Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about.
Some things that stick out to us this week include:
- At Spokane City Council, there are a few consent agenda contracts and Special Budget Ordinances to receive funding to maintain the city’s municipal courts and to create a new Drug Court for handling drug-related offenses
- Spokane City Council will also do a first reading of a new ordinance that would prohibit any landlord who doesn’t have a business license or hasn’t registered their rental units on the city’s rental registry from raising rents or evicting tenants.
- The Public Safety & Community Health Committee will consider an ordinance that would expand sit-and-lie laws from just the downtown corridor to the whole city
- The Board of County Commissioners are eyeing a grant for PFAS contamination clean up on the West Plains in partnership with the Kalispel tribe.
- Spokane Valley City Council will hold a first reading on an ordinance that would ensure they don’t raise property taxes in 2025.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Public Safety & Community Health Committee
- Board of County Commissioners - Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Spokane School District Board of Directors
- Plan Commission
- Spokane Park Board
- Spokane Regional Transportation Council
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Transportation Appointments
Mayor Lisa Brown has made appointments to fill the empty (and brand new) Transportation Commission, which was created earlier this year to consolidate the city’s transportation-related boards that weren’t regularly meeting or struggled to stay filled. If Brown’s slate of eight appointments are all approved at tonight’s meeting, the newly formed Transportation Commission will be full and ready to start meeting. The eight people up for appointment include:
- Karl Otterstrom, Chief Planning and Development Officer at Spokane Transit Agency, who was appointed to fill one of three at-large positions for members with transportation expertise.
- Rhonda Young, a Civil Engineering Professor at Gonzaga University who was appointed to fill the second of three at-large positions for members with transportation expertise
- Mike Bjordahl, a transportation engineer from the Washington State Department of Transportation, who was appointed to fill the third at-large position for a member with transportation expertise
- Raychel Callary, a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist to fill the position reserved for a member with expertise of The Americans with Disability Act
- Dylan Jouliot, a Data and Evaluation Analyst at Gonzaga University with past experience as a transportation specialist in Seattle as the member with city parking system expertise
The next three appointees are meant to be everyday Spokanites, but we looked them up on social media to give you a sense of who they are.
- Joni Harris, whose Instagram bio reads “ride bikes, read books, eat potatoes,” and who will be representing City Council District 1
- Grant Shipley, the “most interesting person you’ve never heard of and Spokane bike guy,” who will be representing City Council District 2
- Kaylee Jackman, who regularly posts on Instagram about the bus system, utilizes the #strongtowns tag and who will be representing City Council District 3
Cash for Courts
Keeping Spokane’s municipal therapeutic courts operational as funding dwindles has been a big conversation for the current city council, but there may be small victory at tonight’s meeting. Spokane is set to receive funding from the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts, the Office of Justice Programs and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to help fund some of the city’s municipal therapeutic courts, and spin up a new Drug Court, which will support the city’s need to process substance use-related cases. Community Court, which utilizes “a collaborative, problem-solving approach to crime,” and accountability, is set to receive funding that will allow it to continue operating through the end of September 2028. The DUI Court program will receive funding to keep it operational through the end of September 2025.
Legislation up for a vote
There are a few pieces of legislation up for final vote tonight, including:
- A resolution approving a partnership between Gonzaga University and City of Spokane to apply for a Department of Ecology Air Quality grant (there is no indication in the agenda of how large this grant is or what exactly it would be used for)
- A noise ordinance — that was surprisingly controversial at its first reading last week — that would allow the Public Works Director to permit construction noises during the night for short periods, and before 7 am on workdays when the weather is forecasted to get above 95 degrees.
- An ordinance that would require the city to consider using composted materials in future landscaping and construction projects, in accordance with state law.
- An ordinance that would prohibit freight trucks from using Nebraska Avenue from N. Ash Street to N. Monroe street, per requests from residents and “repeated attempts” to ask businesses not to use the residential street for transport.
No rent raises for unregistered landlords
Council Member Paul Dillon’s controversial rental registry ordinance is up for its first official read tonight. The ordinance, which we covered here, would prohibit any landlord who doesn’t have a business license or hasn’t registered their rental units on the city’s rental registry from raising rents or evicting tenants. The rental registry, which was created last year, is designed to hold rental properties to safety standards, and the fees collected from the registrations are set to be used to pay for three additional property inspectors. The Inlander reported that as of September, less than half of the rental units in the city had been registered.
