Volz looks to lean on experience to help District 6 amidst COVID crisis
Mike Volz has served in Position 1 of state representative in District 6 since 2017, and he’d like to do it for another two years. The twice-incumbent candidate is running for a third term.
Volz has two projects he brought up in an interview with the Free Press that he’d like to see completed in a potential third term. One is the North-South highway in Spokane.
“I moved to Spokane in 1974 when I was nine years old … and there was talk of a North-South freeway then,” Volz said. “We have the funding, let’s get it done.”
The other piece of legislation is to get rid of the 23% penalty for people late in paying property taxes.
Volz’s website says he is “committed to bringing jobs to Spokane by reforming state tax laws which will help provide for quality education, safe streets and improved infrastructure and services.”
One way this could help be achieved, according to Volz, is to give more secure funding to the Spokane County Sheriff’s department. Currently, the sheriff’s office relies on the county general fund levy instead of a separate fund, such as what firefighters or transit have.
“There might be a mechanism to have more stable funding for the sheriff’s office,” Volz said. “Some stability and continuity on the side of law enforcement … would be a good thing.”
The economy has taken a big hit in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Volz said “small businesses are getting hit pretty hard.” He added that he wants to look at regulations on how those businesses are taxed and avoid their taxes being raised.
Volz said he’s been working on trades as a viable option for students to consider after school, saying the four-year college route isn’t best for everyone.
“Our young students need to know that there’s options out there other than a four-year college,” Volz said.
Volz has years of experience in the financial sector, from accounting to financial analysis. He believes that experience, coupled with his state representative experience, would serve him well as District 6 is faced with tough budget decisions amidst a struggling economy.
Volz and his campaign team are currently trying to use multimedia tactics such as email and radio to try and advocate for his re-election.
Drew Lawson can be reached at drew@cheneyfreepress.com.
Zappone looks to fight for working families, advocate for education
A native of District 6, Zack Zappone is running for public office for the first time with an eye toward representing District 6 in Olympia.
Zappone spent time as an English and history teacher at Park Middle School in Kennewick before getting his master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University. He said seeing the inequality and lack of resources among his students, such as a disparity in healthcare, transportation and food security (or insecurity) prompted his passion for advocating for equity and support in the education system.
He decided to run for public office when he saw the community needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zappone said his top priorities if elected revolve around education and representing working families. He said he’d try to make sure students have opportunities outside the classroom, including trying to create partnerships with local healthcare services and counselors. He said at Park Middle School, there were 700 students and just two counselors.
“At the core of this is making sure that everyone has a fair shot,” Zappone said. “It’s not about creating new services, but streamlining it.”
“We need to have continued career pathways for people that are students and for people that losing jobs,” Zappone continued. “As technology continues to change, people are losing their jobs. We need to have programs for adjust transitions so that they’re able to get the jobs of the future.”
Evaluating the district and state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is also key to Zappone. He said focusing on ways to support local people and employers is an important step.
He brought up his recent volunteering with Spokane Food Fighters and said they’ve been taking local donations and using those to help local restaurants stay afloat and give food to those with food insecurities.
“Thinking creatively about how we can support each other locally is going to be really important in rebuilding the (community),” Zappone said.
Ensuring that everyone has access to quality health insurance is another priority for Zappone. He said he wants to look at populations missing coverage and advocate for lowering premiums so that people can visit a doctor whenever they need to.
Zappone is currently trying to reach out to voters so he can learn more about how he should represent their needs if elected.
Drew Lawson can be reached at drew@cheneyfreepress.com.
Reader Comments(0)