The ombudsman's powers are expanding.
During a late Monday night meeting, Spokane City Council members voted 6-1 to give the civilian police watchdog power to directly investigate the chief of police.
The ombudsman already had authority to investigate officers, but city code required complaints against the chief to go to the mayor for potential investigation.
Council President Breean Beggs, who sponsored Monday's ordinance and was a force behind Spokane's civilian oversight of police, says the change aligns city code with the city charter language passed in 2013 when citizens voted to create the ombudsman's office.
"It doesn't say that the ombudsman has to investigate the chief," Beggs says. "It kind of takes away an artificial thing that contradicts the charter."
The change follows several months of scrutiny over Police Chief Craig Meidl's close relationship with a group of downtown property owners, pressure from activists calling for the chief's resignation and frustration from council members over Mayor Nadine Woodward's refusal to authorize an outside investigation into Meidl's conduct.
"This is about transparency, and there's a lack of transparency right now," said Council Member Zack Zappone, noting that Meidl donated $500 to Woodward's reelection campaign in late March. "The mayor has a choice and could build community trust if she would just start an investigation."
The chief's communications with the property owners — which council members describe as "concerning and unusual" — were uncovered by an ombudsman investigation into a separate incident involving the release of an officer's body camera video.
The ombudsman's closing report, which was released in December 2022, kept most of its focus on the body camera footage but did mention the chief's emails with the politically active property owners group and potential concern about those property owners getting special access to police records and information.
Bart Logue, the ombudsman, said in a recent interview with the Inlander that his office tried to keep the investigation focused on the original complaint but that he might have kept digging into Meidl's conduct if authorized to do so.
"Because maybe there's nothing to see here," Logue said. "Are there policy violations? I don't know."
Hours before the council vote, Meidl released a video saying the ombudsman should not have the power to investigate him because it would be a "significant change in working conditions" that could make it hard to recruit future police chiefs.
He described the ordinance as being pushed by a "false narrative" that he refused to cooperate with the ombudsman investigation.
Woodward has also voiced disapproval for the change and said calls for further investigation are an "organized attempt to disparage our police chief and police department." Lisa Brown, who is running against Woodward for mayor, says she supports the new ordinance and an investigation.
There's still a lot the ombudsman can't do. Because of the Spokane Police Guild's collective bargaining agreements with the city, the office can't compel testimony, issue disciplinary recommendations or name officers in closing reports. Brown says she'd be open to the idea of negotiating with the Guild to change that.
On Monday, council members expressed interest in Council Member Michael Cathcart's suggestion that the city look into creating some sort of inspector general position to oversee department heads across the city.
"We need something bigger than the ombudsman," Cathcart said. "That is really truly how we are going to have independent investigations across the board." ♦