The ordinance will also streamline the process for securing waivers by exempting qualifying properties automatically from the fee.
Rate setting for utilities
The council is holding first readings of multiple ordinances to establish utility rates for 2025-26. The stated approach to these rates is to “support our most vulnerable customers, maintain affordability, encourage diversion of organics and lower water use, ensure each class of customer is paying their fair share, and improve financial stability to ensure quality service delivery.”
Here’s a quick and dirty summary of the changes that could be coming, if these ordinances are approved in a couple of weeks:
- Monthly sewer rates inside the city, which are currently at $35.37, could go up by about $2 in 2025 and another $2 in 2026
- The monthly water basic charge inside the city, which is currently at $18.76, could go up by $0.28 in 2025 and another $0.93 in 2026. The consumption charge will stay the same in 2025 for folks using less than 2,500 cubic feet of water per month, and go up by a fraction of a cent per 100 gallons in 2026. For those using more than 2,500 cubic feet of water per month, the rates per hundred cubic feet of usage are going up more significantly. According to the city, the average monthly use from residential customers is about 6,000 gallons a month, which is around 800 cubic feet, which means most people will not see an increase in their consumption charge over the next two years.
- The monthly wastewater capital rate is currently $33.11 per residence in the city. That could go up to $34.43 in 2025 and $36.12 in 2026.
There are lots more important numbers in these ordinances, like rate changes for businesses and people living outside the city, plus some more involved changes in trash collection, so for those of you interested, you can check out the full text in the agenda.
Sales tax resolution
The city is running a sales tax on the ballot, which would cost the average Spokane resident $1 for every $1,000 they spend in the city — with exceptions for food, mortgages, rent, prescriptions and other necessities. The tax has no end date attached, and opponents of it criticized a lack of specific commitments when it came to funding. (We covered the tax in depth here.)
Tonight, the council will do a first reading of a resolution that would state their intent to put the collected funds in a dedicated Community Safety Fund, which would ensure they were only spent for the intended purpose, and stop collecting the tax in 2035. However, because the resolution is nonbinding and the sunset language is not what voters see on the ballot, this could be overturned at any point by the majority vote of a future council.
Council Member Michael Cathcart has submitted an amended version of the resolution that would add further guardrails to the Community Safety Fund, limiting it to financing only the Spokane Police Department, Spokane Fire Department, Office of Police Ombudsman and Municipal Court. Cathcart’s resolution would also limit spending within those departments to:
- “Personnel expenditures from Community Safety Fund must be for positions created after June 1, 2025 and which measurably enhance public safety.”
- Capital expenditures on vehicles, air support technologies and surveillance equipment purchased after June 1, 2025
- Personal safety equipment for police officers and firefighters
- Service contracts
Though Cathcart’s resolution has more specifics, it is also not the language that was included on the ballot, so it too could be overturned by a future council.
Agenda here
Monday, October 7 at 6 pm
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council Study Sessions
Agenda here when available.
Thursday, October 10 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Public Safety & Community Health Committee
🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Support for sales tax
Council Member Paul Dillon is proposing a resolution in support of the city’s sales tax on the ballot. This resolution, which would signal to voters that the council is in support of the tax, will be discussed at the committee meeting today.
C.O.P.S. Convo
A sole source contract with Spokane Community Oriented Policing Services — C.O.P.S. — that would have ensured the nonprofit continued to provide community policing and victim advocacy services for another five years was deferred indefinitely a couple of weeks ago. At today’s committee meeting, Jeff Johnson, the CEO of C.O.P.S. will be available to answer questions from the council as they discuss whether or not to renew the contract, which has been in place since the 1990s.
Expanding Sit and Lie Laws
Sit and lie laws prevent all people from sitting or lying down on public property in a way that obstructs access, though these laws are rarely enforced and when they are, are disproportionately enforced against unhoused people. Currently, they only apply to the downtown corridor. Council Members Jonathan Bingle and Cathcart are proposing an ordinance that would expand this law to the entire city. This proposal is up for discussion at today’s committee meeting.
Residential Lighting
In June, the council approved $150,000 in ARPA funds to be spent on residential street lighting. Today, the council will discuss a Memorandum of Understanding to create a program that would install motion sensor flood lights in residential areas, with an emphasis on alleys and areas with low lighting. The program would give reimbursements to residents who purchase and install an appropriate light, and also include distribution and installation of lights for people who are victims of crime or live in high crime areas and may be unable to afford or install a light on their own. The program would be managed by the Office of Neighborhood Services.
