;POKANE CITY COUNCIL 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201-3335, (609) 625-6255 November 30, 2015 ‘The Honorable David A. Condon Mayor, City of Spokane 808 West Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201 Mayor Condon: For the City of Spokane to reach its full potential it must attract the highest quality professional employees. To encourage great people to work for our great City, we need to provide not only excellent employment compensation but also instill, and maintain, a culture of honesty and faimess, where employees have a reasonable expectation of being treated in an equitable and respectful manner regardless of age, gender, or other attribute. Employees should not be put in a position of protection from potential investigation by virtue of their exempt status. In the last few days, public records requests and media reports have brought to light various ‘communications involving you and your staff, as well as documents generated by your staff, that raise questions about honesty and faimess. We are writing because we fee! that the citizens of Spokane deserve additional information about your administration’s handling of the issues listed below: ‘@ In October 2013 a female Spokane Police employee transferred to another department after reporting “constant negative feedback and belittling” from Chief Straub. ‘This and more recent episodes give rise to a number of specific questions: 1. When were you and/or City Administrator Sanders first aware of similar hostile working environment allegations against Chief Straub by former Police ‘Spokesperson Monique Cotton? 2. Why didn’t Human Resources investigate Chief Straub and create written documentation when the administration first became aware of Ms. Cotton’s concems? 3. Must a City employee hire outside legal counsel, as did Ms. Cotton, in order to properly address hostile working environment claims? 4, Are exempt employees being treated differently than non-exempt employees in regards to Human Resources investigations? ‘© Why did it take three months for the release of documents responsive to a media public records request regarding Ms. Cotton? 1. When were the documents released by the City on November 24 actually discovered? 2. If these documents were discovered prior to November 24, why were these documents not released when they were discovered? 3. In this regard, please explain when responsive documents were provided to the City Clerk for review and release?an SrokaNe City Counen. SPOKANE 93 01Spokane Falls Se Spokane, WA 992013335 (609) 625-6255, Recently released documents strongly suggest that you and/or City Administrator Theresa Sanders either mislead or withheld information from the Council, in individual conversations and in executive session, regarding City personnel matters. 1. Please explain why you believe the information conveyed by you and Ms. Sanders is consistent with the state of affairs evident from the recently released documents. Please be aware if there is any dispute about the content of executive session in which both you and City Administrator Sanders delivered potentially inaccurate information, the City Council may, at its discretion, choose to waive the attomey-client privilege and any privilege attaching to executive session in order for the public to finally understand the truth of this matter. ‘ Itis our understanding the Park Board only approved the inclusion of a new exempt Communication Manager position in its 2016 Budget on the promise that the position ‘would be opened up for a competitive hiring process in which the Park Board has an opportunity to participate, as it has in other recent exempt hirings in Parks. This position ostensibly is currently held by Ms. Cotton. 1. Please confirm that you will open the position to such a competitive hiring process, Such positions, even if they are exempt, should be subject to open hiring, Obviously our concems go beyond merely the handling of the termination of Chief Straub. Recent disclosures raise many questions on several fronts, generally showing an inability or unwillingness to respond to personnel issues in a consistent, fair and professional manner. We request a response to these questions and concerns by close of business on December 11. Absent a timely and complete response the Council reserves its ability to request an independent investigation. We also request a copy of the agreement between the City of Spokane and Judge Michael Hogan be released to the public. We are all anxious to get back to working with you to make Spokane the best City it can possibly be. In order to move forward and rebuild trust these issues must be resolved. ia Sincerely, - “2a ‘Stuekart Jon Snyder President, Spokane City Council District 2, Spokane ae op-—— th Mike Fagan Miké Allen District 1, Spokane City Council District 2, Spokane City Council|POKANE City COUNCIL ‘808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201-3335 (609) 625-6255 District 1, Spokane City Council District 3, Spokane City Council Karen Stratton District 3, Spokane City Council cc: Theresa Sanders, City Administrator Nancy Isserlis, City Attomey Leroy Eadie, Spokane Parks and Recreation Director Heather Lowe, Human Resources Director Nick Deshais, The Spokesman Review Mitch Ryals, The Pacific Northwest Inlander