Complaint filed over job switch

The Center for Justice on behalf of the Neighborhood Alliance of Spokane County has submitted a complaint with the city of Spokane outlining at least three alleged violations of the ethics code by departing public works and utilities Director Roger Flint.

Flint announced two weeks ago he is leaving his position at the end of this week to take a job as Spokane area manager and vice president for CH2M Hill, an international engineering firm with more than $4 million in public works contracts with the city.

He currently oversees contracts belonging to CH2M Hill and could be in a position to oversee those same contracts once he moves to his new position.

The city’s newly adopted ethics policy prohibits former city employees from engaging in business for one year in any matters or actions that they had been involved in while on the city payroll.

Flint said in an interview Monday that he will not engage in business involving the city during the hands-off period and that CH2M Hill management has said it wants to comply with the city policy.

Breann Beggs, attorney for the neighborhood alliance, sent a letter Friday to the city’s ethics committee outlining complaints that Flint has violated the ethics policy, including the policy’s general provision against conflicts of interest.

“There appears to be probable cause to believe that Roger Flint, while serving as a city employee with responsibility for overseeing city contractor CH2M Hill, applied to enter into an employment relationship with that same contractor,” the letter said.

The letter also said that Flint’s communication with CH2M Hill to seek a job was also a violation and that he continues to oversee contracts with CH2M Hill in his last days of employment with the city.

Flint said last week he is simply seeking a new challenge in his career.

He said CH2M Hill provides one of few good opportunities for him in the Spokane region. The current Spokane area manager, Jim Correll, is retiring after 37 years of service with the firm and 27 years as area manager.

CH2M Hill has held at least $8 million in contracts with the city in the past two decades, including engineering and design work on closure of the North Side Landfill in the 1990s and ongoing upgrades of the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

Council members adopted the ethics policy Jan. 17, but the city has yet to appoint the seven-member committee to oversee enforcement.

Mayor Dennis Hession said he is waiting for a legal opinion from the city attorney on the Flint issue.

Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch said there is a question whether the ethics policy applies to Flint and other top employees who are working under contracts with the city.

Those contracts do not address the ethics policy.

Prior to applying for the CH2M Hill job, Flint said he notified Hession and asked for legal advice on the potential ethics issue.