In brief: Mayor, city union reach tentative deal
Spokane Mayor David Condon has reached his first tentative contract deal with a major city union.
The Spokane Managerial and Professional Association mailed ballots to its 250 members this week on a proposed three-year contract, said Carly Cortright, the association’s president.
The union’s leadership, which represents mostly salaried city workers, agreed to the deal early this month. Members have until June 9 to drop ballots in the mail. If membership accepts the contract, the Spokane City Council would have the final say.
The union’s contract expired last year. The new deal would be retroactive to Jan. 1. Negotiations started in September.
Cortright, a strategic analyst for the Spokane Police Department, declined to provide further details of the proposal until after the vote is complete.
“Overall, I’m comfortable with what we were able to negotiate for our members,” Cortright said, adding: “When you’re facing a $10 million budget shortfall, you don’t have as much bargaining power.”
Two other large city unions, the Spokane Firefighters Union and the Spokane Police Guild, are working under expired contracts.
Crime ring busted, investigators say
Sheriff’s investigators believe they’ve solved 24 residential burglaries in the Spokane County area.
Members of the Burglary Task Force are recommending 64 felony charges be filed against suspects Jessica L. Davis, 25; Randle Phelps, 29; and Jay M. Shippy, 23.
Davis, the alleged ring leader, faces a charge of leading organized crime.
Shippy already faces a residential burglary charge for an arrest in April. He was allowed to leave jail on his own recognizance earlier this month, but detectives arrested him again Wednesday on the new burglary charge.
Phelps and Davis are jailed in Bonner County after being arrested there May 25. Davis reportedly told a detective they had moved north and were afraid to burglarize homes in Spokane County because of the recent surge in property crime arrests here.
The charges recommended to the prosecutor’s office include residential burglary, theft of a firearm and trafficking in stolen property.
Burglary suspect’s girlfriend arrested
The girlfriend of a suspected serial burglar was arrested Thursday for her alleged role in the spree.
Tawnya Ann Werre, 43, joins her boyfriend, Dean Michael Blackford, in the Spokane County Jail, where Blackford has been since his arrest April 24.
Investigators believe Werre was involved in an April 4 burglary at a home in Valleyford in which three young girls hid in a bedroom as a man broke in the front door and ransacked the home. Police believe that man was Blackford.
The case prompted Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, flanked by victim homeowner and mother Melissa Bambock, to announce a new initiative with prosecutors and Spokane police to try to combat property crime, despite dwindling resources.
Blackford, 50, told detectives he burglarized at least 20 homes to fund his methamphetamine addiction.
Detectives believe Werre sold stolen goods at pawn shops. They also believe she helped Blackford burglarize at least some of the homes.
Blackford has pleaded not guilty to his charges and remains in jail awaiting trial.