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Endorsements
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Washington 5th District Congresswoman
It is with utmost respect and confidence that I give my endorsement of Terri Cooper.
She is someone you can entrust to complete the job, which I have observed this firsthand.
Terri has a tremendous amount of ingenuity, precision, and strong leadership ability.
Over the past 20 years, I have observed Terri lead teams of volunteers. Whether locally in our community to provide benevolent support to those in need or crossing the ocean and serving in foreign affairs, she is willing to come alongside others. Most importantly, she is observant and tends to streamline, add to, and provide additional assistance if at all possible.
Terri is one of our original founding members of Re*Imagine Medical Lake and is currently serving as our Treasurer and Festivals Director. She brings a great enthusiasm and love for the community to our organization. Terri grew us from one festival to three. Our Winter Festival has received a special award, due to her hard work and coordination of all of our volunteers.
I am glad to recognize and endorse Terri Cooper for Mayor of Medical Lake
Gerri Johnson
Re*Imagine Medical Lake, President
“Terri Cooper is local and believes in our local folks and our City of Medical Lake. I have seen firsthand her passion and dedication to make the City of Medical Lake better for everyone in it. It was an honor working with Terri Cooper as one of the founding leaders of Re-Imagine Medical Lake, as well as the leading officer in building the organization since its inception. Terri Cooper also took charge of applying for our 501 c3 designation and led the overall work in organizing many of our activities including the Founder’s Day event. We owe Terri a great deal in building Re-Imagine Medical Lake to where it is today.
I am very confident of her leadership ability and her great work ethic and cannot think of anyone more suited to the job as a mayor of the city that we all love. We need a visionary leader with a “can do” attitude in the City of Medical Lake.”
Ben Cabildo
I have had the privilege of working with Terri as a member of the committee to bring the Vietnam Traveling Wall to Medical Lake. A task that first appeared as a monumental project, and it was, but under the guidance and organization skills that Terri brought to the table and her willingness to listen and act on advice that was given to her, not only made a complicated undertaking (bringing the wall to Medical Lake), with many appendages seem possible, she managed the siting of the wall to a roaring success, one that all veterans, especially Vietnam veterans and their families and loved ones wholeheartedly appreciated. A committee such as this with many retired and practicing professionals demands a leader that is tenacious, understanding, competent, forceful, organized, and possess exceptional communication skills all which Terri brought to the table. I would follow her into battle.
With that said I feel Terri would make an excellent Mayor. As a former City Planner for Medical Lake, I know the issues that small-towns face, and there are many, and Terri is the right person at the right time to represent the citizens of Medical Lake and lead the city through possibly uncertain times for the next four years and more.
Glenn R. Scholten
Retired Medical Lake Planner
I want the best for Medical Lake. We all do. I believe Terri has the vision to usher us through the growth that we will likely see in the next few years. Our choice to control growth needs a strong leader who is able to mediate and facilitate.
I’ve known Terri for many years. We worked together as founding members of Re*Imagine Medical Lake. We worked shoulder to shoulder revamping Founders Day and other festivals to create community and promote tourism in support of small businesses. She is fiscally sound and brought the Vets Moving Wall in 2019 leading more than 100 volunteers, on time, and within budget.
When the current leadership considered selling city property to a Dollar General Store, known to ruin small businesses, Terri fought hard to educate the community and wrote a letter to the mayor and council in opposition. Because of her advocacy that sale did not happen. Terri is pro small business and will not allow these kinds of things to just happen.
Terri has plans for a Medical Lake future that is by design not default. Yes, our town may change over the next decade and beyond. We cannot ignore the growth happening. I have lived through rapid growth of a county once in my life and see the handwriting on the wall. Let’s choose a leader that is ready to fight for our town. Vote Terri Cooper!
Jan Bailey
Retired Umpqua Bank Branch Manager
Past Medical Lake Food Bank President
To all my friends and neighbors in Medical Lake, I would like to take a moment and write you why I am endorsing Terri Cooper for Mayor in the upcoming election. We moved to Medical Lake in March 1984 and live down the hill from the middle school on Brayton Road; our property is not within the City limits, but we have strong connections to many activities and have been supporters of the community for many years. Christy grew up on a wheat farm in Reardan and although I come from urban New York, we have lived in rural communities for the past 50 years.
What I love about Medical Lake is that it’s still a small-town community where you can know many of your neighbors, participate in many community activities and be as involved as you like… or not! I had the opportunity to be on the City Planning Committee in the late 1980’s just at the time Fox Hollow was being proposed; some of you may remember our meetings and the intense discussions whether that type of large scale growth would hurt or help the community. Ultimately, Fox Hollow, and then Fox Ridge, were developed and I would hope that even the detractors of that time would agree that it did not really change the tenor or values of our town. Still no stoplight!
Like all the communities in the West Plains, we are facing new challenges with the rapid expansion of industry along I-90 to the Medical Lake exit and the related growth of housing, retail, schools and other support services. Unfortunately, Medical Lake has not/is not deriving any benefit from all this growth while Airway Heights, Cheney and Spokane are seeing significant growth in both population and services.
Following the voices on the Medical Lake Community Information Facebook pages, there is a constant drumbeat asking why our community doesn’t/can’t recruit more businesses or create new opportunities for kids, or build a community center, or encourage more development to take advantage of all our local lakes and parks. The reality is that there has to be a population base to be able to support those businesses and recreation programs.
