Spokane Valley council divvies up board duties

The first Spokane Valley City Council meeting of 2017 was brief and full of housekeeping, including appointing council members to board and committees, and residents to serve on city boards.

There are two open spots on the Spokane Valley Planning Commission, and Michelle Rasmussen was appointed for one position.

Mayor Rod Higgins said there were other interested candidates, but he had not had time to interview them.

“The city has history with Michelle Rasmussen so that’s why I’m appointing her,” Higgins said.

Rasmussen previously worked for Spokane Valley and is now employed by Eastern Washington University as a manager of the school’s parking facilities.

She has applied for vacant council positions in the past but was not selected.

Higgins appointed two members to the lodging tax advisory committee: Lee Cameron, who owns the Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center, and Scott Peterson, vice president of commercial lending at Wheatland Bank.

Spokane Valley City Council members represent the city on a variety of boards:

Mayor Rod Higgins is appointed to the Mayors Association of Northeast Washington and to the Clean Air Agency through 2017. Higgins also serves on the Spokane Valley Finance Committee, the board of Greater Spokane Incorporated and the Growth Management Steering Committee of Elected Officials with Visit Spokane.

Deputy Mayor Woodard is appointed to Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee through 2017. He also serves on the Spokane Valley Finance Committee, the Spokane Valley Governance Manual Committee and the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce board.

Councilman Caleb Collier serves on the Emergency 911 Board and the Wastewater Policy Advisory Board.

Councilwoman Pamela Haley is on the Spokane Valley Finance Committee and the Spokane Transit Authority board.

Councilman Mike Munch is on the Health District board.

Councilman Ed Pace Spokane Valley Governance Manual Committee, the Spokane Regional Transportation Council and the board of the Spokane Transit Authority.

Councilman Sam Wood is on the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Tourism Promotion Area and on the Health District board.

The council also approved the formation of a library ad hoc committee which is to continue to work with the Spokane County Library District, in an attempt to establish a new library across the street from the new city hall.

The library district purchased the parcel from the city of Spokane Valley for approximately $839,000.

The library district tried to pass a bond to fund a new library building twice, but was unsuccessful and may now, according to the contract with the city, may sell the land back to the city for the same amount.

The council, however, has encouraged the library district to find a different way of funding a new building.

On the city’s ad hoc committee are Higgins and Woodard, as well as City Manager Mark Calhoun, City Attorney Cary Driskell, Community and Economic Development Director John Hohman as well as Parks and Recreation Director Mike Stone.