Karen Kearney is once again aiming for the Spokane City Council.
"These are serious times and they need serious people," says Kearney, who is running in District 3. To date, only Steve Salvatori has announced his intentions to run for the seat being vacated by Steve Corker, who is running to become the council's president. "I really wasn't going to do it. But people kept asking me."
Kearney ran two years ago in the same district against incumbent Nancy McLaughlin and lost by a wide margin. She says this time is different, mainly because of Salvatori.
"I've looked at his info. He doesn't know this district," she says. "What has he done for my district? Has he visited the schools? Has he gone to the women's and kids' free restaurant? What has this man done?"
But, she adds, she's planning on keeping the race civil: "He's my opponent. He's not my enemy."
Asked to identify another candidate running for any contested seat in this year's city elections that she supports, Kearney was quick to point to just one: Mayor Mary Verner.
"I'm not endorsing anybody for anything except for Mary Verner," she says. "She's made some hard decisions. She's put in more than 100 percent. She's taken a cut in her salary. She's walking the walk in that way."
Kearney says she'll make her candidacy official tomorrow morning. This is the one week that candidates have to file with the elections office to get their names on the ballot. Other candidates that made it official this week were Verner, council president hopeful Ben Stuckart, mayoral candidate Mike Noder and Corker.
