2 • APRIL 2018
The Park Bench
Big Sky Stepper – Owens a leader in education, city government
By Craig Howard Splash Editor For 10 years, Judi Owens contributed to decisions that formed the foundation for the city of Liberty Lake. As a member of the inaugural City Council, Owens was part of a group tasked with the responsibility of starting a jurisdiction from the ground up. When the vote for incorporation passed in November of 2000, Liberty Lake became Spokane County’s first new city since Airway Heights sprang up during the Eisenhower Administration. The city would become an official jurisdiction in August 2001. Owens brought extensive experience from both the private and public sectors to her role at City Hall. She had worked for companies like Washington Water Power (later Avista) and Washington Trust Bank before starting a career with the Central Valley School District (CVSD) that would span nearly three decades. As a council member, she quickly earned respect for her thorough approach to municipal matters, doing her homework and adding valuable insight to discussions that ranged from organizing budgets to land zoning priorities. Owens ran for state Senate in 2008, earning nearly 43 percent of the vote but falling short in her bid for the Legislative District 4 seat. It was the only election she ever lost. By the end of 2011, Owens and two other members of the original council – Dave Crump and Wendy Van Orman – were ready to move on, leaving the municipal reins to a new generation of leaders. From 2008 to 2012, Owens served as president of the Public School Employees of Washington (PSE), speaking to union chapters throughout the state about the importance of classified staff, speaking out for better working conditions and quality education. When she left the post in September 2012, Owens described how rewarding her time as PSE president had been.
NEWS “The day to day challenges are already a fading memory,” she said then. “My most vivid memories will always be the great times we have shared as we have worked to make PSE stronger while we maintain our uniqueness.” Owens began her career in the public sector with CVSD in 1990, working in computer operations. She would remain with the district until 2013, a tenure that included a fouryear leave of absence during her time with PSE. Born in Colville, a small town 70 miles north of Spokane, Owens was one of three kids in a family that moved frequently. Her dad, a Navy veteran, worked for the railroad and it wasn’t until the family settled in Thompson Falls, Montana, during Owens’ fourth grade year that she established some genuine roots. In high school, Owens was the coeditor of the school paper and senior class treasurer. She was one of 23 seniors in her graduating class and part of a school enrollment of 140. In some ways, Montana is still home to Owens even though she left after high school to enroll in Spokane’s Kinman Business University. She still keeps in contact with many of her friends from the Thompson Falls days and visits Big Sky country regularly with her husband Charlie. “You don’t appreciate Montana until you’ve been away and you go back,” Owens says. “Everyone knows
everyone and everyone cares about each other.” Owens received a job offer back in Thompson Falls prior to graduating from Kinman. She would return to her adopted hometown to work for First State Bank as a bookkeeper. She was married soon after and later gave birth to two daughters, Sylvia and Lara. Owens would work for another bank – Washington Trust – later in her career. She remembers operating a mainframe computer that took up an entire room in the bank’s downtown Spokane office. The machine was considered state-of-the-art at the time and was proudly displayed in a window-abundant space on the lower level of the building. She left Washington Trust to work in central billing for Washington Water Power and later was employed by Rosauers where she managed pricing, payroll and billing on yet another mainframe. While Owens was considered an exceptional employee with a comprehensive grasp of the latest technology, she found herself consistently receiving less pay than her male counterparts at various career stops. “I got tired of training men who earned more money that I did,” Owens recalls. Toward the end of her professional journey, Owens was selected as a representative of the prestigious Washington State Investment Board, an advisory committee that offers
The Splash
input on the state’s financial portfolio. During Owens’ service, the board dealt with a fund of some $86 billion. She also served on the State Employee Retirement Benefit Board. Judi and Charlie moved to Liberty Lake from Spokane Valley in 1992 when the area featured little more than a gas station, post office, residential areas and the Hewlett Packard campus. The couple has lived in the same home ever since, adding a sewing studio where Judi can work on her primary hobby. She is a member of five quilting groups including the Spokane Valley Quilt Guild and Washington State Quilt Guild. In addition to her two children, Owens has four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. When not quilting or hosting family dinners, she enjoys following Gonzaga men’s and women’s basketball. Q: What influence do you think growing up in small towns had on you later in life? A: The sense of family in a small community goes way beyond biological boundaries. I made friends throughout my life in Thompson Falls, Montana, who are still friends today. You learn to pull together for your dreams and you celebrate the successes and mourn the losses together. Living in Liberty Lake has been a similar experience because we were so small and we grew together as we saw our
See OWENS, Page 4
Judi Owens served as a representative of the Liberty Lake City Council for a decade beginning with the incorporation year of 2001. A resident of the community since 1992, Owens was also a longtime employee of the Central Valley School District and served as the president of the Public School Employees of Washington from 2008 to 2012. Photo by Craig Howard