Mayoral candidates to square off and the fight to protect pups continues

Candidate forums are ramping up as we approach elections, and we’ll see Mayor Nadine Woodward and challenger Lisa Brown duke it out at the Central Library stage this week. (Photo illustration by Erin Sellers)

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.

This is a big week for us at RANGE as we split our team in half! Luke and Val are headed to North Carolina to (hopefully) bring back some hardware from the LION Conference and awards for CIVICS while Alyssa and Erin are staying on the grind here in Spokane. Send the traveling duo good vibes as they hope to bring home something shiny for the RANGE trophy shelf.

After a heavy CIVICS last week, this one’s a bit lighter. Some of the items that stick out to us this week include:

Candidate forums galore
More city oversight of SCRAPS
60 units of affordable senior housing in Spokane Valley
A new teen shelter in the works

Important meetings this week:

Funds are being raised for Jacob Johns

Local activist Jacob Johns was shot in the chest last week at a rally in New Mexico to protest the reinstatement of a conquistador’s statue by a man wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat. As RANGE reported over the weekend, Johns put himself in between the gunman and a group of vulnerable people as the gunman ran towards the crowd. Friends say Johns is recovering and in good spirits, but the medical bills from two surgeries and his hospital stay will likely be very large. Those who want to donate to a fund to cover his bills can do so here.

Central Library hosts NAACP Candidate Forum

Spokane Public Library is partnering with Spokane NAACP, KYRS Thin Air Community Radio, and other organizations to host a forum featuring candidates for both the city council president and mayor races. The questions asked will be curated by the NAACP and other partner organizations to address pressing issues concerning Spokane’s diverse communities. You can register for the event, which is free but has limited space, here, listen live on Thin Air Community Radio, 88.1 and 92.3FM, or stream it at KYRS.org.

Tuesday, October 3, 6 pm to 8 pm
Spokane Central Library
906 W. Main Ave.
nxʷyxʷyetkʷ Hall

Experience Terrain 14 in all its glory

We’re coming up on the First Friday of October, which means it’s time for Terrain’s flagship event, an annual, one-night-only, juried multimedia art and music event celebrating artists in the Spokane area. This is the fourteenth year of Terrain, which was co-founded by our very own Luke Baumgarten. The event promises to be a night of visual art, music, literature, film, dance, and community. There are tickets available for Thursday’s Preview Night available for purchase here, or you can attend the main event on Friday, which is free. If you keep a careful eye out, you may even see a collage-art piece from Erin somewhere on the walls!

Preview Night: Thursday, October 5, 6 pm to 9 pm
Main Event: Friday, October 6, 5 pm to midnight
314 W Riverside Ave.

District 3 City Council Candidate Forum

On Friday evening, Shadle Park Library is partnering with the League of Women Voters to host a candidate forum for those running for the district 3 seat on Spokane City Council. Candidates Kitty Klizke and Earl Moore will be there to discuss and answer questions from attendees. The event appears to be in-person only, as no information for remote attendance has been provided.

Friday, October 6, 6 pm to 7 pm
Shadle Park Library
2111 W Wellesley Ave.

Spokane City Council

SCRAPS could see more city oversight

Following last week’s emergency resolution and heated public comment about the Spokane Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) euthanasia of fourteen dogs in one day, it seems city council may be trying to achieve even more oversight. There has been a rules change requested to add two new appointments to the agenda as council hopes to appoint Garrett Jones and Luis Garcia to SCRAPS’ advisory board. Jones is currently serving as the interim City Administrator after former City Administrator Johnnie Perkins resigned following sexual harassment allegations and Garcia is the city’s director of code enforcement and parking services. Jones and Garcia will be interviewed at the 1:15 pm meeting of the Public Safety & Community Health Committee.

Grant funding for community justice specialists

In late August, city council voted to accept $293,750 in grant funding to fund two full-time community justice specialist positions. These positions, which fall under the Community Justice Services Department, are designed to help the counselors in the department manage their caseloads, assist in connecting defendants to social services, and assist in monitoring attendance and participation in court-ordered treatment and other alternatives to incarceration, among other things. Council is just voting on a pretty routine city budget change to add the positions to the budget, but notes that because of the grant funding, there is no actual change to appropriation levels in the general fund.

Better HVAC for Northeast Community Center

Council will also be voting to accept a $455,985 grant to fortify public buildings against wildfire smoke from the Environmental Protection Agency, via Gonzaga University. The grant will fund upgrades to the HVAC system at the Northeast Community Center. Because the city has seen an increase in wildfire smoke, this is considered an emergency and upgrades will begin once the ordinance is passed.

