20th ANNIVERSARY

Continued from page 11 customer service manager, would become the first mayor. The city’s first deputy mayor was Diana Wilhite, who would become mayor after DeVleming stepped down. Her deputy mayor was Rich Munson, who was elected mayor after Wilhite served a single term. Munson died in 2011.

After Munson’s single term, newly elected councilman Tom Towey served two terms as mayor. He was followed by Dean Grafos and then Rod Higgins, who served two terms. Councilman Ben Wick was elected Mayor in 2020 and he was followed by the current mayor, Pam Hayley.

Each mayor has a unique view of the city. DeVleming remembers the lengthy council meetings and huge amounts of reading required to build a city from scratch. “I love reading and I wasn’t able to read anything for pleasure for a solid two to three years,” he said.

He said his employer, Vera Water and Power, was very accommodating to his new role, but he still worked full-time. “I had a lot of 5 a.m. breakfast meetings because that’s the only time they could get a hold of me,” he said.

He also had two young children at home. “My wife, Penny, she was both parents quite often.”

Still, he and his wife enjoyed being “itty-bitty celebrities” as the city’s first mayor and first lady. While it was a ton of work, the job was an “absolute blast,” DeVleming said.

He said he loved working on things that he knew were going to make a difference for people. He enjoyed launching programs and events that continue to this day, including the city’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony. He also enjoyed working with his fellow council members.

“We all, in the end, pretty much agreed on what we were doing,” he said.

DeVleming and his wife are both retired now, enjoying traveling together and spending time with grandchildren, but he said he plans to attend some of the city’s anniversary events. “I’m enjoying the retirement life,” he said.

Tom Towey, who worked as a manager at Rosauers for 32 years, was mayor for the entire four years he was on the council. His fellow council members elected him to be mayor 15 minutes into his first meeting. “I was probably the least informed person on the council,” Towey said. “I was really, really brand new.”

He credits the city staff, particularly City Clerk Chris Bainbridge, for his success. “They’re the one who actually taught me how to be a mayor,” he said. “They were 110 percent behind me and the council.”

When he took office in 2009, a recession was underway and cities across the country were laying off staff and cutting programs. Towey said that thanks to city organizers, Spokane Valley was able to get by without painful budget cuts.

“Being a contract city, we didn’t have the financial obligation to support all the agencies,” he said. “We were very, very lucky that the first council had the foresight to vote for a contract city. We didn’t go through what the other cities went through.”

Towey said he enjoyed working with his fellow council members even though they didn’t all agree on every issue. “We really had a great council,” he said. “They rolled up their sleeves and went to work. A lot of times we had a heated discussion about the pros and cons of an issue, but we were able to work together.”

He counts his time as mayor as a positive experience. “I really loved the challenge of the work,” he said. “I really had a positive experience as mayor.”

He’s spending his retirement years volunteering with various local groups, including the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service. “Sometimes it’s easier talking to dogs and cats than it is to people,” he said.

Grafos was elected mayor in 2014 after he had already served on the council for two years. Having that experience helped him when he took over the gavel, Grafos said. “You learn a lot of the procedures and if you’re going to get something done, the procedure to get things done,” he said.

He said he enjoyed getting out and talking to people and liked the job. “I kind of like being the mayor,” he said.

He said he believes he achieved his initial goal of making sure the city was heading in the right direction. “It’s wonderful,” he said. “I’m tickled that it came out the way it did. I hope we helped along the way.”

While he’s still working on a few real estate projects, Grafos said he’s mostly retired now and spending time traveling with his family.

ABCmouse FROM THE LIBRARY