(bright music) - [Announcer] This is a KSPS PBS Election Special, a debate featuring candidates for Spokane County Commissioner.

- Hello, and thank you for joining us.

I'm Kristi Gorenson.

KSPS is pleased to bring you this debate, featuring the candidates running for Spokane County Commissioner in District 1.

This is not the same District 1 from past elections.

In 2018, a new state law changed the way the largest counties in the state elect their commissioners.

Spokane County was required to change from three districts to five.

The two new districts essentially split the city core into East and West, and you'll notice another change.

You only get to vote for the candidates in the district where you reside.

So let me introduce you to the candidates for the new District 1.

Kim Plese is the former owner and president of Plese Printing and Marketing.

A Spokane native, she is a graduate of Gonzaga Prep and Washington State University and former board president of Boys and Girls Clubs and Executive Women International Spokane.

Chris Jordan is also from Spokane and attended the University of Washington Law School.

He has spent six years working as a lawyer in the Washington State Attorney General's Office, specializing in child safety cases.

Welcome to you both.

- [Kim and Chris] Thank you.

- For this debate, the candidates will answer questions from two Spokane journalists.

Rebecca White is a reporter for Spokane Public Radio and Colin Tiernan covers county government for the Spokesman-Review.

Before we begin, I wanna go over a few of the debate rules for our viewers.

These rules were agreed to by the candidates.

The panel will ask the same question to all the candidates, or they can direct the question to just one.

The panelist may request a follow up to an answer.

Candidates will have one minute for answers.

Candidates will be allowed two rebuttals for the entire debate.

Rebuttal length will be limited to 30 seconds.

So let's begin.

A coin flip determined that Mr. Jordan, you'll take the first question, and that will come from Colin.

- We're in a period of high inflation and many economists say a recession may be looming.

If an economic downturn occurs during your time in office, how would you make tough budget decisions?

Which county operations would you prioritize?

- Thank you for the question.

It's an honor to be here today.

The first thing I wanna say about budget priorities at the county is that there are currently tens of millions of dollars available in federal stimulus money at the county right now, that's called the Rescue Plan.

I'd like to see that money invested in a timely fashion in programs that help working families get ahead, childcare affordability, mental health drug treatment, and aid for small businesses.

But if we do run into a tough budget situation, upon taking office, my first priority would be to cut wasteful spending that the county is engaged in, all of the unnecessary lawsuits, where we are are paying attorneys to fight with our own county employees over their rights and collective bargaining, suing neighborhoods and having too much litigation going on.

I would also make sure we are not leaving state and federal funding on the table, as we are doing with homelessness right now, unfortunately.

And I would work to minimize the impact on taxpayers, the most vulnerable and essential county services with any needed cuts.

- [Kristi] Ms. Plese?

- Well, the county commissioners right now are working on the budget, so I think that they are keeping that in mind that there possibly could be structural deficits in the future.

So, I think they're taking that into consideration, the federal dollars that they have right now, they are working on, and they're being mindful that those are a one time use things.

So, the county commissioners have given $3.2 million for childcare already, and I'm wasteful spending.

I think they're very, very looking at that, so as far as just watching out for the budget, and I think just they're doing whatever they can to save money and looking at payroll expenses and things like that, so.

- So Ms. Plese, you'll take this next question from Rebecca.

- Over the last several years, the Spokane Regional Health District has cut several programs due to budget concerns, and they've faced rising costs because of the pandemic.

Do you think that the county or the Spokane Regional Health District, which a lot of the budget decisions made there are by the commissioners, is fully funded right now, and how would you, as a commissioner, financially prepare the Health District for future public health concerns in the future?

- Well, the biggest thing is, in any business, is your staffing issues, so replacement of employees need to be looked at and moved to other areas.

So, they would have to look at hiring in the future and not seeing if we can move employees responsibilities to other different departments and things like that.

So, hiring on new people and replacement of new people, I think that's one thing to look at.

- [Kristi] Thank you, Mr. Jordan?

- So, the first thing on the Health District is to say that I have a lot of personal respect for healthcare heroes who work at the Health District in our hospitals and helped us get through the pandemic.

My wife's a family medicine doctor, so I've got firsthand experience, seeing up close the dedication, training, and education that goes into becoming a doctor, a public health official.

