There are now two openings on Spokane’s police ombudsman commission, with applications due in two weeks. One of the role’s will replace Rachel Dolezal, who was voted out Thursday by the city council because of misconduct allegations.
The council also accepted the resignation of commission member Kevin Berkompas, and granted member Adrian Dominquez more time to respond.
The city hasn’t had a police ombudsman since January. The volunteer commission was scheduled to hire for the role this summer, but can’t do so with only two members in good standing. Council President Ben Stuckart says he wants the timeline to stay on track, though.
Stuckart: “The mayor and I have talked about an emergency contingency. We’re going to reach out to the police guild to see if they’d agree to let, for this one time, the city council appoint an ombudsman.”
City leaders released a whistleblower report Wednesday detailing patterns of misconduct by the three commissioners, and asked for their resignation. Dolezal said she would not resign, so the council removed her, and they'll have a hearing next Wednesday on commissioner Dominguez.
She did resign this week as head of Spokane’s NAACP, after her parents said she was a white woman pretending to be black.
Copyright 2015 Spokane Public Radio
