New Resources Director Lacks Required Education County’s Choice Was Rejected 8 Months Ago In First Search

A job applicant rejected eight months ago because he didn’t meet minimum requirements has been selected Spokane County human resources director.

Chester “Ben” Duncan Jr., a retired Air Force major who lives on Spokane’s South Hill, still doesn’t meet the educational criteria for the nearly $60,000-a-year job.

But the county’s chief administrative officer, Jim Lindow, said Duncan’s military background and people skills were unmatched by 50 other applicants.

Duncan has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work but not in business or public administration, as the job requires.

“Sometimes, education isn’t everything,” said Karen Robideaux, a citizen who served on a three-member county search committee. “I thought he was outstanding.”

Duncan refused to be interviewed Wednesday and Thursday, saying it would “not be ethical” to talk to The Spokesman-Review until after he first meets with the 10 human resources employees Monday.

Duncan denied he officially has accepted the job, although county memos and officials dispute that.

A memo Lindow wrote Thursday to department heads and elected officials stated that Duncan had been selected.

“Yesterday (Wednesday), he accepted,” said county Commissioner Phil Harris.

Still, the hiring is not official until commissioners enact a resolution, probably Tuesday.

Duncan was picked from four finalists by a search committee made up of Public Works Director Dennis Scott and two outsiders - Larry Stanley, owner of Empire Bolt & Screw Inc., and Robideaux, a civic activist.

Scott and Stanley could not be reached for comment.

Duncan would replace longtime director Skip Wright, who quit under fire in May.

Two months before Wright resigned, the county began a search for his replacement across the West.

Duncan was rejected immediately because of the educational requirement and never made it to final screenings.

The search was reopened twice, finally closing in mid-August, because county officials were dissatisfied with the applicants.

“We kind of had to hold our nose,” said county Commissioner Steve Hasson, who was unaware Duncan had been part of that first batch of prospects.

To entice better applicants, commissioners upped the maximum salary by $4,000.

Tim Hansen, the county employee whose job is to evaluate whether applicants meet minimum requirements, was removed from that role and replaced with Gerald Hester, former Spokane School District 81 superintendent, Harris said.

Hansen should not have been asked to evaluate candidates vying to become his boss, Harris said.

Harris said he knows little of Duncan, although both served at Fairchild Air Force Base at the same time and are members of the same Rotary Club.

“He’s not a friend,” Harris said. “On Ben, there’s nothing there that anyone could ever connect.”

Retired Air Force Col. Steve Smith, Fairchild’s former base commander and Duncan’s boss, said Duncan is an excellent choice. No one, Smith said, is better at mediating and solving conflicts. “He’s absolutely first-rate,” Smith said from his Tucson, Ariz., home. “Ben’s a people person. That’s his thing in life. He was really one of a kind.”

Duncan headed Fairchild’s human resources operation for only two years, but has 17 years’ experience directing administration, quality improvement and social services.

A few county employees expressed apprehension that Duncan has no civilian personnel experience, as one finalist does.

Susan Miller, human resources director for the city of Walla Walla, was interviewed Monday and told the four finalists would be pared to two.

Told Thursday of Duncan’s hiring, Miller was stunned.

“I’m disappointed they didn’t communicate this to us at the same time,” she said. “That’s common courtesy.”

Miller, 49, has 12 years of municipal human resources experience and a pair of master’s degrees - in public administration and English. She also has worked for the cities of Santa Monica, Calif., and Bothell and Bellingham in Washington.

“Mr. Duncan was far above the other candidates,” Lindow said.

, DataTimes