No Substitute For Experience City Hall Worries About Replacing Managers; Unrest A Key Factor In Departures

Who’s next to go?

Better yet, who remains?

Ten department heads have left Spokane City Hall since November. The latest was Mike Kobluk, who resigned Tuesday as director of entertainment facilities.

They include the heads of tiny departments, such as communications, and some of the biggest, such as streets.

Some departures were expected. Many were not. Some have left gracefully. One under a cloud.

But taken together, the departures mean the loss of 186 years of experience.

And there’s no indication that the losses will stop with 10.

“How much of that memory and experience and wisdom can we afford to lose?” asked City Councilwoman Phyllis Holmes. “In my mind it’s a very serious situation.”

The departures are the result of several factors, but prime among them is the unrest at City Hall, an outcome of November’s elections.

Voters elected two council members, Steve Eugster and Steve Corker, committed to change and eager to examine the performance of city government and city employees.

Voters also approved switching to a strong mayor form of government, which will give a new mayor the power to hire and fire department heads.

Not many employees, particularly those near retirement age anyway, relish reapplying for jobs they have held for decades. Dozens have taken advantage of a severance package program created by the City Council last year.

Wastewater manager Gale Olrich, a 23-year city employee, said he chose to leave in part to take advantage of the severance and to protect his health insurance, but also because of the shifts in government.

“It’s time for me to move on,” Olrich said. “I think with the new style of government, there’s going to be a learning curve and growing pains.”

Among those leaving are department heads who were closely tied to large, complicated and politically sensitive projects that can ill afford a last-minute change in direction. They include Planning Director Charlie Dotson, who was a key figure in work on a new comprehensive plan, and Olrich, who was spearheading the expansion of the city’s sewer system and negotiating contracts with the county.

“We’ve got big shoes to fill with Gale leaving,” said wastewater engineer Tom Arnold. “Just the corporate knowledge of where we’ve been. We have city-county issues, water quality issues with the Department of Ecology, interlocal agreements. You lose the history and knowledge of all those negotiations.”

Holmes worries that more department heads will follow the nine who resigned or retired, rather than await the fate of the 10th, acting city manager Pete Fortin, who was fired during a City Council meeting Feb. 7.

“Folks are concerned about the public humiliation that Pete was forced to go through,” she said. “No one should have to go through that.”

If another department head is fired, it’s likely to be City Attorney Jim Sloane, Holmes said.

That decision will be up to new City Manager Henry Miggins, who starts Monday. Miggins’ hiring, however, was engineered by a council majority long hostile to Sloane.

“I think it’s a foregone conclusion,” Holmes said.

While massive firings are not likely, city employees are concerned.

The turmoil at the top is trickling down and affecting the morale of rank-and-file city workers, said Mike Stone, the special operations division manager for the Parks Department.

“There’s certainly a fear factor running through the employees,” Stone said. “When you see the council and some of the discussion and struggles, that kind of sends a less than positive message. People are very negatively affected.”

Many employees are checking to see where they stand in the city’s pension plan, said Dan Daniels, the acting head of the Retirement Department. The former director of retirement, Jim Bennett, is among those who retired last year.

“The employees are asking for a lot of estimates because they don’t know if they are going to have a job or not,” said Daniels. “We’re doing at least 30 or 40 a week.”

Poor morale slows down work, said Assistant City Manager Dorothy Webster.

“We’re talking about what’s going on instead of doing our jobs,” she said.

Clearly, filling the department head vacancies will not be an easy task for Miggins. The shift to strong mayor makes luring qualified new employees to fill those jobs “tremendously hard to do,” said Webster.

Not everyone at City Hall views the changes as dire, however.

Because many of the department heads who left were close to retirement age, they were going to leave anyway, said Councilman Steve Eugster.

“What we are seeing is that the change of government is occurring when most people would normally retire,” Eugster said.

The vacancies are also creating space for talented people to move up, he said.

“There are a lot of people who are down the chain who are rarin’ and willing to go,” he said.

Some of these younger staffers have already been promoted, at least on an interim basis.

In the Wastewater Management Department, Dale Arnold is filling in for Olrich, who retired after 23 years. To fill the director of operations position left vacant by the departure of Assistant City Manager Nick Dragisich, Roger Flint is moving over from director of general services.

Other departments may be restructured, so hiring a new director may not be necessary.

The tasks of the Human Resources Department, until recently headed by 22-year city veteran James Smith Jr., are being completed by the Employees Services Department. The entertainment facilities department may be administered by Kevin Twohig, who runs the Spokane Arena. In some cases, the change to strong mayor has not been an impediment in filling the vacancies.

To replace planning director Dotson, Fortin recruited senior county planner John Mercer. Mercer said he was concerned about the impending change of government, but felt he would be able to keep his new job if he performed well.

The parks board has decided to launch a national search to replace departing director Ange Taylor, despite the chance that the new hire could be replaced.

Despite the changes at the top, city employees will continue to do the jobs city residents have come to expect, said Mayor John Talbott.

“The city is running,” he said. “We will continue to provide the services.”

That’s a thought echoed by those left behind at many departments.

“We have very skilled employees,” said Stone of the Parks Department. “They are able to do their job, despite changes in leadership or changes in philosophy.”

Still, the upheaval has left many in City Hall reeling.

“I almost feel we’re going down a river and I’m hanging on to the outside of a life raft,” said Councilman Rob Higgins.

Graphic: Holes at City Hall