Month: November 2020

The attempted removal of Dr. Bob Lutz, the Medical Director of the Spokane Regional Health District, by the supposedly unilateral authority of Amelia Clark, SRHD’s administrative officer, has all the smell of a behind-the-scenes power struggle. The local situation is a mirror of today’s national issues: the politicizing, denial, and sidelining of science and medicine. 

If Amelia Clark’s motivation for the attempted firing is the “personnel issue” she claims then that issue needs a public airing and a public vote by the twelve member SRHD’s Board of Health.  

Bylaws are often unnoticed until a crisis develops. Amelia Clark (and whoever it is who might have her ear) failed to consult the rules before the unilateral announcement she made at the squirm-worthy press conference last Friday. Those rules, the Bylaws of the SRHD Board of Health state plainly:

The Board of Health shall approve the appointment and termination of a District Health Officer. The District Health Officer shall be a qualified physician trained and experienced in public health. The Health Officer shall report to the Administrator. 

The Board of Health meets routinely on the last Thursday of the month, but the Bylaws also state:

Special meetings may be called by the Chair at his/her discretion, at the request of the Executive Secretary, or on the written request of a majority of the members, provided that written notice is given each member and the media at least twenty-four hours prior to the proposed meeting concerning the time, place and subject, except in an emergency, as provided by RCW 42.30.080

Every one of us should, at a minimum, send an email to the members of the Board of Health demanding a prompt special meeting, a public airing of the issue, and a public vote on this effort to dismiss Dr. Lutz. The email need not be long. It will be numbers that count, not eloquence. I have no doubt there are email writing campaigns under way among anti-mask, anti-science groups in the community who support this attempted ouster. 

The quickest way to communicate with all twelve members of the Board of Health is send an email to public_comment@srhd.org . Such an email is disbursed to each of them. 

Or you can email to the individuals on the Board of Health, whom I have listed below with a little background information. All of these people are nominally “non-partisan”, but some of their likely allegiances are fairly clear. The Commissioners and their appointees tend to lean against public health mandates (some like Jason Kinley and Josh Kerns, quite openly) and the members from cities and towns leaning in favor of the scientific guidance of public health. Remember that Ben Wick in his position of Chairman has the power to call a special meeting according to the Bylaws.

I hope you will pay close attention to these people and their backgrounds as this drama plays out. 

Ben Wick, Mayor of the City of Spokane Valley City Council and Current Chairman of the SRHD Board of Health
bwick@spokanevalley.org

Linda Thompson, City of Spokane Valley Council member
lthompson@spokanevalley.org

Kevin Freeman, Mayor of the Town of Millwood, representing all the smaller towns and cities in “the District”, i.e. Spokane County
mayor@millwoodwa.us

Breean Beggs, President of the City of Spokane City Council
bbeggs@spokanecity.org

Karen Stratton, City of Spokane City Council member
kstratton@spokanecity.org

Betsy Wilkerson, City of Spokane City Council member
bwilkerson@spokanecity.org

Al French, Spokane County Commissioner, and frequent non-attendee at BOH meetings as well as the longest standing and most influential of the three Commissioners
afrench@spokanecounty.org

Mary Kuney, Spokane County Commissioner (most recently added Commissioner)
mkuney@spokanecounty.org

Josh Kerns, Spokane County Commissioner
jkerns@spokanecounty.org

Jason Kinley, naturopathic “physician” and notable speaker at Matt Shea sponsored anti-lockdown protests, nominated by Josh Kerns from Kerns’ Commissioner District as “the only person who applied.”
jkinleynd@gmail.com

Chuck Hafner, a civic-minded Spokane Valley businessman who once served on the City of Spokane Valley’s City Council, now serving on the BOH from Mary Kuney’s Commissioner District.

Andrea Frostad, a dental hygienist serving from Al French’s Commissioner District

I do not have separate email addresses for Mr. Hafner or Ms. Frostad, but they can be reached through the blanket email public_comment@srhd.org that I listed first. 

