SPOKANE, Wash. — Amelia Clark will not be accepting an appointment as the administrative officer of Spokane Regional Health District's (SRHD) local board of health in the future.
According to SRHD, Clark was expected to appear in front of the Office of Administrative Hearings in September to determine whether or not she broke the law when she fired Dr. Bob Lutz. Now that she has accepted a position outside of the state of Washington, that has changed.
Lutz was fired from SRHD on Oct. 30, 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed that Clark had definitively fired him on Oct. 29, 2020 and taken his SRHD laptop and other materials. This would be illegal, as only the board can fire the health officer, and can only do so via a public vote.
The health board voted to fire Lutz on Nov. 5, 2020.
On Nov. 9, 2020, the Washington state Board of Health decided to investigate multiple complaints made by citizens against Clark, alleging violations of state law in the process of her forcing out Lutz. The preliminary investigation commissioned by the board was released on May 11, 2021. It found evidence that Clark broke state law in forcing out Lutz and said Lutz was, in fact, removed as health officer on Oct. 29, 2020, without a public hearing and vote. The retroactive administrative leave did not change that fact.
The State Board of Health held a special meeting to review the findings of the preliminary investigation on June 1, 2021. Board members voted unanimously to move forward with a hearing, in order to call witnesses under oath, hear directly from Clark, and potentially decide whether she broke the law and if so what to do about it.
On Aug. 15, 2021, the state board of health asked for the hearing to be dismissed, according to SRHD. The next day, the hearing was dismissed.
Clark resigned from her position as SRHD Administrator in June 2022, citing a new position out of state.
Clark's contract expires on Sept. 16, 2022.
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