Treppiedi a scapegoat

It is a sad day for the city of Spokane when the political expediency of a mayor requires that the city lose an effective and experienced litigator.

After leaving the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office, I had the honor of representing several police officers who had claims against the Spokane Police Department. They included the first female police officer, and an undercover detective.

In both of these cases, the city was represented by Treppiedi and additional counsel. The claim is that Treppiedi “has an unwillingness to settle claims even when the evidence was stacked against him.” This is a typical political sound bite that is blatantly not true. City attorneys don’t settle cases. That is the job of the City Council and mayor. How can any candidate for mayor not know this?

Assuming this bogus claim that Treppiedi authorizes settlement, I’d like to point out that the controversial claims of Officer Sandra Brewer and Officer Dan Newlun were settled by the City Council and mayor. Political expediency required a target for the Otto Zehm case. The loser in this is Spokane, which has lost an intelligent, thorough and honorable city defender, all for the advancement of someone’s political career.

Gregory Staeheli

Spokane