![]() She further said she would investigate complaints “by the community,” but disregarded the complaints raised by activists living in the city, saying they were politically motivated and therefore she was not obligated to respond to them. When pressed on why she wasn’t conducting an independent investigation through the Human Resources Department by KREM 2 Chief Journalist Amanda Roley, Woodward reiterated that such an investigation had already been conducted by the Office of the Police Ombudsman. “Another costly investigation is redundant, it is unnecessary and erodes the work of our independent ombudsman.” “I am deeply concerned about the council’s insistence on keeping alive a topic that has already gone through an independent investigation by the Office of the Police Ombudsman,” she said. The mayor said an investigation had already been conducted. They would later that evening pass a resolution calling on her to investigate the police chief as appears to be required by city code. Hours before, Woodward called an impromptu press conference to slam the council for considering the resolution. ![]() On April 24, the City Council passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the mayor to investigate the police chief, arguing Woodward was required to do so under city law. In a recent interview with the Inlander, Ombudsman Bart Logue said the investigation left unanswered questions, and argued that broader authority would have allowed his office to investigate further. Beggs has said the ombudsman’s investigation revealed Meidl engaged in a “shadow public advocacy campaign” with business owners, but that a full investigation was needed due to limitations on the ombudsman’s ability to review Meidl’s conduct. Meidl said the ordinance was being pushed in response to a “false narrative that I refused to cooperate with an investigation,” and that the media had failed to report he had agreed to an interview with the ombudsman. On Monday, Meidl released a five-minute video through the police department arguing that the City Council should not give the ombudsman the authority to investigate his conduct. The understanding I had is that this does open us up to a fair amount of litigation.” “I 100% believe in police oversight, and I just want to make sure we’re doing it in the proper way. “There are many legal concerns that I would love to get more information about,” Bingle said. The ordinance was passed under emergency rules, meaning it takes effect immediately and did not need to undergo a first reading.Ĭouncilman Jonathan Bingle, who voted against the ordinance, said he supported transparency and police oversight, but questioned whether the council was opening the city up to legal risk by moving so quickly. However, the ordinance passed Monday requires the Office of the Police Ombudsman to “strive to let other entities” investigate the police chief before conducting an investigation of its own. While the mayor retains the authority to investigate city employees under a provision of the city charter, City Council President Breean Beggs stated that removing this section of city code has restored the broad powers of the Office of the Police Ombudsman to investigate allegations of misconduct also granted by the charter. On Monday, the council voted 6-1 to remove a section of city code that stipulates that complaints against the Spokane police chief will be directed to the mayor and investigated by the city’s human resources department. “People should be asking themselves, why?” Zappone added, before noting that Meidl has donated to Woodward’s re-election campaign. “The mayor has a choice and could build community trust if she would just start an investigation so that the community can know what happened, and she chose not do it.” ![]() “I think fundamentally, this is an issue about transparency,” said Councilman Zack Zappone. The Spokane City Council has broadened the authority to investigate the city’s chief of police, in the wake of complaints that police Chief Craig Meidl engaged in inappropriate communications with local business owners and Mayor Nadine Woodward’s refusal to investigate the claims.
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