Insurance peddler Neil Muller is filing an ethics complaint against a Spokane City Council member — again. Muller successfully filed an ethics complaint in 2019 that determined that Council member Karen Stratton violated conflict of interest rules when she used city letterhead promoting cannabis retailers to the city of Pasco. But now Muller's taking Council member Zack Zappone to task for his involvement in the city redistricting process. Zappone's map was ruled legal by a Spokane County judge earlier this year, but Muller's complaint — which runs 16 pages and features over 100 pages of exhibits — charges that Zappone "acted in a manner that is irresponsible, untrustworthy, without integrity, untruthful, dishonest, unfair, improper" and for "personal gain" in developing and cheerleading for a map that benefitted himself. "For a non-partisan office there was an awful lot of gamesmanship," Muller wrote. (DANIEL WALTERS)
180 DAYS LATER
In May 2022, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward appointed Lynden Smithson to fill in as Spokane's interim city attorney. Just over a year later, Smithson is still interim city attorney, and Woodward is catching criticism for appearing to ignore an ordinance that says people appointed to interim city positions "shall serve as such for up to 180 days." The 180-day period can be extended by the City Council, but that hasn't happened. Lisa Brown, who is hoping to unseat Woodward, pointed this out on Twitter, writing, "Do we even have a city attorney right now?" In response, Woodward said she "appointed" Smithson a year ago, and that City Council refused to confirm him. When asked for his view on the matter, Smithson said he had shared his legal opinion with the City Council, but that's protected by attorney-client privilege. (NATE SANFORD)
STRONG SHOWING
Award season is upon us, and the Inlander is in contention. For the national Association of Alternative Newsmedia awards, we are in rare company with our six nominations, a feat reached by only a handful of other weeklies, including Vermont's Seven Days, the Chicago Reader, D.C.'s Washington City Paper, and Willamette Week in Portland. Nate Sanford is nominated for beat reporting for his work covering Camp Hope. In feature writing, both Sanford and Daniel Walters are finalists for a story they wrote about the former sheriff ("Ozzie vs. the World," Dec. 15, 2022). Samantha Wohlfeil is up for a solutions journalism award for her story about Colville Confederated Tribes working to trap and relocate 50 lynx from Canada to the reservation ("Lynx Revival," Feb. 17, 2022). Photographers Young Kwak and Erick Doxey are up for a joint photojournalism award. And CMarie Fuhrman is nominated for a collection of her columns. The regional Society of Professional Journalists has also named a number of Inlander staffers for awards, including Arts & Culture Editor Chey Scott and Creative Director Derek Harrison. Congrats to us! (NICHOLAS DESHAIS)
