CIVICS | City Council is canceled this week, but we have plenty of interesting stuff in committees and county commission.
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Finance and Administration Committee
Don’t do drugs in public ordinance
Councilmembers Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle will be introducing the “Safe Open Spaces Act,” which is an ordinance that would criminalize the use of unprescribed controlled substances in a public place.
The ordinance changes the current section of local criminal code that addresses loitering for the purposes of drug-related activity (like if someone is buying, selling or doing drugs in a public park) to make a violation of that section a gross misdemeanor, which is punished by sending people to county jail for up to a year or fining them up to $5,000, or both, in Washington.
It also takes away a carve out that requires an arresting officer to give a person who is loitering for the purposes of drug-related activity an opportunity to explain themselves before arresting them.
The agenda sheet notes that the ordinance is to address concerns that people are loitering in public spaces in order to do drugs or to do drug-related activities. It also states that open drug use is happening more often in low-income neighborhoods, including Downtown Spokane.
This section of the municipal code was updated in early October as part of an emergency ordinance to recodify a batch of local criminal violations and align with the state law that requires that people caught for possession must be referred to addiction services at least twice before they can be arrested.
The new ordinance also adds a section to the criminal code classifying the use of a controlled substance in a public place without a prescription as a violation and a gross misdemeanor. It defines a public place as any area generally visible to public view and includes streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, parking lots, vehicles, buildings open to the public, and doorways, windows, drive-up windows, and entrances to buildings or dwellings that are visible to public view.
It also adds a section that says when an officer has probable cause that a person has used a controlled substance in a public place, they can seize the substances and paraphernalia and book the person into jail. It specifies that the officer may, but is not required to, offer a referral for a diversion program.
But, if a person commits the crime of possession of illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia and a police officer only has probable cause for that, the officer can seize the drugs and paraphernalia and offer a referral to assessment and services for a diversion program, which is what state law says to do.
The ordinance preamble (the part with all the “whereas”) specifically cites fentanyl as a huge concern, but we have to correct a piece of misinformation: that “contact with trace amounts of the drug can be deadly for anyone, especially kids.” Fentanyl cannot be absorbed through the skin with casual exposure and you can’t overdose by touching something the drug has been on. Here’s a helpful article from a toxicology expert at UC Davis.
The city council is scheduled to vote on this ordinance on April 24.
More money for homelessness needed
The finance committee will discuss increased expenses for the city’s homelessness obligations that were not in the 2023 budget. They’ll talk about why the response is costing more than expected, what funding is available to pay for those expenses, as well as “right sizing services provided,” — though it’s not clear whether it’s right-sizing for the homeless need, or right-sizing for the money they can scrape together.
They’ll also discuss recommendations from city administration, how unrelated services will be impacted if funds are reallocated and “sustainable solutions” — which, again, might mean a number of different things.
There’s no more information and this is just a discussion, but last week, the Urban Experience Committee spoke about closing the Cannon shelter after a $800,000 contract extension expires in May. There wasn’t much available additional information during that conversation, either.
Bidding for more BIDs
Bingle will also be introducing an ordinance that would allocate $2.5 million of American Rescue Plan money set aside for neighborhood business districts to help more neighborhood business organizations form official Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).
BIDs are basically a regulatory framework in which people who have businesses or real estate within a specific geographic area in Spokane pay into a pool that then goes to providing services to those “neighborhoods,” like advertising, safety programs, holiday decorating, snow removal, beautification, events, etc. The city currently has two official BIDs: Downtown and East Sprague. We put neighborhoods in quotes because the Downtown BID doesn’t cover all of downtown, for example, and efforts to expand it — say south of the railroad viaduct — have been contentious. The ordinance states that neighborhood business organizations have asked for the city’s help and funding to formalize their organizations.
The ordinance would use the $2.5 million to hire a consultant to do outreach and education to the organizations, conduct a financial analysis of funding possibilities for a potential BID and fund startup costs for the organizations that do formally organize into a BID.
Bingle still needs a second councilmember to sponsor the ordinance, but if he secures that at this committee meeting, the city council would be scheduled to vote on this ordinance on April 17.
Agenda hereMonday, March 20 at 1:15 p.m.Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council - canceled
The City Council meeting is canceled for Monday because both council President Breean Beggs and Council President Pro Tem Lori Kinnear will be out.
