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 week feels lighter on local government and heavy on community events, so if you’re looking for ways to show up and support Spokane’s communities, this may be your time to shine! Some of the items that stick out to us this week include:
- Pop-up Pride in Perry and Rainbow Crosswalk Clean-up
- A finance-forward focus in Spokane Valley meetings
- A Spokane County public hearing for Measure 1 tonight
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Board of County Commissioners
- Spokane Plan Commission
- Spokane Regional Transportation Council Board of Directors
- Spokane City Council Study Sessions
- Spokane Park Board
Health Equity Circle’s election forum
If you’ve been missing hanging out with RANGE reporters, you can find us tabling at the Health Equity Circle’s election forum tonight. The event is put on by the Spokane chapter of Health Equity Circle, an inter-professional student group that works to organize for health equity in Spokane. Some of the candidates for local races will be in attendance, and there will be opportunities to learn more about ballot measures and register to vote.
Tuesday, October 10 at 6 to 7:30 pm
WSU Spokane Sac Building, Room 20
412 E Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99202
Final open house for new park
There’s a new park coming to the West Plains community, and Spokane County Parks Recreation and Golf will be holding their final open house to take resident opinions and discuss park survey results, the future park name, and review the draft plan. The park will also include a children’s playground, so families with children are especially encouraged to share their thoughts.
Tuesday, October 10 at 5 to 7 pm
Snowdon Elementary Cafeteria
6323 S Holly Rd, Cheney, WA 99004
Community response to vandalism
Following a rash of anti-LGBTQ vandalism last week that targeted Odyssey Youth Movement, Atomic Threads and two of Spokane’s rainbow crosswalks, local groups have responded with social media calls to action and community events. On Wednesday, Spokane Arts is hosting a crosswalk clean-up from 9 am to 3 pm to help repair the rainbow crosswalk in the Perry District. Odyssey Youth Movement, a community center for LGBTQ+ youth that has found itself the frequent target of homophobia and was vandalized again on Monday, is hosting a Pop-Up Pride in Perry event to “show the LGBTQ+ youth especially, what inclusion in our community looks like.”
Pop-up Pride in Perry
Thursday, October 12 at 4 pm
South Perry Neighborhood
1121 S Perry St, Spokane, WA 99202
Avista bill assistance has been expanded
Avista Utilities launched a new bill assistance program at the start of October that seeks to be more inclusive and accessible. The program offers a personalized bill discount to customers who qualify, based on household size and income requirements. Customers can learn more and apply here.
Latinos en Spokane documentary screening
Latinos en Spokane will be hosting a cocktail hour, dinner and one-night-only screening of the documentary The Immigration Resident, with proceeds going toward the establishment of Spokane’s first immigration service center providing free immigration services to undocumented people. Legal services to the undocumented community continues to be a pressing need, and the service center would help address this by hiring a full-time attorney as well as a paralegal assistant to provide the community with low-cost or no-cost legal services and educational workshops. The documentary tells the stories of local Latino immigrants facing separation from their loved ones, navigating the unjust immigration system and overcoming systemic barriers to justice. It will screen at the Montvale Event Center, with tickets priced at $150 each. There are also more ways to sponsor the program here.
Friday, October 20 at 5:30 pm
The Montvale Event Center
1019 W 1st Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201
Tickets available for purchase here.
Spokane Valley City Council
It’s all about the money, money, money
The Valley, as it's now called in its new tourism branding, has got money on the mind for this week’s city council meeting. They’re holding a public hearing on the 2024 budget, which is the second in a series of opportunities for public comment, and the fifth time council has discussed the budget. In that same vein, council will do a first reading of an ordinance levying 1% property taxes for 2024, the revenue from which would go into the general fund to cover 2024 budget expenses. This is not the potential sales tax increase we covered in a previous edition of CIVICS that the council discussed implementing if Measure 1 doesn’t pass. There’s also some new money business on the agenda — they’ll be discussing the creation of a new position: the Accounting and Finance Program Manager. If approved, this person would be a key point of efficiency for managing deliverables and reporting requirements for any grants the city receives.
Slew of other Spokane Valley meetings
Spokane Valley has a bunch of meetings this week, here’s your speed round up of what’s happening:
- Tourism Promotion Area Commission will meet October 12 at 10 am to discuss application updates and a logo presentation for the potential brand new logo of Spokane Valley.
- Spokane Valley Planning Commission will meet October 12 at 6 pm to talk through some reports and discuss minor bylaw changes.
- Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force will meet October 13 at 9 am to vote on whether or not to adopt the Spokane City/County Continuum of Care 5-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness for calendar year 2024, and whether or not to recommend that city council earmarks $100,000 for outreach services and $65,000 for shelter beds in the 2024 budget.
Further attendance information for these individual meetings can be found here.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 10 at 6 pm
CenterPlace Great Room
2426 N Discovery Place, Spokane Valley, WA 99216
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of County Commissioners
Measure 1 Public Hearing
The board plans to make a motion to publicly support or oppose Measure 1, but commissioners want to hear from the public before they make their decision. Measure 1, which will be on ballots in November, would create a 0.02% sales tax that would go towards Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health projects. As we’ve covered before, the measure is controversial because it would also fund a new and updated jail for Spokane County.
At the public hearing this evening, 30 minutes will be dedicated to public testimony in support of Measure 1 and 30 minutes will be dedicated to those speaking in opposition of it. An additional 20 minutes will be dedicated to remarks in support or opposition from the commissioners. If you’d like to make your voice heard at today’s hearing, BOCC will hear comments from both in person attendees and members of the public attending virtually via Zoom. Those coming in person can sign up to make a public comment starting at 5 pm in the lobby; full rules for participation can be found in the public hearing agenda.
Legislative Meeting Agenda here
Tuesday, October 10 at 2 pm
Public Works Building, Commissioners’ Hearing Room.
1026 W Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
Public Hearing Agenda here
Tuesday, October 10 at 5:30 pm
Public Works Building, Commissioners’ Hearing Room.
1026 W Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
Virtual Attendance here (Meeting ID: 856 7484 5677).
Spokane Plan Commission
Code changes for more housing
To help alleviate the lack of housing supply, the city of Spokane is in the process of changing the building code. In 2022, Spokane City Council passed the interim “Building Opportunity and Choices for All” ordinance to help create more housing by allowing for up to four units per residential lot, among other things. The interim ordinance expires in December of this year, so the city is now working to permanently update Spokane’s building code to increase housing capacity within city limits.
Agenda here
Wednesday, October 11 at 2 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Regional Transportation Council Board of Directors
Road Work Ahead? SRTC and WSDOT sure hope it does.
The intersection of Regal Street and 44th Avenue on the south hill and the intersection of Spotted Road and Airport Drive near the Spokane International Airport could be under construction in the not-so-distant future for safety improvements. The two intersections were included in Spokane Regional Transportation Council’s (SRTC) list of priority safety projects for 2024.
These locations were selected as part of a pilot program in which SRTC partnered with the Washington State Department of Transportation - Eastern Region (WSDOT) to identify transportation projects that would improve safety in the Spokane region. SRTC and WSDOT met several times this year to review data collected between 2018 and 2022 about serious car crashes and prioritize safety projects.
Agenda here
Thursday, October 12 at 1 pm
Spokane Regional Transportation Council office.
421 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council Study Sessions
Agenda here when available
Thursday, October 12 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 Park Board
Agenda here when available
Thursday, October 12 at 3:30 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also broadcast virtually via webex.
(Call In: 408-418-9388, Access Code: 2499 362 8396)
