SPOKANE, Wash — With controversy swirling around the Spokane Regional Health District, many have questions about the make-up of Spokane’s Board of Health.
The health district is under fire for suddenly asking Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz, who's led the county's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to step down.
Dr. Bob Lutz issued a statement saying he hasn't resigned. A public meeting where the health board will vote on whether or not to terminate Dr. Lutz hasn't been scheduled yet.
So, who is on the Board of Health, how did they get there and what decisions do they make?
Who is on the board
Josh Kerns, District 1 Spokane County Commissioner
According to the SRHD website, Kerns is a native Spokane County resident and attended Mead schools. He received an associate’s degree from Spokane Community College. He got his bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in business administration at Whitworth University.
Kerns worked for the Washington State Legislature as a Senior Legislative Assistant for State Representative Jeff Holy. He also managed Holy’s campaigns in 2012 and 2014. He also worked in the House of Representatives in Olympia for six regular sessions.
Mary Kuney, District 2 Spokane County Commissioner
Kuney grew up in Spokane. She went to Central Valley High School and got her accounting degree from Gonzaga University, the SRHD website says. She worked for an accounting firm in San Francisco for three years before returning to Spokane.
Al French, District 3 Spokane County Commissioner
French was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1969 to 1972 and attended the University of Idaho, according to the SRHD website. He has a bachelor’s degree in architecture with a minor in business finance. French has 30 years of experience as a businessman, architect, real estate broker, investment consultant and developer.
French also served two terms on the Spokane City Council.
Betsy Wilkerson, District 2 Spokane City Council Member
Wilkerson grew up in Spokane and is the second African American woman to serve as a council member in Spokane.
Wilkerson runs a business that houses people with disabilities while working with the Innovia Foundation, making grants that help communities with basic needs, educational supports and capital monies for improvements in facilities of non-profits.
Breean Beggs, Spokane City Council President
Beggs is an attorney at the Pauker Law Group. He represented the family of Otto Zehm and obtained the largest settlement ever for a wrongful death case against the Spokane Police Department.
As council president, he is working to increase housing in Spokane, decrease homelessness and crime and advocate for equity and inclusion.
He graduated from Whitworth University and the University of Washington School of Law.
Karen Stratton, District 3 Spokane City Council Member
Stratton is a Spokane Native. She got her undergraduate from Eastern Washington University.
According to the SRHD website, she’s worked as a legislative aide in the Washington State House of Representatives, was employed at Washington State University-Spokane for 10 years and spent four years at the Community Colleges of Spokane Training and Education Coordinating Center. She also worked three years in the private sector spearheading community relations and philanthropic activities to local non-profits.
Stratton has worked for the City of Spokane since 2005.
Ben Wick, Spokane Valley Mayor
Wick was selected to serve as mayor for 2020-2021 and previously served multiple terms on city council. He graduated from East Valley High School and got a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from EWU.
He is an IT Manager for Spokane Industries and the publisher of the Spokane Valley Current and Liberty Lake Splash community newspapers.
Linda Thompson, Spokane Valley City Council Member
Thompson graduated from Central Valley High School and then went on to get a bachelor’s in general studies with a certificate in public relations from EWU. She went on to get a master’s in organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.
Thompson is also the Executive Director of the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council.
Kevin Freeman, City of Millwood Mayor
Freeman was elected as mayor in November 2013. He served on the Millwood Planning Commission and eight years on the Millwod City Council.
Freeman is a hydrogeologist and manages the local ARCADIS US, Inc. office in Liberty Lake, which is an international engineering and science consulting firm.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Idaho.
Dr. Jason Kinley, Naturopath
Kinley is a Naturopathic Doctor at Mountain View Medicine. He’s lived all over the country including Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Montana and Washington.
“I love to walk with my patients on their individual journeys, wherever their paths may lead. I am able to use physical medicine for those bumps in the road, guidance when the road forks, food, herbs, and sometimes medication when the body needs a little help,” Kinley says on his website.
Andrea Frostad
Frostad is a Spokane native and graduate of EWU. She has a bachelor’s in dental hygiene.
How are board members appointed?
According to the Board of Health’s website, there are 12 members including three Spokane County Commissioners, three City Council members, two Spokane Valley City Council members, one elected official representing small cities and three citizen representatives. The website says there is currently one vacancy on the board.
The mayors of Airway Heights, Cheney, Deer Park, Fairfield, Latah, Liberty Lake, Medical Lake, Millwood, Rockford, Spangle and Waverly decide annually which small city will appoint an elected official to the board, according to Article III of the Spokane Regional Health District Board bylaws.
Three at-large citizen members appointed by the Board of County Commissioners are appointed to four-year, staggered terms with prior appointed members remaining on the board until new appointments have been finalized, the bylaws say. Those appointments must be made before the first board meeting in January.
The bylaws state that vacancies should be filled by appointment within 30 days and ‘made in the same manner as the original appointment.’
Nowhere in the bylaws does it say members of the board have to have any health, science or healthcare background.
What decisions do they make?
Article IV of the bylaws says the authority of the board is “prescribed by the laws of the State of Washington.”
The board appoints an administrator, who serves at the pleasure of the board, according to the bylaws. The administrator reports directly to the board. The board sets the administrator’s salary annually based on “performance and financial condition of the Health District,” the bylaws state.
According to the bylaws, the board approves the appointment and termination of the District Health Officer. The District Health Officer should be a “qualified physician trained and experienced in public health” and reports to the administrator, the bylaws state. The board also approved the health officer’s salary.
The Board of Health is responsible for promoting regulations for “the control of communicable diseases and other public health concerns in conformity with the provisions of the laws of the State of Washington,” the bylaws state. The board can also issued “nonbinding guidelines and recommendations expressing its collective opinion on issues impacting public health for the advice and benefit of SRHD’s community partners.”
The board also has to contract an attorney to advise and assist them with legal matters, the bylaws say.
Other duties of the board include deciding the finances and budgeting for public health services, receiving reports on the activities of the health district, hearing testimony from persons and groups at its meetings and coordinating activities to help carry out public health programs within the district, according to the bylaws.
Approval of any decision the board makes needs a majority vote to pass, according to the bylaws.
