Riccelli and Wilson debate policy ahead of LD 3 election
State Senate candidates Jim Wilson and Marcus Riccelli discussed policy from public safety to homelessness to health care in a debate last night on Spokane’s PBS station, KSPS.
The two are competing to represent Washington’s Democratic-leaning Third Legislative District, which contains the city of Spokane.
On housing, Riccelli – currently a Democratic House Representative for District 3 – said he supports looking back at a rent stabilization proposal entertained by the legislature last session.
But he stressed that the supply of housing needs to grow.
“We need to build, build, build more affordable housing throughout our community, and we need to make it easier for folks to build that affordable housing,” Riccelli said. “We also need to incentivize folks to develop housing and one of the things that I supported was commercial to residential incentives; I think that's important.”
Real estate developer and Republican candidate Wilson dismissed the idea of building new housing under current regulations.
“It's not going to happen. It's impossible,” Wilson said. “What we need to do is be looking at existing housing and look at those and take some of the regulations off of the people who have one or two rental houses so they're able to keep their payments affordable for the renters.”
Wilson also spoke to why he thought Democratic voters in this left-leaning district should consider supporting him.
"If they genuinely care about the homeless, if they genuinely care about people who are living on the edge, they're not going to do things like raise property taxes or do an indirect tax so that gasoline is more expensive," he said. "That's just silly because I'm talking about common-sense stuff."
Riccelli member got a similar question about how he could govern for all constituents in the district, even if they don’t vote for him this November.
"I think a lot of the issues that I'm talking about are not Republican or Democratic issues," he said. "People need access to health care right now. The cost trend for health care is not sustainable. People are being strapped with medical debt. They're not having primary care access. These are the issues that hit home with folks."
For months, Riccelli was unopposed in the race until the August primary, when Wilson received the requisite one percent of votes as a write-in candidate to appear on the November ballot.
Group aims to help Spanish-speaking voters understand ballots
The group Mujeres in Action is trying to help eligible Spanish-speaking voters in Spokane understand what’s on the ballots through voter pamphlets.
Jacky Garcia Angulo, community organizer at the nonprofit, said this is the first time they’ve carried out a project like this.
“It takes time, and it takes work, but, you know, there is someone out there that is willing to do it,” Angulo told SPR News. “We wanted to really showcase that we can do it, and our community does deserve to have the resources just like everyone else.”
Angulo said other Spokane nonprofits and some schools are helping distribute the pamphlets, including Nuestras Raices Community Center and Latinos en Spokane.
You can also find the voter pamphlets in La Prensa Bilingue, a bilingual newspaper in Spokane.
To hear a version of this story in Spanish, click below.
Washington outdoor agency names first tribal affairs director
Spokane tribal citizen Dawn Pullin has a varied resume working with the Spokane Tribe, and recently served as a tribal liaison for the Washington State Patrol.
In her new role, Pullin said she will have a chance to work closely with Washington tribes to find funding for various projects.
“I'm going to take my lead from the tribe, like what does the tribe need from me? And how can we communicate and collaborate in consultation and work together and ensure that tribal sovereignty is upheld?” Pullin told SPR News.
She said tribal priorities include salmon recovery projects, which is a big part of the state agency's mission. Additionally, she said tribes could benefit from funding for recreation projects, such trails and parks.
Pullin is studying a list of past grants the Recreation and Conservation Office secured for tribes to determine what future projects could benefit from funding.
McGrane assures Idaho voters that machines are secure
Election Day is eighteen days away. While tens of thousands of Idaho voters have already mailed in absentee ballots – on par with earlier elections – it’s possible November 5 could bring very high in-person turnout at polling stations.
Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane says voters who want to cast a ballot in person can be confident the machines they use are secure. Speaking to Boise State Public Radio, McGrane said the machines are not connected to the internet.
“The clerks have to remove the information from the voting systems, take them out to upload and share that information. Even with us here at the state level,” McGrane said. “That's all part of a simple security measure of cutting the cord. We don't want people tampering with our system, so we're going to keep it so that only the people in the room have access to these machines.”
Early voting continues today in ten Idaho counties, including Kootenai. People there can vote at the Kootenai County Elections Office, on North Third Street in Coeur d’Alene.
For residents of other north Idaho counties, absentee ballots can be requested until October 25. More information can be found at VoteIdaho.gov.
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Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Steve Jackson and George Prentice.