Familiar face now in Position 6, incoming mayor Rushing dives into old and new city business
By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
Last fall's mayoral race between Airway Heights Councilman Patrick Rushing and incumbent Matthew Pederson was tense, with an automatic recount ultimately handing the seat to Rushing by a two vote margin.
But when Councilman Larry Haskell left Position 6 vacant after stepping down at the end of the year, Pederson found there was another way back onto the dais.
“I was asked by a number of council members and staff to come back, and after discussing it with my wife and family I applied,” Pederson said.
Airway Heights residents Jason Perry, Elgiva Booten and Doyle Inman also put in to fill the two-year appointment, but the council voted in favor of Pederson following interviews conducted during the Jan. 19 regular City Council meeting.
This is Pederson's second time as councilman since first being elected in 2002. This time around, Pederson said he plans to assist with some of the projects he helped put in motion as mayor.
Airway Heights is slowly transitioning toward a 2012 deadline for the annexation of a square mile of land east of the city, a project Pederson had a major role in. He said he'd also like to see Airway Heights pursue a potential West Plains sports complex on the north end of the county raceway park.
But Pederson said his main order of business is to help get new council members Steven Lawrence and Tanya Dashiell up to speed and connect them with other area leaders while supporting his former election challenger Rushing. “My main focus is to assist him as mayor, an offer I made to him numerous times since the election,” Pederson said.
Rushing, who has been on the council since 2000, said his vote was one of two against bringing Pederson back on board. “Matt and I have different leadership styles,” he said. “His is more aggressive than mine, which could hamper negotiations. I tend to sit back and listen, work on compromises. How well we work together in the future all depends on how aggressive Matt wants to be.”
Pederson countered that the two have worked well during their eight years together on council and that he has picked up where they left off. “I don't see (Rushing) taking the city in a new direction; he was a strong supporter on the council and there were very few disagreement votes.”
One of those disagreements centered on Pederson's proposal last spring to raise the mayor's rate of pay from $500 to $2,000, which Rushing opposed on the grounds that it was a “ridiculous” use of taxpayer dollars during a down economy. Since his election, Rushing has introduced an ordinance to bring the mayor's salary back to previous levels, but said it has been stuck in various committees due to a lack of support from other council members.
For now, Rushing said he's kept a log of all the hours spent on city business so that he can show exactly where tax money is being used. “When a citizen asks how the mayor salary is being spent I can tell them, they'll know what they're paying for.”
One of the mayor's current job priorities, he said, is keeping a close eye on the siting process for a Spokane County jail replacement. Rushing said any new jail site on the West Plains would violate the Growth Management Act's policy of equal countywide distribution of essential public facilities, and he plans to actively oppose a site within the Airway Heights city limits.
“I can only speak as one council member, but I don't see the council deciding it will benefit the city to bring a jail here,” Rushing said. “If it gets to the point that the county decides to bring it to Airway Heights, we'll have to sit down and look at trying to block it any way we can.”
On this point, Rushing's view is in perfect alignment with that of Pederson. “The West Plains has been home to many public facilities for the last 30-plus years,” Pederson said. “While we're in support of a new facility to replace Geiger, the wider region must share the load. All on the council feel the same.”
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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