Hession withdraws ethics panel proposal

Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession is backing away from plans to let residents from outside Spokane to serve on a powerful city ethics committee, a proposal that quickly drew fire this week from City Council members.

“It’s not appropriate,” said City Councilman Brad Stark, noting that the ethics committee would have the power to recommend recall of the mayor and City Council members if voters approve a measure on the Nov. 7 ballot. “Citizens and citizens only have the right or power to remove their elected officials.”

Hession broached the idea Monday, when he asked the City Council for an ordinance opening the seven-member committee to non-city residents. But then Wednesday he sent word to council members that he wants to withdraw the proposal after receiving a negative response.

Council members learned of the withdrawal request in a memo from Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch on Wednesday.

The commission, which was approved by the council in January as part of a broader new ethics ordinance, has yet to be appointed.

Hession told council members Monday that two of the six nominees he had been seeking for confirmation were non-city residents. That is why he was asking the council to approve the change to the 9-month-old code of ethics.

The mayor told council members at the time that he was not troubled by the fact that non-city appointees could have influence over recall of elected city officials. He said they are only making a recommendation based on a professional assessment of the official’s action.

Stark, however, said those living outside city limits have other avenues available to them: “If they want to make a recommendation, they should write a letter to the editor or send us an e-mail.”

Hession was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, but Lynch’s memo indicated that the mayor now wants to seek two new nominees who are city residents.

Under the recall charter amendment before voters, the commission would have to find that an elected official committed a violation involving moral turpitude, and then recommend recall to the City Council. The council would then have to vote to place the recall before voters with at least six of the seven council members in favor.

The recall ballot measure and underlying ethics ordinance are seen as reforms in the wake of last year’s protracted recall of Mayor Jim West. A city recall process is being proposed as an alternative to the state’s cumbersome recall law.

Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin said she was troubled by the mayor’s request because other non-city residents, who had asked to serve on the committee, were told they are ineligible.

“You can’t tell me in a city of 200,000 you can’t find qualified people,” she said.

The ethics ordinance requires that appointees be a college faculty member with expertise in ethics, personnel or human resources; a person with a professional or academic background in the legal profession; or a business person with experience in human resources and personnel.

City residents selected by Hession are Nancy Isserlis, a principal attorney with Winston & Cashatt; Ron Large, associate professor of religion studies at Gonzaga University; George Iranon, assistant director of operations at Career Path Services; and Donna R. Kuhn, a retired teacher.

The two non-city residents that Hession had wanted on the committee were Kyle B. Usrey, dean of the school of global commerce and management at Whitworth College, and Julie Prafke, owner and president of Humanix.

A seventh committee member would be recommended by the other six and forwarded to the mayor for nomination subject to council confirmation.