Mission accomplished, for the most part.
Spokane Regional Emergency Communications announced that its first director, Steve Reinke, will depart in September after shepherding the new agency through its launch on July 1 without the city of Spokane as a partner.
Reinke was hired last year on a short-term basis to help guide the integration of multiple agencies across the county into a single emergency communications facility, now known as SREC.
“This has been the most challenging consolidation I’ve worked on, and I’m still optimistic that it’s eventually going to come together, because it’s the right thing to do,” Reinke said.
Lori Markham, the current deputy director, has been tapped to be the center’s next executive director and will take the reins on Sept. 1.
“This is a fun challenge and, moving forward, there are a lot of great opportunities with SREC and aligning public safety (agencies),” Markham said.