Spokane County Board of County Commissioners
Strategic Planning Meeting on Monday
We don’t generally cover the strategic planning meetings because there’s a dearth of information on them posted before the meetings (i.e. no explanation of agenda items), but we saw something here that caught our eye. The commission has 20 minutes set aside at 10:25 on Monday morning to discuss commissioner meetings. We’re hopeful that discussion is about ways to encourage public participation and involvement. And, we’ll check in to see what they end up discussing and report back to you in this column in the near future.
Agenda hereMonday, March 20 at 9 a.m. Board of County Commissioners’ Conference RoomWeb link
Behavioral health funding
The state and county are amending their contract for behavioral health services in the county. While the amendment increases overall funding, it includes reduced funding for Trueblood Enhanced Crisis Stabilization funds and decreases Therapeutic Drug Court Funds. It’s interesting to see these reductions in the county budget, especially as the state is way out of compliance with the Trueblood settlement which requires timely competency restoration for incarcerated people who need mental health services.
Meanwhile, the county commissioners are set to sign a $879,780 contract with the Spokane Police Department to set up roles and responsibilities the police will perform as part of the Spokane Regional Mental Health Field Response Team Program. The county accepted a grant from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to pay for the program for the period of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.
The program is meant to divert people out of the criminal justice system and into programs that would better help them. As part of the contract, the city will provide a sergeant who will supervise four mental health field response teams from Spokane, Spokane Valley and the county. The city will also provide a mental health coordinator to coordinate daily work and provide four police officers.
Silencers for Sheriffs
They might not actually silence rifles, but suppressors do make them a lot less loud. The Sheriff’s Department is seeking approval to buy $159,000 in suppressors for department weapons. According to the meeting documents: “Hearing loss is one of the leading issues dealt with by Risk Management and in Law Enforcement is almost always related to the firing of un-suppressed firearms.” In the meeting packet, the sheriff’s office says that two deputies and five city police officers have lost their hearing in “lethal force encounters.” The office plans to shop local for the silencers at Sharp Shooters on Freya.
Board of Health make-up
There’s a resolution that clarifies how the Spokane Regional Health District Board picks the health officer and administrative officer. “The resolution will not change the board makeup or composition,” Commissioner Josh Kerns told RANGE. “It just clarifies that the health officer and administrative officer are appointed by the chair of the health board at the direction of the entire health board.”
Better forensic tools
The medical examiner’s office is requesting over $1 million for a new CT scanner that it says will improve their forensic capacity. The new, larger scanner allows pictures to be taken without rearranging contorted limbs and offers higher resolution images than the department's existing scanners.
Rummage sale
The county has a bunch of property — bluetooth speakers, copy machines, wifi hotspots — it wants to get rid of. If any of it catches your eye you can give public testimony on April 11 on what they should do with it.
Agenda hereTuesday, March 21 at 2 p.m. Public Works Building1116 W Broadway, Spokane, WACommissioner’s Conference Room, First Floor
Spokane School District Board of Directors
AP US Government changes
The school board is set to get a presentation and then vote on changes to the high school Advanced Placement (AP) Government curriculum. The change is needed because the current text is out of date and doesn’t meet the new College Board course standards.
A curriculum adoption committee made up of four AP US Government & Politics teachers from different high schools and the District Secondary Social Studies Coordinator is unanimously recommending American Government: Stories of a Nation, as the core curriculum for the class. It will cost just over $93,000 for an 8-year purchase.
hereWednesday, March 22 at 7 p.m.Boardroom, SPS Administration Building200 N. BernardWatch virtually here.
Spokane Plan Commission
There was no agenda available as of publishing. Find it here once posted.
Tuesday, March 21 at 2 p.m.Public Works Building1026 W Broadway, Spokane, WACommissioner’s Hearing Room, Lower Level
Woman's Club of Spokane Open House
The Woman's Club is hosting an open house in honor of Woman's History Month and to showcase what they do at the club. The free event will include dance classes by Woodside Swing and Folklore Society, lessons on Spokane womans history, community support of Afghan women and vintage fashion and vintage wedding displays. Tea will also be served and they are having a membership drive as well.
Sunday, March 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. 1428 W 9th Ave. Spokane, WA
Public Records Workshop recording
If you missed our File a Public Records Request like a Journalist workshop, our friends and co-hosts Spokane Public Radio have made the recording and workshop materials available on their website! Find it here.
