month ago, but Spokane County and the Washington State Association of Counties are already looking to 2022. They’re filing a lawsuit to block changes to the Spokane County Commission election going into effect that year, which the state Legislature says will lead to better voter representation.
If the 2018 Spokane County Commission election had been playing by those rules, the board could have looked very different come January.
With just the district-only general election measure in place, the commissioner for left-leaning District 3 would be Democrat Robbi Katherine Anthony, who won in the district by a full percentage point, rather than Republican incumbent Al French.
Anthony won the district-only primary by more than 10 points, but lost in the countywide general election by more than 13. She would have been the first openly transgender person to hold a major office in Spokane County.
A bill passed by Washington’s Legislature in March expands Spokane’s county commission from three to five commissioners for 2022. It also makes voting by district only in the primary and general elections, instead of just the primary.
State Rep. Marcus Riccelli, whose district covers most of the city of Spokane, sponsored the bill.
"We will provide more representation, we’ll give citizens more direct voice in government, and quite frankly elected officials will be able to be held more accountable," Riccelli said.
He said this is achieved by a smaller constituent-to-commissioner ratio and the district-only general elections.
Anthony spoke to Spokane Public Radio on election night after results showed she’d lost the election.
"Obviously this reinforces that we need to expand to five commissioners and make it district representation," Anthony said. "I haven’t unpacked the results, but I know that District 3 wants something different and it’s frustrating to see that it got overpowered by other parts of the county that want different types of representation."
A Democrat hasn’t sat on the county commission since 2010 when French beat incumbent Bonnie Mager for District 3.
French has also been outspoken in his opposition to the changes coming in 2022. As of this week, he and the Spokane County Commission are officially joining a lawsuit with the Washington State Association of Counties to block the changes it says are unconstitutional.
"So the Washington State Constitution defines how county governments are going to function, how they operate," French said.
That’s where three county commissioners elected in a district-only primary and countywide general election was established in 1889. The state constitution says it should only be reorganized with a majority citizen vote.
"And there’s seven out of 39 counties that have adopted a county charter," French said.
French pointed to a failed ballot measure to expand the commision in 2015, but Riccelli noted the fact that counties are a creation of the state and there are important differences in this year’s bill.
It added a provision that district lines would be redrawn by a commission of two Democrats, two Republicans and a nonpartisan committee chair, rather than being redrawn by sitting commissioners like the 2015 measure stipulated. The redrawing will also happen after the 2020 Census.
Right now Spokane is the most populous county in Washington with only three commissioners.
Clark County, with a population of 474,643 according to 2017 Census estimates, moved to five commissioners in 2016. Spokane has a population of more than 506,000.
Snohomish County also has five; Pierce has seven; and King has nine.
Riccelli noted that the changes to the commission could avoid a potential lawsuit regarding open meetings laws. Right now, any conversation between two commissioners is a majority of the board and required to be open to the public.
"That’s just what happens. You know, you’re trying to move public policy forward and two people talk about it," Riccelli said. "But, technically that’s a violation of the open public meetings act."
He said this is one reason the bill found overwhelming bipartisan support in the Legislature.
