Cooney Should Reassess Future

Sadie Charlene Cooney has admitted violating state campaign laws. Last week she acknowledged that a county staff member edited a campaign speech for her, other staff members labeled her campaign literature and she asked one employee to work at a Cooney fund raiser.

In addition, she has mismanaged her office and cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Spokane County citizens deserve a better assessor.

Members of the state’s Public Disclosure Commission decided Cooney deserved more punishment than they were authorized to give. They have forwarded the case to the state attorney general’s office for further investigation.

Lynda Rouse, a former employee in the assessor’s office, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was wrongfully terminated. Rouse claims she was dismissed because she opposed Cooney’s re-election campaign. The county’s taxpayer-funded insurance carrier probably will have to pay at least a portion of Cooney’s legal bills in this case.

Cooney says she plans to serve out the last two years of her term. Her sense of commitment is admirable but the county needs a full-time assessor. The pending federal lawsuit and attorney general investigation will be time consuming. Instead of running the assessor’s office, she will spend many of her hours, paid for by the taxpayers, defending herself in hearings and in the courtroom. At a yearly salary of $61,000, defending her past actions could be a heavy public expense.

In a 1994 campaign profile, Cooney said, “I believe dedication and perseverance can make a difference.” Unfortunately, her dedication and perseverance have not made the kind of difference voters expected.

And, can she be effective in this job?

Past problems in the assessor’s office have included:

* Properties have been undervalued, resulting in a loss of tax revenue to local agencies such as schools and fire districts.

* Auditors have criticized a lack of controls in the way her office processes senior citizen tax exemptions.

* Cooney’s office miscalculated a city of Spokane emergency medical services levy, resulting in lost income to the EMS fund.

* In 1993, Cooney acknowledged using county stationery and a county fax machine to send a campaign statement to the media.

* In 1994, Bob Blum, her opponent in that year’s election, charged that she used county equipment at a campaign appearance.

Cooney’s effectiveness in office has been limited. Can it improve with additional distractions?

In 1976, Spokane County Assessor Kenneth Wynne resigned his position. He stated several reasons, one being he believed the best interests of county government would be served by allowing the commissioners to appoint a qualified successor. He had served the office for many years and felt it was time to give someone else the opportunity to do the same.

Perhaps Spokane County’s commissioners, and others who care as Wynne did about the public’s best interests, can encourage Cooney to find a graceful way out.