Commissioners set aside partisan politics

Sun., Jan. 7, 2007

By Jonathan Brunt jonathanb@spokesman.com (509) 459-5442

Assistant breaks gender barrier

» The gender gap in the Spokane County commissioners' office has closed in more ways than one with the election of Bonnie Mager.

» Mager has appointed her campaign manager, Brooke Plastino, as her executive assistant.

» That makes him – as far as anyone remembers, anyway – the first male assistant to a Spokane County commissioner, said commissioner's assistant Nancy Voermans, who has been the assistant to seven commissioners including Todd Mielke.

» Plastino, 59, who was a staff archeologist at Eastern Washington University until about a dozen years ago, ran Mager's campaign since June. He and his wife own a framing business. He has been a frequent volunteer for Hillyard organizations, including the neighborhood council.

» Mager said she decided to appoint Plastino because of his long-time involvement in neighborhood issues. "Most of all, I trust him," she said.

» Each commissioner can appoint an assistant who does not have to be approved by the rest of the board. Commissioners' assistants are not members of a union. Plastino's salary is $33,118.

» "I broke the gender barrier," Plastino said when it was brought to his attention after a commissioners' meeting. "Women's lib is my lib."

Two county commissioner meetings down, two meetings with no fights, no unkind words, no raised voices.

The two Republican members of the commission and the new Democratic member, Bonnie Mager, say they’re getting along well and are ready to agree to disagree when they need to – though so far they’ve mostly agreed to agree.

Mager, the former director of the Neighborhood Alliance for Spokane County, and commission Chairman Mark Richard said they met for a few hours before Christmas and have a better understanding of where they stand. Richard said he apologized to Mager for writing a letter to the editor in The Spokesman-Review in October that accused her of making “her living by instilling fear in citizens.”

“I’m pretty comfortable that we’re headed in a new direction,” Richard said.

Commissioners met Friday to divvy out a couple dozen board assignments this year and discuss vacations and meeting times. Members serve on several government bodies, including the boards of the Spokane Transit Authority and Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority.

There was little disagreement, though there was a bit of tip-toeing around sensitive issues. All three commissioners said they wanted to serve on the Spokane International Airport board. Richard agreed to drop out of the running, but when it appeared that he would have to choose Mager or Mielke for the board, he suggested a coin toss.

“I don’t really want to get on either one of your bad sides,” he said.

The three decided to wait until Wednesday to decide who would serve on the board.

Commissioners decided preliminarily that Mager would replace Mielke on the SCAPCA and transit authority boards.