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Mielke, Roskelley bring experience to race
10/17/2012 10:46:37 AM
By Valerie Putnam
Splash Contributor
John Roskelley, a Democrat who previously served nine years as a Spokane County Commissioner, hopes to take the position back from incumbent Republican Todd Mielke. Mielke is campaigning to serve his third term.
Both men resumes reflect extensive experience in the position and claim to have a "common sense approach."
Roskelley served as commissioner from 1995 to 2004, and Mielke has held down the position since.
"There's not an issue we agree on," said Roskelley, citing the stand each takes on political partisanship and the county's budget.
Roskelley said his main priority, if elected, is to bring democracy back into the office. He stated that as there are currently three Republicans serving on the three-person commission, his presence would balance out the political landscape. Advertisement
 John Roskelley (D), age 63
Family: Married for 40 years to Joyce with three adult children, Dawn, Jordan and Jess
Current Occupation: Freelance photojournalist and author
Past Political Experience: Spokane County Commissioner for nine years, 1995-2004; appointed by Gov. Gary Locke to the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearing Board in 2004 for a six-year term
Community Involvement: Member, Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition Board; past member, Washington State Nature Conservancy Board of Directors; volunteer deputy medical investigator; past member, Washington State Nature Conservancy Board of Directors; past member, Spokane Guild School Foundation Board of Directors; fireman/EMT for Fire District 9; former volunteer rescue ranger, Denali National Park, Alaska; WSDOT litter clean-up volunteer, Highway 206
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Todd Mielke (R), age 48
Family: Divorced with adult daughter, Ciara
Current occupation: Spokane County Commissioner, 2004-present
Past political experience: Staff member, Washington State Senate, 1986-1990; state representative, 1990-1995; National Legislator of the Year, 1995.
Community Involvement: Currently serving on eight different boards as commissioner, including: Solid Waste Liaison, GSI, Regional Health District, SRTC, Washington State Association of Counties and Solid Waste Advisory Committee. Past service includes the Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighters, Airport and STA boards. Member of Duke's Auto Club.
Education: Attended Washington State University, Gonzaga University and Eastern Washington University. Graduated from EWU with a Financial and Operation Management degree.
Website: www.toddmielke.com
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"We need to have diversity, another voice so both sides of the story are represented," Roskelley said.
Mielke counters that people of the same party don't always share the same view.
"It's more about background and demonstrating leadership," Mielke said. "At what level do we bring partisan politics to local government?"
Mielke's main goal is to improve the transportation infrastructure for the future when the county is continually receiving less funding from the federal and state governments.
"This includes all transportation," Mielke said. "Roads, sidewalks, paths, public transportation. We've got to figure a way to prepare the community for the long term."
Having served a six-year term on the Growth Management Act Hearing Board, one of Roskelley's priorities is to ensure the county is in compliance with the state regulation on GMA. According to Roskelley, this is vital because if the county isn't in compliance it costs taxpayers millions.
Fiscal responsibility is another key issue in this race.
Mielke said the county's financial position has improved since he has taken office.
"When I took office, the county's cash reserves were at 8.1 percent," Mielke said. "Today in the worst economy, the reserves are 9.45 percent."
Mielke further pointed out for the last two years the county's AA bond rating, the highest rating possible, is earning the lowest interest rate in any local government in the western United States, and therefore saving millions of dollars in interest.
Roskelley claims when he came into office in 1995, the county was half a million dollars in debt with no cash reserves. After several years using line item budgeting, the commission was able to build up the reserves and increase the county's bond rating significantly.
"The bond rating came from us," Roskelley said about the county's current AA rating. "It took work to build it back up."
Roskelley claims that over the past eight years, property taxes have raised 13.5 percent.
"That's outrageous," Roskelley said. "If property values hadn't dropped so far, people would notice the increase more."
Mielke disputes the claim, saying the county opted to take a 1 percent inflation increase in property tax in 2008-2010.
According to Mielke, if the county doesn't use the yearly 1 percent increase but can bank it to use at a later date. In 2007, when the Sheriff's Department was facing severe reductions, the county voted to use a 10.5 percent banked increase to ensure programs continued, such as school resource officers, detectives designated to prosecute domestic violence crimes and officers tracking sex offenders.
"That's 10 percent of the 10 percent allocated for the county," Mielke said in a phone interview. "It's not 13.5 percent of the entire pie."
Mielke explained property tax is divided between the school district, library district and firefighters. The county has 10 percent of the total tax collected. He further added the commissioners have not taken the state-authorized 1 percent increase since 2010.
Candidates voice opposing views on whether to continue to support Greater Spokane Incorporated and its economic development arm.
Mielke serves on the GSI board and plans to continue supporting economic development through GSI. According to Mielke, in the past 10 years GSI has brought 1,700 new jobs to the area.
Roskelley believes a system of accountability should be put in place to track GSI's progress.
"I want them to show what they've done for the community, what impact they've made," Roskelley said about GSI.
If GSI is unable to show a noticeable impact with economic development for the community, Roskelley would like to divert the funds to the Sheriff's Department.
"With the money allotted, we could put two more deputies on the street," Roskelley said.
Roskelley said he would at a minimum reduce the salaries for the GSI CEO, who he claims earns an estimated $200,000 a year.
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