Assessor will have to skip staff lunch

The next time the Spokane County assessor plans a staff appreciation luncheon, he may want to invite county attorneys.

Ralph Baker planned to close his office for three hours Wednesday so he could take his 53 employees to lunch, but the lawyers found out.

“They won’t let me close the office,” he said Monday, explaining state law contains strict rules on keeping government offices open.

So Baker will have to send his staff to the Old Country Buffet while he and Chief Deputy Assessor Kevin Best stay behind and keep the office open.

No problem, Baker said.

“It’s just a lunch on Ralph for all the hard work they do – no speeches,” he said.

He said he hadn’t planned any oratory, anyway.

“I’m not terribly good at it,” he said.

Baker said he has a “really good staff” and, unable to hand out raises, he has tried to reward his workers with food.

“In the past, I’ve bought pizza and had it delivered to the office, but I just wanted to do something a little better.”

For the record, Baker said he is giving food, not time off. He said the luncheon is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. because employees have staggered lunch hours. They’re to drop by during their normal lunch breaks.

Also for the record, an invitation wouldn’t have changed Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ron Arkills’ opinion about keeping the office open. It’s state law that all county offices must be open for business “during such days and hours as the board of county commissioners shall by resolution prescribe.”

Baker said he didn’t want to trouble commissioners with a request for permission to close his office from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday as planned.

They’re busy and probably couldn’t pass a resolution that fast, anyway, Baker said.

Of course, he didn’t try inviting them.