W e believe it’s time to set the record straight regarding Spokane County’s new Office of Economic Development and the hiring of its director, Erik Skaggs.

The county commissioners hear loudly and clearly that citizens believe economic development is a top priority. Citizens recognize, as we do, that growth of family wage jobs is critical to everyone’s quality of life.

As a result, Spokane County is currently the largest contributor of taxpayer dollars to economic development — over $2.3 million during the past five years to organizations like the Economic Development Council, the International Trade Alliance and the Inland Northwest Technology and Education Center, (INTEC). Because of this significant taxpayer investment, the commissioners created the Office of Economic Development to support new economic initiatives, monitor contracts between the county and agencies and to assist new and expanding businesses.

We chose Erik Skaggs to direct this office for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, Erik is qualified for the job. Even The Spokesman-Review admits that Erik’s qualifications for the job are unquestioned. With a degree in economics, Erik has been a leader in many major policy initiatives. Erik has worked in both the public and private sectors and thinks critically and strategically. Erik knows our community and has a good working relationship with many elected leaders and officials. Quite simply, he is an “agent of change,” and with change comes opportunities for innovative thinking and activity.

Erik is a decorated veteran who recently returned from a difficult year’s service in East Africa fighting the war on terror. Because we know the quality of Erik’s character, we were not surprised to learn from his commander that while in Africa, Erik distinguished himself by leading an effort to stop a terrorist attack on innocent people.

Clearly Erik’s skills and qualifications for the position are not an issue. What may be at issue for The Spokesman-Review and its sister company, The Journal of Business, is Erik’s past employment with Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities and his work as an outspoken community activist on the controversial River Park Square issue.

Citizens should know this: It is clear to us that Erik Skaggs had no knowledge of the alleged deception or potential fraud taking place at Metropolitan Mortgage. Erik Skaggs has had no formal financial or investment training and he was not hired to be a financial manager or licensed securities manager for Metropolitan Mortgage. Erik was hired as the director of government and community relations for Metropolitan – a job that he was very effective at doing. Later, he was assigned oversight of the Marketing Department.

While Erik was highly placed as a public relations and marketing manager, he was not a licensed security broker and had to rely upon the advice of those who were, including some who were directly responsible for oversight and compliance with regulations. We have known Erik for some time. While some people may take issue with his past approach on some issues, we believe he has an unquestionably solid character.

It is our view — a view shared by numerous other business and community leaders — the original article written about Erik’s appointment to this position was nothing short of a political character assassination and was incredibly unfair.

Readers should note that before the original article was printed the reporters did not contact or speak with Erik. In fact, the plaintiffs’ lawyer who made the remarks in the article has not met, spoken with, nor deposed Erik Skaggs and therefore had absolutely no facts on which to base his comments.

Moreover the article failed to report that Erik was terminated from his job at Metropolitan last February while he was on active military duty in East Africa. Finally, had the newspaper asked they would have learned that Erik and his wife, other family members and friends lost tens of thousands of dollars themselves in the collapse of Metropolitan.

Erik’s resume has a long list of issues with which he has been involved. Some are controversial, some are not. While we may not have always agreed with Erik on every issue, we nonetheless believe that overall his involvement has helped move our community forward. Moreover in many cases his involvement ensured that the public had a real voice in important community discussions. Discussions that, while painful at times, are nonetheless critical to the long-term heath and vitality of our community.

The degree of animosity between Metropolitan Mortgage and The Spokesman-Review has been exhausting for Spokane. The vicious innuendo in recent reporting and editorializing about Erik Skaggs is just another example of just how petty it has all become.

“When the elephants fight, the grass suffers.” Aren’t we all tired of this divisive family feud? It is hurting our ability to move our community forward. We believe it’s time to get over it and move on to more important things, like creating high-paying jobs

Our goal is to create jobs and prosperity. It is serious business, and we need serious people to role up their sleeves and help. The commissioners are proud to have selected Erik Skaggs to be on our team of professionals. Now let’s get to work.