Cheney's only race features candidates with longevity

 

Last updated 10/19/2017 at 9:12am

Tim Gainer

Gainer wants to bring a different direction to city

Cheney City Council Position 1 candidate Tim Gainer is a long-time resident of the community, having graduated from Cheney High School in 1981.

Gainer attended Eastern Washington University, and has worked as an engineer at Davis Communications, Inc. since 1982. In his 35 years of business experience, he has worked with entities such as EWU, the city of Cheney, CenturyTel, Avista and Inland Power and Light and has served as liaison between DCI and local contractors.

Gainer, who ran for office in 2005 and 2011, said one reason he decided to run for the council seat being vacated by mayoral candidate Chris Grover, is because he doesn't believe residents' concerns are being addressed. The other is because of who the other candidate for the position is: former Cheney City Administrator Paul Schmidt.

Gainer pointed to several decisions he considered "ill derived" that took place while Schmidt was city administrator, including the loss of the city's parks and recreation department and the move to install a city-owned fiber optic system. The department was reinstalled after a year's absence by voter initiative, and the city eventually abandoned the fiber optic push.

Gainer also pointed to two lengthy court cases Cheney got involved in, including one that led to the city settling out of court and taking ownership of what use to be called Myer's Court - a trailer park on First Street that is now the home of Dow Excavating. Gainer said what went on back then, and still happens with some of today's issues, comes from poor communication between the city and its residents.

"I'm a believer in openness," he said. "If I can tell you the absolute truth, you'll get it from me."

As a recent example, Gainer pointed to Cheney's issues with water production. Loss of wells in two of the last three years, coupled with longer, hotter weather conditions, have resulted in irrigation restrictions, and officials have instituted conservation measures each summer for the last several years requiring residents to undertake an odd/even address watering schedule.

Gainer said it's not a well issue and the city shouldn't have a problem with water if you look at the numbers. What is the issue is the changing nature of the city.

"Cheney is growing, and we need to address that," he added.

Another subject Gainer wishes to address is downtown revitalization. The city hired a consultant in 2011 to look into possible options to improve Cheney's central core, but Gainer said the report vanished, with little being done other than some beautification measures.

"Let's readdress that and get that (study) back out there," he said, adding that he had seen the report. "He (the consultant) had some good ideas."

Gainer also wants to put more focus on economic development through better business recruiting. He noted the city received federal money - almost $2 million - to build its Commerce and Business Park in the south end of town, and since its opening in 2009­ has attracted just one new tenant.

The city has contracted with local Realtors to sell space in the park in the past, and Gainer said he would like to take that track again. He also wants to see more effort to fill some of the empty store spaces downtown, noting Cheney native and local developer Steve Emtman manages to keep his downtown properties filled.

"Let's take a page out of his book, he's got to be talking to somebody," Gainer said.

Finally, Gainer said if elected, he would work to continue to improve the city's relationship with EWU, which he said is in good shape, but should be an ongoing effort to make even better. He feels that Grover, who is running unopposed for mayor, will continue this effort as well.

"If they're (EWU) doing good, we're doing good," Gainer said. "If they're doing bad, we're doing bad."

Gainer said he has other ideas on needs in the city, and is ready to work with sitting council members if elected. The biggest thing he said he would bring would be a different perspective.

"People want change, and I will be listening to their ideas," Gainer added. "We need to move in a different direction."

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Schmidt familiar with workings of government

Cheney City Council Position 1 candidate Paul Schmidt is making his first run for government office, but he's not without experience when it comes understanding the functions of the seat he hopes to occupy.

Schmidt spent 37 years as an appointed government official, seven total with Spokane County and the city of Clarkston before becoming Cheney's public works director in 1986. In 1999, Schmidt became city administrator, a position he held until 2006 when he left for a similar role with the city of Oak Harbor in Western Washington.

In 2012, Schmidt became city administrator in Chelan, retiring in 2016 and returning to Cheney where he has maintained a home. In running for office, Schmidt said he wants to have a positive contribution on the community, has the qualifications and time to serve.

Schmidt ticked off five issues he believes need focusing on: water, land use planning, parks, public safety and the relationship with Eastern Washington University.

Schmidt said Cheney has always been challenged when it comes to its water. The issue is complex, with many variables, including wells prone to a lot of wear and tear.

The biggest component might be Cheney's source: two stacked, basalt rock aquifers that, while encompassing a large area, are slow to recharge. The city's eight wells draw from water pockets mostly in the shallower of the two systems.

"We're not the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer," Schmidt said in a reference to the underground river serving the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley. "We can't just poke a hole anywhere and you're in business."

Schmidt said Cheney has options to address its water production issues, the most effective being conservation. Rehabilitation of a non-producing well and one that only pumps non-potable water, re-starting long-abandoned talks with Spokane on a hook up, and modifying the city's wastewater treatment plant as a water reclamation facility are others.

"It's a combination of those four and looking at what is the most cost effective and has the most long-term viability," Schmidt said. "It is not an easy solution. If it was, we'd have (more) water a long time ago."

Schmidt said a fifth option might be changing the culture of the community to blend more with its surroundings. Cheney residents want lush green lawns, but live in an arid region.

"Maybe we should have smaller, lush green lawns," Schmidt said.

Like water, land use planning is also complex. Schmidt said the presence of EWU will always create a market for multifamily residential development, but the city also needs housing diversity.

Cheney struggles with "bleed off from Spokane," a factor Schmidt said is not only evident from heavy traffic coming into the city during the school year, but the amount of traffic heading out of town in the morning to jobs in Cheney's larger neighbor.

Schmidt said Cheney is still a "family community," noting it's where he raised his three daughters, and now three grandchildren. That component brings him to parks.

Schmidt said the city's loss of its parks and recreation department in 2002 was a result of the loss of tax revenue from a Tim Eyman-led initiative. That left an over $800,000 hole in the city's general fund budget, and a choice for the City Council.

"Do we face public safety reductions and keep parks?" Schmidt said. "Or do we cut off an arm and keep public safety (as is) but get rid of parks."

The parks department was eliminated, just in time for one of the hottest summers.

"The only thing hotter than the weather was my phone," Schmidt said. "The pool was closed."

Paul Schmidt

The department was reinstated after a year with a citizen-approved tax on electrical rates dedicated solely to parks and recreation. Schmidt said the experience highlighted the fragility of Cheney's budget, especially when relying on state and federal funding that is increasingly less and uncertain.

Schmidt pointed to his experience as the administrative head of three cities, and the ties he has created in the halls of Olympia in the process as a reason for electing him to the council.

"There's just a way on how you stand up for yourself and get heard," he said. "I think I have unique qualifications that I can bring forward and help a new, young mayor and his administration."

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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