Assessor’s job in spotlight

The campaign for county assessor is again red hot because of incumbent Republican Ralph Baker’s sudden decision this week to pull property data from the assessor’s Web site in light of criticism from a TV report.

The action recycled accusations that he acts rashly without regard to his employees or customer service – the biggest criticisms he faced in the GOP primary when he barely beat Spokane City Councilman Brad Stark.

But it also has highlighted his ability to get things done. Three days after the report ran, his office had checked records and found thousands of suspect properties that might not be paying enough taxes.

“This office is all about – more than any other office in local government – it’s all about fairness,” Baker said. “We’ve dramatically improved that fairness. Are we perfect? No. But are we getting closer and closer? Yes.”

His opponent, Democrat Judy Personett, who leads the state nursing commission, has no background in assessor’s issues and admits that she doesn’t know much about the state’s taxing system. She argues, however, that she’s a leader and quick study who believes strongly in listening to employees and providing customer service.

She said she would hire a chief deputy who would balance out the skills and knowledge she doesn’t have.

“I’m a seasoned administrator, and I have been seasoned by a lot of experiences in my life,” Personett said.

Baker’s record

Under Baker, the county has begun to assess the values on most properties every year, a change that Baker says makes taxes more fair. He cites the popular property search Web site and his efforts to bring new technology to the office as other reasons why voters should keep him at the helm.

“We have had better service from the assessor’s office in the last several years than ever before,” said Kris Wales, owner of River City Mortgage. “I’d hate to see the reins change right now.”

But others argue change is needed.

Gordon Smith, a courthouse union representative, said Baker’s “autocratic management style” and “tendency to shoot from the hip” have made employee morale plummet. He called on Baker on Friday to issue an apology to his workers after he suggested that employees might be purposely neglecting their duties to make him look bad.

Personett’s record

Personett’s most recent work supervising employees was leading the nursing staff at the Spokane County Jail. Before that, she worked for 22 year at Veterans Affairs hospitals and spent most of the 1980s at the Spokane VA hospital as chief nurse, supervising more than 100 employees. Her superiors originally gave her good marks. But her reviews turned sour in 1986.

In 1984, the hospital’s chief of staff said she was a skilled administrator able to deal effectively with thorny administrative problems, according to a Spokesman-Review story from 1996. In her 1985 review, Personett was called an excellent leader who tactfully dealt with delicate issues.

Personett, however, was relieved from her duties as chief nurse in 1987 after her superiors cited a “lack of honesty and integrity,” according to a federal lawsuit she filed in response to the action. Documents also show that her bosses accused her of operating with an “approach of intimidation and vindictiveness.”

Personett said she was maligned by her bosses because she dared to question the actions of a surgeon whom she says was hurting patients. Records show that 37 VA nurses complained about the discipline she received.

Both parties agreed to drop the action in 1989, and she moved into a VA position in Los Angeles before heading back to Spokane when she retired from the VA in 1994.

On Friday, Edwin Mack, the director of the hospital while Personett was chief nurse and a defendant in the lawsuit, said the case shouldn’t cause voter concerns about Personett’s abilities to lead. He said he didn’t want to comment on the lawsuit, calling it “personal stuff.”

“She was a good employee,” Mack said. “I think she would be a good administrator.”