The Primary Is Done! 

This week, we have primary election results and updates from the Moscow City Council.

Read the full transcript of the video below:

Let’s kick this one off right away.

How’s it going y’all? Aiden Anderson here with the Moscow Minutes. The local primary elections took place this past Tuesday, and though the county has yet to officially canvas the votes, we can look through the numbers and give you some results.

I should mention first that most of the races in this year’s primary went uncontested, meaning only one person ran for that particular position in the primary. Those folks will go on to compete in the upcoming November election, so to those candidates, congratulations and best of luck!

Next up, the results of the contested races. In the Republican state senator race, incumbent senator Dan Foreman beat out candidate Robert Blair by just over 9% of the vote. Similarly, incumbent Lori McCann beat out candidates Colton Bennett and David Dalby, with each candidate taking just over 43%, 38%, and 18% of the votes respectively. Congratulations to both Foreman and McCann, and best of luck in November!

The other contested elections include local school district levies, all of which passed this year, and precinct committeeman elections for the various local parties. We’ll have a link posted with this video if  you want to look more closely at these elections and results.

We’ve received some questions this week about former Moscow Police Chief James Fry, and his run for Sheriff against incumbent Richie Skiles. Fry was not an option to choose from on the primary ballot and some folks are wondering why. The answer is because Fry is running an unaffiliated campaign, and thus doesn’t fall under any party banner. Without a party, there’s no place for him in the primary election as things currently stand. That being said, folks will get a chance to vote for him if they so choose in November, alongside incumbent Sheriff Skiles and newcomer Christoper Middleton.

Ok. So we had a primary election this week. What else happened?

Let’s look at the Moscow City council meeting. The meeting began with proclamations for EMS Week and Memorial Day, followed by a vote on some consent agenda items. Typically, all these items pass as a unit without a second look, but the council can choose to pull items from the consent list to examine and vote on separately if they have a compelling reason to do so.

In this case, Councilor Drew Davis asked for Item D, a proposed lot line adjustment for the Edington subdivision, to be pulled due to a conflict of interest, and a need to abstain from the voting process. The rest of the council voted to approve said adjustment. Hailey Lewis also asked that Item F, a Moscow-Home Depot development agreement, be pulled and reviewed in order to ensure public visibility of this item, since the Home Depot conversation has been a matter of occasional controversy, with a number of speculations attached to it. Let’s look at her explanation of this particular item…

…Compared to the last meeting, this one was pretty mild. The council first looked at a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Moscow School District. The two parties are looking at jointly funding a study that will explore the feasibility of developing a 44 acre property on West Palouse River Drive into a future new elementary school, complete with athletic fields and a city park. The city purchased this property back in 2002, but ultimately did not develop it as planned at that time. With the city and school district having worked together in the past on athletic fields and similar projects, this memorandum, or MOU, would continue the trend of ongoing collaboration. The MOU was then approved unanimously by the Moscow city council.

Next up, an interesting meeting of minds. Latah County Commissioner Kathie Lafortune addressed the council regarding the possible formation of a housing authority for the county to assist with the various difficulties residents are facing when it comes to housing. The presentation consisted mostly of Lafortune describing the concept of a housing authority and what it does, and the council listened through descriptions of the present local housing difficulties, and why current efforts to solve those problems have proven insufficient, particularly for those in lower income brackets. The council then asked questions of the presentation, which Lafortune and her assistant addressed.

If a housing authority were to be formed in Latah County, it would act as a separate government entity from both the city and the county, able to elect its own board members, apply for its own grants, accept donations, and make its own bylaws. However, it would not have the power to levy taxes of any kind. What funds it raises through grants or donations would be used in the service of various housing enterprises, including buying, demolishing, planning, and building, as well as investigating poor housing situations.

The only vote to be had on the subject, was simply to receive the presentation and its materials, which of course the council did. However, I suspect that the housing authority conversation is far from over, and we’ll be hearing more about it.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a county update for you this week. If you happen to have time in your schedule though, the commissioner meetings are open to the public, and they typically meet in the mornings and afternoons on Tuesdays at the courthouse. Be sure to check the schedule on the county website if you want to see specific times. 

That’s all I have for you this week. A big shout out to everyone who participated either by voting or by running in this year’s primary election. November is six months away, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted on everything leading up to it! As always, we’ll have the relevant links posted with this video, and if you have any questions, please reach out. This is Aiden Anderson with the Moscow Minutes. See you next time.