CIVICS: We also have a property tax increase, redistricting decisions and county zoning changes.
This week we have County Commission sneakery and public comment avoidance, and a lot more. It’s a long one, so grab a coffee and get ready to hear what it’s going to take to have a say in the decisions our local elected officials are making.
Spokane County Board of Commissioners
The board that governs Spokane County usually has three public meetings each week: Strategic Planning (Mondays at 9 a.m.), Working (Mondays at 2 p.m.), and Regular Sessions (Tuesdays at 2 p.m.).
Emergency at Camp Hope?: An item that set off alarm bells for us reads, “Sheriff Knezovich (10:50 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.) Proclamation of Emergency Request.” That meeting notice can be found in the commissioners’ Monday Strategic Planning meeting agenda, which is generally sparse on details and often doesn’t have an agenda packet.
Following the county commissioner rabbit hole, which can be about as dizzying and nonsensical as Alice and Wonderland, we head over to the Regular Session agenda for Tuesday. There you’ll see, at the bottom of the Consent Agenda: “In the matter of declaring an Emergency Proclamation / Resolution as provided for in Chapter 38.52 RCW and RCW 36.180 respectively related to the property commonly referred to as Camp Hope and other matters related thereto.”
Take a deep breath, and stretch. OK, ready? Let’s unpack what this means.
The full emergency proclamation in the agenda packet for the regular session (starting on page 147) cites the upcoming winter months and threat of a dangerous fire spreading through the camp among the reasons to call for an emergency.
According to letters in the packet, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer requested activation of the County Emergency Coordination Center after an Oct. 18 agency stakeholder meeting. The priorities he lists for the attempt are: offering shelter space and services to those in Camp Hope, making a plan to store their personal belongings safely, providing “safety and security” to the people giving the services to Camp Hope residents and work crews that clear the camp, and cleaning up the property.
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich in his letter to the commissioners cites the upcoming winter, lack of infrastructure like running water and sewers, and safety for the surrounding community as reasons for the emergency.
It’s unclear, in either officials’ letters and the emergency proclamation, where exactly the county will provide shelter to the approximately 400+ unhoused people left at Camp Hope. The county simply doesn’t have enough shelter space for all the unhoused people in it, even with the recently opened Trent Shelter.
What the emergency proclamation does, however, is give the county and sheriff authority to enter contracts and rack up costs “without regard to time-consuming procedures and formalities prescribed by law (excepting mandatory constitutional requirements),” like public hearings, competitive bidding and publishing notices.
These actions align with the looming deadline Knezovich set to clear the encampment (currently sitting at November 10) and the county commissioners’ approval to authorize the county prosecutor to sue the state over Camp Hope.
Got something to say? (Too bad): There’s a slim time frame for public comment on this item — so slim it feels deliberate. The strategic planning and working meetings are boardroom-style meetings, meaning that the public can only make comments if the commission is taking a final vote at that meeting. They are not taking a vote on the emergency order at this meeting, so the public cannot comment on it. The final vote is in the consent agenda of the regular session.
We really need to do an explainer on nerdy board stuff like this because it is extremely esoteric, but for our purposes today: consent agendas are usually big sets of decisions — approving the month’s payroll and other planned expenses, for example — where board members just vote for or against everything at once. At the County Commission, the public is not allowed to make oral comments on consent agendas.
So, by putting the emergency declaration in the consent agenda, the County Commissioners are effectively prohibiting public comment, except in one narrow window.
The only way to comment on a consent agenda item is to make a written comment by noon the day before. So, crack your knuckles and prepare to be left out of discussions on the future of this community once again.
In order to comment on the county declaring Camp Hope an emergency, you have to email the board clerk before Monday at noon.
In related news: Right before that emergency item in the regular session, there will be discussion of approving a Homeless Outreach, Stabilization and Transition (HOST) Program. The goal of the program is to support unhoused people who are also experiencing behavioral health challenges and other disabling conditions.The county put out a request for proposals from providers in July.
Details:Strategic Planning Meeting: Monday, Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. (virtual here)Regular Session: Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. (virtual here)Public Works Building, 1026 West Broadway Ave.
