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:
- The Spokane Board of County Commissioners will consider voting to allow the county sheriff to break up homeless encampments without first checking shelter capacity, changing their enforcement to be in line with the new interpretation of cruel and unusual punishment that came from the US Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision this summer.
- The Community, Housing and Human Services Board will discuss Spokane city’s draft plan for inclement weather sheltering as the winter quickly approaches.
- Liberty Lake City Council will consider passing resolutions in support of two of the initiatives Let’s Go Washington got placed on the ballot for November: Initiative 2117, which deals with the Climate Commitment Act and cap-and-trade policies, and Initiative 2066, which would forbid governments from moving away from fossil gas.
- Spokane Valley City Council will vote on their list of legislative priorities for 2025, which includes requests for both funding and policy changes from the state.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Board of County Commissioners - Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Liberty Lake City Council
- Spokane School District Board of Directors
- Community, Housing, and Human Services Board
- Spokane Human Rights Commission
Spokane City Council
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
It’s a pretty quiet week at Spokane City Council, but there were still a few items that caught our eye.
Historical houses
Tonight, the council is set to approve three new buildings to the Spokane Register of Historic Places:
- The Hotel Collins — a building located at 701 W 2nd Avenue that was constructed in 1910 as a single occupancy hotel.
- The Cook House and Garage — a brick house on Cannon Hill that was constructed in 1937 and “exemplifies the Tudor Revival Cottage style,” according to Spokane County’s Historic Preservation Office (HPO).
- The Wright House and Garage — a house located at 507 W. 14th Avenue that was constructed in 1913 and is “a notable example of Craftsman bungalow style,” per the HPO’s website.
Council is also set to vote on an ordinance that would require the preservation of any salvageable materials from structures listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places (or structures 50 years or older that are eligible for historic designation). If this ordinance passes, it would require property owners who choose to demolish historic buildings to try to preserve as much material as possible. The property owner is then allowed to sell, donate or repurpose any material salvaged from the historic building. This process would be done with cooperation and guidance from the HPO, who would conduct a site visit and give the building owners’ guidance on preserving materials.
Expanding the Human Rights Commission
We’ve covered this a few times, but the ordinance to expand youth representation on the Spokane Human Rights Commission — from one member on the nine person commission to three members on a twelve person commission — is up for a vote today. The ordinance, which is sponsored by Council Members Lili Navarrete, Kitty Klitzke and Zack Zappone, is designed to “give more of a voice to our youth and offer the SHRC the perspective of young people in Spokane,” and help the commission be more representative of Spokane’s population, which is 20% under the age of 18.
Agenda here
Monday, September 30 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 3 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Homeless camping enforcement
Responding to the US Supreme Court’s April decision overturning protections for unhoused people camping in public spaces, the Spokane County Sheriff is asking the BOCC to allow deputies to break up encampments without first checking shelter capacity. Until this spring, local governments in the west could not break up homeless encampments unless there was space for unhoused people in local shelters. That rule had been established by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019, when it interpreted the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, which covers cruel and unusual punishment, to protect people against punishment for sleeping outside.
The agenda item says repealing the county code would “enable Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies to preserve and protect the public health, safety and general welfare of citizens by providing protection to public lands from the detrimental effects of unregulated camping in the most efficient and effective manner.”
But civil rights groups had blasted the Supreme Court for its decision, saying the move was meant to punish people for being homeless, which unhoused people most often cannot help. Before the decision was issued, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington issued a press release that read: “The practice of issuing fines or arresting someone for sleeping outside ultimately destabilizes people and communities, and can result in prolonged homelessness,” said Jazmyn Clark, Smart Justice Policy Program Director at ACLU-WA. “Unhoused people will have no choice but to sleep unsheltered in public if we fail to provide safe, affordable housing for all – we cannot criminalize our way out of a housing crisis rooted in failed systems."
School districts may pay sheriff for school resource officers’ benefit
The BOCC is looking at new agreements with Spokane County school districts that, if approved, will require the districts to contribute increasing money for School Resource Deputies. One deputy is provided by the county to each district for law enforcement, counseling and teaching. Under the agreements, the districts will contribute one-sixth the amount of benefits paid to each deputy. That amount would then increase each year until the district is paying half its deputy’s benefits package.
The revised interlocal agreements state that “a trained School Resource Deputy knows when to informally interact with students to reinforce school rules and when to enforce the law. The School Resource Deputy shall not become involved in formal school discipline situations that are the responsibility of the district administrators.”
Seeking SpoVal grant funding for Plante’s Ferry upgrades
The county’s Parks, Recreation & Golf Department is asking the BOCC to approve an application to the city of Spokane Valley for $1 million in grant funding to make improvements to the sports complex at Plante’s Ferry. The money would go toward building three soccer fields, field lighting, fencing and a parking lot in Phase 1 of the improvement program. Further phases would add 10 more soccer fields, five baseball diamonds and several parking lots.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 1 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
Additional gate fees possible for landfills
The Public Works Department is proposing raising the fee to bring waste to the North County and Valley transfer stations, in Chattaroy and Spokane Valley, respectively, from $125.40 to $130.42 per ton. The fees go into Fund 435, the solid waste program. The gate fees can be waived when bringing waste to the stations is deemed necessary to protect human health or safety.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 1 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
Legislative Priorities
This week, the Spokane Valley City Council will vote to approve the list of items they want to focus on advocating for during the 2025 State Legislative Session. Some of those items include:
- An $800,000 request for the construction of a sports court in Balfour Park that would include two basketball courts, four pickleball courts and a drinking fountain.
- A $1 million request to support the redesign of the Barker Road/I-90 Interchange.
- A request that the state distribute more of the revenue collected from the state’s cannabis tax to local governments (last year, only 5% of the $466 million collected was given to local governments.)
- Policy requests that the state allow “judges the option to increase penalties for crimes perpetrated by habitual property offenders and for those who recklessly endanger the health, safety and life of others by their use of controlled substances, especially fentanyl,” and enact “policies and increased penalties to address rising retail theft and property crimes.”
- A request that the state enact policies that “reduce the impact of abusive public records requests.”
The full legislative agenda can be viewed here.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 1 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here.
Liberty Lake City Council
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Weighing in on initiatives
Liberty Lake City Council will consider passing resolutions in support of two of the Let’s Go Washington-backed initiatives Washington voters will see on their ballots this November – Initiative 2117, which deals with the Climate Commitment Act and cap-and-trade policies, and Initiative 2066, which would forbid governments from moving away from fossil gas.
The council held a workshop on September 17, where they discussed whether or not to take positions on the state initiatives, but ultimately decided to have staff direct support positions, by a vote of 4-3. Tonight, they will vote on whether or not to approve these official statements in support of the initiatives.
Read more about what those initiatives do here and here.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 1 at 7 pm
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane School District Board of Directors
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
The Spokane School District Board of Directors is having a special meeting today at 4 pm, where they will interview nine candidates for the spot on the board left vacant by Melissa Bedford’s departure. Detailed information on the list of candidates and their backgrounds can be found in Elena Perry’s article for The Spokesman.
Agenda here
Monday, September 30 at 4 pm
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Community, Housing, and Human Services Board
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Spokane’s winter homelessness plan
Arielle Anderson, director of the CHHS department, will be presenting the board with the city’s draft plan for sheltering during “inclement weather” for the next year, which includes this winter’s anticipated cold snaps, but also heat waves and bad air quality days in 2025. There isn’t much detail in the agenda, but this item is incredibly important, especially as local homelessness advocates have pushed the city for more concrete details on their sheltering plan as both winter and the Trent Shelter’s closure date creep ever closer.
Homelessness Ordinances
Also on the agenda is a discussion on the city’s current slate of “homelessness ordinances,” which include sit-and-lie and pedestrian interference laws, unauthorized camping prohibitions, regulations for where city-owned homelessness facilities can be and protections for people experiencing homelessness. (Note: listing sit-and-lie camping prohibitions as homelessness ordinances is an interesting move, considering the ACLU of Washington is currently suing Spokane for targeting homeless people through these laws.)
The board will be discussing the current ordinances, but it’s unclear if they’ll be drafting any potential changes, or just discussing what’s currently on the books and how it’s being enforced.
Agenda here when available
Wednesday, October 2 at 4 pm
City Council Briefing Chambers
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.
Spokane Human Rights Commission
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Agenda here when available.
Thursday, October 3 at 5:30 p.m.
Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
