Directly from Mark Richard!

The Deer Park Parade was a fun event last weekend. Thanks to all of you that showed up to walk with us, give out candy, and make a good showing for Mark!

Unfortunately we were unable to have a booth for the festival, as we were short on volunteers.

But all in all, a great day!

Don’t miss Mark, every Thursday from 11-noon, on 790 AM with Larry Weir! Get your contacts to tune in as well, to learn more about what Mark does for our community. (Not on the show this Thur. July 31^st)

WEB SITE – WWW.RICHARDFORCOMMISSIONER.COM

Be sure to check in with Mark’s website! We were very fortunate to get time donated to update the site with all of the wonderful information we have to get out to the public. Updates will be ongoing, and exciting! Pass the website on to your contacts so that they can learn more about Mark, his positions and his accomplishments in our community. Let’s get the word out!

Upcoming events that we need volunteers for:

Please contact Lucy to sign up for any or all of these events, as soon as possible

August 2^nd – Hillyard Hi-Jinks Parade

9:00 am line up. Parade starts at 10:00 AM.

Need walkers to hand out candy, hold signs, banner, etc., SHOW OUR NUMBERS!

Have fun while you’re at it! Dress up, bring noise makers, etc. Let’s make a good show of it!

August 9^th – Airway Heights Festival in Sunset Park

Booth – setup between 7:30 – 8:00 am

Take down 3:00 pm

Need people to volunteer for shifts to hand out flyers, bumper stickers, volunteer forms, candy, etc. 2 to 3 hour shifts are needed. We like to have at least 2 people per shift. Bring your family and they can enjoy the festival at the same time!!

August 9^th – 10^th Sky Fest – Fairchild AFB

We are not allowed to have political booths at this event. We are looking for supporters, who while attending the show, would wear the re-elect Mark Richard shirts and hand out materials. (We will be confirming approval for the materials). Again a great way to help support Mark’s re-election while you and your family enjoy another fun area event!

Be sure to pass this information on to all of your contacts, so we can …………………………

KNOCK THE SOCKS OFF OF MARK’S OPPONENT!

Lucy DeVleming

Volunteer Coordinator

Dear Voter

There has been a lot of intentional misinformation spoken and reported about our decision to purchase the Spokane Raceway Park, and we have found it impossible to get the truth out through local print and electronic media.

For instance, truth is we paid half of what a similar industrial parcel just 1 mile away from this site sold for several years ago. If it were down zoned to housing, we paid about $2500 per residential lot (lots go for around $40,000 as a minimum today); and industrial is worth much more. Experts continue to tell me this was an extremely good price and that we could resell it tomorrow for a profit.

Second, my opponent is trying to scare you into believing this is an environmental "SuperFund" site and that it will cost more than $5,000,000 to clean up. Neither of these are true; both our and independent experts have verified this. Most importantly, the company handling the sale (in contract and then again orally last week before the Court) confirmed they will set aside 125% of the cost estimate required to clean up the site out of their proceeds, not your tax dollars, to pay for the clean up; no matter what the cost is.

Third, some want you to believe we stripped this from the hands of the private sector at the auction and we knew it. If that were true, why did it take the Spokesman Review court action and 3 months to get the names of the bidders at the auction?

Finally, though it is true one of our motives was a bold investment to help diversify our local economy in the area of tourism (Harry Sladich, the CEO for Spokane Convention and Visitors Bureau in charge of tourism called our decision a Home Run), we also acquired the facility to get kids off of our streets with their street rods, to run a law enforcement training facility, and to partner with the City of Airway Heights on a regional baseball and soccer park. Either one of these last two functions would have cost taxpayers more than we paid for the whole deal!

I have thought long and hard about how to describe the 8 months of research or the numerous reasons why we took such a bold step, but after reading the following article in last month's Spokane Journal of Business, I believe the best thing to do is let you read what well-respected business writers think about our decision.


Here are some links to more information regarding these issues:


Spokane Journal of Business news article -

"Big projects eyed near raceway" -By Kim Crompton


RichardforCommissioner.com Issues Page


RichardforCommissioner.com Press Releases Page

Politics as usual or the leadership you deserve?

During my time in office I have been a champion for improving how elected officials work together to resolve differences. This has led to a more unified vision, the regionalizing of services and fewer law suits between jurisdictions. It is perhaps because I have worked so hard to build bridges across political lines and work with all points of view that I feel the need to respond to last week’s editorial. I stand for accountable, forward-thinking leadership, not politics! I offer this to you for consideration; the distinction between politics as usual and community leadership….

The public is better served when we replace politics with leadership. I have been dedicated to the important challenges and opportunities before us such as the return of Crime Check, addressing our overcrowded jail, reforming our criminal justice system, building services for the addicted and the mentally ill, and strengthening the local economy.

Three years ago, I established the Council of Governments, which brings every policy maker in the region to the table. I have taken deliberative steps to invite and understand cultural differences in our community. Together, we have raised the bar for how government serves all people and interests with integrity. Debate and compromise are what define politics; at the end of the day this is how leadership moves the community forward, not political sound bytes.

Within County government, I have gone to great lengths to remove the good ole’ boy ways of doing business. I have insisted our employees are empowered to voice their opinions and to ensure decisions are fair and transparent. We have worked hard to remove inappropriate influence on processes and decisions. I have been dogged in my pursuit of higher ethical standards such as our new no-compete clause that prevents employees from going directly to work for businesses they served as a county employee. I have initiated independent financial and performance audits of several county agencies to ensure our County government is accountable to the tax payer.

With regard to the raceway property, we do have a vision. That vision is to provide baseball and soccer to the West Plains, where the kids currently play on the polo fields. We plan to build a regional law enforcement training facility so our Sheriff can generate revenues while training his officers for free, to help offset growing costs of public safety. And yes, we do have visions of a thriving multi-purpose racing facility that could include sprint boats, bicycles, go-carts, and public concerts as well as motorcycles and cars.

We studied this decision for nearly a year. Only time will tell if we got it right. Today, the facility has momentum, and our goals of stimulating the economy in a season cut short by litigation and infighting are already being realized. It is estimated last weekend’s event filled 200 hotel rooms and pumped over $150,000 into the economy!

As for the future, I cannot help but believe some level of NASCAR event is within our reach; given our passion for spectator sports and rich racing history.

If it is true that you are defined by the company you keep, then my diverse and prominent list of endorsements will speak louder than I ever could about the accomplishments we have achieved over the past 4 years. Our community will only move forward when we elect leaders not activist politicians.


Sincerely,

Mark Richard
Spokane County Commissioner; District 2