Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward looks back as she prepares to leave City Hall behind

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward, who was elected in 2019 and led the city during a global pandemic and other historic challenges, officially leaves office on New Year’s Day.

It’s been a flurry of activity in City Hall as Woodward wraps up her campaign infrastructure and oversees the transition process since she lost her re-election bid to incoming Mayor Lisa Brown in November, she said Friday.

“We’ve had a lot to do, so we haven’t let our foot off the gas,” she said.

Shortly after conceding the election, Woodward said she provided space for Brown in City Hall where she could have access to city employees while Brown prepares to assume office on Tuesday, the same courtesy Woodward was afforded when she prepared to take over for former Mayor David Condon.

“There’s a lot that gets thrown at you from the get-go,” Woodward said. “(Brown’s) been making a lot of decisions changing the cabinet, and I wanted her to have access to all the employees she needed.”

But with Woodward’s last day in office swiftly approaching, it’s not clear what comes next for the former news anchor.

“I want to take a few months off,” she said. “The last four years, five really, if you include running in 2019, have been extremely busy, fast-paced, crisis management on many levels, with very little time with my family or really to myself. I look forward to some self-care; with losing both of my parents in office, there’s a lot I need to process.”

While Woodward will “never say never,” she certainly has no short-term plans to return to politics, though she said she would still like to be involved in the city in some way.

“I really hope that this experience has opened a door to other opportunities,” she said. “I’m not sure what that is, but I’m looking forward to seeing what that might be. I do like policy work, I want to continue to have an impact on the city I love, and I’m hoping some doors will open that will allow me to do that.”

The frenetic transition process has also not afforded Woodward much time to reflect on the legacy she will leave behind, she added.

“It’s been 100 miles per hour, and it hasn’t let up,” she said.

“I can tell you I’m proud of the work we did. We were thrown multiple challenges, outside of just the pandemic, civil unrest, our first riot, housing crisis, inflation, workforce shortages, Camp Hope. All those things in four years, that feels like two full terms, to be honest.”

Looking ahead to the new year, Woodward is excited to see the culmination of the 50th anniversary celebration of Expo ’74, for which her office has been overseeing preparations and with which Woodward hopes to continue to have a role. She also anticipates that the city will likely face many of the same challenges next year: rising homelessness and addiction, a lack of resources to address both, perceptions of rising crime and more.

“There’s a lot of things, and I hope we can figure out a way to get people the help that we need,” she said. “I think the biggest challenge is people who can’t make that decision for ourselves, and we need as a society to decide when we step in and aid people when they can’t or won’t get help on their own.

“That’s pretty controversial. But we’ve got to start doing something different.”