Plan Revises Selection Of City Manager

Thu., June 11, 1998

By Kristina Johnson kristinaj@spokesman.com

Attorney Steve Eugster has filed an initiative petition with the city of Spokane that calls for City Council members to be elected by district and the mayor to select the city manager.

It’s the second petition Eugster has filed since Jan. 1 aimed at district representation on the council.

The measure filed Monday with the City Clerk’s office would require the city to be divided into six districts, with one council member elected from each area.

It also calls for the mayor to select a city manager for the duration of the mayoral term.

Currently, the entire council chooses the manager, who serves as long as the council chooses. Several Spokane managers have served far longer than a four-year council term.

Under Eugster’s proposal, the mayor’s choice must be ratified by a majority of the council members. A supermajority - five votes instead of four - would be needed to fire the city manager.

Eugster said he likely will stop gathering signatures on the first initiative in favor of the second. The first dealt solely with district representation.

Council members could approve the petition’s wording and return it to Eugster to gather signatures. Or they could forgo the signature gathering, adopt the petition and put it before voters this fall - an unlikely move.

Eugster said he plans to send out copies of the petition for signatures using e-mail and regular mail.

He said he hasn’t decided when he’d like to see the measure on the ballot. The election he chooses will determine how many signatures he needs to gather.

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