SGGA’s John Estey: “Spokane has seen commonsense policies pushed to the wayside for far-Left ideas”

Shift’s Newsmaker Interview is with Spokane Good Government Alliance (SGGA) Executive Director John Estey, as we spotlight the important elections which are taking place this year in the state’s second largest city.  With the primary election just days away (ballots must

be mailed or dropped in ballot boxes by next Tuesday), the City of Spokane is at a major crossroads with moderates/conservatives seeking a much different path for the city than the one liberals and extremists are proposing. Since she was elected in 2019, Mayor Nadine Woodward has faced obstacles from the five liberal councilmembers who have controlled the seven-person city council. The mayor is challenged by career politician and former Jay Inslee cabinet member Lisa Brown. Four of the seven city council seats (including City Council President) are also up for election.

In his interview, Estey informed us on the mission of the Spokane Good Government Alliance and the issues its members are most concerned with going into the 2023 elections. He shared his thoughts on the leading candidates for Spokane Mayor and City Council President. Finally, Estey stated how Shift readers can learn more about SGGA and how to get involved.

 

First, please tell Shift readers about the Spokane Good Government Alliance and why it was formed in 2019?

The Spokane Good Government Alliance (SGGA) is a broad and bipartisan group of Spokane community and business members, formed to bring balance back to local government and fight to keep Spokane from becoming Seattle, Portland or San Francisco. Like those cities, Spokane has seen commonsense policies pushed to the wayside for far-Left ideas pushed through a veto-proof majority on the Spokane City Council.

We advocate for a pragmatic and collaborative Spokane city government that works together, listens to all of the community, and effectively addresses the issues facing Spokane including homelessness, housing & public safety. We support candidates who align with good government principles and have integrity.

 

What are the top issues for the alliance in the 2023 elections?

The Alliance cares deeply about public safety, homelessness, and affordable housing. Over the last several years, Betsy Wilkerson and the radical veto-proof majority on the Spokane City Council has failed to address these growing issues, in pursuit of their own political agenda.

 

The race for Spokane Mayor is grabbing headlines across the state as liberal career politician (and former Inslee Administration cabinet member) Lisa Brown is taking on first-term Mayor Nadine Woodward. What are the key issues in this race and has your organization chosen to support either candidate?

In Mayor Woodward’s first term in office as Spokane Chief Executive, she has earned the reputation as being a leader that we can trust. From adding over 500 beds to the region’s homeless shelter system, adding police precincts in neighborhoods to ensure our safety, to reforming City housing code to bring more affordable housing to market, Mayor Woodward has delivered for us time and time again. Mayor Woodward led the nation’s mayors in advocating to Congress for more funding to help address the fentanyl crisis and mental health issues. You’ll also recall that Mayor Woodward was one of the loudest advocates imploring the state legislature to return tools to our police in police pursuits and strengthening our drug laws. When the state legislature failed to make drug possession and use illegal, Mayor Woodward led Spokane in becoming one of the first cities in the state to do so themselves.

Meanwhile Lisa Brown, Jay Inslee’s left hand in Spokane, was silent on both of those critical issues. Lisa has spent her entire career increasing our taxes, supporting “defund the police” candidates and policies, and failing to address the growing homelessness issue across our state. If you ask anyone in the State of Washington if homelessness got better under her leadership as the director of the state agency tasked with solving homelessness, the answer will be a resounding NO. She did nothing to stop the state’s largest homelessness camp from forming on Washington State-owned land. She ignored pleas from East Central residents and business owners as crime ravaged the neighborhood. She delayed the closure of “Camp Hope,” despite terrible reports of human and drug trafficking taking place there, while she funneled $24 million taxpayer dollars to her political cronies’ organizations to mitigate the camp. During her time in the State Legislature, Lisa Brown even sued voters in an effort to increase taxes, championed raising our gas tax by 60%, and voted to reduce supervision of convicted murderers and sex offenders upon their release from prison.

As I talk to residents around the City of Spokane, their top issues are public safety, homelessness, and housing. Whether it is her time as a State Legislator or as the Director of the Department of Commerce, Lisa Brown’s record on those issues is abysmal.

 

The Spokane City Council President position is elected citywide and once again the race is between two people with divergent opinions on the issues. Current liberal City Councilmember Betsy Wilkerson and moderate former business owner Kim Please are vying for the seat. What are the key issues in this race and what should Spokane residents expect from the person who is elected for this job?

Up and down the ballot, good governance is on the line. The City Council President race is no exception. Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson’s record makes one thing painfully obvious: her radical beliefs are bad for Spokane.

Where to start? Wilkerson protested a police precinct being in the neighborhood where she erroneously claims to reside, diverted police funding from drug seizures, publicly touted her endorsement from SCAR, which has openly and actively supported defunding and disbanding the police. When the Spokane Police were conducting a murder investigation outside of Wilkerson’s place of business, she told the Spokane Police that she wasn’t “too enthused” to help. She’s even voted against protecting our kids from homelessness encampments…not once, but twice. And when the Spokane Police Department was begging for solutions to fighting criminal activity after hours in our parks, Councilwoman Wilkerson was the lone vote against it. And that says a lot when you consider how radical the rest of her cohorts on Council are. While our city is facing a housing crisis, she even voted to increase development fees by upwards of 1,400%…driving up the cost of housing. Further, Wilkerson is the Spokane City Council’s biggest advocate for tax increases on our hardworking families, but meanwhile neglected to pay her own until she was called out on it.

Kim Plese on the other hand owned and operated a small business for 32 years. She knows how important a vibrant and safe City is to everyone in our community and will fight to ensure Spokane police have the tools, training, and resources to protect your family and business.

She will bring a fresh perspective to City government and build positive relationships between law enforcement and neighbors through supporting community policing. A stark contrast to Betsy Wilkerson.

 

How can people learn more about the Spokane Good Government Alliance and how can they get involved?

You can learn more about the Spokane Good Government Alliance by visiting our website here: spokanegoodgovernmentalliance.com and by following us on Facebook. Spokane is the big small city worth fighting for and SGGA is dedicated to restoring balance in Spokane City