Mayor picks two, Council three for inaugural seats
Brian Coddington, Communications Director, 509.625.6740
Friday, August 1, 2014 at 12:39 p.m.
Spokane Mayor David Condon and the City Council have nominated five candidates for the inaugural citizen Police Ombudsman Commission.
Rachel Dolezal, an Africana education professor at Eastern Washington University, and Kevin Berkompas, a consultant and former Air Force colonel, each have been recommended by Condon. The City Council recommended Scott Richter, community indicators project manager at Eastern Washington University, for the District 1 seat, Debra Conklin, pastor at Liberty Park United Methodist Church and Spokane Alliance member, for the District 2 seat, and Adrian Dominguez, a Spokane Regional Health District epidemiologist, for the District 3 seat.
“We have had great public engagement all the way through the process and ended up with a pool of quality applicants,” said City Attorney Nancy Isserlis, who managed the application process.
All five, who were notified of their nomination late Thursday, move to the background check portion of the process, which is expected to be completed within a week. They were chosen from 13 applicants citywide. Commission members must be confirmed by the City Council, and are expected to be seated later this month.
Isserlis facilitated public meetings in April that focused on desired characteristics of individual commissioners and the makeup of the commission as a whole, with specific emphasis on diversity and inclusion. The application materials and process, level of background check requirements for commission members, and public records issues were also discussed.
