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The 4th Legislative District ring has one more hat.
Former Spokane Valley mayor and Council Member Diana Wilhite is the latest to announce she will seek Rep. Lynn Schindler’s soon-to-be-vacated spot in the state House. She is the second to do so; Matt Shea, an attorney living in Mead and fellow Republican, said he planned to run last week. Thus far, no Democrats have come forward.
Wilhite was elected to the Spokane Valley City Council in November 2002, and she was named mayor by the council two years later. At the start of this year, the gavel was passed to Richard Munson.
While she says there are still plenty of challenges ahead for the council, Wilhite believes the time is right to run for the Legislature.
“I’ll miss the council if I get elected,” she said. “But I’ve never had a planned career. I’ve always been a kind of jack-of-all-trades, and that’s kind of worked out for me.”
Her knowing-a-little-about-everything approach will work well in Olympia, she said, because she’s had plenty of experience with the political process and working with the council for the past five years.
Wilhite and her husband Rick own Safeguard Business Forms and Systems in Spokane, though she has been a resident of Spokane Valley for nearly three decades. While she has also worked as a teacher at the middle and high school level, Wilhite cut her political teeth as a congressional aide in Washington, D.C.
“Growing up, I was a political novice,” she said, but added that by the time she got to the nation’s capital, “I was fascinated by the process.”
Her experience as a business owner has also kept her well-positioned to empathize with those frustrated over the high taxes and fees paid by the state’s commercial contingency.
“The Boeings and Weyerhaeusers of the state can take it,” she said. “It’s the small businesses that suffer.”
Still, with the state’s constitution prohibiting an income tax, she realizes there is only so many ways the state can bring in revenue. The trick is, she said, is to find ways that are fair to everybody.
She said her time as a council member has shown her the benefits of building a reserve. While she is impressed with the state’s efforts to make sure there is plenty of money in the bank, she says there is always room for more.
“We have to be very conscientious with the people’s money,” she said.
Having worked with 4th District Sen. Bob McCaslin in the past – and knowing Rep. Larry Crouse well – Wilhite said she is anxious to join them next session, should she be elected. While she is conservative, she said she could also work with area Democrats like Lisa Brown and Chris Marr in Olympia.
“Whether Republican or Democrat, we all have to work together for our constituents,” she said. “We just have different ideas on how to get there.”
Should Wilhite be elected in November, the City Council would have to appoint someone to fill her seat for the remainder of her term. Wilhite is up for election in 2009.
Wilhite has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Maryland. She had done graduate work in political science at Sangamon State University and has a Toastmasters CTM degree. She and her husband have one adult daughter.
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By
Mike Huffman
