Gerry Gemmill leaves alma mater for opportunity at Spokane County
Gerry Gemmill’s office at Whitworth University overlooks the sidewalks criss-crossing the commons of his alma mater.
The students spilling out of classrooms are a reminder of the job he’ll leave behind to rejoin Spokane County as its first new chief executive in a decade.
“This is a very, very unique place,” Gemmill said this week, ahead of the Dec. 1 start date at his new gig. “I wore out the knees on my pants, dropping down to ask for guidance on this.”
The allure of managing a government he left behind in 2008, after more than three decades of service, proved too enticing to pass by. Two out of three commissioners approved his employment and signed Gemmill’s contract this month, setting an exact date when the former county operations director will take over for outgoing chief executive Marshall Farnell.
Gemmill currently serves as vice president of finance and administration at Whitworth.
“He’s kind of an upbeat person,” Farnell said of his replacement. “He never has a bad day.”
Gemmill first joined the county in 1975 and drove a road grader as he attended night school at Whitworth. He’s still fascinated by public works, he said, stopping occasionally to check the chip sealing on a rock in the middle of a recently treated road.
But his interests and experience don’t end there. Gemmill eventually became manager of the public works department, before taking over as the county’s chief operations officer in February 2004. After a few years, he took a job across the Spokane River at City Hall, where he again managed public works projects before joining Mayor David Condon’s administration as director of local government relations and labor policy.
“We’re very interdependent in this community on a lot of different services,” Gemmill said.
City officials who worked with Gemmill said his time at the City of Spokane would help him build relationships with officials throughout the county.
“It’s that much easier, to have somebody who knows the issues from both sides of the river,” said Ken Gimpel, the city’s assistant director of utilities, who worked with Gemmill both at City Hall and during his time in private employment with Waste Management, Inc.
Marlene Feist, a spokeswoman with the city who also worked with Gemmill during his time there, said his breadth of perspectives working for the county, city and in higher education will be an asset.
“Sometimes it’s hard for us to see it from the other perspective,” Feist said. “It’s important to show both sides what they can gain from those kinds of working relationships. I think Gerry will be able to do that.”
Spokane County has clashed with the City of Spokane and other towns and cities on urban expansion and annexation issues. The county is currently in talks with Spokane Valley over a mining moratorium that could affect real estate sales. Gemmill said one of his first priorities will be to establish relationships with officials at the county and other jurisdictions within its borders.
O’Quinn and Mielke said they had faith in Gemmill, calling him “the great peacemaker” when voting him into office earlier this fall.
Gemmill said he has no hard feelings with Commissioner Al French, who declined to vote in favor of his appointment because the county did not hire a headhunter to conduct a national search for Farnell’s replacement. French also stymied Mielke’s prospects for the job by refusing to cast the deciding vote that would have named the longtime commissioner the new chief executive.
“All of the commissioners are hard-working,” Gemmill said. “None of this is personal.”
Gemmill’s contract is good through June 2019, and he can only be removed by a majority vote of the Spokane County Commission. If he’s voted out before the end of that initial period, he’s promised at least two years’ salary as severance pay, which would amount to roughly $324,000.
The contract is specific to Gemmill. Farnell made $162,471.84 in base salary last year, according to records provided by the county.
Though his official start date isn’t for another couple weeks, Gemmill attended a budget discussion with commissioners a few days ago. The longtime county official said he’d been gone seven years, and wants to hit the ground running when he officially enters office.
“I don’t know, what I don’t know,” Gemmill said.