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:
- It’s PolitiCrawl this Friday!!! That means you can (and should) join us on a politics-themed barcrawl downtown, using the Spokane City Line to get from bar to bar. We’ll chat with local politicians, aspiring candidates and each other about the pressing local issues. We’ll also drink beer. It’s a good time, and you should come!
- Spokane City Council will vote on imposing a new 0.1% public safety sales tax that would go into effect January 2027. This is in addition to the county’s new public safety sales tax.
- At the Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee meeting, the city council members will discuss setting their lobbying priorities for the 2027 legislative session. There’s one really interesting proposal — an effort that could shift property tax burden away from home and business owners and onto land speculators.
- The Spokane Transit Authority is taking public feedback on their Wellesley Corridor Development plan, which could change transit along Wellesley Avenue in north Spokane.
- The Board of County Commissioners and the Spokane Valley City Council are both establishing their legislative agendas for what they will advocate for from the state of Washington and the federal government.
- The Spokane Valley City Council will host a public hearing on its budget for 2027, which focuses on infrastructure projects and expanding the police force.
POLITICRAWL
The crawl is THIS FRIDAY! Yes, this Friday from 6 pm to midnightish, you can join RANGE staff, local electeds and current candidates for a bus-driven, politics-themed barcrawl. We’ll hit three local bars — one in each city council district — then have an afterparty at a *super secret* location. Come to build community, spark change (two pieces of legislation have been passed out of past PolitiCrawls!) and talk about all your niche local government interests. RSVP here so that we can give bars an accurate headcount <3
Spokane City Council Agenda Review
Every Tuesday, the council meets to finalize the Wednesday agenda, which now includes items that are coming up in the next two weeks, giving you more of a chance to comment on things before they’re up for a vote.
Up for a vote next week:
- An ordinance to expand the boundary of the East Sprague Parking and Business Improvement Area to include new parcels on the west side of the current area, stretching along Sprague Avenue to Hatch Street.
- An emergency ordinance that would extend the current interim ordinance prohibiting stores selling booze to be consumed off the premises from being permitted near schools and parks. The extension would continue this until April 28, 2027, but the council anticipates addressing permanent changes in the Comprehensive Plan update in December.
Up for a vote in two weeks:
- An ordinance to establish equitable budgeting practices that was deferred from last week
Agenda here.
Tuesday, October 13 at 11 am
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Up for a vote this week:
New tax alert
Spokane City could join the county in taking an additional 0.1% sales tax through the state Public Safety Funding program. This tax will not appear on your ballot — the decision about whether or not to impose it lies solely with the council members voting on it this week. Money collected would go to “establish a Community Safety Campus, further integrate behavioral health into public safety systems and improve emergency preparedness.” If passed, collection of this tax would start January 2027.
Reappointment galore
The city council could approve a full slate of reappointments of representatives to city boards and commissions. The list includes reappointing Joni Harris and Kaylee Jackman to the Transportation Commission, and sending former congressional candidate Kevin Fagan, Gonzaga professor Brian Henning and Dr. Bob Lutz to the Climate, Resilience and Sustainability Board.
Federal homelessness funding
Deferred previously to add more information to the agenda, the city could now vote to accept over $4 million in federal housing grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There’s a lot of complicated acronyms in the breakdowns for how the money is getting divvied up, but the lion’s share is headed to the city’s Community Development Block Grant program. That program has three goals aligned with national objectives, “1) benefiting low and moderate-income persons (earning less than 80% area median income). Other ways to qualify projects include 2) activities which aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight and 3) activities designed to meet community development needs having particular urgency.”
Opposing ballot measures
The council could also pass a resolution to officially oppose Let’s Go Washington’s ballot measures to reinstate their original Parents Bill of Rights, and to require all girls wanting to participate in girls’ sports to get their sex assigned at birth checked and certified by a physician. This was added to the agenda with a rules suspension last week, which requires a supermajority of votes, so it seems likely it will pass.
Legal fees for Musselman case
Last week, the council was set to pass a contract amendment to spend an additional $100,000 on legal services to fight a lawsuit from the estate of Joshua Musselman, who was shot and killed by the Spokane police in 2024. It was deferred to this week. If passed, this would bring the total spent fighting the suit to $250,000. In early October, RANGE reported on the flippant texts officers were sending just hours after shooting Musselman, recently updated with Spokane Police Department’s response to our reporting.
Other things!
It’s a busy week, here’s other items you should be aware of that are up for a vote this week:
- Deciding on the schedule for budget hearings, as the city prepares for another potential deficit in 2027
- A resolution to approve allocating unspent ARPA dollars to backfilling police and fire overtime costs
- A resolution to support the Department of Natural Resources land exchange of the Thorpe property
- An ordinance to penalize “nuisance properties”
- A slate of ordinances to approve rate increases for waste- and storm-water services
Agenda here
Wednesday, October 14 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, October 13 at 11 am
Council Chambers
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
2027 Legislative Priorities
Every year, the city has to decide what it’s going to ask the state legislature for. Of course, there’s probably a million things they *could* ask for, but in order to increase the odds of actually getting what it wants — like a kid crafting a Christmas list — the council sets a limited list of priorities. This year, the draft of top issues includes: Spokane Complex fires recovery, preserving the Thorpe Trust Land, expanding domestic partnership eligibility and advocating for vehicle tab reform to charge heavier vehicles more for their vehicle tabs.
