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Berends, Mitchell, Urquidez leaving options open

All three defeated soundly in Moscow City Council race, but may get involved in other city functions
By Garrett Cabeza, Daily News staff writer

Kelsey Berends, Brandon Mitchell and James Urquidez were defeated in last week’s Moscow City Council election, but all three conservatives say they might get involved in other city functions.

Urquidez said he planned to inquire about serving on a Moscow commission and will encourage others to join commissions and be active elsewhere in the community. He said he learned a great deal during his run for office about the various commissions and how the city operates.

The 12 Moscow commissions consist of members of the public. They make recommendations to the city council. For example, the purpose of the Moscow Tree Commission is “to plan, establish and help conduct a comprehensive community forestry program for the City of Moscow” that will enhance the quality of life for those who live, work and visit the city.

Berends said she is also looking into how she can be most effective in the city but is “taking a little bit of a breather” after the campaign.

“One thing about going through that city council election itself, it’s a good reminder that we as citizens do need to be involved whether that be on city council or in other ways,” Berends said. “So that’s something that I definitely want to be looking into for sure.”

Mitchell said he is looking into joining one of the commissions and is planning to work with the city in some capacity.

Progressives Sandra Kelly, Maureen Laflin and Anne Zabala toppled Berends, Mitchell and Urquidez by an almost 3-to-1 margin to take the three open city council seats.

Most residents appeared to vote for either Kelly, Laflin and Zabala or Berends, Mitchell and Urquidez as groups.

“It really was divided,” said Mitchell, who noted the election is nonpartisan but instead appeared to almost look like a Democrats-against-Republicans matchup.

Urquidez said he expected himself and the other two conservatives to sweep the race or to get swept, but he did not expect the margin to be as large as it was.

Even though the election did not swing in her favor, Berends said it was great to see the high voter turnout.

The 53.4-percent Moscow voter turnout was much higher than the three previous city elections in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Urquidez attributed a lot of the high turnout — the number of votes cast divided by the number of registered voters — to residents’ dislike of Christ Church, its pastor Doug Wilson and New Saint Andrews College, reasons, which Urquidez said were unfortunate. Some of the conservative members have past or current ties to the entities.

“I think people were like, ‘Oh no, the Wilsonites are coming and they’re going to take over the town,’ which for me was the farthest thing from the truth as far as being any sort of like, you know, puppet or vassal or councilman for Christ Church or any way,” said Urquidez, a former Christ Church member. “I really just wanted to come and be a true Christian in the city council really looking out for the benefit of the city.”

Mitchell said the 53.4 percent turnout was still too low.

He also agreed with Urquidez that many residents aligned himself, Berends and Urquidez with Christ Church. Mitchell, who is not a member of Christ Church, said everyone he spoke with when knocking on doors campaigning asked if he was part of the church and the question popped up at candidate forums as well.

Part of the church’s mission states a “desire to make Moscow a Christian town,” leading many to believe they are trying to take over the community.

Mitchell disagreed.

“That sounds like they want people to repent and turn to Christ, which is what every Christian wants,” he said. “But yeah, I think that there’s a big concern in Moscow about Christ Church and I don’t share that same opinion because I don’t think it’s as big of a concern as people are making it out to be.”

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza at dnews.com.

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