Meet Ralph Baker

Ralph has served in the Spokane County Assessor's office since Jan 2003. He is 57 years old and has been married for 33 years. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Northern Colorado. He completed a 24-year Air Force career as a B-52 bombardier and KC-135 navigator.  He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel.  A creative and dynamic leader with executive level experience in operations, planning, budgeting, and project management. He served as an instructor at both the Air Force Academy and North Carolina State University. He also served as an Operations Officer, second-in-command, of a KC-135 flying squadron where he supervised over 200 personnel and a multi-million dollar budget. Ralph also has extensive experience as a financial advisor specializing in corporate retirement plan organization.

As Assessor, Ralph is responsible for annually valuing over $38 billion of real estate.  His accomplishments include: reducing staff from 58 to 49, a 16% reduction, saving over $500,000 annually in payroll while exceeding all State Legislature Office of Program Research appraisal performance standards for 3 years; converted all office functions to paperless; redesigned farm & ag program, - designated "model" program; demonstrated commitment to openness and transparency in local government by creating a comprehensive  user-friendly assessor webpage.   

Ralph is a FAA certified multi-engine, instrument rated instructor pilot.  He enjoys reading, music, gardening, investing, public speaking, and good humor.