Spokane County commissioners have made a wise decision in naming Gerry Gemmill as the new county CEO. 

Now that the position is filled, the commissioners should do their best to put behind them any lingering hard feelings about the controversies that arose during the search process. Because while replacing a longtime CEO like Marshall Farnell is never easy, the commissioners’ job became more difficult when the first candidate, Commissioner Todd Mielke, failed to garner support from fellow Commissioner Al French. 

Going back to the drawing board, the commissioners selected a candidate who is a known quantity. Gemmill has served as vice president of finance and administration at Whitworth University the past couple of years and worked for the city of Spokane for a period of time before going to the private school. Prior to his stints with Whitworth and the city, he worked for the county for 33 years. Having last served as chief operations director, his duties were described essentially as those of a deputy CEO. Succession plans at the time touted him as the heir apparent for the CEO position. 

Gemmill has the type of start-from-the-bottom story that earns the respect of most people. In 1975, he started working for the county as a heavy-equipment operator. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees while working and held several management positions on his way to being named to the county’s second-most senior position. 

Even in selecting Gemmill, however, the commission’s vote was split, 2-1, with French dissenting once again. While complimentary of Gemmill, French said he preferred that the county perform a nationwide search for Farnell’s successor.

Farnell, who is in his early 70s, announced his retirement last January, and there is merit to the argument that the commissioners have spent a sufficient amount of time and resources on finding Farnell’s replacement in the 10 months since then.

Besides, the support for Gemmill appears to be broad based. French was complimentary, and Mielke and Commissioner Shelly O’Quinn gave ringing endorsements of him as the best candidate. In addition, Spokane County Auditor Vicki Dalton, who has been with the county for 27 years and worked with Gemmill previously, described him as a great people person in a press release issued by the county. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and Assessor Vickie Horton lauded his connections in the community and his work with other jurisdictions. 

The county has benefited greatly by having stability in its CEO position. Farnell served as the county’s top executive for just over a decade, but he had worked for the county for 30-plus years prior to taking over that post. At 60 years old, Gemmill might not be in the position as long, but he comes in with a similar amount of institutional knowledge, coupled with the benefit of working in leadership at a couple of other large institutions in recent years. That combination should serve the county—and it citizens—well in the coming years. In the context of the moment, we think it was the right call.