Spokane parks spokeswoman resigns after police spokeswoman shifted into her role

Nancy Goodspeed, the longtime spokeswoman for Spokane’s parks department, announced her resignation from the city Thursday after she said she was told her duties would change.

Goodspeed had been making a gradual return to her duties after brain surgery as a result of Parkinson’s disease, which kept her out of City Hall from February to August. In those intervening months, the city had moved police spokeswoman Monique Cotton to the parks department to act as its primary spokesperson.

“I had anticipated returning to the job I love, but when I did I was told that my duties had changed and that while I was ‘still in the 2016 budget’ I would be assigned projects that did not include media, marketing or communication duties, which are my forte,” Goodspeed wrote in a resignation letter.

Though Cotton’s transfer was first described as being driven by the successful passage of last year’s Riverfront Park bond, city officials have since acknowledged that her move stemmed at least in part from how police Chief Frank Straub treated her. Straub has since been fired. He subsequently filed a $4 million claim against the city for a violation of due process.

City Administrator Theresa Sanders lied about the reasons for Cotton’s transfer and was recently found to have violated the city’s ethics code for such dishonesty. The Ethics Committee fined her $75 earlier this month.

To justify Straub’s ouster, city officials said Straub was combative and abusive toward employees. Texts from Straub to Cotton that were recently released as part of a public records request show Straub telling Cotton he loved her and calling her “an awesome partner and best friend.” She said the texts made her feel “uncomfortable.”

Goodspeed, a former reporter and news anchor at KHQ, has been with the city nine years. As the parks department community affairs director, Goodspeed had an annual salary of $62,389 this year, though she didn’t earn that much because she was not yet working full time.

Goodspeed did not return calls seeking comment.

Leroy Eadie, the parks department director, described Goodspeed as “sweet” and said there was a lot of camaraderie in the department.

“Obviously, we wish Nancy all the best in her retirement,” Eadie said, adding that he had not yet spoken to Goodspeed about her resignation. “There’s a lot of affection for Nancy on our team’s part. She’s extremely sweet and very helpful all along.”

Eadie denied Goodspeed’s claim that she was being given different duties for 2016.

“We didn’t have her moving out of the areas that she had previously worked in. She hasn’t been to a full schedule since being on medical leave,” Eadie said. “I didn’t have any vision of having her work on things dramatically different than what she has in the past.”

Goodspeed’s work, Eadie said, included community outreach, press releases, staff updates and internal newsletters. Goodspeed was working about 32 hours a week, Eadie said. In contrast, Cotton is focused on “getting information out” about the ongoing renovations to Riverfront Park, Eadie said. Cotton’s annual salary is $90,000.

Eadie would not say if Goodspeed would be replaced or her position eliminated, but he said he’d discuss the matter with Jason Conley, the executive officer of the parks department.

“I wouldn’t say it would be immediately filled, and I wouldn’t commit to eliminate the position,” he said, noting that the department will likely need some additional help, as Cotton will be busy with her work on Riverfront Park. “We’ll have to bring in some type of additional resource.”