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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Jonathan Brunt

Jonathan Brunt

Current Position: Asst. Managing Editor (Govt)

Jonathan Brunt joined The Spokesman-Review in 2004. He is the government editor. He previously was a reporter who covered Spokane City Hall, Spokane County government and public safety.

Email
jonathanb@spokesman.com
Phone
(509) 459-5442

All Stories

News >  Spokane

‘Complete streets’ wins

Walkers, wheelchair users and bicyclists can’t be ignored if Spokane voters approve a new tax to rebuild crumbling streets. The Spokane City Council late Monday, in the last meeting before four of the members will be replaced, voted 5-2 in favor of a “complete streets” ordinance.
News >  Spokane

Garland District icons will return

As word spread online about a blaze in Spokane’s Garland District, so did cellphone pictures of the fire – and a ton of anxiety. The Garland District without the Milk Bottle would be like Washington, D.C., without the Washington Monument or Riverfront Park without the Clocktower.
News >  Spokane

Closed meetings lead to resignation

The portion of the Mayor-elect David Condon’s transition team devoted to public safety has decided to keep its discussions confidential, leading one member to quit the group. Tim Connor, communications director of the Center for Justice, announced in an email to Condon this week that he resigned from the committee as a result of the decision to keep deliberations secret.
News >  Spokane

Condon to take oath as mayor

The new faces of Spokane city government will take their oaths of offices on three successive days late next week. Mayor-elect David Condon will be sworn in at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 30 in front of the Riverfront Park Clocktower.
News >  Spokane

Firefighter loses job for alleged violations

A Spokane firefighter fired in August won’t get a third “last chance” to keep his job. The Spokane Civil Service Commission this week voted unanimously to accept the decision of Fire Chief Bobby Williams to terminate James F. Frederick, whose disciplinary history included calling in sick for firefighting shifts on days he worked as a substitute school teacher and failing to follow other departmental procedures. He’d been a firefighter since 2001.
News >  Spokane

City Council OKs two-year contract with SpokAnimal

Voter rejection of new taxes last month to pay for a regional animal control system sent Spokane city leaders back to their old standby. The City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a two-year contract to pay the nonprofit SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. about $753,000 a year to continue handling animal control services within city limits. The contract amount is an increase of about 3.4 percent from what the city is paying this year. SpokAnimal will continue to return a portion of dog and cat license fees to the city – about $200,000 each year.
News >  Spokane

Rush proposes end to city utility tax

It was as if pigs had grown wings and landed on the roof of Spokane City Hall. George McGrath, a conservative, longtime follower and critic of the City Council, approached the microphone at this week’s meeting and praised a plan proposed by outgoing liberal Councilman Richard Rush.
News >  Spokane

District investigating Ferris political debate

An October debate for school board and mayoral candidates at Ferris High School was promoted as student-led and -run, from start to finish. But few, if any, of the questions were written by students; instead, many were submitted by a handful of adults with ties to the Republican Party, leaving at least two candidates who took part feeling duped, they said.
News >  Spokane

Council approves deal to freeze union wages

Mayor-elect David Condon likely will have to win a second term if he wants to tinker with the pay and benefits of nearly half of the City Hall workforce. The Spokane City Council on Monday approved three-year contract extensions for Local 270 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and for the city’s prosecutors union a full year before their existing labor contracts were set to expire.
News

Rush concedes race to Allen, calls off hand recount

Spokane City Councilman Richard Rush said this afternoon that he has decided against paying for a hand recount in his race against Mike Allen. Rush said after further consideration of the results of the machiine recount, as well as the hand recount that was completed in the 4th Legislative District Senate race, it was highly unlikely that a hand recount would change the outcome.
News >  Spokane

City cuts Youth Department

Roland Chase has a message for incoming leaders of Spokane’s city government: “I would not turn my back on the youth of Spokane.”
News >  Spokane

Condon transition team lists subcommittee members

The following is the full list of Mayor-elect David Condon’s transition team, which was announced late Thursday night. Theresa Sanders, who served as the city’s economic development director from 2007 until 2009, is his transition director. Ezra Eckhardt, president and chief operating officer of Sterling Savings Bank, and Katy Bruya, senior vice president of human resources at Washington Trust Bank, are the transition co-leaders.
News >  Spokane

Condon names members of transition team

Spokane Mayor-elect David Condon’s transition team will meet for the first time next week to start setting priorities for his first 100 days in office and beyond. Condon released the names of nearly 80 people who are serving on five committees. Among those serving are all seven members of next year’s City Council.