Council OKs police study

The Spokane Valley City Council has approved a scaled-down version of a police study it scrapped in July.

Councilwoman Diana Wilhite, who opposed a $126,500 version of the study in September, came out in support Tuesday of a $52,500 study.

The vote was 4-3, with council members Bill Gothmann, Rose Dempsey and Gary Schimmels dissenting.

Wilhite said in an interview that she voted against the study in July because constituents raised some “legitimate” concerns, and she wanted to “take it back to the drawing board.”

The cost of the study was pared down primarily by removing parts that would consider whether it would be more cost-effective for the city to form its own police department. Currently, the city contracts with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

There was an echo Tuesday night of objections raised in July by residents who like the sheriff’s service and felt the study would waste money.

“Why again are we bringing this up?” asked Chuck Hafner, speaking for the Spokane Valley Business Association.

Hafner, a retired director of secondary education for the Central Valley School District, said he thought City Manager Dave Mercier and his staff had sufficient expertise to conduct a study without hiring consultants.

“What have we gotten out of the studies that we’ve already done?” Alvin Fisher asked.

Fisher thought the city officials should simply go to the sheriff and negotiate.

“I do that every day of my life with my wife,” he said.

Mayor Rich Munson said contracts should be negotiated “from a base of knowledge.” The City Council has a “fiduciary responsibility” to make sure the $15 million-a-year it spends on police services is well spent, he said.

Councilman Steve Taylor said he supported the study even though it no longer would satisfy his desire to consider a city-operated police department.

“This study hopefully will cement this relationship we have been developing (with the sheriff’s office),” Taylor said, but “it’s best to negotiate from a position of strength.”

Councilman Gothmann said he developed some statistics on the sheriff’s performance and concluded the contract is a good deal.

“I have seen sufficient data to make up my mind,” Gothmann said.

Wilhite said she wanted more information than Gothmann provided.

City Manager Mercier said both he and Knezovich see aspects of the contract that “aren’t working smoothly,” and it’s a good idea in a souring economy to make sure the current service is “sustainable.”

The study will require a “functioning, working, enthusiastic partnership with the sheriff’s office because they are the keeper of the data,” Mercier said.

“If the end game is to really improve our performance, we can get there and I think we can get there at a good rate of speed,” Knezovich said. “…But understand that it’s going to take a significant effort on my agency’s part.”

He said the sheriff’s office is understaffed, and he has only one person assigned to research.

The study, by the nonprofit International City/County Management Association, is to result in a preliminary report on March 1 and a final report on April 1.

In other business, the council unanimously signaled support for changing the location of a new City Hall in the city center district of the proposed Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan.

Final action is scheduled for next week’s meeting.

Public Works Director Neil Kersten said the change would add about $40,000 to design costs, bringing the total to as much as $110,000.

However, Kersten said “well over $1 million” worth of existing improvements at the University City Shopping Center, including a parking lot, could remain in use as a result.

The new design would shift City Hall to the east side of the center, next to existing businesses. It also would push retailers toward Appleway Boulevard where a library had been planned.

Voters refused in March to provide money for the library.

City officials said moving stores close to Appleway probably would require a public hearing on changes in the proposed zoning.