(The Center Square) – The Spokane City Council is swearing in three members on Monday, two for their first term, as the progressive majority expands its headcount and nears complete control by next year.
Judge Breean Beggs, who once served as council president, will head the ceremony on Monday night.
Councilmember Zack Zappone will officially start his second term after beating conservative challenger Christopher Savage in the 2025 election last November. Progressive Sarah Dixit is also joining the dais following her victory over incumbent Jonathan Bingle, cutting the slim conservative minority in half.
The city swore in Councilmember Kate Telis in November. She took over early for interim Councilmember Shelby Lambdin, who filled a vacancy left by former Councilmember Lili Navarrete. Telis won the race last fall by a landslide after her more moderate or conservative opponent faced an October surprise.
According to a press release, Telis will be officially sworn in — again — on Monday night.
Zappone will continue to represent District 3, while Telis joins Councilmember Paul Dillon in District 2, and Dixit takes over in District 1, representing much of downtown with Councilmember Michael Cathcart. A conservative like Bingle, he plans to leave next fall, potentially giving the council a complete majority.
“I had a very good relationship with former Councilmember Kate Burke, and would like to do so with Sarah,” Cathcart told The Center Square last week, reflecting on his tenure as council dynamics have changed. “We met for coffee two weeks ago and had a very nice conversation, but obviously, there’s going to be a lot of disagreement, and we’ll just kind of see how things progress throughout this year.”
Dixit managed to beat Bingle by only 163 votes, just surpassing the threshold that would’ve triggered a mandatory recount. As a former organizing director for Pro-Choice Washington and a public affairs lead for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, she aligns with much of the dais.
Cathcart, a fiscal conservative, found himself closely aligned with Bingle during his time on the council.
As the only remaining member of the council minority, Cathcart now plans to run for county auditor next fall. If elected, he would leave the council a year before his term ends. This would leave an empty seat for the progressive majority to fill. They picked someone aligned with their views last time and could eliminate the council minority altogether next fall, although Cathcart could ultimately decide to stay put.
Bingle could technically apply to fill Cathcart’s vacancy if he becomes the county auditor, but it would require the council majority’s approval. He told The Center Square last November that he hasn’t made a decision yet since it’s still a “long way down the road” and hopes to “let the dust settle a bit” first.
“I feel honored that the voters of District 1 have chosen me to represent them on this council,” Dixit wrote in a statement to The Center Square. “I’m excited to continue advocating for our residents, carrying the same values we had throughout the campaign into this new role. I want to help make city government more accessible, more accountable, and more reflective of the Spokane community.”
Telis did not immediately respond to a request for an interview. The Center Square will update this article with her comments if she responds. The next council election, besides Cathcart’s race for county auditor, is in 2027. It will be a big year, with four people up for reelection, including Cathcart.
“Together, we knocked on 13,000 doors, we wrote more than 5000 postcards, and we showed what can happen when we all come together,” Telis said in November. “This swearing-in is not the end of a campaign. It’s the beginning of public service, and now more than ever, we need civic engagement.”
Council President Betsy Wilkerson, Councilmember Kitty Klitzke and Dillon will all appear on the 2027 ballot unless they decide to hang up their hats for another position. Dillon lost a bid to become mayor in 2023 to Lisa Brown, who succeeded former Mayor Nadine Woodward after her campaign fell short.
All three sitting council members offer views that clash with Cathcart and Bingle’s approach to the opioid and homelessness crisis, to Housing First, and to balancing the budget. Bingle helped launch an effort to align the county behind a treatment-first approach to addressing homelessness and addiction, which Wilkerson seemed hesitant to join, according to a Jan. 8 email exchange obtained by The Center Square.
The initiative comes as President Donald Trump attempts to put more funding behind drug treatment and reduce the cap on permanent housing funded by the federal government. Bingle helped secure nearby Deer Park’s approval last week as the memorandum of understanding on the treatment-first approach races across Spokane County.
“This document would not be in alignment with part of the litigation we are a party to as a state and city,” Wilkerson emailed the MOU team, which also includes the county sheriff and prosecutor, arguing it poses little benefit without additional resources. “And the County, who most cities/towns would say represent them, are deeply partnered with us via existing contract … making this duplicative at best.”
