City of Spokane

Lisa Brown is a former state representative, senate majority leader, and chancellor of Washington State University Spokane. She has also served as the Washington State Director of Commerce. Brown has spent many years advocating for and volunteering in Spokane, including organizing the first Take Back the Night rally to bring awareness to victims of domestic violence.

Brown wants to use her experience to see the city invest in a quality life for all residents. That means fair and transparent processes on everything from neighborhood safety to small businesses. A keystone of her campaign is increasing affordable housing to help the many residents who are struggling to find shelter or stay in their homes with housing cost increases.

One of many major differences between Brown and incumbent mayor Nadine Woodward is Brown's focus on upstream investments to prevent crime. Brown wants to see more investment in proven prevention strategies that keep us safe, like apprenticeships, mental health services, and affordable housing.

Spokane has had conservative mayors for the last twelve years, and Brown offers the chance to transform the city and local government in Spokane. Vote for Lisa Brown for a more compassionate and affordable Spokane.

Spokane City Councilmember Betsy Wilkerson is running for council president to unite the city in a vision of collaboration and equity. She was appointed to the city council to replace Breean Beggs when he became council president in 2020. Only the second Black woman to ever serve on the council, if Wilkerson is elected this year she would become the first-ever Black president on the Spokane City Council. 

Wilkerson is no stranger to serving the community - she's the former president of the Women Helping Women Fund and the Junior League of Spokane. Currently, Wilkerson is the board president for the Carl Maxey Center and runs Moore's Boarding Home Assisted Living.

In our local questionnaire and interview with Wilkerson, the councilmember said she was most excited to make it easier and more affordable to build homes. That means fast-tracking permits, encouraging remodels instead of tear-downs to reduce pollution, and making zoning reforms. She spoke about how homeownership builds wealth, and amid the housing crisis wants to encourage homeownership for families of color with more accessible down payment assistance and educational programs to address racial disparities.

In contrast to her opponents, Wilkerson is ready to defend independent police oversight. She agrees with community members who have asked for this authority because the Spokane Police Department is allegedly the third deadliest police force in the country per population. Wilkerson wants to pair mental health responders with law enforcement in applicable calls and make sure that all in the city are treated fairly when dealing with police.

Her positions in support of walkable neighborhoods, boosting resources for alleviating homelessness, and providing a safety net for residents demonstrate she is a candidate who will ensure that everyone thrives. Wilkerson's many progressive endorsements demonstrate her solid record in the community and on the council as a capable and collaborative leader. Betsy Wilkerson has earned your vote for Spokane City Council President.

Paul Dillon is running for Spokane City Council, District 2 as an experienced and fearless advocate for opportunity for all in the city. 

There's no doubt about the breadth and depth of Dillon's experience working and volunteering for the residents of Spokane. He currently works as the vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho. Dillon is also the former Eastern Washington director for the YMCA Youth and Government Program and has served as a board member for the Center For Justice, Washington Bikes, and Pedals2People.

If elected, Dillon wants to raise the minimum wage to boost the local economy and support struggling families. As someone who once ran an environmental advocacy news site published by The Spokesman-Review, Dillon wants to revisit local laws on oil train derailments to protect the environment. Also high on his priorities is to build new affordable housing units to alleviate rising housing costs for everyone in the community and fund transitional shelters and behavioral health rather than criminalizing homelessness. 

Dillon's community safety stance is more detailed and more progressive than his opponents. He notes that due to racist incarceration policies, we have a system where African Americans, who are two percent of the population in Spokane, make up 14 percent of the jail population. He would invest in alternatives to incarceration, and use public health and behavioral health interventions instead of police where applicable, like sending unarmed officers or mental health responders.

By fully funding the Office of Civil Rights and Equity, working to uplift working families, and promoting community safety, Dillon demonstrates his desire to lead from progressive values. His broad endorsements from labor, environmental organizations, and Democratic elected officials speak to the power of his campaign to make the city a better place to live for all. Vote Paul Dillon for Spokane City Council from District 2.

Former army reserve medic Kitty Klitze is running to bring her transportation expertise to the Spokane City Council. As the former chair of Spokane's Community Assembly Pedestrian, Transportation, and Traffic Committee, chair of the Spokane Regional Transportation Advisory Committee, and president of the Spokane Regional Food Policy Council, Klitze has been deeply involved in the community. She also led Complete Streets Spokane, which successfully advocated for bike and pedestrian infrastructure requirements when planning and building streets.

In our local interview, Klitzke had solid and progressive answers to many of the issues facing Spokane. Like Herevia, she agreed that the police ombudsman should be granted the power to independently investigate community complaints, which voters overwhelmingly approved. She also believed that Spokane needs to stop incentivizing housing that is not affordable and start incentivizing the development of vacant lots, buildings, and parking lots. On homelessness, she supports a housing-first approach that helps people find shelter and secure homes as well as needed services.

Klitzke is a good choice for those looking for an accomplished transportation advocate who is excited to take on the city's needs for long-term planning and vision.

Mike Wiser is the current president of Spokane Public Schools' Board of Directors, where he has served since 2017. Wiser was born in Spokane, where he worked as a chief strategy officer at CHAS Heath, a nonprofit community health center. He has two kids in Spokane schools and started Spokane Dads, a social group for kids and dads, during his time as a stay-at-home father.

He is running for re-election to Position 5 on a platform of keeping class sizes small, recovering from the pandemic in a responsible way, and reforming unjust discipline practices. Before Wiser's time as a director, Spokane Public Schools had the highest numbers in the state for students being restrained or isolated in padded rooms. The district has now banned these outdated practices that harmed students of color and students with disabilities.

Wiser also approved redrawing school zone boundaries and adding new schools to keep class sizes small enough for all students to get support from their teachers. Because of the concerns over the socioeconomic divisions between schools, Wiser also held back his full support for the new plans until he ensured that there were options such as magnet schools to serve disadvantaged kids.

Overall, Wiser's views align with progressive values. He supported deferring to Spokane health professionals for decisions about COVID vaccination requirements, wanted to keep campus officers unarmed to keep our kids safe, and supported the introduction of comprehensive sex education that will keep kids healthy.

He faces two opponents in this race. Ericka Lalka is a real estate investor and committeewoman for the Republican party. Her traditional fearmongering that our school budgets are "spiraling out of control" indicates that she would reduce the funding that our schools need to help teachers and kids thrive. She supports increasing armed security in schools, though we know policing in our schools will only make them worse places for learning. She recently made a Facebook post advocating to repeal a bill that protects youth who are seeking gender-affirming or reproductive care.

Also vying for the school board position is David Voltz, who has shared very little campaign information, lacks a website as of early July, and boasts a thin, vague platform. It appears that Voltz was one of Inslee’s many challengers in 2020, running as a “Cascadia Labour Party” candidate. Voltz wants to increase parental discretion over public curricula, which has previously led to setbacks on comprehensive sexual health education, multicultural programs, and accurate history lessons. He also states he would support teachers and improve student mental health services.

Wiser is fighting to make Spokane's public schools amazing places for every kid to learn, regardless of their family's race or income. Because of his seven years of dedication to our teachers and students, he has earned your vote for Position 5.