Staff:

Amelia Clark, Administrative Officer
aclark@srhd.org

L. Ann Pitsnogle, Executive Assistant
lpitsnogle@srhd.org

For more information:  https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/oct/30/shawn-vestal-theres-no-excuse-for-the-silence-of-t/

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/oct/31/what-is-the-spokane-regional-health-district-and-w/

Keep to the high ground,
Jerry

The most consequential election of my long life looms tomorrow.

Be sure to vote, check that you ballot was accepted, encourage your friends to do the same, and cross your fingers. Join your favor candidates get out the vote efforts. 

May I rejoin you on the other side to greet elections for the presidency, the Senate, and down ballot that are both welcome and resoundingly unequivocal. Whatever happens a lot of work will remain.

Keep to the high ground,
Jerry

It is Sunday early, a day I don’t usually write, but circumstances demand it. Citizens of Spokane County need to pay attention to an unfolding local struggle with lives at stake. THERE ARE THREE ACTION ITEMS BELOW. (each marked in Bold).

Last Thursday, October 29th, news hit the local airwaves that the Spokane Regional Health District’s health officer, Dr. Bob Lutz, had been “forced out.” (For clarity, the “Health District’s” district is Spokane County.) Dr. Lutz has served admirably as the District’s health officer since 2017. He is a skilled physician and a scientist who pays attention to data. He has led the Covid pandemic response in Spokane County from the beginning. 

The news conference SRHD held the next day was a thirty-seven minute exercise in obfuscation. Amelia Clark, the administrative officer, led off with the statement that everyone “reports up to me” including the health officer, Dr. Lutz. According to Ms. Clark, “to clarify rather than a decision [sic]” a discussion “was had” in an “executive session” of the Board of Health regarding “performance concerns of the health officer” and the “executive committee gave me their support to ask for Dr. Lutz’s resignation.” There was no mention of a vote or how each of the twelve members of the Board of Health stood on the decision Ms. Clark claimed was hers to make without further explanation to the public. 

We, as citizens of Spokane, need clear answers, not executive decisions made in the dark. What the hell is the “performance concern?” What is the evidence? Who is driving this decision at the end of week before a major election, right as we see record numbers of local infections and deaths and as the whole country faces the pandemic surge experts have predicted for months? 

That brings me to the first action item: Sign on to the petition for Spokane Regional Health District Transparency addressed to the SRHD Board Members. Here’s the link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHFUsWBQGF7b7ByGkHM-EOVWfTUNzNETNbCOt31hjI0ixAHw/viewform?gxids=7628
Under “organization or business” I put “retired.” Others have suggested “voter.” There is no need to specify your employer unless you are authorized to speak for the organization.

This afternoon at 3PM (remember we’re now on Pacific Standard Time. Sunset 4:30PM) there is a gathering at the Spokane Regional Health District Building (1101 W College Ave, the tan building with the cylindrical, domed corners on the north side of the river) to show support for transparency and Dr. Lutz. It should be a beautiful afternoon. Please wear your masks and practice social distancing. (In Dr. Lutz’s words,“Breathe. Just not on each other.”)

This is an evolving story. Amelia Clark, whatever her motives and influences, did not read the Bylaws of the Board of Health, nor Washington State Law. There is an excellent article this morning on the front page of the Spokesman and online (similar content by different bylines) that details the power structure and governance of SRHD and its Board. The same front page notes that Dr. Lutz has not resigned and has hired legal council, suggesting a power struggle to which we should all be paying attention. 

Six members of the twelve member Board of Health are the (very Republican) Commissioners of Spokane County, Al French, Josh Kerns, and Mary Kuney, and their three appointees (one of whom, Jason Kinley, is an ally of Matt Shea and a speechifying opponent of pandemic management). French, arguably the most powerful elected official in eastern Washington, almost never attends SRHD Board meetings, but might well be pulling strings behind the scenes. All six of these people have been silent since this controversy blew up, pushing other local (city) officials into the spotlight as the public face of the Board. 

I smell a rat. The only two of the twelve members of the Board of Health who are on Tuesday’s ballot are Josh Kerns and Mary Kuney. Their silence I read as complicity. If you haven’t already turned in your ballot at one of the drop boxes, register your protest by voting for David Green and Ted Cummings to replace these two–and put French in your sights for the next election cycle.

Keep to the high ground,
Jerry