A Few Candidate Spotlights for 2025

With the last week of early voting well underway, it’s a good time for the citizens of Moscow to familiarize themselves with the candidates in this year’s local elections, so that when they hit the polls, they do so being well-prepared and educated. While we’ve done a number of interviews with candidates in the Moscow city council and mayor races, there are still a few candidates that folks should be aware of if they want to have a full scope of the race. Let’s take a look!

Sage McCetich

If you’ve spent any time walking around the neighborhoods of Moscow the past several weeks, you’ve probably seen the navy blue signs sporting the words “Vote Sage For City Council”. If yard signs are any indicator of interest, it seems then that Sage McCetich has done quite well at getting his name out as a newcomer in this race.

However, while being a newcomer to the city council race, Sage is far from being a newcomer to Moscow. As he explains on his campaign website and Facebook page, Sage grew up in Moscow, went through the Moscow school system, and graduated in 2015 from the University of Idaho with a degree in marketing. He’s since gotten married and built a career in real estate, including his own real estate company, Blue Sky Real Estate, of which he’s been the owner for the past five years. He also has a strong record of public service, having spent time on the board of Sojourners’ Alliance, the Latah County Board of Realtors, the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute, and the Moscow Fair & Affordable Housing Commission, to name a few.

As such, Sage has emphasized affordable housing, stewardship of resources such as water and land, as well as building strong relationships between the city and other public entities such as the school and libraries districts in his campaign. As an experienced member of many non-profit boards, he’s familiar with the nature of the conversations likely to take place at city hall and how to navigate them. In both the public forums hosted by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters, Sage advocated for the creation of a Moscow housing authority as a solution to help begin addressing Moscow’s affordable housing issues. He’s also expressed his support for the Moscow School District in their efforts to begin work on a new school building. 

As Sage says on his website “I’ve had a wonderful education, career success, a loving family and friends, and a rich quality of life. I want this community to have similar opportunities to those that my family and community have provided me.”

To find out more information on Sage, his campaign, and his hopes for the future of Moscow, check out his website (https://www.sageforcitycouncil.com/) or visit his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/VoteSageForCityCouncil).

Gary Schoolland

Gary highlights fiscal responsibility, water resource management, and maintenance of Moscow as a safe and thriving community on his campaign Facebook page. At the League of Women Voters forum, Gary noted his concern about the city’s regular adoption of a 3% property tax increase, as well as advocating for common sense water conservation efforts. He also spoke in favor of civility when it came to interactions and decision-making within the council and in favor of increasing incentives for businesses building in the downtown corridor. 

While Gary has been retired for some time, he’s stated that he’s interested in going to work once again for the city, and that he wants to be proud of the work that he does. To find out more information on Gary and his campaign, visit his Facebook page  (https://www.facebook.com/share/16f5RZNofN/?mibextid=wwXIfr).

Stephen Bonnar

Steve is committed to bringing this experience to the role of city council. His campaign website boasts of three goals: expanding affordable housing options, ensuring adequate resources and training for law enforcement officers, and ensuring municipal fiscal responsibility. During the Moscow Chamber of Commerce candidate forum, Steve used the example of the tight budgeting utilized by Sojourners Alliance as evidence of the expertise he would bring to the Moscow city budget. At the League of Women Voters forum, he further expressed his support for mixed-use development when it comes to dealing with housing issues and for making law enforcement salaries more competitive to help with police department hiring concerns.

To frame his campaign, Steve states the following on his website: “I am proud of what I have done for our community through blood, sweat, and tears.  Now is the time that I am able to take what I’ve learned and apply it to another level of involvement to guide how our city grows.”
To find out more information on Steve, his campaign, and his hopes for the future of Moscow, check out his website (https://www.steve4moscow.com/) or visit his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/share/1BvA2sbkDz/?mibextid=wwXIfr).