In brief: Leave nets Thompson $22,000

The city of Spokane will pay convicted Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. about $22,000 as a result of unused sick, vacation and comp time.

Thompson was convicted Nov. 2 of using excessive force and lying to investigators to cover up his actions during his 2006 confrontation with Otto Zehm. Thompson, 64, resigned last week prior to an interview commonly used during internal investigations.

City spokeswoman Marlene Feist said Thompson had 384 hours of unused sick leave, about 220 hours of vacation and about 23 hours of comp time, totaling $21,877. Feist said the city would have paid Thompson for the accrued time even if city officials had fired him.

Condon names task force leaders

Spokane Mayor-elect David Condon has named the leaders of five task forces that will make up his transition team.

Nancy Isserlis, attorney and former chairwoman of the Spokane Ethics Commission, will lead the public safety group.

Mike Senske, chief executive officer of Pearson Packaging, will lead the group focused on jobs and the economy.

Brian Benzel, former Spokane Public Schools superintendent, will lead the budget reform group.

Latisha Hill, former Washington transportation commissioner, will lead the group focused on improving utility infrastructure without having to greatly increase rates.

Arlene Patton, former director of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department’s Eastern Washington office, will lead the quality-of-life and social-services group.

Last week, Condon introduced the three main leaders of his transition. Theresa Sanders, who served as the city’s economic development director from 2007 until 2009, is his transition director, and Ezra Eckhardt, president and chief operating officer of Sterling Savings Bank, and Katy Bruya, senior vice president of human resources at Washington Trust Bank, were named co-leaders.