Spirit Lake names police chief

SPIRIT LAKE — The Spirit Lake City Council appointed a new police chief in a heated meeting punctuated by shouts and applause from about 75 people Tuesday.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity and the challenge of being your chief of police,” Spirit Lake Police Department Chief Michael Morlan said as the mayor presented him with a badge and stars.

Effective immediately, Morlan will begin hiring police officers for the department, which has seven vacant positions out of eight total.

“It’s time to roll up my sleeves and get some officers hired,” he said.

Morlan has 18 years of experience in the military, 27 years with the Los Angeles Police Department and comes to Spirit Lake from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’m looking forward to working and meeting all of you,” he said. “In fact that’s one of my goals. I’m going to ensure that the officers that are hired know all of you and respond to your calls for service. We’re not going to be a drive-and-wave department.”

Tensions between city staff, Mayor Jeremy Cowperthwaite and council members have been high since city police officers and former police chief Dennis Sanchez resigned earlier this year.

Morlan will also inherit challenges like a police department already at 164% of its budget, Spirit Lake City Clerk Michelle Wharton said.

During workshops, council members expected the police budget to have surplus money from the salary savings of being short-staffed, but those savings haven’t counterbalanced expenditures.

“Where can I start on this budget process?” Councilman Kenny Gross said. “It’s been painful and difficult working with City Hall on this.”

When approving the final $5.4 million draft of the budget, council members complained about communication with city staff, citing confusion with the budget and unreceived emails or responses.

“I would agree with Kenny, it’s been really tough,” Councilman Darrell Woods said. “We are at that step where we really need to get this out. We still may be able to make some changes at the end, but our goal this time was to just try and hold expenses the best we can, along with trying to build the police department the best we can.”

The total budget includes the maximum allowable 3% property tax increase but removed $48,000 from the police department revenue because the Lakeland School District will not pay the cost of a student resource officer since police can't provide that officer.

The 2024 budget also includes no raises for city staff, per council’s request.

“We finally got it clear that we didn’t want any pay increases for city employees, and then that finally came out of the document that you claim was the same every time,” Gross said to Mayor Cowperthwaite in an argument.

Wharton had requested a raise for her deputy clerk in the first draft of the budget, so the clerk’s salary would compare with similar cities, but Wharton removed the raises in the third draft of the budget based on council members’ requests.

“The budget you are passing is the balanced one that you were given, I believe that this is the sixth time,” Cowperthwaite said. “Working with City Hall has been done since the beginning. The budget was brought to you every single time with every single change that council has asked for. In fact, the proof is that the budget has been balanced every single time, as requested by the council.”

Gross and Woods suggested that the budget could be amended if necessary, but approved the draft to meet the deadlines for review.

The budget will be published in The Press on Aug. 15 and 22 before a public hearing at 5:30 Aug. 29 at Spirit Lake City Hall.

Council members also selected Woods as the council president. The position had been vacant since the previous council president resigned several months ago.

*This article has been updated to reflect a correction.