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:
- Spokane City Council will vote on whether or not to make “housing status” a protected class, guaranteeing unhoused people the freedom from discrimination when seeking employment or housing.
- Big grants coming to the city for housing and homelessness services will be discussed during the Spokane City Council’s Urban Experience Committee meeting.
- Spokane Valley will discuss how to spend funding from opioid settlements, and some of the options on the table include services RANGE has covered in depth!
- Central Valley School District and Spokane Public School District both have important budget conversations scheduled for this week.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Urban Experience Committee
- Board of County Commissioners - Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Central Valley School District Board of Directors
- Spokane School District Board of Directors
- Spokane County Planning Commission
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Goodbye, Trent Shelter
For those of you who have been following the saga of the Trent Shelter, there could be reason to rejoice in the cards for tonight’s meeting: the city is taking its first big step toward moving away from warehousing people. Mayor Lisa Brown has been consistent in her messaging that she wants Spokane to transition to a system with a housing navigation center — which would help place people with the appropriate resources and maintain 30 temporary beds — and scattered shelter sites that house smaller, more specific groups of people.
At tonight’s meeting, the city is scheduled to approve a one-year, nearly $4 million contract with Empire Health Foundation as the proposed navigation center operator and Revive Counseling as the actual navigator and primary service provider for this new model. The contract is backdated to begin July 1, which is a bit confusing since, as far as we know, no navigation center is functioning yet, but a press release sent out by Brown’s office last week states they anticipate it will “be up and running by September or October.” The release also states that “The city recently wrapped up its request for proposals process to identify scattered site shelters and will soon award that funding to bring facilities online,” and that they’re on track to fully decommission Trent Shelter this fall.
Hello, improvements for the NATIVE Project
Tonight, the City Council could approve the use of $190,000 in funds from the West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district to reimburse the NATIVE Project for landscaping, development and utility costs for their new Children and Youth Behavioral Health Project. What is a TIF, you ask? Essentially, local governments can designate a TIF district where a portion of property tax goes towards paying for public improvements within that district. All three neighborhoods that pay into the West Quadrant TIF submitted letters of support in favor of the NATIVE Project getting to utilize these funds, so this seems like a community success story.
Human rights for homeless people
We did a deep dive on the ordinance that would protect the “human rights and basic dignity of individuals experiencing homelessness,” which you can read here. It’s scheduled for a vote tonight, though there are a few submitted amendments on the table that will likely be voted on during the Briefing Session prior to the regular meeting. One of those is the amendment by Council Member Lili Navarrete to define “comprehensive support services,” one is an amendment by Council Member Michael Cathcart that adds in more specifics around employment discrimination and the last is a joint amendment by Navarrete and Council Member Paul Dillon that seems pretty close to the original ordinance with a few technical changes and the addition of the “comprehensive support services” language.
Even more no camping zones
Council Members Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle have an ordinance that would ban camping near facilities providing comprehensive support services — like shelters, sobering programs and transitional housing — up for a first read tonight. We’ve heard testimony at council meetings from unhoused people who have talked about how difficult it is to stay sober when camping and drugs are happening right outside sobering or transitional housing facilities, but we have also heard testimony about how difficult it is to find somewhere that is legal to camp after Prop 1 disqualified over half of the city, so we anticipate discussion around this ordinance will be interesting.
Other interesting things on the agenda
- Zoning reforms that would make it so new projects like businesses and housing across the city would not have to provide any kind of parking — a victory for urbanists who want more space for housing and less space for parking.
- The first read of an ordinance that would make the Lunar New Year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth official city of Spokane holidays. As formal city holidays, employees of the City of Spokane would get those days off, or get paid a higher holiday rate if they are considered essential workers.
- The first read of an ordinance that would create a new 15-member board to advise the city on climate resiliency policies and funding opportunities to help advance the city’s sustainability goals as listed in the Comprehensive Plan.
Agenda here
Monday, August 12 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, August 15 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city)
🌶️/5 peppers
The highlights:
- For our urbanist readers, today’s Urban Experience Committee meeting may be of particular interest as there will be a briefing on the city’s 2024-2027 Fair Housing Plan. The plan in its full 200-ish page glory is also available in the agenda.
- The city has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Washington State Health Care Authority to fund a street medicine team. According to the agenda item, the city intends to use the money to contract with CHAS to provide street medicine exclusively for unhoused people. CHAS will also log data collected from the program.
- Spokane is receiving nearly $2 million in additional right-of-way funding from the state Department of Commerce to use on additional housing and homeless services.
Agenda here
Monday, August 12 at 1:15 p.m.
Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Construction projects detailed
The Spokane County Public Works Department will present to the BOCC amendments to the various Transportation Improvement Program construction projects planned for the next five years. The program includes more than $30 million in projects, $4.4 million of which comes from county road funds. The vast majority of the remainder come from grants. They include building a new roundabout at the intersection of Freya Street and 57th Avenue and a replacement of the Little Spokane Drive Bridge.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 13 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
Board appointments
The BOCC will vote whether to appoint people to boards as follows:
- Lisa Miller to the Spokane County Board of Equalization
- Tim Fitzgerald as a District #3 Representative on the Veterans Advisory Board
- Pavel Parfilo as a District #4 Representative on the Veterans Advisory Board
Blake decision reimbursements
The state of Washington has offered to reimburse Spokane County more than $3 million in drug resentencing and sentence vacations after the 2021 Blake decision rendered the state felony drug possession law unconstitutional. Under the decision, people convicted of felony drug possession from 1971 to 2021 under the law could apply to have their convictions and sentences vacated and be reimbursed for their trials. The BOCC is set to accept the money.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 13 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
Opioid settlement spending
Spokane Valley is projected to receive about $334,000 in settlements from opioid lawsuits. The money must be spent on opioid abatement measures, but that’s a pretty broad category, so at their meeting this week, Spokane Valley City Council will have a discussion about how they should use those funds.
Some of the options on the table include enhancing the Spokane Regional Health District’s Opioid Dashboard, contracting with Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services (STARS) to transport patients from Spokane Valley to the STARS detox program in Spokane and funding for co-responder programs like Spokane Fire Department’s Behavioral Response Unit and the county’s Behavioral Health Unit.
Changes to the Governance Manual
More changes are coming to the city’s Governance Manual, after a controversial process earlier this year that led residents to complain about a lack of transparency in the city’s committee meetings. Some of those changes include:
- A new section that states scheduling the religious organization that leads the invocation at the top of each SpoVal Council Meeting is “solely the responsibility of a Spokane Valley church leadership group,” and not up to city staff. It says city staff will not accept requests from individuals or groups wanting to lead the invocation, or monitor the list of participants. So presumably, if your church can’t get on the list, it’s clear it’s not the council’s fault, and if a group with problematic history leads the invocation, it’s not the council’s fault either.
- Cutting public comment opportunities during study sessions before or after a formal meeting is canceled.
- Cutting out-of-order public comment opportunities, which gave the Mayor the power to allow citizens to speak on an agenda item out of order if they had circumstances that required them to leave a meeting early.
- Editing the social media rules to state council members “shall not encourage constituents and/or social media followers to post content on social media platforms that the council member knows or should know is factually false.” It previously said council members shall not “cause others” to post false content.
- Adding a new section on the city’s social media accounts encouraging council members to post from the city’s account, but also laying out the rules those posts have to follow, like no biased or factually incorrect information.
Agenda here
Tuesday, August 13 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here.
Central Valley School District Board of Directors
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Budget Time
Tonight, the Central Valley School District Board of Directors will discuss and consider adopting the 2024-2025 budget. The discussion will clarify aspects of the budget which have come under question by members of the board, who have expressed concern about using the entirety of levy funding, which received a majority vote earlier this year. Although it’s not unusual for a school board to adopt their budget in August, the decision may become an issue if the budget requires revision. Procedure requires the district to adopt a budget by August 31, otherwise funding will not be provided for schools in CVSD so board members are recommended to adopt the budget at tonight’s meeting.
Agenda here
Monday, August 12 at 6 pm
Learning and Teaching Center (district office)
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here.
Spokane School District Board of Directors
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Special Meeting: Board Director Resignation
This week, the Spokane School District Board of Directors will hold a Special Meeting at 4:30 pm to discuss an upcoming vacancy and budget development. School Board Director Dr. Melissa Bedford will resign, leaving the position open on August 14.
2024-2025 Budget Planning Work Session
The board will also discuss the 2024-2025 school year budget in a Budget Planning Work Session. The work session will review the status of past funds, as well as forecasts for spending in the upcoming school year. Based on the presentation, the budget is set for adoption on August 28.
Regular Meeting: 2023-2024 Budget Extension?
In addition to the special meeting, the board will also hold a Budget Public Hearing and 2023-2024 Budget Extension Adoption. Dr. Adam Swinyard and Cindy Coleman will present last year’s budget and their findings on exceeding the previous budget. They will also propose an extension to revise and increase the budget in order to pay for unforeseen spending. After their proposal, there will be a public hearing for comments and concerns about adopting these revisions before the board takes action.
Agenda here
Wednesday, August 14 at 6 pm (4:30 pm for Special Meeting)
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane County Planning Commission
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Countywide Planning Policies for Affordable Housing Workshop
The County Planning Commission will host a workshop to present and discuss a current draft of Countywide Planning Policies for Affordable Housing. These policies are meant to provide guidance for creating and planning affordable housing as determined by requirements in the Growth Management Act (GMA). The workshop will review language implemented in the Countywide Planning Policies document, which has been revised for clarity and to keep with the wording used in the GMA. To provide comments on the Affordable Housing Countywide Planning Policies, send an email to 2026Compplan@spokanecounty.org.
Agenda here
Thursday, August 15 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.