Our public health decisions need to be driven by those who are most qualified to make them, so we do need some restructuring on the board to add a medical doctor, but to your question, I think we need to be ready for the next pandemic, and our health department is a critical piece of that.

I am concerned about some of the budget cuts that have been made in the past several years by the county to the Health District.

I understand that county funding is only a small share of the overall Health District budget, but I would like to look at funding models to make sure it's sustainable.

Unfortunately, we've had many good people leave the Health District because of over-politicization of science, but we can work with other cities and look at state funding options to make sure they have enough funding.

- [Kristi] Mr. Jordan, you'll take this next question first from Colin.

- Spokane County's jail is overcrowded, and the county has a severe shortage of corrections officers.

Do you think the county should build a new jail, or do you believe the county's dollars would be better spent on programs that seek to reduce dependence on incarceration?

- So my profession for the past seven years has been working as a state attorney, focused on child safety in our community.

I have worked with our amazing law enforcement officers to keep kids safe, but I do not support raising your taxes to the tune of perhaps $300 million or more on a new jail.

At a time when there are smart investments that we can make in mental health and drug treatment, expanding drug court to target the root causes of crime, keep people safe and reduce crime in our community.

This is a difference we have in this race.

I am open to safety enhancements at the jail to make sure it's safe for staff.

Some of that could be related to staffing levels, but when people are concerned about the rising cost of living, those who are calling for a new jail should explain to the voters how they're gonna pay for it.

The voters should know it will be likely a tax increase, and it would be the county commissioners bringing this proposal forward.

I don't think this is the right time.

We can be smarter to be safer.

- [Kristi] All right, hank you, Ms. Plese.

- Well, our Spokane County Jail is 40 years old.

It was only meant to be in existence as it is in this capacity for 20 years.

I've met with Mike Sparber, who is in charge of the Spokane County Jail.

There is severe overcrowding in the jail right now.

And in my experience in the last two months, door-belling and talking to people, crime, number one is the most concern.

Public safety is my number one concern and having met people who have had murders and rapes and all sorts of things that are happening in our community, and again, it's up to the voters about the jail.

I have a plan that it needs to be in front of the voters in the next six months with a reasonable plan.

- All right, thank you, Ms. Plese.

- [Kim] And it's up to the voters.

- You'll take this next question from Rebecca.

- 2% Of Spokane County's population is Black, yet Black inmates make up about 14% of the county jail's population.

Do you think the county should work to reduce racial disparities in the jail population, and if so, how?

- Well, I, again, having talked to people in law enforcement about the jail, I realize and acknowledge there are racial inequalities in the jail.

But one of the things that I did find out is the state legislature mandates things that they look at of keeping people in jail or releasing them out on bail.

And one of the things that, failure to appear, if they have family members in the community, the financial ability to pay, and race is not necessarily on one of them, but I think the judges and law enforcement are looking a lot more closely at that as a factor.

- [Kristi] Thank you, Mr. Jordan.

- So I think when it comes to racial disproportionality in our justice system, we have to do better.

We can work together with law enforcement and with community partners to improve equity in our system.

I've had the personal experience of being a lawyer working in the court system, and my approach when these issues have been brought up in my own practice has been to go to the trainings, to be open, to work with Native American tribes in my particular line of work, and I believe that's the right attitude that we need.

Unfortunately, we have county leadership right now that has dragged its feet on common sensory forms, like body cams.

We were the last jurisdiction in the area to put body cameras on our deputies.

They restructured and shut down a community justice task force without adequate input.

We could be working together to build a more equitable system, because at the end of the day, I respect the amazing law enforcement people that we have doing that tough job.

We've gotta work to build trust of the community in our system, so that we can all be safe.

- Mr. Jordan, you'll take this next question first from Colin.

- The city of Spokane and state agencies are currently working to address Washington's largest homeless camp, known as Camp Hope.

Homelessness throughout the county has risen 13% in the last two years.

What role do you think the county should play in tackling the growing issue of homelessness in our region?

- The tent city, Camp Hope, as they call it, is an environmental disaster in every way.

My business, in fact, Plese Printing and Marketing, was not far away from Camp Hope, and I drove by it every single day.

And the Trent Shelter, which has just opened, has space available, and I think the county can work more with the city in regards to the homelessness situation, but there definitely needs to be some accountability of where those dollars are going, and I think, as a compassionate person that graduated in social work from Washington State University, I have those relationships with the city, and I think that they can be better.

- All right, thank you, Mr. Jordan?

- So, I always start talking about homelessness, saying that as a person of faith, it breaks my heart to see the scale of this problem in our community, to think about what folks who are unhoused go through on a daily basis just to survive and think about their personal safety.

We can keep our compassion as a community, that's who we are as Spokane, but also be smart, determined and urgent with this issue, because it is an urgent issue.

I think the voters are crying out for real leadership from the county on this issue.

I have had the personal experience of working with Republican legislators and Democratic legislators to pass bipartisan legislation, helping homeless school children, so I've been a problem solver.

I will fill that role at the county.

The regional leadership has been lacking.

We are leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table at the county that the county has just not put together a plan for.

We need less finger pointing, less bluster, more serious solutions, seeing what's working in cities like Houston, where they've got one regional agency coordinating efforts and taking the politics out of this issue.

- All right, thank you.

Mr. Jordan, you'll take this next question first, and it will come from Rebecca.

- Since 2020, county elections offices have had to contend with false claims of election fraud, rampant misinformation and harassment.

In some states, election deniers have targeted county commissioners, canvasing boards and the programs funded by commissioners.

If you're elected as a county commissioner, how would you support the County Elections Office and promote free and fair elections?

- It's a major concern.

We can, first of all, start by adequately funding our election department to ensure that any complaints that are made about elections can be followed up on and investigated.

If you have evidence of fraud, bring it forward.

That's how it works in our country.

In Washington, we have a safe, secure, accessible and responsive election system.

We have a process in place in the courts for contested elections, but I am deeply concerned about political figures that are raising doubts about our elections with baseless claims.

To do so, I believe is to put the pursuit of power over patriotism, and it's wrong.

In the contested 2020 Presidential Election, the former president's legal challenges were thrown out of dozens of courts overseen by Republican appointed judges.

As a lawyer, I can tell you, you've gotta have real evidence in court, and there just hasn't been any of systemic fraud.

So we should stop enabling conspiracy theories.

We do have a responsive system where we can litigate these things peacefully.

- Okay, thank you, Ms. Plese.

- Well, I think that our biggest asset in the counties are employees, and the employees of the Elections Office.

Having worked with, having been in business and working with the post office and mailing and our system right now, I have full faith that our Elections Office with the dedicated employees that we have in the county are doing a great job, and I hope the voters realize that every vote does count, and I think that our Elections Office is doing a great job.

- Thank you, Ms. Plese, you'll take this next question from Colin.

- Spokane County is in the midst of a housing shortage.

Rising rents and record high home values have left many struggling to find a place to live.

If you're elected as a county commissioner, what policies would you put forward to address the region's housing crisis?

- Well, the biggest worry that I have right now is the ban that my opponent's boss right now has, shutting down the natural gas to our state is gonna affect affordable housing in our community, number one.

The cost of housing, the supply chain issues that we have had, have a detrimental effect on building and things like that.

I think that the building permitting and things need to be lessened a little bit as far as the restrictions go, as far as that goes.

And keeping us strong environmental, our priorities of the communities that are in place right now.

- [Kristi] So, Mr. Jordan.

- So on housing, I've had the experience of being a young family, trying to buy a house in Spokane in a tough market.

We bought a couple years ago.

It was scary then.

It's even scarier for working families now.

People are dealing with skyrocketing rents, and we have to work on getting more affordable choices for our families.

I'm proud to be endorsed by the Spokane Realtors Association.

I don't think they would've endorsed me if I supported any extreme policies on housing as well as the Low Income Housing Alliance, because I understand this issue on a personal level, and I have proposed solutions to help families afford housing, including expanding our housing stock in Spokane.

We can have more middle housing options.

We need more affordable housing, and we've gotta grow in a smart way, looking at how do we use our existing infrastructure to the most cost effective manner.

How do we work as a region with the various cities and municipalities to grow together in a smart, equitable way with affordable housing.

- Mr. Jordan, you'll take this next question first from Rebecca.

- This summer, the city of Spokane passed a resolution barring law enforcement from participating in out of state abortion investigations.

If you are elected as a county commissioner, would you support a similar policy for the County Sheriff's Office?

- So thank you, on this issue, I am disturbed that our Supreme Court ripped away a Constitutional right that was recognized in our country for over 50 years, throwing out their precedence in the process.

I respect that this is a complex moral issue, and people have differing personal views about abortion, but as a legal question, it's a matter of the rights, dignity and reproductive freedom for women, which I support.

This is an issue where my opponent and I have a disagreement.

She has called for Washington's Reproductive Freedom Law to be quote, "repealed or challenged."

I disagree and thanks to our Supreme Court, this issue has local impacts as your question illustrated.

We are a border county.

Idaho will have very different laws, and we've gotta be proactive to protect women and providers from radical laws in other states.

Law enforcement often coordinates investigations with other states.

We need an ordinance saying, "It will not happen "in this issue, so we can protect women's rights."

- [Kristi] All right, thank you, Ms. Plese.

- Well, keep in mind, I'm a woman, if you can't tell.

The Supreme Court has left the decision to the states.

The voters of this state have said that abortion is legal in this state, and I will abide by those laws.

No question, just like the voters, abortion is not a county issue.

I need to make that clear.

We are the legislative and administrative branch of the county and again, I will abide by all the laws that the voters have.

So the protection of women that come to this state need to be protected if they are.

The only thing that I'm worried about is the impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the healthcare workers.

If we are to get what's expected to be a 400% increase in women coming to our state for productive healthcare, that's my main concern.

Other than that, keep in mind, I am a woman, so.

- Okay, thank you, Ms, please.

Let's see, Ms. Plese, you will take this next question first from Colin.

- Spokane County has received $101 million through the Federal Government's American Rescue Plan, a stimulus bill intended to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

To date, the county commissioners have prioritized infrastructure investments.

How do you think the county should spend its American Rescue Plan dollars?

- Well, the county commissioners still have several open RFPs for different categories that we're mandated to allot money to.

So, the biggest thing that is preservation of our environment, our Parks Department, things like that, the river, the aquifer, again, the Parks Department and things like that, so I think that we need to be wise stewards of our natural resources and things like that with our funds.

Like I said, the county commissioners have given already $3.2 million for childcare and more is coming, and I think that's important as well.

- [Kristi] All right, thank you, Mr. Jordan.

- [Kim] You bet.

- So I believe that the Rescue Plan dollars are a once in a generation opportunity to help Spokane build back from the pandemic and be stronger than before.

As I said, I'd like those investments to focus on working families.

From the beginning of this campaign, I have called for $5.5 million in childcare, stabilization and affordability.

My opponent has yet to support that, but we can do more on treatment, on rental assistance, on aid for small businesses.

My opponent also said that she would have the quote, "courage to refuse these stimulus dollars."

I disagree with that.

I don't think we should turn our back on families who are in need today.

We can use that money to invest in Spokane.

It should not be sent back to Washington DC.

- All right, thank you.

Mr. Jordan, you'll take this next question first from Rebecca.

- The city of Spokane has implemented several sustainability reforms to reduce their climate change footprint, including authoring an action plan, having a tree canopy plan and a plan to electrify their fleet.

If you're elected as a commissioner, how would you make sustainability a priority at the county level?

- Thank you for the question.

So, if you're like me, and you grew up in Spokane, going to the lake, the rivers, being out on our hiking trails, you have seen the impact of climate change in the suffocating smoke that's had so much impact on our daily lives, extreme heat events that have resulted in people dying in our region.

So, I am ready, and my generation is ready to take this issue on, take climate change seriously.

Spokane County is not doing enough on climate change, and they can be leading on this issue.

We need to follow the lead of the city of Spokane and put together a climate change sustainability plan, bring experts, bring workers to the table.

I'm proud to be endorsed by the Washington Conservation Voters and 20 labor unions, including the Building and Construction Trades Council.

We can have all of these stakeholders at the table, working on electrifying the county's vehicle fleet, but we have got to take this issue seriously, and the time for action is now.

- [Kristi] Ms. Plese.

