Commission on hot seat

The unpopular decision to reverse a detective’s firing last week has focused intense scrutiny on the county’s normally unnoticed Civil Service Commission.

County Commission Chairman Mark Richard is investigating the case to determine if one or more members should be ousted. In the meantime, the reappointment request from John R. Shagen, one of the civil service commissioners who overturned the firing, appears doomed. His first six-year term ends this month. Shagen is also a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office volunteer.

The other two civil service members say they plan to remain on the board, and one of them warns that the board’s independence could be at stake.

Joseph Mastel, 52, was fired by Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich in June after the detective exposed himself to a 23-year-old barista at an Airway Heights coffee business. Last week, the commission changed the termination to a yearlong unpaid suspension followed by a forced retirement. The commission also ruled that Mastel will be able to collect at least a portion of his 914 hours of unused sick time.The civil service board is appointed by the County Commission, and state law allows members to be removed for “incompetency, incompatibility, or dereliction of duty, or malfeasance in office, or other good cause” after a hearing is held.

Curt Berklund, the other commissioner responsible for the Mastel ruling, said it’s important that the Civil Service Commission not be filled with people eager to rubberstamp the sheriff’s decisions.

The county’s Civil Service Commission was created in 1959 in an effort to ensure that hiring, promotions and discipline in the Sheriff’s Office were not the result of political favoritism. Besides considering appeals of discipline, the commission tests applicants for jobs and promotions and reviews Sheriff’s Office policy.

“If the (county) commission makes it political, it’s a grave mistake,” Berklund said.

County leaders say they can’t ignore the onslaught of outrage they’ve heard from citizens. Richard said he’s heard more from the public on the Mastel decision than any issue since he took office two years ago.

Knezovich said his staff has considered ways of overturning the ruling but have found none.

“I believe that the Civil Service Commission has to have that independence,” Knezovich said. “At the same time I don’t think that excuses them or insulates them from public scrutiny when they make a decision like this.”

The decision

Berklund emphasized that Mastel was accused of a misdemeanor for which he was not convicted. Berklund said based on other punishments given by the Sheriff’s Office in the past, the out-right firing was too harsh given Mastel’s 13 years in the department.

“I don’t agree with what he did,” Berklund said. “But we have to look out for his rights as a civil service employee.”

Mastel was charged in Airway Heights with indecent exposure and admitted to police that he had committed the act while off-duty. But Airway Heights Municipal Court Judge Charles Rohr agreed in November to defer Mastel’s sentence, allowing the charge to be dismissed if he completes mental health treatment and obeys the law.

Berklund, who led the federal Bureau of Land Management from 1973 to 1977, said the commission’s ruling might have been different had Mastel been convicted.

Attempts to reach Shagen, an Air Force veteran, were unsuccessful last week, but he met recently with Richard.

Although he strongly disagrees with the ruling, Richard said he has found no proof that there was anything malicious done by any of the members. However, Richard said he’s gotten the impression that the commission’s ruling was influenced, in part, out of concern for Mastel’s family.

“(Shagen) seems to be a well-intentioned, good-hearted senior citizen,” said Richard, who added that he doesn’t believe worries about Mastel’s family should have played a role in the outcome.

Berklund said the commission worked long hours to find “a solution that was fair and equitable to everybody.”

“I feel (Mastel’s) burden was lightened,” Berklund said. “He can’t go back to work in the Sheriff’s Office, but he still can earn a livelihood for his family.”

But the barista whom Mastel exposed himself to said on The Mark Fuhrman Show on KGA 1510 AM last week that the decision wasn’t fair to her.

“I didn’t ask for it, but unfortunately I have to go back to work and deal with it,” she said on the air. “It made my job, having to deal with this stuff, hell.”

The third member of the commission, Stephen J. Shrope, said he was surprised when he heard the decision but noted he wasn’t present for the proceedings.

Shrope recused himself from the matter after he ran into sheriff’s attorney Steven Kinn in an elevator at River Park Square and asked him if Mastel’s criminal case was complete.

Shrope, the engineer of record for the recent renovation of the Monroe Street Bridge, said he didn’t think about the conversation until he was advised by the commission’s attorney to step aside to avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest.

Richard said Shrope’s discussion with Kinn appears to have been an honest mistake.

Open seat

Since public outcry over the decision, six citizens have applied for Shagen’s seat. All three county commissioners have said the Mastel ruling will be a significant factor in the appointment process.

Richard and Commissioner Bonnie Mager say the decision shows the importance of having a female member on the commission. So far, the only woman to apply is Shannon Sullivan, who led the effort to recall Spokane Mayor Jim West.

Richard, Mager and County Commissioner Todd Mielke argue that the ruling sent a bad message that as long as employees have respectable records, they can commit offensive acts without being canned.

“The only accountability the voters have is through the Board of County Commissioners,” Mielke said.