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:
- The Spokane City Council could pass an emergency moratorium on data centers within city limits, effective immediately.
- The Spokane City Council is also set to pass a $200,000 settlement to a man who sued the city for Spokane Police Department excessive force, and $70,000 in grants to events that could generate tourism, like Terrain and Feast Fest.
- At the Urban Experience Committee, there’s a continued focus on eviction prevention work, including allocating $20,000 towards it. The Spokane city Council members will also get a presentation on the 2026 Point-in-Time count data here.
- The Spokane Public Library board will hear results of an employee satisfaction survey, so if you’ve ever wondered how good it is to work for the library, this might be your meeting.
- The Spokane Transit Authority board could approve a nearly $7 million contract for six years of mobility-on-demand, a pilot program approved in their Connect 2035 strategic plan.
- The Spokane County Auditor wants to buy a new land records management system to replace the existing one, which was purchased in 2006 and which the auditor says is outdated.
- The Spokane Valley City Council is set to adopt its six-year transportation improvements plan, which includes tens of millions in roads projects.
Important meetings this week:
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Data center moratorium
Though Avista announced plans to “pause” development on their large load data center partnership, the city is not planning to pause their emergency one-year pause on new data centers in the city. Tonight, the council could vote to impose an immediate moratorium on data centers anywhere in the city limits of Spokane. Avista’s coverage area is large though, and even if this passes, a data center could be sited outside Spokane city limits without similar moratoriums or legislation from the bodies that govern all the land outside the city — like the county commissioners.
Police violence settlement
After spending $175,000 to fight a lawsuit about Spokane Police Department conduct, the council is set to approve a $200,000 settlement for Andrei Johnson. Johnson alleged that his civil rights were violated by excessive force used against him by SPD in 2022. According to the lawsuit, Johnson was holding a shard of glass against his own neck, and instead of deescalating, SPD officers deployed tasers, 40mm less-lethal rounds and then unleashed a K9 after Johnson was prone and surrounded. The dog inflicted severe injuries to Johnson’s head.
New Urban Native Advisory Council
The council will hold a first reading of an ordinance to formally establish the Spokane Urban Native Advisory Council (SUNAC), composed of up to 12 voting members. The new advisory council will advise the mayor, city council and city staff on “policies, programs, and initiatives affecting the urban Native population and grounding City decision-making in lived experience, cultural knowledge, and a commitment to equity and sovereignty-informed partnership,” according to the agenda.
Tourism grants
A small lodging tax on hotel rooms rented in the city funds grants that make investments in new cultural activities and events that could draw tourists to Spokane, ideally creating an ouroboros of benefit for Spokane. Tonight, on recommendations from the Tourism and Cultural Investment Committee, the council could give out seven $10,000 grants funded by the lodging tax to:
- Terrain for its flagship event and BrrZAAR
- Local Inland Northwest Cooperative Foods for Grainmaker Fest
- Feast World Kitchen for Feast Fest 2026
- South Perry Together for South Perry Street Fair
- Spokane Pride for Garland Pride
- Boomjam Arts and Music Festival
- CorpoRAT for the Punk Rock Flea Market
Agenda here
Monday, June 15 at 6 pm
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council Study Sessions
Agenda here when available.
Thursday, June 18 at 11 am
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
This week’s Urban Experience committee is set to be a busy one. Here’s the highlight reel of what the council will discuss today:
- the emergency ordinance to impose a moratorium on data centers, which is scheduled to go up for a vote tonight
- an ordinance to authorize the residential rental property mitigation fund to support the city’s new Eviction Prevention program (which we covered here)
- a special budget ordinance to spend $20,000 in funds collected from rental-related business license fees and rental registry revenues on contractual services related to the Eviction Prevention program
- detailed results from the 2026 Point-in-Time count, which is a “snapshot” of the number of people who are homeless during a short time period in January.
