Chief, Police Guild Feud Over Media Liaison Mangan Says Contract Arrangement A Bargain Compared To Officer’s Salary

(From For the Record, October 23, 1996:) The Spokane City Council appoints two members of the five-member Civil Service Commission. The unions appoint two members, and those four members appoint a fifth member. How the members are appointed was wrong in a story Saturday.

Spokane Police Chief Terry Mangan is battling the police union and Civil Service over who should be in charge of his department’s media relations - a city employee or a private contractor.

The police guild claims Mangan has replaced what has historically been a classified job with a contracted media consultant.

Such a switch violates Civil Service rules that require permanent positions be filled through a competitive process, said Chris Vick, the Seattle attorney who represents the guild.

“Certainly, (Dick) Cottam is gifted at media relations, but you can’t have two different classes of employees: the ones that earn their jobs on merit and the ones that are friends of the chief,” Vick said.

“He’s not a consultant. He’s a full-time employee.”

The Civil Service Commission earlier this week held a hearing on the union’s complaint. The commission is appointed by the City Council to make sure all hirings are fair.

Commissioners are expected to decide at next month’s meeting whether Cottam’s spot should be a permanent classified position.

Cottam became the department’s media liaison in 1994, when former spokesman Lt. Bob Van Leuven took over the Office of Professional Standards, Mangan said. The switch came after talks with media outlets about how to best serve their needs, he said.

“The people we talked to … said that having a program coordinated by a person with a background in media relations might make it a better program than one done by a lieutenant as part of his duties,” Mangan said.

He added that Cottam’s $47,000-a-year, three-year contract is a bargain for taxpayers when compared to an officer’s salary. Including benefits, Van Leuven earns about $72,000 a year.

Union officials said they don’t care if the job goes to an officer or not. They just want the job filled through the competitive process.

Cottam, a former reporter and journalism instructor, doesn’t just write prepared statements, Mangan said. He said Cottam also trains officers on how to respond to media requests. In addition, he writes brochures and produces videotapes for departmental training and community outreach.

In a terse letter sent to Civil Service Chief Examiner Harvey Harden on Aug. 15, Mangan said he doubts the union has a right to question Cottam’s contract.

“It would seem that the guild has no appropriate interest or relationship to this function …,” he said.

Mangan’s letter also said Cottam does the job Van Leuven did for eight years - a statement that confirms the union’s fears, Harden said in an equally terse letter sent to Mangan on Aug. 21.

“We also note (Cottam’s) name and number in the city employee directory, office space in the Public Safety Building … In summary, it appears that your correspondence has confirmed the concern expressed by the Police Guild,” Harden said.

While the commission hasn’t decided whether the job should be classified, a memo Harden sent to its members Oct. 7 makes his feelings clear. “It appears that the contracted work is being performed under the supervision of Chief Mangan and is classified work,” he said.

A consultant usually is hired for a specified period of time to do a specific function, but Cottam’s job “is unending,” Vick said. He added he represents several Washington police departments such as Bellevue, Tacoma and King County. All three fill their media relations post with classified workers, he said.

Mangan argues that inflexible Civil Service and union rules make it difficult for a classified employee to be cost-effective. Under a contract, Cottam can vary his hours to meet media needs.

Besides, Cottam isn’t the only one doing the department’s community relations, Mangan said, adding that other officers send out prepared statements.

In the last year, few releases have come to The Spokesman-Review that weren’t penned by Cottam.

Cottam said Friday he doesn’t work just for the police department. He has several contracts with other organizations but wouldn’t say how many. “That’s really my business,” he said.

He does spend much of his day in the department’s media relations office and carries a pager paid for by the city.

Mangan’s letter to Harden also mentions a survey done recently that shows media relations have been “improved and broadened” since Cottam took over. Mangan wasn’t at the department Friday and couldn’t supply a copy of the survey until next week.

This isn’t the first time Mangan has quarreled with Civil Service over contracted positions.

Last year, the commission told Mangan to fire two temporary-seasonal workers who had been on his payroll more than three years.

Acting City Manager Bill Pupo said Mangan is just following the City Council mandate to reduce the number of full-time employees.

“One way of doing that is contracting positions,” Pupo said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT Civil service commissioners are expected to decide at next month’s meeting whether Cottam’s spot should be a permanent classified position.