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Incoming Spokane mayor announces interim police chief, assistant city administrator appointments

Maggie Yates is introduced during a meeting hosted by the Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council on Monday, July 9, 2018, at West Central Community Center in Spokane. Spokane Mayor-elect Lisa Brown announced on Thursday that Yates will serve as the city’s assistant city administrator. (TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
Maggie Yates is introduced during a meeting hosted by the Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council on Monday, July 9, 2018, at West Central Community Center in Spokane. Spokane Mayor-elect Lisa Brown announced on Thursday that Yates will serve as the city’s assistant city administrator. (TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)Buy a print of this photo
By Emry Dinman emryd@spokesman.com(509) 459-5472

Incoming Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown has tapped Assistant Police Chief Justin Lundgren to lead the Spokane Police Department on an interim basis and Maggie Yates, who ran unsuccessfully last year for a seat on the Spokane County Commission, as assistant city administrator.

Lundgren will temporarily replace outgoing Police Chief Craig Meidl, who announced shortly after the November election that he would resign from the department at the end of the year. Meidl had recommended that Lundgren assume the role of interim chief.

“Stability for the community is of utmost importance during this transition,” Lundgren wrote in a written statement Thursday. “And I am proud to provide continuity of leadership for the Spokane Police Department at this time.”

Yates is the community reinvestment program administrator for the Washington state Office of Civil Legal Aid, and previously served as Spokane County’s law and justice administrator from 2018 to 2022. Yates will oversee the hiring process for a new permanent police chief, which will begin early next year, according to a news release.

Brown announced plans earlier this month for three other cabinet positions.

She intends to appoint Assistant City Attorney Mike Piccolo to the position of Spokane City Attorney and elevate the director of the Office of Civil Rights, Equity and Inclusion, which is held by Director Jerrall Haynes, to a cabinet-level position.

Interim City Administrator Garrett Jones will be retained in his position pending hiring of a permanent replacement. Jones, who is also the city’s Parks and Recreation Department director, was tapped to fill that position in an interim role following the resignation of former-City Administrator Johnnie Perkins amid a sexual harassment investigation.

Piccolo will replace City Attorney Lynden Smithson, who assumed that position in a permanent role in July, when the City Council confirmed the appointment and ended a scuffle over whether Mayor Nadine Woodward violated city law by waiting to request a vote. Smithson was tapped to fill that position in an interim role in May 2022, filling a vacancy left by the retirement of former City Attorney Mike Ormsby.

There are still a number of vacancies in the mayor’s cabinet left to fill, including for communications director and chief financial officer. Kim McCollim, director of the city’s Neighborhoods, Housing and Human Services division, also recently tendered her resignation.