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. We’re going to keep CIVICS short and sweet this week for the holiday.
Some things that stick out to us this week include:
- It’s Indigenous Peoples Day! Here are some reading recommendations from the Spokane Library.
- A final vote on a Spokane ordinance that would prohibit landlords who haven’t registered their units with the city to raise rents or evict people.
- Election debates this week and next!
- Liberty Lake is revisiting their anti-camping ordinance.
- County Commissioners may explore using surplus property for affordable housing.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Urban Experience Committee
- Central Valley School District Board of Directors
- Board of County Commissioners - Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Liberty Lake City Council
- Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
- Bicycle Advisory Board
- Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
Spokane election debates
Our pals at KSPS PBS are hosting several debates for local and statewide elections so you can see the candidates for yourself.
- Monday, October 14: The Washington Attorney General Debate between candidates Nick Brown and Pete Serrano at 5 pm
- Thursday, October 17: The Spokane County Commissioner District 5 Debate between candidates Al French and Molly Marshall airs at 7 pm. The WA State Representative District 3 Debate between candidates Natasha Hill and Tony Kiepe airs at 7:30.
- Monday, October 21: watch the Washington Governor Debate between candidates Bob Ferguson and Dave Reichert at 5 pm.
Click here for info on how to watch, and to catch past streams (including debates for our local US Senate and Congressional seats).
Where to get election information
Ballots just dropped before the weekend, so get informed before you fill yours out! Find all of RANGE’s election coverage here, which we will be updating all the way to Election Day! We already have explainers on the city and county sales taxes and three of the four state ballot initiatives, with much more on the way.
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
No rent raises for unregistered landlords
The council is set to hold a final vote on a new rental registry 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. As of September, less than half the rental units in the city had been registered, despite the city passing its registry requirement in February 2023 and it going into effect in January. The new ordinance also streamlines the process for securing waivers by exempting qualifying properties automatically from the required rental registry fee. The Tenants Union of Washington created a letter to urge the council and mayor to enact the ordinance and 650 people have signed on so far.
State of the City
We’re slated to get the rundown on Spokane with the Annual Mayoral Statement of Conditions and Affairs of the City (say that five times fast) at the start of city council. There’s no more details in the agenda, but you can see former Mayor Nadine Woodward’s statement from this time last year here to get an idea of what Mayor Lisa Brown might cover in her statement.
Support for city Prop 1, Opposition to state cap-and-trade initiative
The council is set to vote on a resolution to state its support for Proposition 1, which is on this November’s ballot. The proposition would create a new sales tax at 1/10th of 1% to fund new investments in community safety, including fire, police, municipal court and the office of police ombuds. Read all about it here.
Earlier in the day at the Urban Experience Committee, the council will discuss adding a resolution to oppose the statewide ballot initiative 2117, which would prohibit state and local jurisdictions from implementing cap-and-trade of carbon emission tax credits and blow a hole in many budgets for Spokane projects. The resolution is sponsored by council members Zach Zappone, Paul Dillon and Kitty Klitzke and states: “Hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for projects across the city would be at risk if Initiative 2117 were to be approved. On-time completion of the North-South Corridor, Division Street Bus Rapid Transit and ‘Youth Ride Free’ programs among other climate resiliency funding for extreme heat and wildfire threats would have significant gaps in appropriations.” Read about the initiative here.
All about utility rates
There are a few ordinances being voted on tonight having to do with utility rates. Spokane’s utility rates are going to expire at the end of the year and the city council has to set new rates for 2025 and 2026. We’re going to speed run through them:
- The first four ordinances are setting the rates and rules for each respective utility: Ordinance for the annual rates for the sewer utility and services (see page 213), Ordinance for the annual rates for the Water utility and services (page 224), Ordinance for the rates of Water-Wastewater public utilities and services (page 242), Ordinance for the rates of solid waste collection public utilities and services (page 250). Each rate for most residential and commercial customers appears to be going up by only a few dollars or cents. In some cases, like the solid waste collection ordinance, the city has added some additional regulations or codified changes to service hours.
- Relating to customer credit rate ordinance: This will amend the city code to increase the various credits the city offers, including for senior or disabled residential customers and conservation incentives.
Agenda here
Monday, October 14 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 17 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city)
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Agenda here
Monday, October 14 at 1:15 p.m.
Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Central Valley School District Board of Directors
🌶️/5 peppers
Agenda here
Monday, October 14 at 6 p.m.
