SPOKANE, Wash. — The city of Spokane now has an official city attorney after more than a year.
In a 4-1 vote on Monday night, the Spokane City Council voted to approve Lynden Smithson's appointment as the permanent city attorney. The approval comes more than one year after Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward initially named him the interim city attorney.
Woodward appointed Smithson, a longtime attorney with the Spokane County Prosecutors Office, in May 2022. When Smithson was first appointed, the city said a "full search" would be conducted to find a permanent replacement. As he continued to serve in the interim, however, the mayor never put him forward for city council approval.
According to Section 24 of the Spokane City Charter, the mayor has the power to appoint or remove the city attorney, but the appointment has to be approved by the city council. Interim appointments are valid for 180 days unless an extension is granted, but the city code says a permanent appointment has to be presented to the city council within 30 days.
During Monday night's city council meeting, two people spoke to council about the resolution being added to the meeting agenda seemingly last minute. One person said city staff did not know what the resolution was about when they tried to sign up to speak about it. They said they were disappointed with the "lack of transparency" from the council and asked that the vote be postponed.
Council member Betsy Wilkerson agreed with the two residents, saying the vote should be postponed not because of the person, but the procedure.
"It's a pretty big issue for the city attorney that the city has the opportunity to weigh in. We would be voting on it next Monday night, so I don't know what the urgency is," Wilkerson said. "If we don't give them the opportunity to know what we're voting on in a timely manner, that's a disservice to them."
Council member Karen Stratton disagreed with Wilkerson, saying it's the mayor's job to make the appointment. She said the issue is that the mayor hasn't brought Smithson forward for approval yet, which the council has been waiting for.
According to Stratton, Smithson has been the one stuck in the middle of the ongoing debate.
"I think it's fair that we move this up," she said. "I think we need to make a decision and get on with it so [Smithson] can get on with his job and we can discuss and look at bigger issues and other items that the community is probably more interested in than this."
Smithson's appointment was ultimately approved in a 4-1 vote, with Wilkerson being the only Nay vote. Council member Zack Zappone was not present at the meeting and did not vote.
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