Agenda here
Monday, June 15 at 12 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
These agendas never have much in the way of detail, but if you want to know how library employees feel about working for the library, this is the meeting for you, as they’ll get info on the
2026 Employee Engagement Survey results.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 16 at 5:30 pm
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
New land recording system
The Spokane County Auditor is requesting to purchase a new land records management system (LRMS), software that allows the office to capture, index and store land records throughout the county. A presentation asking for approval from the BOCC says the current system is old, lacks modern functions of other LRMSs and would be expensive to update. The system it wants to buy is called the Acclaim Land Records Management System, which is manufactured by Harris Recording Solutions. The purchase would cost the county $438,000. The contract with Harris would also purchase annual maintenance at a cost of $130,000 a year. The presentation notes the expenditure was accounted for in the 2026 budget.
Safe & Healthy Task Force presentation
Last week, we reported on the new recommendations from the regional Safe & Healthy Task Force, a coalition of community leaders trying to make Spokane County, well, safer and healthier. The BOCC will present its recommendations Tuesday. Read details about these recommendations here.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 16 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
Second reading on polygraphs for juvenile offenders
The commission is holding a second reading on a resolution to dedicate $25,000 to pay Inland Polygraph to administer polygraphs, a widely discredited technology, to children detained by county Juvenile Court Services. Polygraphs, also known as “lie-detector” tests, measure physiological responses to questions asked of people accused of crimes to determine whether they’re being truthful. Proponents of polygraphs say they gather data that accurately suggests whether a person is lying, but the American Psychological Association writes of them: “scientific evidence suggests that polygraph tests are not a reliable and valid way to detect deception, and their use in legal proceedings has long been restricted in many states.”
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 16 at 2 pm
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Mobility on demand update
Mobility on demand — the pilot program approved in the Connect 2035 plan that would expand transit coverage by sending vehicles to pick up people outside of the normal coverage area — is nearing the implementation phase. This week, the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors could approve a 6-year, $6,675,160 contract with Direct Medical Transportation, Inc. to run the mobility on demand pilot.
Agenda here
Thursday, June 18 at 1:30 pm
STA Boardroom
1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Airport Board
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Contract amendments for terminal expansion
The board is amending contracts for the ongoing construction expanding Terminal C at the Spokane International Airport. There’s no more information on the agenda sheet.
Agenda here.
Thursday, June 18 at 9 am
9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane School District Board of Directors (regular and special)
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Levy headed to voters
The board will take a vote on a resolution to put a $333 million tax levy before voters during a special election on November 3 (in conjunction with the regular election). The levy would pay for educational programs and operations costs and would be paid over three years beginning in 2027.
Contract renewal
Superintendent Adam Swinyard’s contract renewal is also up for a vote. The contract offers an annual base salary of $285,987. The contract’s term is from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029.
Increased costs and the upcoming school year’s budget
The board will also take a vote on updated student fees. These include increased costs for things like Spokane Public School’s Express Child Care and school lunches, among other things. The board will also potentially approve increased fees for using school facilities.
As officials continue discussing the budget, the board will hear a presentation on the recommended budget for the 2026-2027 school year. The board is expected to consider adoption during an August 26 meeting and offer the public an opportunity to weigh in during a public hearing before taking action.
School transportation
Before the regular meeting, the board will gather for a special meeting that will include an update on SPS Transportation. According to the agenda, the open session includes “a review of timelines and key areas of focus” to improve transportation services.
Agendas here
Wednesday, June 17 at 4:30 pm and 6 pm
200 N. Bernard, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Valley City Council
🌶️/5 peppers
Adopting six year transportation plan
The city council is set to adopt a plan that will dictate transportation infrastructure in Spokane County over the next six years. The plan contains tens of millions of dollars worth of construction costs. Some of the most prominent:
- reconstruction of the interchange at I-90 and Barker Road at a cost of $47,845,000
- reconstruction of the bridge the interchange of Sullivan and Trent road at a cost of $48,343,000
- reconstruction of the bridge at Argonne Road and I-90 at a cost of $25,080,000
See the full list here.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 16 at 6 pm
10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley
Virtual attendance here.
Liberty Lake City Council
🌶️/5 peppers
Governance Manual proposal
The agenda contains no details, but the city council will meet to review a new draft governance manual, a document that sets down the rules city officials must follow in their jobs and in public meetings.
Agenda here
Tuesday, June 16 at 7 pm
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake
The meeting is also live streamed here.