Learning and Teaching Center (district office)
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Surplus lands for affordable housing
The county is discussing selling a piece of land that has historically been used for SCOPE (Sheriff’s Community-Oriented Policing Effort), which is a local volunteer organization that partners with the Sheriff to advocate for public safety. Commissioner Chris Jordan is asking that the county delay a vote to auction off the property until the BOCC can discuss opening such county land to be developed for affordable housing instead. Both Thrive International and Habitat for Humanity have submitted letters of interest in acquiring discounted or donated surplus property like this. The land is appraised at about $400,000.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 15 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
Airport bonds
The county is scheduled to approve $150 million in revenue bonds to finance future development at Spokane International Airport (SIA). Land around the airport has been the site of many audacious development projects in recent years, such as the recently completed expansion of Terminal C and the Amazon Fulfillment Center just north of I-90. These projects create jobs, but also controversy. Many people who live on the West Plains northeast of the airport don’t want to see more development until existing environmental problems — such as the forever chemicals contamination caused by SIA and Fairchild Air Force Base — are addressed.
County requesting qualifications for Crisis & Sobering Center
The county is soliciting designers and contractors to build a new facility where people can recover from personal crises and addiction. In a request for qualifications, it says the new facility is expected to be about 20,000 sq. ft. and will either be new construction or be created by renovating an existing building. It does not expect the cost of the project to exceed $12.9 million.
Nearly $1.5M for Cascade Way construction
The BOCC is scheduled to vote on $1.48 million in construction costs to repave a section of Cascade Way in North Spokane from Wall Street to Normandie Street.
Increases in behavioral health aid to other counties
BOCC will vote on a resolution that increases aid to behavioral health programs in Eastern Washington. If approved, Spokane County’s Community Services Department would be sending an extra $100,000 each to Adams County Integrated Health Care Services, Northeast Washington Alliance Counseling Services and Pend Oreille Counseling Services and an extra $200,000 to Pioneer Human Services, representing half a million in increased funding. Separately, the count also may increase funding for Frontier Behavioral Health by $989,100.
Setting the TIP, construction and stormwater master plan hearing
The BOCC is scheduled to set November 12 as the date for a public hearing to discuss the long-range plan for road improvements, public construction projects and stormwater projects. The count has planned $240 million worth of projects in all categories from 2025 to 2030.
Board appointments
The BOCC is scheduled to appoint the following people to public boards and commissions:
- Former Liberty Lake City Council Member Phil Folyer to the Civil Service Commission
- Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke and state Rep. Mike Volz (R.-Spokane) to District 1 seats on Veterans Advisory Board
- Heather Bahme to a District 5 seat on Veterans Advisory Board
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 15 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
Budget, baby
Spokane Valley City Council is holding the second of three public hearings for the $149.6 million 2025 budget Tuesday night. See the draft budget and a helpful presentation here. The final public hearing and the final vote will be held November 19.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 15 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here.
Liberty Lake City Council
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Workshop on camping ordinance and town square
Before the regular council meeting, the Liberty Lake City Council will hold a workshop to review Ordinance 115-C, “Unlawful Camping and Storage of Personal Property on Public Property” at 6 pm.
The council passed this ordinance back in June 2023, making it illegal to camp on any city-owned or maintained right of way, trail, park, open space, parking lot, building and grounds, and in any area where camping interferes with the intended public use of the property. However, it wasn’t until June 2024 when the United States Supreme Court overturned the ruling in the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson case, which prevented municipalities from fining or arresting people for being homeless if there was no room in local homeless shelters. Now, the city wants to start a discussion on the original ordinance to see if any changes are needed because of the SCOTUS decision.
The part of the ordinance that would most likely be targeted for changes is section 8-9-7 that states enforcement of the criminalizing part of the law would be suspended if there is no space available in regional homeless shelters.
It’s unclear if part B of the workshop session is related to part A because there’s no additional information for it, but the council is also slated to discuss “Vision for Town Square.”
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 15 at 7 pm; workshop session at 6 pm
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
We don’t have any additional details, but these items stuck out to us on the library’s board agenda:
- 2025 Budget Adoption
- Resolution 2024-1; Book 1 Budget Reductions
- Indian Trail Bird Garden and Pollinator Meadow Update
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 15 at 4:30 pm
Shadle Park Library
2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Bicycle Advisory Board
🌶️/5 peppers
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 15 at 6 pm
City Council Briefing Center
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
🌶️/5 peppers
Connecting Spokane
The STA board is set to vote on adopting the final draft of the Connect Spokane Comprehensive Plan, which is basically the big guiding document for STA for the next 30 years. The final revisions can be found here.
Board reports
A few items on the agenda caught our eye but don’t have additional information:
- CEO Search Task Force Update
- Succession Planning Update in the Board Operations Committee report by committee chair Al French
Agenda here
Thursday, October 17 at 1:30 pm
STA Boardroom
1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