High Utilizer
Cathcart is proposing an ordinance that would address recidivism in drug cases for the people the city has taken to calling “high utilizers,” — people who are frequently arrested, taken to emergency rooms or using emergency services because of drug use. Under Cathcart’s new ordinance, there would be expedited case processing for high utilizers, with faster review and charging decisions, coordination for active warrants and “coordination of mental health and other services.” People deemed high utilizers would also be ineligible for Community Court, which is more focused on restorative justice, and not subject to Spokane County Jail’s red light status, which allows low risk offenders to be cited and released when jail cells are full.
Per the ordinance, those “high utilizers” would be identified via a list produced every January and July of the top 75 repeat offenders “responsible for the most disproportionate amount of criminal activity.” Anyone who shows up on the list would be defined as a high utilizer and subject to the increased penalties of the ordinance until the next list is produced six months later.
Agenda here
Monday, October 7 at 1:15 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Possible $37M in EPA grants to address PFAS contamination
The county is looking to apply for up to $20 million in federal funding to address the ongoing “forever chemicals” contamination crisis on the West Plains. The grant the county is eyeing is provided through the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. A presentation on the application to be given at the BOCC briefing session says the county is in talks with the Kalispel Tribe to be the required community partner that would administer the grant.
A second grant opportunity exists through the Washington Department of Health for the county to receive part of $17 million in EPA funding to clean up the contamination, according to the presentation.
People who live on the West Plains have been drinking water contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for decades after Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport released the chemicals into the groundwater. The contamination stemmed from federally required firefighting drills and practices using a special foam designed to extinguish jet fuel fires.
Tens of millions in stormwater improvements
The Public Works Department will present for BOCC consideration $21 million for dozens of road construction and storm- and wastewater improvements to be constructed in the next year. It’s part of the broader six-year improvement plan, which entails more than $200 million in spending. A little more that $3 million will come from county coffers. Nearly $13 million will come from federal aid funds, and $5 million will come from the state of Washington. Most of the projects propose to either preserve or reconstruct roads or mitigate existing storm- and wastewater problems, but some new projects are included in the plan, including a new wetland mitigation bank at Fish Lake and a new roundabout at Bruce and Peone roads.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 8 at 9 am
Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session
🌶️/5 peppers
School districts may pay sheriff for school resource officers’ benefits
The BOCC is slated to vote on new agreements with Spokane County school districts that, if approved, will require the districts to contribute increasing money for School Resource Deputies. One deputy is provided by the county to each district for law enforcement, counseling and teaching. Under the agreements, the districts will contribute one-sixth the amount of benefits paid to each deputy. That amount would then increase each year until the district is paying half its deputy’s benefits package.
The revised interlocal agreements state that “a trained School Resource Deputy knows when to informally interact with students to reinforce school rules and when to enforce the law. The School Resource Deputy shall not become involved in formal school discipline situations that are the responsibility of the district administrators.”
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 8 at 2 pm
Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Valley City Council
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Property Tax proposal
Spokane Valley City Council previously discussed whether or not to collect the additional 1% property tax increase that is allowed each year, per state law. It looks like they decided not to collect the additional property tax, as this week they’re holding a first reading of a property tax ordinance proposing that rates for 2025 stay exactly the same as the rates for 2024. The city anticipates the total collected property tax will be $14,081,000 or 22.27% of total General Fund recurring revenues of $63,238,300.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 8 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here.
Spokane School District Board of Directors
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Special Executive Sesh
Spokane School District Board of Directors are holding a special meeting this week that is set to be entirely an executive session (which means no members of the public can observe.) They’re scheduled to consider a potential property for acquisition, evaluate the school board candidates that were interviewed last week to fill a vacancy and discuss the performance of a public employee.
They’re also having a regular session meeting, but we didn’t notice anything too controversial on the agenda for that.
Agenda here
Wednesday, October 9 at 6 pm
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Plan Commission
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Wednesday, October 9 at 2 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Park Board
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here when available
Thursday, October 10 at 3:30 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed via WebEx,
Call in: 408-418-9388 Access code: 2491 764 3350
Spokane Regional Transportation Council
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Thursday, October 10 at 1 pm
Spokane Regional Transportation Office
21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
