Lynch takes medical leave

Spokane Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch, who had been on vacation during the holidays, is going on medical leave for the month of January, Mayor Dennis Hession announced late Friday afternoon.

Economic Development Director John Pilcher was named acting deputy mayor in Lynch’s absence, Hession said.

Lynch, who was absent from his position for two weeks in September, was not available for comment.

The medical leave was announced on the same day The Spokesman-Review filed a lawsuit alleging that the city improperly refused to release internal affairs records regarding events leading up to Lynch’s absence in September.

Hession said he received a telephone call from Lynch, who told him he needed to take medical leave and his physician would provide confirmation. Hession said the city received a message from Lynch’s doctor that Lynch would be unable to work for as long as a month.

“Jack didn’t say anything to me (about the reason for his medical absence), and I am not allowed to ask,” Hession said, citing medical privacy laws. “We didn’t talk about specifics.”

Lynch is eligible under a personal services contract with the city for 13 days per year of medical leave at full salary, plus potential vacation days to augment his medical leave, city officials said in September. The medical leave accumulates each year if not used.

Pilcher was tapped by Hession in September to be acting deputy mayor when it was unclear how long Lynch would be out on medical leave. Hession said he believes that Pilcher is capable of stepping into Lynch’s position.

The mayor said he had not been considering any shakeups within his administration and that Lynch’s absence would shift work to other top city officials.

“It requires additional effort on the part of the rest of us,” Hession said.

Lynch’s leave comes as the mayor and top staff are putting final touches on a series of consultant recommendations to make the city government more efficient. The changes are expected to be controversial, Hession said.

The mayor hopes to announce results of the $260,000 efficiency study by a California consultant in late January.

Lynch had been chairing a mayoral ad hoc advisory committee of top outside executives, who were expected to evaluate the study and make independent recommendations. The consultant was asked to look at all aspects of city government and find ways to economize or improve services.

Those recommendations could involve both the police and fire operations, and some preliminary recommendations were running into resistance within the departments because they challenge the way those organizations have operated for years, one top official said.

Lynch’s medical leave last September came after he suffered a black eye and other injuries which he blamed on a bicycle accident. That mishap followed two incidents at High Bridge Park in which officers identified vehicles registered to Lynch at the park. The park is known for illicit activity. Lynch told the mayor that he had driven through the area to check up on police efforts to curb problems there, according to a prepared statement issued by the mayor at the time.

His leave was initially expected to last several weeks when it was announced Sept. 25, but Lynch returned the next Monday, Oct. 2. He had been away from work on a number of days prior to the leave announcement.

Lynch has held his administrative position for five years and under three different mayors. He is budgeted to earn $146,875 in 2007.

Councilman Al French, who lost against Hession in 2003 for the job of council president, said he and other council members are wondering what is going on in the mayor’s office. Hession was elevated to mayor by council appointment after the recall of former Mayor Jim West. French is considered a possible challenger if Hession runs for election as mayor.

French said council members have been excluded from consultation on a number of issues, including efforts by the mayor’s top staff to audit overcharges by the city’s private ambulance contractor to individual patients. French said he still doesn’t fully understand why Deputy Police Chief Al Odenthal resigned earlier this month. Hession and Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said it was a personnel matter and declined to offer specifics.

“We’re all sitting here in the dark trying to figure out what’s going to happen next,” French said, adding that council members and the public should be given a better explanation of what is going on with Lynch.

“It would be nice to know what the rest of the story is,” French said.