Councilman Michael Cathcart proposes creating inspector general position to investigate police chief, other department heads

Shortly before the Spokane City Council voted late Monday night to expand the authority of the Office of the Police Ombudsman to investigate the city chief of police, Councilman Michael Cathcart, who was skeptical that the vote would have much practical effect, made an unexpected proposal.

“We need some sort of a citywide inspector general,” he said.

The new ombudsman ordinance removed a section of city code that stipulated that complaints against the Spokane police chief were to be directed to the mayor and investigated by the city’s human resources department. City Council President Breean Beggs argued that removing this section of city code restored the broad powers of the Office of the Police Ombudsman to investigate allegations of misconduct, which were granted by the city charter in 2013.

While Cathcart agreed removing the section of city code would better align the authority of the ombudsman with what voters had intended when approving the charter amendment in 2013, he still questioned whether the ombudsman would in reality be able to investigate the police chief, arguing the two needed to have a positive working relationship in order for the ombudsman to effectively investigate officers.

“There’s a number of places throughout the code where, essentially, a working relationship between the two is absolutely necessary for the ombudsman to be able to do his work and do it in an effective way,” Cathcart said Monday night.

The ordinance included language that stressed that the ombudsman should strive to allow another authority to investigate the police chief, but Cathcart wanted to take it further, proposing an amendment that would explicitly forbid the ombudsman to investigate unless there was not other authority established for independent oversight. While Cathcart did not have an ordinance ready to create that separate authority, he proposed that a Spokane inspector general position should be created to fulfill that duty.

“That is truly how we’re going to have independent investigations across the board,” he said.

Not only would an inspector general be able to investigate a police chief, but also other department heads and general accusations of waste, fraud and abuse, Cathcart added. Such a position could not investigate employees protected by collective bargaining agreements, unless future contracts created that authority.

While Cathcart’s colleagues weren’t willing to support his amendment without the position already being created, Beggs, Councilmen Jonathan Bingle and Zack Zappone, and Councilwomen Lori Kinnear and Karen Stratton voiced interest in exploring the concept.

In a brief Tuesday interview, Beggs said he had supported the concept for years, though he worried that it would be difficult to implement.

Former City Council President Ben Stuckart noted in an interview that he had supported the creation of an inspector general during his term, but said he faced resistance from former Mayor David Condon. He pointed to political fights over investigating then-police Chief Frank Straub, saying it cost the city $100,000 and still resulted in lackluster work.

“Instead of hiring somebody at $100,000 a pop and it’s a political fight, you just have an inspector general office,” Stuckart said Tuesday. “It’s going to be cheaper, have a mechanism for those type of investigations, and it will always be there.”

While the City Council could vote to put a charter amendment on the ballot that could create an inspector general position, Beggs questioned whether it would succeed if the council went for it alone.

“Frankly, when the city created the ombudsman position, we had community partners, the council and the mayor’s office all aligned to do it, and that’s how we got such overwhelming support,” Beggs said. “It would take a lot of heavy lifting, and it’s heavier with just the council.”

While Bingle expressed interest in the position, he questioned whether it would prove redundant.

“I just don’t know that an inspector general is any different than the mayor, because who appoints the board who chooses the inspector?” he asked.

Stratton took it a step further in a brief Tuesday interview, wondering if the position would only make sense if the city reverted back to a form of government with a ceremonial mayor and a strong city manager.

“The only place my brain goes to is, if this community were ever to decide to go to a city manager model, then we might have that opportunity to bring things into a non-political place,” Stratton said.