Public Periscope

It’s not that they need a baby sitter

After hearing reports of the City Council’s antics of June 12, Spokane Mayor John Talbott has decided to take corrective action.

The meeting, which Talbott missed when he was in Olympia, was notably rancorous. Council members tried to speak over one another and swapped personal attacks.

From now on, Talbott said, the city’s parliamentarian will sit on the dais at council meetings, next to the mayor.

The parliamentarian, a volunteer who advises the council on the rules of order, has traditionally sat at a separate table next to the city clerk. There are two parliamentarians who currently serve the council: Bob Moeller and Charlotte Coker.

The parliamentarian will “advise the chair and help the chair to maintain discipline and protocol of a good business meeting,” Talbott said last Monday.

In elevating the parliamentarian to the dais, the mayor also removed City Attorney Jim Sloane, who has sat at the dais since 1978. Sloane, who has repeatedly been attacked by members of the council majority for his role in constructing the River Park Square deal, will now sit next to Terri Pfister, the city clerk.

Talbott said that was a more appropriate arrangement.

“Both of those positions are staff positions to the council,” Talbott said.

End of a tradition

City Councilman Rob Higgins bristled when he heard a reporter on KPBX-TV’s“Spokane This Week” say that Higgins and councilmen Steve Corker and Steve Eugster go out for drinks following council meetings.

Higgins said it had been a tradition to have a beer after meetings since his days on the council in the 1980s, and that he had continued to do so with current council members.

That changed in February, he said.

“I haven’t gone out with those guys since they fired Pete Fortin,” Higgins said, referring to the ouster of the former acting city manager.

Top-down communication

The Spokane Regional Health Board on Thursday approved a “media policy” for employees.

The policy requires health district employees to transfer all calls from reporters to the health district director. They also must report all contacts from the media, whom the policy calls “an essential community partner.” A form is provided.

Health board members insist the policy is not a “gag order.”

County Commissioner and Health Board member Kate McCaslin said the policy does not prohibit district employees from contacting reporters to complain about policy decisions, for instance.

“This (policy) is so we can better manage incoming calls,” said McCaslin, adding that the First Amendment gives them that right.

Asked later whether they consider the policy a gag order, several health district employees referred questions to their boss.

Libraries want help

The Spokane County Library District is seeking input on its draft strategic plan for 2001-2003.

The plan will set the district’s direction for the next three years.

Summaries and full copies of the plan are available at all county library branches and at the district’s Web site, www.scld.org.

Written comments will be accepted through July 28.

Call your nearest county branch for more information.

How soon they forget

One day after Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk endorsed his candidacy, Republican gubernatorial hopeful John Carlson forgot the sheriff’s name.

Speaking to reporters at the state Republican Convention on June 17, Carlson twice referred to Sterk as “Sheriff Stern” until a Seattle newspaper reporter pointed out his mistake.

“What did I call him?” asked a chagrined Carlson. “My mistake.”

Town hall meeting

Spokane County Commissioner Kate McCaslin is holding a town hall meeting in Fairfield on Tuesday.

The meeting will run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Triangle Grange on Main Street.

County employees from various departments also will be on hand to answer questions.

To get there, take state Highway 27 south to Fairfield and turn left on Main Avenue.