- Well, my opponent and I disagree on many things, and one of the things that he would like to do would be purchasing electric vehicles for the county, and I think, at this time, that's absolutely ridiculous.

The sheriff's department alone has 200 deputy vehicles.

The majority of them, the deputies take home.

And we would have to buy charging stations in every deputy's home and around the county and down where the sheriff's department is, and I think that's absolutely not a good steward of our funds right now, especially when there's a possible structural deficit coming down.

- [Chris] Can I have a rebuttal?

- [Kristi] Yes, 30 seconds you may.

- [Kristi] Yes.

- [Chris] Thank you.

So, we do have a disagreement about climate change.

In a questionnaire that my opponent filled out in this election cycle, she said, and I quote that, "Green initiatives are based on faulty models."

To me, those are words of climate denial.

I'm not saying that changes need to happen overnight.

That's why I say we sit down with the stakeholders.

If the city of Spokane can figure out how to make progress on reducing its emissions, so can Spokane County.

(Kim speaking off-mic) - [Kristi] Yep, 30 seconds.

- That's taken out of context.

I think we need to be good stewards of the dollars that we do have.

I believe in a strong, sound environmental policy that protects the health of our community and be a wise steward of our natural resources.

That includes our parks' aquifer, and without throwing us over a proverbial financial cliff.

- All right, so we are going to do one final question.

You'll have 30 seconds for your answers for this one, and Ms. Plese, you will take this one from Colin.

- If you're elected as a county commissioner, how will you work to increase transparency and make county government more accessible?

- Well, the biggest thing is when going out on the doorsteps is talking to people, is educating them on exactly what the county commissions do.

And I think the first thing is to have an open house.

Most people have never been down to the courthouse and seeing what the county commissioners do and the effect it has.

So I'm all for accountability and being very transparent with the dollars.

We work for the community and our constituents.

- [Kristi] All right, thank you, Mr. Jordan?

- So on transparency, this is part of the reason I think we need new voices in county leadership.

We need to let the sunlight in at Spokane County a little bit.

Let's look at the meeting times.

Are they happening when working people can attend?

Let's look at making sure all of their meetings are streaming and available online.

Let's make more budget information available online, make sure the agendas are out ahead of meetings, so people know what's gonna be talked about.

Let's invite the community in.

That's what this change with Spokane County Commissioners is about, with more commissioners and district elections, more accountability, more transparency.

- [Kristi] All right, thank you.

- Can I say one thing though, if I could?

- [Kristi] Yes.

- All our commissioner meetings are a matter of public record, and they are recorded, and I think that we do a good job.

We can do better though, and I think it's very important that they are transparent in everything they do, and I think that we did, and I am a new voice, and I definitely wanna say that we do need a woman, another woman on the commission.

- All right, thank you.

Well, that'll have to be the last question.

Time now for closing statements, and Mr. Jordan, you will go first.

You have 60 seconds.

- Thank you, it's an honor to be here today.

Thank you, KSPS, and thanks to my opponent for this debate.

I'm Chris Jordan, running for county commissioner, born and raised here in Spokane, went to Mead schools K through 12.

I'm a state attorney who has been dedicated to protecting children in our community, and I believe we can do better by kids and families to create a region where all children and families can thrive.

I am the candidate in this race who has personal experience working in public safety.

I'll target the root causes of crime.

I have experience working with both parties to pass bipartisan legislation, and I'll be a reliable voice for working families on childcare, on affordable housing.

I'd be honored to have your vote.

- All right, thank you, Ms. Plese.

- My name is Kim Plese.

I'm from Spokane, born and raised here, went to school here.

Whoever is our next five county commissioners, they will not have any breathing space.

My opponent doesn't have the business experience and the life experiences that are needed for this particular job.

I've managed staff.

I've had three decades of experience in pivoting through all sorts of different events in our economy with staff.

Bringing people together is just happy talk, managing people during good times and bad, and taking the hits.

I will be accountable.

I will explain my decision, and I will face my employees that my opponent has never had.

I will be able to lead on the issues, be transparent, and I care about this community.

- All right, thank you very much.

Thanks to both of our candidates and thank you to our journalists.

On behalf of KSPS, thank you for watching.

(dramatic music)