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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Staff infection

The Spokesman-Review

When Mary Verner became Spokane’s fourth strong mayor, she brought something new to the office: a chief of staff.

Predecessors John Powers, Jim West and Dennis Hession all had some variation of a top administrative aide, who went by various titles, including deputy mayor. But none of them divided the day-to-day oversight work between a Mr. Outside and Mr. Inside – one aide to deal with people outside City Hall and another to work with city employees.

Verner, however, hired two retired military officers – Ted Danek and Mark Earley – as her city administrator and her chief of staff, respectively.

After about four months on the job, though, Earley decided that it wasn’t working and announced his resignation. Friday is to be his last day. Earley’s departure presents the mayor with an opportunity to reconsider whether the mayoral staff needs two such high-ranking assistants.

The fact that Earley’s and Danek’s overlapping roles and responsibilities reportedly contributed to Earley’s decision provides a clue. The mayor herself acknowledged that city employees might be confused by the two-pronged arrangement.

There are also budget factors.

Before Verner took office, Hession’s chief operating officer, John Pilcher, was making about $140,000 a year. By comparison, Danek gets $120,000 and Earley $100,000. Verner herself is voluntarily taking only $100,000 in salary, about $50,000 less than the City Charter authorizes, thus saving taxpayers part of the staffing increase. At the time Danek and Earley were appointed, the mayor said frugal spending, would make up any remaining difference.

Verner deserves credit for her personal sacrifice, which demonstrated how important she considered the chief of staff position. That was then, however.

Now, after four months of experience, the difficulties that led Earley to make a break suggest that the system has some inherent flaws, especially when it relies on constricting salaries below what it might take to attract top-rate people to either the elected or appointed jobs in the future.

Even more significant, there are other needs for which affordability is an issue, starting with a long-needed police ombudsman position, which, assuming police union resistance can be overcome, comes with a $200,000 pricetag.

Verner has been looking for a way to trim that cost, but the value of restoring police credibility in Spokane is too pressing to hold out for bargains. At the least, a properly funded ombudsman should be a highter priority than a mayoral chief of staff.