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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Editorial: City, public would’ve benefited from formal investigation into Straub complaints

Mayor David Condon should not have had to explain the city’s cautious handling of complaints by then Spokane Police Department spokesman Monique Cotton.

Nor why the timing of the release of records regarding her promotion – coming in the middle of one of the biggest natural disasters in city history and delayed until after the election – isn’t suspect.

But this was the second “informal” complaint about police Chief Frank Straub from a female staffer. Had the mayor and his staff insisted that greater rigor be applied to defining, documenting and investigating the complaint, the city would be less mired in legal and political controversy. A formal, private paper trail could have helped define the truth and provide clear, defensible evidence for decision-making.

By doing Cotton a favor and promoting her to a new job, and avoiding creation of a paper trail, the administration left itself and her more vulnerable. Instead of clarity on what happened, city managers and the public are left with questions, and little written record to defend decisions now that a lawsuit has been filed.

As to the timing of the release of the records, the city’s handling of the Cotton move to the Parks Department would have been defensible even if the records sought and obtained by The Spokesman-Review had been released in late October – in the middle of the voting period.

It’s unclear whether the city investigated claims of abusive behavior by Straub. But a paper trail would help here too, even though the chief serves the city as an at-will employee.

Straub, who says he was not allowed to defend himself, has filed a $4 million claim alleging the city’s action denied him due process. He says he was fired. Condon says he resigned. Where’s the paperwork?

Condon was aware of the problems: he cited concerns expressed by senior police officers about a hostile work environment when Straub’s resignation/firing was announced. He knew that The Spokesman-Review had already filed its records request, and that a more complete account of what was occurring was eventually going to become public.

Really, that account should reside in a personnel file with complaints, responses, and job evaluations: It’s Human Resources 101.

What’s clear from the records we do have is that the public did not get the whole story at the time of Cotton’s transfer, or Straub’s departure.

Condon’s heart is in the right place. He seized on the chief’s reputation for reform, brought him in, and let him go. The police department is the better for it, but the intensity of the mayor’s commitment to a key appointee probably stayed his hand too long when Cotton and others came forward with their concerns.

Harassment allegations are by their nature formal and serious. By-the-book investigation would have saved the city the current grief and legal wrangling.