Agenda here
Monday, October 2 at 6 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane County Board of Commissioners

Crosswalk 2.0

Spokane County is looking to build a new shelter for teenagers, currently referred to as Crosswalk 2.0. The county is partnering with Volunteers of America Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho (VOA) and the Home Investment Partnership Program American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) on the project. The proposed facility will be a three story building designed to serve youth aged 13 to 20. Young people experiencing homelessness will be able to stay overnight in the shelter and access resources like a GED completion program, help with employment readiness, and substance use disorder treatment. The commissioners will vote on approving the partnership between Spokane County and VOA in their Tuesday meeting.

New board and committee members coming soon

The county commission plans to appoint several new individuals to its boards and commissions. Kris Neely is set to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of Chris Savage on the Spokane County Water Conservancy Board. The mayor of Spangle, Melissa Holling, requested that Rebecca Johnson represent the town of Spangle on the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee. Finally, Pat Wallace will replace Frank Horwath on the Hutchinson Irrigation District No. 16 Board of Directors, which is responsible for providing potable water to the Spokane Valley area.

Agenda here
Tuesday, October 3 at 2 pm
Public Works Building.
1026 W Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Valley City Council

Senior Housing project for Spokane Valley?

In April, the Spokane Valley City Council heard proposals for how to spend the ARPA funding the Valley received and they decided to allocate $3,998,535 in funding to support affordable housing and homelessness efforts. Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners (SNAP) was awarded a grant for $471,729 from the pool of funding to construct a four-story affordable housing project for seniors, which would have 57 one-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units, and two elevators.

The project, which will be located at 8001 E. Broadway, Spokane Valley, aims to provide permanent rental housing and supportive services, including Meals on Wheels and Resource Rides, to seniors with incomes at or below 60% of the area median household income. The building timeline states that it’s set to reach occupancy by March of 2026. City council will vote on whether to approve and finalize the agreement with SNAP this week.

Agenda here
Tuesday, October 3 at 6 pm
2426 N Discovery Place
Spokane Valley, WA 99216
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane School District Board of Directors Special Meeting

Everything Everywhere All at Once

This year’s Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA), which was themed after the hit movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, met at the end of September for their annual conference. Spokane’s School District Board of Directors is holding a special meeting that will discuss items that emerged from that conference. The WSSDA is a state organization that convenes school board directors, who then vote on position items for WSSDA to use in speaking to the state legislature and making recommendations on policy items that affect the schools.

There was a bit of a dust-up that led to a bylaw change to prevent weighted votes, which gave school districts voting power based on enrollment. Under the previous system, school districts like Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma had the most votes to determine policy positions because they were the biggest. The bylaw change gives each school district one vote, meaning rural districts, which greatly outnumber large school districts but serve less students, will have a disproportionate say in determining priorities and position statements. Screenshots from a Facebook group show the vote was celebrated online by Washington chapters of Moms for Liberty, a far-right group known in our area for advocating for book bannings and fighting COVID safety measures.

The agenda item doesn’t say much, but we anticipate this rule change may be one of the items for discussion at the special meeting.

Agenda here
Wednesday, October 4 at 4:30 pm
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Liberty Lake City Council

City in need of IT support

City staff in Liberty Lake don’t have onsite technical support and they want to change that. This week, the city council will review a proposal from the company Executech to provide the city with onsite IT services and cybersecurity protection. In addition to these services, Executech claims in their presentation materials to be super chill, “down-to-earth,” overall nice guys. If the council is receptive to the pitch and decides to contract with Executech, the agreement will be factored into the city’s 2024 budget, replacing their outstanding request for an in-house IT Manager and IT Technician in 2024.

Agenda here
Tuesday, October 3 at 7 pm
22710 E Country Vista Dr, Liberty Lake, WA 99019
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Public Safety & Community Health Committee

Agenda here
Monday, October 2 at 1:15 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Community, Housing, and Human Services Board

Agenda here when available.
Wednesday, October 4 at 4 pm
City Council Briefing Center
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Attend virtually here.

Citizens' Transportation Advisory Board

Agenda here when available
Wednesday, October 4 at 5:30 pm
City of Spokane Streets Department Conference Room
901 N. Nelson Street.Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane City Council Study Sessions

Agenda here when available
Thursday, October 5 at 11 am
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Human Rights Commission

Agenda here when available
Thursday, October 5 at 5:30 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here. Access code 577 455 431#

Spokane School District Board of Directors

Agenda here
Wednesday, October 4 at 6 pm
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.