Powers Gets Look At Divisiveness Mayor-Elect Watches As Council Members Resume Yearlong Spat

John Powers ran for mayor pledging to unite a divided Spokane City Council.

On Friday, he got an up-close look at how deep those divisions run.

During a City Council transition committee meeting, the mayor-elect watched from the sidelines as Councilman Steve Eugster resumed his yearlong spat with council members Robert Greene and Phyllis Holmes, this time over the structure of the city government.

The argument reached such a pitch that Eugster stood up and began packing his briefcase to leave, before Powers and Councilman Steve Corker, the committee chairman, persuaded him to stay.

By the time the meeting ended, Corker had convinced Eugster that his objections were noted, and Powers was able to sunnily conclude, “I’m encouraged by the results. I feel we left here with a good spirit of cooperation.”

That’s not how it appeared half an hour earlier.

At issue was whether a restructured city organizational chart, which the committee has been hashing out for much of the year, required a new position to head the newly created city division of Planning and Community Services.

While Eugster said the position should be held by one of the department heads in the division, Powers and City Manager Hank Miggins said it would require too much work for a department head to do both jobs.

Eugster, who wrote the strong mayor initiative approved by voters in November 1999, said he never intended that new positions would be created as a result of the switch in government.

“I never expected we would create additional administrative levels,” he said. “The whole idea was to cut expenses, not create expenses.”

Holmes noted Eugster no longer had sole authority over how the initiative could be interpreted.

“Once this initiative was enacted, your ownership becomes limited,” she said. “The privilege of interpretation is now up to the majority of the council. We own it now.”

To which Eugster replied curtly, “You can have it. That’s fine. But I’ll litigate it if you don’t do it the way it says.”

When Greene and Councilman Rob Higgins then broke into a side discussion, Eugster asked what they were talking about.

“You can’t be involved in every conversation, Mr. Eugster,” Greene replied.

Shortly thereafter, Eugster began preparing his things to leave.

“I’ve given up ownership,” he said. “It’s now in the hands of the ladies.”

When Corker urged him to stay, he said, “You asked me to come here, and now we have council members telling me they don’t want me here. I have better things to do with my time.”

Nonetheless, Eugster consented to stay after Corker reminded him that the reorganized organizational chart contained many of the changes suggested by Eugster.

Ultimately, the committee agreed that the position needed to be created and budgeted for next year. That creates a problem, because the city’s budget hearings are set to conclude Monday with a final vote on Dec. 11. If the council votes to fund the position, the budget would have to be amended.

“We can endeavor to get it done by the 11th, but I can’t guarantee it,” Powers said. “It’s going to take more than an hour on a Friday morning.”

Powers also weighed in on another potential complication he will face upon assuming the duties of strong mayor: council appointments.

Under the new city organization, the mayor will appoint six or seven division heads who would then hire department heads. According to the City Charter, the council must approve all of those hires.

That will restrict the ability of his division heads to hire whom they please, Powers said.

“They ought to be able to go out and find that person and not have to go across the aisle (for approval),” Powers said.

Greene agreed, saying it put too much power in the hands of the council.

“I don’t want to be involved in that level of confirming department heads,” she said. “That’s going farther down the organization chart than the policy board should be involved in.”

But Corker said any change would require a vote of the people to amend the charter. He also noted that the council’s vote has often been a formality when approving hires under the city manager system.