Perhaps the most interesting item on the priority list is a project that Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke has been a long time champion of: an effort to create a tax exemption for buildings. Right now, property taxes are levied based on the value of the land and the value of the building on it, meaning that apartment complexes, hotels, homes and businesses pay more in taxes, while owners of vacant lots or parking lots pay very little. The city of Spokane will be asking the legislature to let it run a program where property taxes are levied only based on the value of the land itself, shifting the tax burden away from the kinds of structures that make a vibrant city, and onto land speculators and parking lot owners. This is definitely one to keep an eye on during this legislative session!
If you have thoughts on the city’s priorities, this is just the first committee meeting. They’ll take public comment here, and at multiple future council meetings.
Bridge rehab
The Latah Bridge (aka High Bridge and Sunset Bridge) was built in the early 1900s — making it more than 110 years old. Its condition has deteriorated significantly, the city agenda reads, and will take millions to fix. Thanks to a large federal grant, the city is preparing to contract with Horrocks, LLC, paying roughly $3 million for 60% of the design of the bridge. The design process will take roughly two years, ending in fall of 2028. It’s unclear from the agenda what exactly 60% of the design entails, and what 40% will be left undesigned (or was previously designed?).
High vis crosswalks
When you’re walking in a crosswalk, you want cars to see you. The city is expanding their list of which crosswalks will get high visibility crosswalks, adding 10 new intersections, on a federal grant’s dime. We didn’t notice a list of which intersections, but it’s cool that there’s 10!
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 13 at 12 pm
Council Chambers
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Housing Authority Board
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Monday, October 12 at 3:30 pm
Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Plan Commission
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Wednesday, October 14 at 2 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Community, Housing, and Human Services Board
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Public hearing
If you have thoughts or feelings about the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan (which also included the 2025 and 2026 Annual Action Plans) this is your meeting! There’s a public hearing, so go make your voice heard when it comes to plans.
Agenda here when available
Tuesday, October 13 at 4 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Legislative priorities: $15M for public defense
Last year, the Washington Supreme Court required public defenders in the state to manage no more than 300 cases each year. Because of this, the relatively stagnant budget of the Spokane County Public Defender Office can’t afford the staff to represent each case that needs a public defender. So as part of its legislative priorities, Spokane County will ask the state for $15 million in next year’s budget to beef up the office.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 13 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
County may regulate crypto-kiosks
Following actions by the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley to ban virtual currency kiosks in city limits, the BOCC is considering a resolution that would create a framework for regulating where kiosks can be located. The kiosks, which work something like ATMs for trading electronic money such as Bitcoin, create massive opportunities for fraud and theft because the currencies are essentially unregulated. The resolution would not outright ban crypto-kiosks but would give the county government much more say in how they work within county limits. The commission will schedule a public hearing on the ordinance for October 27.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 13 at 2 pm
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane County Planning Commission
🌶️/5 peppers
Urban land development codes
The commission will host a work session on new development codes for urban lands that will be included in the 2046 Comprehensive Plan.
Agenda here
Thursday, October 15 at 9 am
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Public hearing alert
Do you live or work on Wellesley Avenue? The Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors is taking feedback this week on their Wellesley Corridor Development plan, which can be read here. They’re planning to take action at the November 19 board meeting. If you have feedback, but can’t make this week’s meeting, you can email your thoughts to Emily Poole at epoole@spokanetransit.com.
Agenda here
Thursday, October 15 at 1:30 pm
STA Boardroom
1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Mead School District Board of Directors
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Monday, October 12 at 6 pm
12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead
Watch via Zoom here.
Central Valley School District Board of Directors
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Monday, October 12 at 6 pm
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd
Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here.
East Valley School District Board of Directors
🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 13 at 6 pm
3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1
Spokane Valley.
Spokane Valley City Council
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Public hearing on budget
The city council will host its second public hearing on the proposed budget for 2027. The largest single bucket of spending in the $163,680,774 budget is $51 million in street, parks, railroad and stormwater building and refurbishment projects. The fund that pays for street construction is projected to have a deficit of $1 million, so the city may transfer that money from real estate tax revenue. The next-largest portion of the budget, $46.8 million, will be spent on police.
Federal policy agenda
The Spokane Valley City Council is deciding what legislation they’ll advocate for at the federal level. At the top of the list of programs Spokane Valley wants help from the federal government is a familiar item: public safety, which translates loosely to more cops. As the city continues its push to dramatically increase the size of the police department, its list of federal priorities is topped by support for law enforcement and emphasizing the city’s relationship with the US Marshals to chase fugitives and drug traffickers.
Other priorities include programs surrounding:
- Transportation and infrastructure
- Housing and homelessness
- Economic development and jobs
- Maintaining hydropower dams in the Pacific Northwest
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 13 at 6 pm
10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley
Virtual attendance here.
