Shelby Lambdin likely appointee to Spokane City Council

A South Hill resident will soon be appointed to a four-month stint on the Spokane City Council, and it appears nearly certain to be Shelby Lambdin, the population health director at the Community Health Association of Spokane, more commonly known as CHAS Health.

Lambdin advanced as the sole finalist for appointment Monday afternoon and is scheduled for approval during the July 28 council meeting. If approved, Lambdin will fill a seat representing south Spokane vacated by former Councilwoman Lili Navarrete, who resigned citing health concerns effective July 1 and announced she was instead taking a full-time job in city hall.

Though voters will have an opportunity in November to choose a successor for a full four-year term – Kate Telis and Alejandro Barrientos are currently vying for the seat – the rest of the City Council will have to choose Navarrete’s temporary replacement in the coming week.

Though nine people originally applied for the opening, only four attended a public interview on July 10: Lambdin, Kris Neely, Ryan Oelrich, and Kristina Sabestinas. Given the short time they will serve on council, they were cautioned during the public interview that it is unlikely they will be able to spin up major initiatives from scratch, but they will still face major challenges, including balancing a roughly $3.8 million budget deficit by the end of the year.

Councilmen Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart had advocated to advance Oelrich, who has previously served on the City Council during a roughly two-month stint in 2023, arguing that the experience would make it easier for Oelrich to hit the ground running as the council prepares to balance the city’s budget in the coming months.

“It just changes how much you are going to have to put into training, education and all of those things,” Cathcart said in an interview. “And I thought he interviewed really well … and I know he’s a thoughtful person.”

Lambdin has no political, elected or government experience. During her public interview, sge said her experience in public health would bring expertise to the council on addressing relevant issues. Lambdin advocated to reduce the city’s costs by using technology and artificial intelligence to replace personnel and streamline operations. She also argued in favor of programs to make the city’s outdoor recreation more accessible to marginalized communities and for advancing the council’s work on making various services available in other languages.

Councilman Paul Dillon, south Spokane’s other council member, said Lambdin was the strongest applicant, noting that she had not brought notes to the July 10 interview and had demonstrated she could “think on the fly” when responding to the questions she had received in advance.

“That was one thing that differentiated her to me, she seemed to be really answering in an improvisational way,” Dillon said in an interview. “She has the background in healthcare, particularly with homeless outreach…that is a voice that is very needed, because so many of the housing issues we hear intersect with healthcare.”

Wilkerson, who also advocated for Lambdin’s appointment, said she felt the candidate would be coming to the council with an open mind and not “any agenda.”

Bingle disagreed, noting that Dillon had specifically asked all candidates whether they supported one of his upcoming initiatives to strengthen local labor protections on city projects that cost more than $5 million.

“I disagree that they’re not coming with an agenda … we made sure they had the agenda we wanted before they were coming forward,” Bingle said.

However, Lambdin’s response was largely identical to the other interviewed candidates: intrigued and likely supportive, but in need of more details.