Hession enjoying ‘great job’

Six months after taking office in a historic recall, Dennis Hession is still learning how to be Spokane’s strong mayor.

Scandals in the police and fire departments, continuing budget problems and other City Hall turmoil have overshadowed Hession’s emerging agenda.

But the mayor insists he’s enjoying the challenge.

“It’s a great job,” he said in an interview last week from his fifth-floor City Hall office overlooking Riverfront Park. “It’s probably the most amazing job in the city.”

Less noticeable, Hession said, is the arguably incremental progress being made in getting the city back on track. A deal was struck to keep Albi Stadium open, for example, and progress is being made in filling critical city positions, including police chief.

But in the world of local politics, incremental progress may not satisfy a public eager for bold leaders with clear conviction.

“It’s up to him to make himself a strong leader,” said Donna McKereghan, a neighborhood activist and key proponent of a new ethics policy that remains unenforceable five months after being adopted by the City Council.

So far, she said, Hession’s main distinction is that of a figurehead eager to press the flesh. “Dennis makes a good ceremonial mayor,” she said.

Hession’s deliberative leadership style has left him vulnerable to such criticism. Some City Council members say he’s listening to bad advice and is slow to make decisions. Potential battle lines are forming over his drive to aggressively expand the city through annexation of tax-rich commercial areas.

He has yet to announce whether he will seek a full term in 2007, although that is widely expected. Supporters already have held at least one fundraiser in case he does.

The former business lawyer and City Council president became mayor Dec. 17 after former Mayor Jim West was recalled by voters for pursuing personal relationships through his status as mayor. He is the third mayor to serve since the city’s change to a strong mayor form of government in 2001.

Hession has been putting in 14- and 15-hour days. Only now are his efforts to promote economic growth, protect the region’s water and balance government spending beginning to emerge.

An urban renewal project adjacent to downtown known as Kendall Yards is scheduled for public hearing next month, and Hession’s administration is seeking proposals for an efficiency study of city government in an effort to avoid a repeat of drastic budget cuts in 2004 and 2005.

Hession said he is concentrating on the job, which includes a search for a new police chief to replace outgoing Chief Roger Bragdon. Finalists are expected to be announced this week, he said.

Despite that, critics say Hession’s performance has been tentative, and even indecisive, particularly in responding to a series of controversies that have swirled over city government.

Hession said he is being decisive in a deliberative way.

In March, he said that photographs taken by a firefighter during a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old girl at a city firehouse were not “evidence” in the scandal because there was no probable cause to believe a crime had been committed, but that two police officers who told the firefighter to delete the photos were not following the best investigative practices. The photos could not be found when the county prosecutor subsequently wanted a second look at the case.

Hession has been silent on another police controversy: the death of a 35-year-old disabled janitor, who was subdued with Taser shocks by police in a confrontation at a Division Street convenience store.

Just this week, when the owner of the Rookery and Mohawk buildings said he was going through with controversial demolitions on West Riverside Avenue, the mayor issued a statement, in which he said, “I want to thank all the parties engaged in multiple attempts to negotiate a purchase to renovate the property.”

Former City Councilman Steve Corker, who ran against West in 2003, said, “When I see his decisions and I hear some of his comments, I hear a lawyer talking, not a mayor.”

The loss of the photos was “destruction of evidence,” Corker said.

Hession said he is awaiting the outcome of an internal police affairs investigation into loss of the photos, and that he and the public still need answers to what he considers a serious issue.

The new mayor, who initially was acting mayor because of the recall, subsequently won formal appointment to the office by the City Council.

Hession has yet to form a new ethics commission, authorized by the City Council in January.

When Roger Flint, his former public works and utilities director, left City Hall to go to work as a manager of a firm that contracts millions of dollars’ worth of work with the city, Hession said Flint was being “maligned” by news reports, even though the ethics policy prohibits former employees from engaging in business for one year in any matters or actions that they had been involved in while on the city payroll.

Then, Hession declined to make public a memo being written by an assistant city attorney, which found that Flint was not bound by the ethics policy because he had a personal services contract predating the council adoption of the policy.

McKereghan, who helped draft the policy and testified on its behalf before the council, said Hession was “immediately defensive” over the Flint controversy, apparently trying to back up a former employee.

“It seems to me his statements seem to be what people want to hear,” she said.

Hession said the public probably doesn’t see the new sense of calm that has settled over City Hall after seven months of tension leading up to the West recall, a calm that is allowing city business to be accomplished.

The city has a new zoning code, new annexation efforts and a new water stewardship program under Hession. At the same time, the economy in Spokane is growing again after several years of sluggishness. Sales taxes are up at least 10 percent so far this year, and building permits continue at the near record pace of 2005, he said.

“There is a sense of optimism that’s pervasive in the community, which is fun,” Hession said.

Nonetheless, Hession finds himself now presiding over a budget that threatens to blow up in his face next year as payroll and health care costs continue to outstrip the city’s ability to collect taxes.

Voters last year approved a two-year increase in property taxes to prevent further job cuts in the police and fire departments after deep cuts in 2004 and 2005. That money disappears for 2008 unless voters reauthorize the so-called property tax “levy-lid lift.”

Financial forecasts show the city facing cash shortfalls of up to $12 million for 2008. At the same time, the mayor is looking at settling labor talks with key unions, including the Police Guild, which has been working since the start of 2006 without a contract.

Hession and incumbent City Council members are going to be facing elections in the middle of tough budget deliberations and a widely expected ballot measure to continue the levy-lid lift.

The mayor is responding to the budget crisis by seeking professional help. The city has issued a request for proposals from consultants to conduct an efficiency study that could cost $1 million or more.

Councilman Bob Apple said the city could save that money and accomplish the same thing by bringing the state auditor into City Hall for performance audits that were authorized by voters statewide last year. The state auditor could team up with the City Council’s independent internal officer, he said.

Apple said he is also troubled by a proposal to spend up to $3 million on a new computer system for the building department when a less-expensive upgrade of software could suffice.

But Apple said he was most concerned about Hession’s weak response to the firefighter scandal. The mayor should have said that if the facts were true the behavior would not be tolerated, Apple said.

Corker said he believes the political circumstances at City Hall are ripe for outsiders to challenge incumbents, including Hession, but so far, no one outside of city government has indicated strong interest in running.

Council President Joe Shogan, who is widely viewed as Hession’s strongest supporter at City Hall, said the city is making progress on several fronts, including development of a University District and downtown revitalization.

“I think there’s a new spirit in the community of moving on and a spirit of optimism of some of the things happening,” he said.

Shogan, who was appointed council president after Hession was elevated to mayor, said he believes the public is generally pleased with the way city government is performing, but he acknowledged the city still faces budget challenges.

“The city is functioning well,” he said.

Hession said he doesn’t fear asking voters to reauthorize a levy-lid lift. “I think we’ve done a good job of giving value back to the citizens,” he said. “We’ll have to ask people to continue to believe in us.”

Apple, who opposed the tax increase measure last year, said Hession’s future as mayor may depend more on the city’s economic health than on Hession’s performance. “If the economy is good next year, Dennis will walk back in without any problems,” he said.