Coroner Asks Commission For A Raise Amend Wants To Earn $10,000 More A Year
Spokane County Coroner Dexter Amend, whose controversial actions led to an election to eliminate the coroner’s position, wants a $10,000 raise.
It’s not fair that he makes less than the auditor, treasurer, assessor and clerk, Amend told county commissioners Thursday.
“We shouldn’t classify elected officials,” he said. “They’re all elected, they all have to go through the same process” of earning voters’ support.
Amend, who oversees about 200 autopsies a year, earns $49,631 a year. He wants a pay raise retroactive to July, when salaries for the other elected officials were raised from $55,000 to $59,000.
Amend wasn’t included when his four colleagues asked for raises, probably because the coroner has always earned less than the others, Commissioner John Roskelley said. The job used to be part-time, Roskelley said.
Roskelley and Commissioner Kate McCaslin met with Amend for his annual budget review. Commissioner Phil Harris did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
The two commissioners did not comment on Amend’s request. They’ve repeatedly said they won’t respond to any budget requests until after they’ve heard from every county department, probably in November.
Amend was the target of a recall attempt in 1996 after five families filed claims with the county over the way he handled investigations of the deaths of their loved ones.
A judge threw out petitions signed by 35,000 people, ruling that Amend could not be recalled because he hadn’t broken the law, as recall leaders claimed.
The state Medical Quality Assurance Commission last year charged Amend with unprofessional conduct stemming from the way he handled four death investigations.
Taxpayers spent $33,000 defending the former urologist’s medical license, which isn’t required for the coroner’s job. Instead of revoking his license, the state panel fined Amend $1,000 and ordered him to undergo 20 hours of sensitivity training.
Last November, county residents voted by an overwhelming majority to replace the elected coroner with an appointed medical examiner. The switch happens in 1999, when Amend’s term expires.
On Tuesday, Amend said the claims against him are not unusual among coroners, who sometimes must ask prying questions of grieving families.
In Amend’s case, those questions included asking the parents of some young murder victims whether the children masturbated or engaged in homosexual acts.
“They (the claims) are basically because of words I said, words I asked in the investigation that to me are very important,” Amend said, adding that it’s not surprising people would resent the intrusion.
“Probably the death scene is the most stressful scene in life, and they’re wanting to blame somebody (for the victim’s death). I don’t blame them.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo