City Manager Gets Bumpy Welcome But Miggins Takes Affable Approach, Vows Independence At News Conference

If Henry Miggins had any illusions about his 10-month tenure as Spokane city manager being a smooth ride, they were undoubtedly dispelled at Monday night’s City Council meeting.

In what could only have been an extremely uncomfortable moment for Miggins, the council debated his contract while he sat silently on the dais.

At issue was Miggins’ $90,500 annual salary, the starting figure for the city manager job track.

Councilwoman Roberta Greene, who opposed the Feb. 7 ouster of acting City Manager Pete Fortin and Miggins’ subsequent hire, complained that she and other council members had not seen the contract until Monday evening.

“We need to move forward as a city,” Greene said, “but it would just be nice to be asked what you think concerning the one employee we (the council) hire.”

Mayor John Talbott explained that it was the same contract held by other city managers, except with a lower salary. “I really apologize if you feel left out,” he added.

The council eventually voted to approve Miggins’ contract 5-1, with Phyllis Holmes abstaining and Rob Higgins opposing.

The episode was in sharp contrast to the afternoon press conference in which Miggins was introduced to the city.

Miggins, who arrived from his home in Portland only Sunday, stressed that leading Spokane into next year’s strong mayor form of government would be “a team effort.”

“I would like to think we would just get along,” he said.

Miggins also wasn’t afraid to joke about the image he brings to Spokane, given his last job as head of Multnomah Animal Control. “I know how to bark,” he said.

He tried to assuage fears that he was hired as a puppet for the council majority and promised that he would not take orders from council members on hiring decisions, which is forbidden under the city charter.

“The input from the City Council has been made,” Miggins said. “They hired me. That’s all they can do under the charter.”

Later in the day, Miggins got a firsthand view of the volatility of council meetings, as items were added, dropped and deferred from the agenda.

One of the most significant items on Monday’s agenda, a vote on a tax exemption for multifamily housing in certain neighborhoods, was deferred for two weeks. The delay is to allow for greater participation from neighborhood councils and the landmarks commission.

The council also deferred indefinitely a request to allocate $80,000 for a marketing plan to help boost parking at River Park Square.

And in a last-minute addition to the agenda, the council voted 5-2 to enact a six-month moratorium on new billboards.

The resolution came at the request of the planning department, which has been inundated with applications for outdoor advertising since Spokane County banned new billboards in November.

Greene and Higgins, who voted against the measure, said the public had been given no notice that the resolution would be discussed Monday.

“When did the public ever hear about this?” Greene asked.

Public notification would have defeated the purpose of the moratorium, because the planning department would have been flooded with last-minute applications, said assistant city attorney Mike Piccolo after the meeting.

Despite the sneak attack, one proponent of billboards did manage to speak in their favor.

Gregor Klante, general manager of Sunset Outdoor Inc., said the moratorium would help the big, out-of-state billboard companies maintain their market share at the expense of local companies. Plus, he added, many billboards are being erected by residents on their own property.

“This is not about billboards,” Klante said. “This is about property rights.”

But several council members argued that the moratorium would simply serve to let the planning and legal departments have more time to consider the city’s billboard policy.

“We are not setting a policy and we are not denying those permits,” said Steve Corker.

Also Monday, the council heard a presentation from the districting board, which submitted three districting proposals culled from citizens’ submissions. The council agreed to hold a hearing on which plan to choose at next week’s meeting.

For a closer look at the three proposed Spokane City Council districting maps, log on to www.spokane.net/election.