Skaggs gone from key Spokane position

Spokane County’s economic development director resigned last week to pursue a military career.

Erik Skaggs, who was a member of the Army Reserve while working for the county, said Monday that he resigned by phone after accepting a new job.

“I am continuing to serve my country as a member of the armed forces, and I also will be working for a private international company,” Skaggs said.

Skaggs, 42, said he will be a “member of special operation forces” but declined to give further details about his new position. He was last at work at the county the week of Jan. 7 and left town for a couple of days to consider taking the new job. County Operations Director Gerry Gemmill said Skaggs informed him earlier this month that he might step down.

“My main concern is that he is safe, just like anybody who is deployed,” Gemmill said.

Skaggs was named economic development director in a controversial appointment by county commissioners in 2004.

As a member of the reserves, Skaggs was called to active duty twice while working for the county, including a three-month deployment to the Middle East and Africa that ended in August. He did not receive pay or benefits while he was away.

“I felt after my last deployment it would be better for the county and for me personally to leave the job so there wouldn’t be so much back-and-forth,” Skaggs said in a phone interview from a location he declined to give. “I felt that the county needed to have a full-time person on the job, dedicated, that wouldn’t have to depart so suddenly.”

Gemmill said he will oversee the department until county commissioners decide if and when the position will be filled.

Development Assistance Coordinator Stephen Harris is the No. 2 person in the department. Skaggs said he had prepared Harris, son of former County Commissioner Phil Harris, to take over in case he left.

As director, Skaggs has overseen the county’s attempts to rebuild the Geiger Spur, a short-rail line that serves manufacturers on the West Plains. The county purchased it in 2004 to prevent it from being abandoned and now hopes to construct a train-loading operation along the tracks to attract more business to the county.

If the county is successful in getting state funding for the project in this year’s legislative session, the operation could be opened by the end of the year, Stephen Harris said.

County commissioners were criticized in 2004 when they hired Skaggs without considering other candidates. He previously was vice president of market development and government and community relations for now-defunct Metropolitan Mortgage and Securities Inc.

Officials at the time said they hired Skaggs without looking elsewhere because they knew he was the right person for the position and didn’t want to waste time or resources on a candidate search.