Two new mayors, five council seats and school board position contested
When the dust settles later this year, West Plains voters stand to see some changes to the occupants of their elected panels.
With the close of candidate filing on May 19, 32 individuals had stepped up to run for 22 positions on upcoming ballots, with all three cities having at least one contested race on their respective city councils. Nowhere is that more prevalent than Medical Lake, where three of four council positions up for election being fought over along with the mayor’s office and a school board seat.
Current council members Shirley Maike and Laura Parsons, along with former mayoral candidate Mikeal Suniga will vie to replace out-going Mayor John Higgins. Don Mayfield withdrew his candidacy on May 19.
Monica Manza, John Merrick and Elizabeth Rosenbeck face each other in the race for Council Position 2, the seat currently held by Maike. Rosenbeck was appointed to fill the Position 5 seat in May 2016, replacing the late Howard Jorgenson.
Incumbent Destiny Stein will face a challenge from former Medical Lake police chief Tony Harbolt and Don Kennedy at Council Position 4. Both Harbolt and Kennedy have campaigned before, with Kennedy putting his name in to replace Jorgenson last year.
Gary J. Plumlee, Michael Deeley and Theodore E. Olson have filed for the Council Position 5 seat vacated by Rosenbeck’s filing for Position 2. Plumlee was also a candidate to replace Jorgenson in 2016, while Olson is a frequent commenter at City Council meetings from the Fox Ridge area.
John Paikuli and Arthur (AJ) Burton are running unopposed at council positions 1 and 3 respectively.
Also in Medical Lake, Leo Spilker will face incumbent Kelly Fouts for election to the school board’s Director District 1, while incumbent Peggy Schweikardt is unopposed in Director District 5.
Cheney is on track to elect a new mayor. Current Councilman Chris Grover is running unopposed to replace incumbent Tom Trulove, who is stepping down after almost 31 years in public service, including two, multi-term stints as mayor and seats on numerous county and state commissions.
“I looked at all that and I’m pretty happy with that,” Trulove told the council at its May 23 meeting, adding when he was first elected mayor in the 1970s, he was the youngest to ever serve in the position in Cheney.
When he was elected again in 2009, he was the oldest to serve. Trulove noted he and his wife will be celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary later this summer.
“Every year, I’m getting closer to my ‘use by’ date,” he said.
Running for Grover’s vacated Council Position 1 seat are Paul Schmidt and Tim Gainer. Schmidt formerly served as Cheney’s city administrator before resigning in 2006 to take up a similar position at Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, and recently retired as Chelan’s city administrator.
A long-time resident of Cheney, Gainer campaigned for a council position in 2011, losing to former Councilman Graeme Webster. Running unopposed for re-election are John Taves (Position 3) and Teresa Overhauser (Position 4).
In Cheney School District school board seats, incumbent directors Suzanne Dolle and Marcie Estrellado are unopposed at positions 2 and 1 respectively.
Finally, Airway Heights’ one contested City Council race pits Jared Lacambra against current planning commissioner James (Sonny) Weathers for Position 4. Running unopposed are Kevin Richey (Council Chair, Position 1), Steve Lawrence (Position 2) and Doyle Inman (Position 6).
Running unopposed in special district commissioner elections are incumbent Howard Marsh (Spokane County Fire District 3), Scott Mericle (SCFD 10) Scott Rushing (Four Lakes Water District) and Mike Kimm (Williams Lake Sewer).
The primary election is set for Tuesday, Aug. 1.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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