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:
- Spokane County is realizing that a good data center zoning policy is going to take more than four months to develop and will consider extending it until June 2027.
- The Spokane City Council will hold final hearings on two ordinances designed to help people quickly get back on their feet after disasters like the Spokane Complex fires.
- The council could also approve an additional $100,000 in legal fees to fight a lawsuit from the family of a man shot and killed by Spokane Police. Last week, we reported on flippant texts from the officers who shot him just hours after his death, with a recent update from Police Chief Kevin Hall.
- At the Public Safety and Community Health Committee, the Spokane City Council will discuss officially opposing two of the three ballot measures backed by Let’s Go Washington.
Spokane City Council Agenda Review
Every Tuesday, the council meets to finalize the Wednesday agenda, which now includes items that are coming up in the next two weeks, giving you more of a chance to comment on things before they’re up for a vote.
Up for a vote next week:
- A full slate of reappointments of representatives to city boards and commissions, including former congressional candidate Kevin Fagan to the Climate, Resiliency and Sustainability Board.
- Deciding on the schedule for budget hearings, as the city prepares for another potential deficit in 2027.
- A resolution to approve allocating unspent ARPA dollars to backfilling police and fire overtime costs
- A resolution to support the Department of Natural Resources land exchange of the Thorpe property
- A resolution to officially oppose Let’s Go Washington’s ballot measures to reinstate their original Parent’s Bill of Rights, and to require all girls wanting to participate in girls’ sports to get their sex assigned at birth checked and certified by a physician. In order to pass that next week, the council would first have to approve a rules suspension
- An ordinance to penalize “nuisance properties”
- A slate of ordinances to approve rate increases for waste- and storm-water services
- An ordinance to establish equitable budgeting practices
- An ordinance to implement an additional 0.1% sales tax through the state Public Safety Funding program. Money collected would go to “establish a Community Safety Campus, further integrate behavioral health into public safety systems and improve emergency preparedness.” This is a separate sales tax from the one the Spokane County Commission is considering for county law enforcement costs.
Up for a vote in two weeks:
- An ordinance to expand the boundary of the East Sprague Parking and Business Improvement Area to include new parcels on the west side of the current area, stretching along Sprague Avenue to Hatch Street. This is currently the only proposed (two weeks out) legislative item on the agenda.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 6 at 11 am
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Legal fees for Musselman case
The council is set to pass a contract amendment to spend an additional $100,000 on legal services to fight a lawsuit from the estate of Joshua Musselman, who was shot and killed by the Spokane police in 2024. If passed, this would bring the total spent fighting the suit to $250,000. Last week, RANGE reported on the flippant texts officers were sending just hours after shooting Musselman, recently updated with Spokane Police Department’s response to our reporting.
Shelter beds in bad weather
The council could pass a resolution allowing the administration to enter into an up to $1 million contract with Catholic Charities and Jewels Helping Hands to operate shelter beds during inclement weather conditions. This will be paid for with 1590 funds. Details on the shelter beds can be found here.
Final hearings
If you want to make yourself heard on the emergency ordinances to provide regulatory relief for rebuilds in the wake of the Spokane Complex fires, and to create a Temporary Disaster Housing Program for residents displaced by emergencies like wildfires or other natural disasters, this is your last chance as those have a final hearing scheduled this week.
The regulatory relief ordinance would let the city’s planning director quickly approve Like-for-Like residential rebuild projects — essentially, putting the exact same kind of structure back. This wouldn’t apply if property owners wanted to rebuild a different kind of structure, for example, placing a duplex where a single family home once was. It would also allow for homeowners to construct an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) prior to reconstructing the original main structure.
The Temporary Disaster Housing Program ordinance would “provide a temporary, expedited, and coordinated process for the safe placement and occupancy of Temporary Disaster Housing for residents displaced from their primary residences,” according to the agenda. It would let the city site temporary housing units — like tiny homes, motor homes and manufactured homes — in certain locations across the city in the event of a disaster, including on public right of way.
Agenda here
Wednesday, October 7 at 6 pm
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Public Safety & Community Health Committee
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
It’s a full agenda at the Public Safety and Community Health Committee. Here’s a preview of what they plan to discuss:
- Officially opposing two of Let’s Go Washington’s two ballot measures: The Parent’s Bill of Rights measure, which would reinstate conservative-backed language, and the ordinance to keep trans girls out of girl’s athletics by requiring all kids who want to play girl’s sports to get their sex assigned at birth confirmed by a doctor.
- Domestic Violence Awareness month in Spokane — they’ll be getting a presentation from the YWCA
- An update on how many people ran red lights or sped in Spokane and were caught by cameras. Spoiler: it’s up from last year, but that could be attributed to more cameras and an earlier school start date.
- Accepting a grant from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission that would allow the city to expand their co-response policing model. In plainer language, they’ll be able to hire four new full time staffers, including two behavioral health clinicians, and contract with Peer Washington to respond to mental health calls, rather than just cops.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 6 at 12 pm
Council Chambers
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Community, Housing, and Human Services Board
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
If you have thoughts on the city’s urban planning, this might be your meeting. The Community, Housing and Human Services Board will be holding a hearing and taking public comment on the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and the 2026 Annual Action Plan.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 6 at 4 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
County may regulate crypto-kiosks
Following actions by the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley to ban virtual currency kiosks in city limits, the BOCC is considering a resolution that would create a framework for regulating where kiosks can be located. The kiosks, which work something like ATMs for trading electronic money such as Bitcoin, create massive opportunities for fraud and theft because the currencies are essentially unregulated. The resolution would not outright ban crypto-kiosks but would give the county government much more say in how they work within county limits.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 6 at 9 am
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Longer data center pause up for consideration
In August, the commission followed the tack of other nearby jurisdictions, including Kootenai County and the City of Spokane in temporarily pausing approvals for new data center developments. But that pause was only to last until December 15, a four-month window that would allow county planners to develop regulations on the facilities, which store electronic information but consume massive amounts of energy. Activists relentlessly criticized the board over the resolution, which they said was far too short to develop good zoning policy around data centers.
Now, the board is considering doing away with the current pause in favor of one that would last until June, giving planners almost six more months to regulate the centers before they consider applications.
New cops tax
The BOCC will host a public hearing on a new tax to fund public safety spending. The tax is enabled by a state bill that passed in the last legislative session allowing local jurisdictions to impose a .1% sales and use tax to fund police. The tax is expected to raise $14.5 million next year.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 6 at 2 pm
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Regional Transportation Council
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Thursday, October 8 at 1 pm
21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane School District Board of Directors
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Wednesday, October 7 at 6 pm (special meeting at 4:30 pm)
200 N. Bernard, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Valley City Council
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 6 at 6 pm
10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley
Virtual attendance here.
Liberty Lake City Council
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 6 at 7 pm
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake
The meeting is also live streamed here.
