O’Quinn frustrated by French’s explanation on Mielke snub
Shelly O'Quinn said Tuesday she was frustrated by comments made by fellow Spokane County Commissioner Al French following his decision not to endorse their colleague, Todd Mielke, for the county's chief executive position.
Addressing French's statement in today's story that he had second thoughts about hiring a headhunter to recruit a CEO, O'Quinn said French never mentioned that until late in the process.
"He never said that until after Todd was the top choice," O'Quinn said, referring to the recommendation of a seven-member screening panel handpicked by French and O'Quinn to review applications for the job. O'Quinn said it was disappointing that French downplayed the qualifications of the panel by refusing to vote Monday after helping hand-picked the members, many of whom control workforces and budgets far greater than Spokane County's.
O'Quinn's comments came a day after she moved to hire Mielke, delivering a lengthy statement before doing so outlining what she felt was a "transparent, thorough, and well-defined" process that preceded the meeting. You can read her full statement, which she provided to The Spokesman-Review, below, and listen to the audio of Monday's meeting.
Shelly O'Quinn's statement on Mielke hiring
O'Quinn's motion to hire Mielke begins at 7 minutes, 30 seconds of the below recording. French sits silently after the motion is read.
French was absent on county business from a scheduled commissioner meeting Tuesday morning. Commissioners have no scheduled legislative meetings this week and will be out of the office next week for the Fourth of July holiday, meaning the decision about how the county will proceed on hiring its next CEO could drag into mid-July, well after sitting CEO Marshall Farnell planned to officially begin his retirement.
Also Tuesday, O'Quinn asked that a public meeting be scheduled next month to seek public input on the possibility of expanding the Board of County Commissioners from three members to five members, following a similar public request in April.
"I would like it to be honest feedback about whether people think it would be productive to go from three to five commissioners, what the pros are, what the cons are," O'Quinn said. "I want us to make a thoughtful decision about whether we place it on the ballot ourselves or whether we encourage those in the community to move forward collecting signatures themselves."
Karen Kearney announced her plans earlier this year to do just that, and said in April that she was eyeing ballots in 2016 to bring the issue to voters. O'Quinn said Tuesday she wanted a quicker time table, with a public hearing in July about the issue so that commissioners could place the proposal on the ballot as early as November. Commissioners would have to approve putting the issue on the ballot by a majority vote before Aug. 4 to make that happen.
No meeting was scheduled Tuesday.