I admire and have much respect for our current Mayor and her past achievements both professionally and in her role as mayor. But the demographics of Medical Lake have changed and will continue to change, and I think the interests of many new residents are not being met. We need a new vision and new energy to help lead Medical Lake toward a more dynamic future; we have some new City Council members ready to move forward and they will need a committed future-oriented leader to partner with.
For all those reasons above, I think Terri Cooper is the candidate who can be that dynamic mayor. She has been involved with many of the best new programs and services in the community through her leadership role in Re*Imagine Medical Lake – reinvigorating Founder’s Day, adding July 4th Celebrations at the lake, the Winter Festival, the Veteran’s Wall last summer, and much more. Please join me in supporting Terri for mayor!
Steven Meltzer
Dear Citizens of Medial Lake,
I am writing this letter of endorsement in support of Terri Cooper for Mayor of Medical Lake, Washington.
I was employed by the Medical Lake School District for 34 years and over my career was as a teacher, assistant principal, and the high school principal. I’ve served on multiple boards and am currently the Medical Lake Citizens for School Treasurer and served six years as the chair of the Lilac Festival Parade and one year as its president.
While I was employed by the Medical Lake School District all administrators were required to live within the city limits. The district believed there were many benefits for their employees to live where they work including increased opportunities to connect and better relate with the community and students. This is also true for the city administration. The city has a local ordinance that requires the city administrator to live within city limits, yet the Medical Lake Administrator of 20 plus years has never lived in the city. I think that is wrong.
I have known Terri Cooper as a former student of Medical Lake High School. She went on to further her education by earning a bachelor’s degree in public administration, a Master’s in Business, and has more than 20 years working in local government. She knows and understands how government should work. I have confidence in her leadership and proficiency.
Mismanagement has occurred in the city and I believe under her leadership there will be improvements. There is a lack of code enforcement and possibly the need to rewrite the current laws. Terri knows how to write and follow protocols. The region is changing and looking to the future we need to plan how to best create opportunities for our children and grandchildren. We need a plan for growth, housing, and investing in other water provisions beyond the Spokane intertie.
I offer my endorsement for Terri Cooper as our next Mayor. I think she will do a great job. She has the drive and passion to get the job done. I have full confidence in her.
Russell Brown
Retired Medical Lake High School Principal
The town of Medical Lake is changing. For some that’s a good thing and for others they’d prefer it to stay the same. The truth is, we have no choice in the matter. With all that’s happening in close proximity to our town it will and is changing already. With the changes that are inevitably coming we need to be prepared and proactive, so we aren’t overcome by them and end up with poor results for our town. It has never been more critical for Medical Lake to have strong, competent and visionary leadership.
We need someone that can make good decisions and make them from being involved and informed. We need a leader that understands the law and the legalities of our changing world. We need someone who loves the small-town atmosphere we live in today and is still able to see the future and embrace the changes while protecting the small-town mentality and feelings of those who covet the way we live today. Being connected to the hierarchy of our state will be a critical component for our future leader. This relationship has to be maintained while keeping and feeling the pulse and heartbeat of those who’ve called Medical Lake home for many years. It will require a very unique person to fill all the requirements needed to move our town into the next and new phase of growth and expansion. Terri Cooper is that person.
I’ve known Terri for many years in many different capacities and can readily say that she’s the absolute best leader to guide our transition into the future. I’ve known her as a parent and as a mom who supported her son as I coached him in the sport of wrestling. I’ve observed her as a wife, a judge and have served with her on the Re-Imagine Medical Lake board of directors. I’ve watched her care for those in the town and work diligently to make Medical Lake a fun and thriving place to live. No one cares more for the businesses and the people that live here than Terri Cooper. She cares and she will back that up with hard work and a “can do” attitude. She’s not limited or restricted by the past but is so closely connected with it while she sees the possibilities of the future.
Terri Cooper is kind, caring, visionary, confident, an integral part of our community, motivated, hardworking, selfless and is “Whip Smart”. Our community will be solid through the pliable times on our horizon with her honest and capable skills and abilities. We need a leader who has integrity, someone who has earned the trust of those she leads, and no one could be more deserving than Terri Cooper.
Please join me in celebrating our transition into the future by casting your vote for strong leadership with a hometown heart and elect Terri Cooper as our next Mayor.
With genuine anticipation and excitement,
Wayne E. Terry
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington 5th District Congresswoman
- Jenny Graham, Washington Stare 6th District Representative
- Randy and Gerri Johnson, Owners, Farm Salvation
- Ryan Stemkoski, Owner, Zipline B2B Marketing
- Maurice Piersol, Owner, Piersol Construction
- Wayne Terry, Owner, Whitewater Construction
- Spokane Regional Labor Union
- AFSME Local 573 Tradesman Labor Union
- Jordan Cole, Owner, BigMouse Productions
- Rob and Chelsea McFarland. McFarland Prey Real Estate
- Rocketman Pyros, Dan VerHeul and Steve Underwood, Owners
- Mark Smoldt, Decorated Retired Detective, Spokane County Sheriff
- Bethany Johnson, DSHS
- Concerned Taxpayers of Washington
- Spokane GOP
- Russell Brown
- Ted Olson
- Jennifer Thomas
- Sean Lizama
- Laura Smedley
- Don Mayfield
- Will and Lanette Mallotte
- Averly Nelson
- Kirsti Cook
- Lorri Kirstein
- Kam Gunther
- Robert and Terri Blum
- Dale and Sharon Hagel
- Reggie Heebink
- Bonnie Quinn Clausen
- Glenn Scholten
- Jan Bailey
- Wayne Terry
- Steven Meltzer
- Tamie Johnson