Today on Inland Journal, we spend an hour with the candidates for a city council seat representing northeast Spokane. Councilman Mike Fagan is leaving office, as mandated by the city charter, after two terms, and seven people are in the running to replace him.
They are, in alphabetical order, Tim Benn.
Tim Benn: “I think we need a balance on the city council. I see an activist city council. And I don’t see a municipal government being appropriately used as a tool of activism. It should be a function of the people for the basic conduct of municipal government, the city, the streets, the public safety, that sort of thing.”
There’s Krys Brown.
Krys Brown: “Homelessness isn’t cut and dry. It’s so complex. There are so many factors that go into it and you have to address those factors because if you just give them a house or you just give them a job, if you just give them a stipend, you’re not dealing with the core issue.”
Michael Cathcart.
Michael Cathcart: “There really wasn’t anybody running who represented me very well and I feel like there’s a big constituency of people who probably agree similarly to me on some of these key issues and so I just decided it’s time to step up and put up or shut up and so I’m putting myself out there and see if I can help make some of the changes that I’ve been advocating for for so long..“
There’s Jerrall Haynes.
Jerrall Haynes: “What I learned about by becoming a school board member is the collaboration in learning to work with people that come from different backgrounds and have different experiences and perspectives that you do and also remembering to have the scope that you have to make decisions that benefit everyone.”
Also in the race is Louis Lefebvre.
Louis Lefebvre: “Everyone that’s called 911 in the past how many years, I’m the one you’re talking to, be it cars abandoned in the street, other domestic issues that people have, people fighting outside. So I understand that it’s tough to live in District 1.”
There’s Doug Salter.
Doug Salter: “I’ve been around a lot of jails and this one needs to go. Something needs to be done different. I’m not thrilled about it being downtown. I think I’m with Ozzie. It needs to go to the West Plains, someplace out by itself.”
And there’s Naghmana Sherazi.
Naghmana Sherazi: “A lot of times I’m finding elderly ladies, elderly folk, who tell me that they’re living in these apartment complexes, but they’re afraid that they’re going to lose their apartment or they’re going to have to leave the premises that they’ve been living on for umpteen numbers of years. The reason is because they can’t afford to live there anymore. The rent keeps going up.”