OTHELLO – Incumbent Shawn Logan will vie against Ken Johnson for the position of Othello’s Mayor. Johnson is currently serving on the Othello School Board as the director for District 3.
The filing fee for the Othello Mayor position has caused some local controversy for being much higher than that for mayoral offices in similar Washington cities. Othello’s Mayor also serves as the city administrator. Filing fees for elected offices are set at 1 percent of the office holder’s salary per RCW 29A.24.091. The combined Mayor and City Administrator salaries in Othello placed the filing fee at $1,967. By contrast, the filing fee to run for Mayor in Ephrata is $60. Even though similar in population, Ephrata separates their city administrator and mayoral positions. Similarly, in Selah, the filing fee is approximately $120 as their mayor is paid $1,000 per month. In Cheney it’s $180, and in Medical Lake the fee is $120. The filing fee to run for Governor of Washington is $2,187, according to auditors in Grant, Yakima, and Spokane counties, and the Washington Secretary of State Elections Office. None of the 10 nearest sized cities in Washington have a similarly high filing fee.
Logan was appointed full-time mayor/city administrator in 2018 after the former city administrator left for another job. Before 2018, the positions were separate, and the mayor was paid $12,000 per year – which would set the filing fee for an Othello mayoral candidate at $120. Columbia Basin News has reached out to city officials to determine if the mayor and city administrator positions are still separate but occupied by one person, or if they are combined as one position by law. We have also asked what will happen if someone else is elected as mayor in November – would that person become the city administrator as well, or would Logan continue in that position? We will update when we receive a response.
Johnson addressed the combination of the mayoral and city administrator positions when he announced his candidacy on Facebook. “It is not right for one person to hold both the Mayor and City Administrator roles —positions meant to balance and check each other,” he said. Johnson previously served on the Othello City Council for 14 years and has served seven years on the Othello School District board of directors.
Logan announced his candidacy on April 3 in a short video on his Facebook campaign page. In a brief statement, he said, “I’m announcing that I’m going to run for re-election for Mayor for the next four years. I’m going to post details of what we’ve accomplished over the last 11 years and what new projects are on the horizon. Thank you again for your support and confidence.”
Because only two candidates are running, there will be no primary for the mayor position. Both candidates automatically advance to the general election in November.
Editorial Update: Columbia Basin News has reached out to the City of Othello HR department and Mayor. We hope to determine if the mayoral and city administrator positions are still two separate positions occupied by one person, or if they are now legally combined as one. We will update this story when and if they respond.
