STA no longer will pay a police officer’s salary following precinct move

Spokane Transit Authority will no longer pay the salary for a Spokane police officer, following the department’s decision to move the downtown police precinct away from the STA Plaza.

That change will cost the Spokane police department $86,900 per year, but city officials maintain the overall move to the intermodal center will save money.

Early last week, the police department vacated a space in the Peyton Building it was leasing rent-free to move to the city-owned intermodal center, where it will have to pay monthly maintenance and utilities costs.

City asset manager Ed Lukas and Mayor David Condon said the savings will come from reducing costs currently paid for private security and to clean up vandalism.

Since 2005, STA has funded a full-time, on-duty officer to patrol downtown because of the “clear and obvious benefit” for increased security, STA spokesman Brandon Rapez-Betty said. Previously, STA paid an off-duty police officer to patrol the plaza.

The agreement for the on-duty officer, which expired Dec. 31, required the police department to maintain a staff of seven officers working out of the downtown precinct. It said the STA-funded officer “shall be based out of the … substation located at street level on the same block as the STA Plaza.” It also allowed police to use seven STA parking spaces at the plaza.

Rapez-Betty said STA would continue to “have a relationship” with Spokane police, and added that the agency supports the department’s decision to move the precinct.

“They’re still going to be providing the same level of service downtown,” he said. The police department can also continue to use space inside the plaza as needed.

Council President Ben Stuckart said he wasn’t aware the STA funding might be in jeopardy with the move.

“It’s disappointing that the move has caused us to lose the funding from STA that our budget anticipated for a police officer,” he said.

Police department spokesman Cpl. Jordan Ferguson declined to comment when asked how the department would fund the officer position without STA money.

Lukas said he was aware of the STA contract but didn’t know whether it would be renewed if the precinct moved. He said the change was a personnel issue outside of his department and wasn’t factored into the cost estimates for the precinct move.

From Jan. 1 to Nov. 23, 2015, the city spent $99,000 on private security at the intermodal center. That included 24-hour coverage starting midway through the year after a number of break-ins and vandalism.

Lukas said the police presence should be able to make a “substantial dent” in security needs at the intermodal center.

“We know we’ll be able to cut back on some of the security. We’re just not sure how much,” he said.

Another intermodal expense was $20,140 in the same period for escalator maintenance and repairs, which Lukas said was in part caused by vandalism. He said the city is hoping to see both costs cut in half by putting police in the building.

Condon said he supported the move, saying the city needed to “do some long-term planning” because the Peyton Building lease was set to expire in May. He said the intermodal center was a logical choice for a long-term home because of its fiber connectivity and proximity to the University District.

“That’s one of our locations that the city owns that has a significant number of calls for service,” he said.

The move to the intermodal center, completed last week, has come under scrutiny following interim police Chief Rick Dobrow’s decision to put Capt. Brad Arleth, who runs the downtown precinct, on paid leave.

Arleth was put on leave Monday after Dobrow learned of a complaint by a city administrator alleging Arleth was insubordinate. A source inside City Hall with knowledge of the investigation said Arleth wanted to move furniture from the Peyton Building precinct to the new intermodal center precinct because he was unhappy with the furniture the city installed in the intermodal center.

Officials have declined to comment on the specifics of the complaint.

Lukas said his office worked to design the new precinct space, which included moving in furniture. Some of the furniture was in storage, and some was purchased specifically for the new precinct, he said.

The city spent “considerable money” setting up the intermodal center, he said, but didn’t have an exact cost for furniture.

Lukas began working for the city in June after the intermodal center remodel was underway and said now-retired Assistant Chief Selby Smith was his main point of contact with the department, so he wasn’t sure how much Arleth was consulted about the design.

He did a walk-through of the space with Arleth over the summer and said Arleth was unhappy with the layout of the precinct and made a number of recommendations for improving it, including expressing concerns about the furniture.

City officials spent months discussing the move after it was first suggested early last year by former Chief Frank Straub. Condon said that over the course of those discussions, he was made aware that Arleth had some concerns about the new precinct, including the layout, but couldn’t think of any specific issues Arleth brought up.

“I didn’t get into that level of detail about what the level of opposition was,” he said. He also said he had not heard from Arleth himself, or anyone else, that Arleth was opposed to the move.

Lukas said before the move that Arleth wanted to move existing furniture from the Peyton Building into the new precinct. Lukas said he asked for clarification from Dobrow and city leaders, including city administrator Teresa Sanders, about whether the furniture would be moved.

“The direction that I had was we were supposed to stay with the original furniture that we had installed, so I was surprised to find different furniture in there on moving day,” he said.

Lukas said he didn’t file a complaint when he discovered Arleth moved the furniture, but did ask Sanders and Dobrow if the plan had changed.

“I didn’t hear the answer yes or no and then I heard about the … paid leave that Captain Arleth went on, so I’m guessing it, maybe, wasn’t the game plan that leadership was on board with,” he said.

Sanders is on vacation and did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.