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With council seats open, Valley can ease tension

Sat., June 4, 2016

The Spokane Valley City Council has an image problem, but it also has three openings, so it ought to view filling those positions as an opportunity to become more transparent.

Dean Grafos and Chuck Hafner resigned their positions, saying the council majority excluded them from key information, meetings and opportunities for input. Bill Bates, who was on extended leave due to health issues, recently said he won’t be back. Bill Gothmann, who was selected to fill in for Bates, is set to leave soon.

The council majority of Mayor Rod Higgins, Arne Woodard, Sam Wood and Ed Pace is winnowing the field of candidates for the seats vacated by Grafos and Hafner. They will have to do the same to fill Bates’ position.

On Tuesday night, the field was reduced to six candidates, and both nominations from Gothmann failed to gain any support from the majority. That’s too bad, because his picks – former Councilman Ben Wick and former council candidate Linda Thompson – are known quantities who could bring a fresh approach to council proceedings.

The six finalists appear to be heavily weighted toward the libertarian/constitutionalist side of politics, according to the candidates’ references. Former Spokane County Undersheriff Dave Wiyrick, who authored a controversial email that recently came to light, is a finalist.

Back in February, when City Manager Mike Jackson was still in office, Wiyrick sent an email to Higgins, who then forwarded it to Woodard, Woods and Pace. He did not share it with the other council members. Eight days later, Jackson was fired.

Wiyrick wrote that Jackson “would need to be put under control and quit hiding contracts and study findings” related to public safety. He also recommended “a public safety director for the Valley police department under the control of the city council and not Ozzie.”

When Higgins forwarded the email, on Feb. 15, he wrote, in part: “Perhaps another way to skin our cat.” Higgins has denied persistent rumors that the council majority is looking to dump the public safety contract with the county and start its own police department. Many people believe Jackson resisted the idea, which ultimately cost him his job.

If Wiyrick and/or some other advocate for starting a police department is selected to serve, that rumor will look mighty strong.

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is not popular with some Valley leaders on the political fringe, but he is popular with voters, so that puts the council in a ticklish position.

The other problem with the Wiyrick email is that it looks as if the council – via a quorum of four members – was conducting public business in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. This strengthens the complaint that the foursome is pushing a secret agenda.

Will the council open up government and appoint people who aren’t necessarily like-minded? If it did, it would help bat down suspicions.

If not, there’s always the 2017 election, when five council positions will be on the ballot.