Regional Health Director Kim Thorburn’s public heave-ho on Thursday was no surprise, but it didn’t have to be so bruising. She and the Spokane County Regional Health Board share responsibility for that.

Board members had no complaints about Thorburn’s performance, her qualifications or her knowledge. They offered no cause for declining to renew her contract other than the ongoing “fractured relationship” that led to their vote of no confidence in her two years ago.

The undercurrent beneath the personality clash has not been well hidden, however.

Thorburn is stubborn, outspoken, hotheaded and politically indiscreet – qualities that tended to show up when her ruthless enforcement of public safety regulations was being questioned. And it tended to be questioned by elected officials when they thought her zeal was an encumbrance on economic vitality. Or when she snubbed one county commissioner at a public luncheon or fired off an angry e-mail to another. Now, she is out of a job, hurt and embarrassed.

For its part, Spokane County is left in an unfavorable light. Just a year ago, another public official parted ways with the community over similar philosophical differences. Erik Skelton quit as director of the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority, over concerns that the SCAPCA board – including some of the same local elected officials that run the Health District – considered him too aggressive in enforcing air quality regulations.

When Skelton’s successor was chosen in June (essentially in a closed meeting), he immediately came under suspicion as a patsy for development interests.

Bear in mind that Spokane County commissioners, who already have a reputation as overly friendly to developers, play a prominent role on both the health board and SCAPCA. Those to whom quality-of-life concerns are important are not going to be reassured by the abrupt departure of two no-nonsense regulatory officials in two years.

In retrospect, if Thorburn truly hoped for a reconciliation that would have saved her job, she might have worked harder to avoid ruffling the politicians’ feathers. Or, if she was unwilling to compromise her cards-on-the-table candor, she had two years to line up another position. Her credentials are unquestionably marketable.

But that decision has been rendered, and the Health District now finds itself in the position SCAPCA faced a year ago. It has a vacancy to fill and it needs to attract candidates who are interested in a job that seems to call for a willingness to pay a certain amount of homage to elected officials.

Finding a qualified candidate who can be a bona fide advocate for public health while exhibiting the desired politesse will be a challenge. Can they get political sophistication without sacrificing scientific competence and public-interest integrity?

The onus will be on the agency to be clear about its expectations and to conduct itself in full public view. If the board winds up with a public health officer who’s too timid to stand up to political pressure, the public will be ill-served.