Mayor Brown honors Judith Gilmore, urges civil service to advance workforce diversity and language access

Mayor Lisa Brown addressed the Spokane Civil Service Commission on Jan. 21, presenting a proclamation honoring the late Judith Gilmore and outlining two personnel priorities: improving workforce diversity and increasing language access for city residents.

In a proclamation read to the commission, Brown praised Gilmore as a longtime community advocate and public servant and highlighted her work helping people with employment barriers and serving on local boards. “We miss her and her incredible energy and her purple glasses,” Brown said.

Brown told commissioners the civil service system is “authorized by our charter” to ensure employees are treated fairly and thanked Chief Examiner Kelsey Pearson and staff for their work during a recent fiscal challenge. She said voter approval of a community safety sales tax helped the city avoid many personnel reductions.

Brown said one priority for her administration is to make the city workforce more reflective of Spokane’s demographics as the region faces talent shortages. A second priority is expanding language access for critical public documents, particularly those related to emergency and public safety. Brown cited a 2022 U.S. Census Bureau finding that nearly 8% of Spokane residents speak a language other than English at home and that nearly a third of those reported limited English proficiency; she also noted Spokane Public Schools estimates students in the district speak nearly 80 different languages.

Commissioners thanked the mayor and commented that the diversity and language-access priorities are important to the commission’s work on recruitment and testing.