CIVICS | The city council will consider turning the Cannon shelter into a medical respite shelter for unhoused people.
ICYMI we got an exclusive interview with Governor Jay Inslee last week! Inslee called for direct housing development by the state, spoke about the state’s relationship with the city over Camp Hope and said the state needs to keep investing money into Spokane for housing and homelessness. Read the conversation or, if podcasts are your thing, listen to it.
Welcome to CIVICS, where we make sense of public meeting agendas in and around Spokane so you don't have to. We hope you use this weekly series to inform your daily life, show up for our community and take action on the issues that matter to you.
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Urban Experience Committee
Respite at the Cannon shelter
The city council’s Urban Experience Committee will discuss a resolution that would set the stage for the city to turn the Cannon Street Shelter into a respite facility for unhoused people. Back in March, the city council approved a contract extension with The Salvation Army, which operates the shelter, until the end of May. At that point, the city’s plan was to “absorb” the 72 beds into the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC) once the contract was up.
Since then, city officials have batted around options for Cannon and it appears they’ve landed on turning it into a medical respite shelter for medically fragile unhoused people. This type of shelter has long been needed in Spokane, as homeless people with medical needs and mobility issues are not eligible to stay at shelters like TRAC. Additionally, many of the 60 or so remaining people at Camp Hope are there because they have higher medical and mental health needs than the shelters in Spokane’s system can provide.
The resolution doesn’t say where the funding for the transition will come from, but says that if healthcare services were offered at Cannon, they could possibly be paid for by Medicaid. This bit of funding would be crucial, as the city is facing a massive budget shortfall to fund both the Cannon and TRAC shelters.
It’s unclear how many beds there would be at the reimagined shelter, but a more intensive facility would likely have far fewer spaces than the current capacity of 80 people. The plan to shift people from Cannon has raised concern because TRAC often has fewer beds available than the amount of people staying at the Cannon shelter. Here, the timing of the reduction in beds seems to rely in part on the seasonal exodus from shelters as the weather gets nicer. Of course, this sets up a situation where we enter next winter with significantly fewer beds.
If passed, the resolution would authorize the city administration to work with local health care providers to transition the shelter into a medical respite facility by June.
The city council is currently set to consider the resolution on April 17.
Building permit extensions
The committee will also be discussing an amendment to Spokane’s development code to extend the amount of time a building permit is valid from one to two years. Work on a building project would still have to start within 180 days from the time a permit is issued, but the amendment would cut down on the number of building permit extension requests the city has to review and approve.
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Spokane City Council
More budget oversight
The city council is set to vote on an ordinance that would change Spokane’s municipal code to put more stringent monitoring rules on the city’s budget.
The change would require the city’s finance department to provide regular monthly financial reports on the general fund to city council. It would also require the finance department to provide a quarterly summary of possible issues that could impact the city’s overall finances as well as proposed budget amendments each quarter. The ordinance also asks for more detailed financial forecasting and budget projections and put requirements on unallocated reserve balances in the General Fund.
This ordinance was brought forward because Councilman Michael Cathcart stipulated in passing the 2023 budget that the city implement systems to better keep on top of its budget, according to the Spokesman. Read Emry Dinman’s rundown here.
Agenda hereMonday, April 7 at 6 p.m.Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane city Plan Commission
Bicycle parking code update hearing
The Plan Commission will be holding a public hearing on an update to the city’s bicycle parking code that would require short and long-term bike parking throughout the city based on the type of business and add spacing standards to bike parking. The hope is that increased and more secure bike parking will increase the number of people commuting by bike. See the full plan and changes here.
Agenda hereTuesday, April 12 at 2 p.m.Public Works Building1026 W Broadway, Spokane, WACommissioner’s Hearing Room, Lower Level
Spokane County Board of County Commissioners
Guns and firing range time for Sheriffs
The Sheriff’s Department is asking the commission to approve an agreement that would give deputies access to the Spokane Police Department’s firing range at an annual cost of $17,250. The department is also seeking approval for the purchase of 60 patrol rifles at a cost of $1,000 each. According to meeting documents, most of the current rifles used by the department are about 15 years-old.
Mall cops
The board of commissioners is reviewing a 3-year lease extension to continue using a space inside Spokane Valley Mall for Spokane County’s Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort (SCOPE). The site is a volunteer-run, non-profit collaboration with the Sheriff’s Office and also hosts a local law enforcement museum. For more, check-out this piece from KHQ.
Mobile crisis response grant
The county is set to approve the pass through of more than half a million dollars in federal grant money to bolster the budget of the mobile crisis response program administered in partnership with Frontier Behavioral Health. The more than $11 million program offers an alternative to police-only response and aims to divert people from the criminal justice system and into supportive services.
Sending patients out of town
The county is signing a series of “Single Case Agreements” to send four people who are involuntarily committed to psychiatric treatment to other facilities around the state including in Yakima and Seattle. It’s unclear from the meeting documents if this is a reflection of a lack of local services, or if there are other reasons to move these people for psychiatric services.
Agenda hereTuesday, April 11 at 2 p.m. Public Works Building1116 W Broadway, Spokane, WACommissioner’s Conference Room, First Floor
Spokane Regional Transportation Council
There’s not much in this public meeting that people would likely want to comment on, but the board will be discussing infrastructure goals, and developing a unified plan for 2024 and 2025 for the SRTC.
Agenda hereThursday, April 13 at 1 p.m.SRTC, 421 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504This meeting is hybrid. Link here
Spokane Park Board
Agenda here (once posted).Thursday, April 13 at 3:30 p.m.Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201The meeting is also available virtually by calling in on the number provided in the agenda.
Central Valley School District Board of Directors
Agenda here (once posted)Monday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m.Learning and Teaching Center (district office)Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty LakeWatch via Zoom here.
Community events
Spokane Climate Project Film Screening
A fundraiser for Inland Northwest Land Conservancy with a panel discussion. Wednesday, April 12 at 5:30 p.m. More details and register here.
Community Conversation on Homelessness
A conversation on a regional collaborative approach to address homelessness in Spokane. Thursday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. More details here.
How to Fight Poverty with Profits
A Conversation with Cotopaxi Founder Davis Smith. Thursday, April 13 at 4 p.m. More details and RSVP here.
