(The Center Square) – Spokane County Commissioner Chris Jordan signaled his willingness to serve on the local health board on Tuesday as the district gets ready to expand to include tribal representatives.
The Board of County Commissioners has considered expanding the Spokane Regional Health District’s Board of Health a few times in recent months. While the state had passed a law in 2022 requiring it to appoint Native American tribes and groups to the panel, the commissioners never followed through.
The Legislature clarified its intent earlier this year amid ongoing confusion. The new version requires Spokane to appoint federally recognized tribes that hold trust land in the county. It also extends to groups recognized by the Indian Health Service as registered nonprofits that provide services in that county.
However, state law also requires an equal number of elected officials and non-elected members on the health board. Commissioner Amber Waldref said Tuesday that the county is expecting a letter from the Native Project any day now, so she and her colleagues also need to appoint another elected official.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Commissioner Al French, who was once the longest-serving member of the SHRD board, said as Waldref opened the discussion. “But isn’t Commissioner Jordan the next one up?”
“Happy to serve,” Jordan quickly replied, pointing to his schedule, “I don’t have a conflict at that time.”
The state added the provision requiring equal representation between elected and non-elected officials in 2021. According to local media reports, the county commissioners then voted to reduce the board from 12 to eight members, rather than expanding to include more medical professionals during the pandemic.
The commissioners occupied three of those seats and appointed others to fill the remaining positions, but they didn’t appoint anyone to fill the tribal spot after the law changed again. The officials noted in July that some counties had varying interpretations of the number of tribal members the law required.
The state clarified that point specifically during the last legislative session, setting up Spokane County to finally fill that empty seat on the health board. The law also allows any tribe that owns trust land in the county, even if that group’s reservation is in another state, to request a seat on SHRD’s board.
Both the Spokane and Kalispell tribes hold trust land in the county, and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe plans to transfer 48 acres it owns there to a trust as well. If all three request seats on the board along with the Native Project, it would require Spokane to double the size of the board, including elected officials.
“Is there any merit to going back to the Legislature and asking them to clarify or to refine some of the language?” French asked his peers. “I mean, every time the Legislature touches this, it’s even worse.”
Commissioner Josh Kerns said it raises the question of whether the legislators responsible for the law understand the purpose of the health board, adding that it seems as if none have attended a meeting.
Waldref wants to get a resolution put together so that as soon as the county receives a letter from the Native Project requesting a seat on the health board, the commissioners can act within a few weeks.
While not official yet, Tuesday’s discussion seemed to position Jordan as the next elected member to join SHRD’s board. If another tribe joins, French may take another seat on the panel after leaving a few years ago, but he noted a conflict in his current schedule that could limit his participation.
“The only times I attended health board meetings is when you needed to vote to pass the budget, and I’ve always been appointed pending notice, but on a month-to-month basis, I got to pick and choose,” he said.
