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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Council Rejects Rodgers For Mayor Pro Tem Spot Barnes Selected To Stand In For Talbott

The Spokane City Council shot down Mayor John Talbott’s nomination for mayor pro tem on Monday, saying his choice was too green for the stand-in role.

Within minutes of Talbott’s first meeting as mayor, council members voted 4-3 against his recommendation that Cherie Rodgers be his second-in-command.

Council members Orville Barnes, Roberta Greene, Phyllis Holmes and Jeff Colliton cast dissenting votes.

Immediately after the failed recommendation, Holmes nominated Barnes, who served as mayor pro tem under former Mayor Jack Geraghty. Barnes’ nomination won unanimous approval.

Before the vote on Rodgers, Talbott explained why he tapped her as his second, saying that Rodgers was highly regarded by her colleagues and the public.

He noted that she won over council members last year when they chose her to replace Chris Anderson. Rodgers went on to win her first election in November, garnering 66 percent of the vote “with very little effort on her part,” Talbott said.

Holmes jumped in, saying it was “most unfortunate” Rodgers had been put in this contentious situation. “It’s one of the perks of inexperience,” she said.

Holmes went on to lecture Talbott about protocol, saying the charter gives council members the right to select a mayor pro tem from among their ranks. Geraghty had talked with each of his colleagues individually before choosing his stand-in, but Holmes learned of Talbott’s choice from the newspaper.

“I don’t expect this to be the means of communication in the future,” Holmes said. “There’s a learning curve here, and we’ve got to get past it.”

She added that the role of mayor pro tem shouldn’t be trivialized and should be filled by someone with seniority and experience.

Barnes said he’d been lobbied by those for Rodgers’ nomination and his own, and ultimately chose to vote for his own. While Rodgers’ agenda might be closer to Talbott’s, a difference in viewpoints might be a strength, Barnes said.

“Because there is at least some division in thinking, I can serve as a different kind of catalyst. I can serve as a link between John” and the council, he said.

Rodgers said she reviewed past mayor pro tem nominations and couldn’t find a time when the council hadn’t approved the mayor’s selection.

“I totally believe that if Mother Theresa herself had been selected to be mayor pro tem by John, it would have been 4-3 against it,” said Rodgers, prompting hearty applause from the audience.

Talbott, who showed no emotion during the discussion, quickly thanked council members for their candor and welcomed Barnes as his fill-in.

A few minutes later, Greene offered an olive branch to Talbott, welcoming him to City Hall and saying she didn’t expect the council-mayor relationship to be adversarial.

“It is very realistic to believe we will not always agree … but we will disagree without being disagreeable,” she said.

While Talbott’s first meeting began a bit unsteadily, the mayor instantly recovered, laughing and cajoling his way through the next two hours. A few times, he jumped ahead of the agenda, only to be reminded by other council members or City Attorney Jim Sloane of what should happen next.

In other business, the council voted 6-1 on a plan to divy up between five city budgets the $1.9 million going to Steve and Leslie Ronald for their riverfront property.

Talbott cast the lone dissenting vote.

The breakdown works like this: $650,000 from the general fund, with $500,000 of that from reserves and interest earned by local improvement district dollars; $150,000 from the Parks Department reserve fund; $750,000 from the Arterial Street fund, including a $600,000 state grant; $150,000 from the library construction and improvement fund; and $200,000 from the sewer fund.

Barbara Lund, a former city engineer in Ithaca, N.Y., questioned why the city would spend dollars aimed at street improvements on the Ronalds’ land. “I think this is unconscionable,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos