James Everett Chase

James Everett Chase (March 29, 1914 – May 19, 1987) was an American politician. He was elected mayor of Spokane, Washington by a landslide 62 percent to 38 percent margin in 1981, becoming Spokane's first African American mayor. Prior to his election as mayor, Chase was a longtime city council member, a seat which he won in 1975, becoming the first African American city council member in Spokane's history. Chase is famed for the Chase Youth Commission, a group advocating youth issues within Spokane, including the Chase Youth Awards and the Chase Youth issues forum. The youth commission is considered as a city commission and allows 8 adults and 7 youth to join every year. Chase Middle School in Spokane is named after him. Note: Daniel K. Oliver was erroneously cited in the 1979 history of the Black presence in Spokane, funded by the NAACP, as being the city's first black councilman in 1896-1897. This error has since been corrected and reported to the Washington State Historical Society.