Spokane picks new spokeswomen for parks, public safety

The city of Spokane has hired two new spokeswomen for the police, fire and parks departments.

Fianna Dickson will be the spokeswoman for the parks department. She begins at the end of the month and will earn about $78,800.

Michele Anderson will be the spokeswoman for public safety. She begins at the end of April and will earn about $89,500.

Dickson currently works as a spokeswoman for Inland Northwest Health Services. She has degrees from Gonzaga University and Eastern Washington University and is working to earn a doctorate in leadership from Gonzaga. In 2003, she was Miss Spokane and Miss Washington.

Anderson is a spokeswoman for the Washoe County School District, but she previously worked as the public information officer in Reno, Nevada. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Dickson and Anderson take over roles left behind by Monique Cotton, who left the city last month after months of controversy stemming from allegations of sexual harassment she made against former police Chief Frank Straub, who was pushed out of City Hall last fall. Straub has since filed a lawsuit against the city, and Nancy Goodspeed, a former parks spokeswoman who claims that Cotton replaced her in the parks department, has filed a $1 million claim against the city for age discrimination.

Cotton had an annual salary of $96,000 as the parks spokeswoman. At the police department, she made nearly $81,000.