Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown says “regional cooperation” is going to be a big focus of her new administration. “We have a set of issues between the city and county that have been unresolved for a period of time,” Brown says. During her first month in office, Brown has sent several letters firmly asking the Spokane County commissioners to give the city of Spokane more representation on various intergovernmental agencies. In a recent letter to the commissioners, Brown argued that the city needs to be better represented on the Spokane Regional Health District Board. The board used to have three seats set aside for elected officials from the city of Spokane. In 2021, the county reduced it to one seat set aside for an elected official from a city or town in Spokane County. The commissioners still have three seats – a point many city officials have expressed frustration over in recent years. At the start of this year, the commissioners chose to appoint Spokane City Council member Michael Cathcart to fill the city/town seat. In her letter, Brown told the commissioners that, while she’s confident in Cathcart’s abilities, she still thinks the city should have a say in which of its elected leaders sits on the board. County Commissioner Mary Kuney replied to Brown with a letter that largely boiled down to: Thanks for the feedback, we’ll think about it. (NATE SANFORD)