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 Regional Health District’s meeting will be a little on the nose as they’re scheduled for a Halloween vote on whether or not to continue down the road of privatization for their opioid Treatment Services.
- Spokane Valley City Council has a few important things on their agenda this week, like the consideration of 2024 budget amendments, a first read of the 2025 budget and a vote on asking the Washington State Supreme Court not to reduce public defender caseloads.
- The Spokane City Council may officially come out in opposition of statewide ballot initiative 2117, just in time for the election.
- Spokane Public School District will soon have a full board again — they’re scheduled to make their decision on who will fill the spot left vacant by a member’s resignation earlier this year.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Finance and Administration Committee
- Board of County Commissioners - Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Spokane Housing Authority Board
- Central Valley School District Board of Directors
- Spokane Regional Health District Board
- Spokane School District Board of Directors (Special meeting)
High Bridge Dog Park Reopening
High Bridge Dog Park is partially renovated and re-opening to the public today at noon. It’s a soft opening, so visitors (and their dogs) are welcome back to the park while a few construction projects remain underway on shelter, seating, lighting, tree removal and agility features. There are new large and small dog areas, as well as fencing, gates and improved entry and exit to an ADA accessible dog park area, available for your furry friends’ pleasure starting today, and the whole project will be completed in spring 2025. The funding for the dog park revamp was provided by Spokane Public Schools because the construction of Carla Peperzak Middle School displaced another dog park on the South Hill and the district had promised to rectify that.
Visit the dog park at 330 S A St, Spokane, WA 99224
The Community School’s Election Chronicle
We love the folks over at The Community School — we worked with them over the summer to elevate student journalism! Well, they’re back at it with civic engagement, working on a project to think and write critically about the 2024 elections, both local and national, with their upper level students. They’ve created the 2024 TCS Election Chronicle, a 40 page document with candidate and race write-ups, as well as explanations of basic tenets of government — i.e. what a senator does, and how an initiative works. Check out the students’ hard work here!
Reimagine Spokane Environmental Justice Workshop
The last of Reimagine Spokane’s workshop series is Wednesday 5:30 to 7 pm, this time focused on environmental justice. In these workshops, community organizers and experts are dreaming up “a more inclusive future for our Spokane community.” So far they’ve covered housing and homelessness, refugees and immigrants, health equity and intersectional communities. Food is provided, just be sure to RSVP here.
Gonzaga University - John J Hemmingson Room 220
702 E Desmet Ave.
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
More board appointments
Climate change is scary; the city of Spokane is trying to prepare the city for it through the work of the brand new Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board. Mayor Lisa Brown has submitted a few more appointments to the board that need to be approved:
- Kathryn Alexander, the founder of Soil Smart - Soil Wise, a think tank for revitalizing cities.
- Matthew Holton, who we couldn’t find with a quick google search.
- Bob Lutz, the former regional health officer for Spokane Regional Health District who was allegedly illegally fired.
- Larry Luton, Professor Emeritus of Public Administration at Eastern Washington University and a Board member of 350 Spokane — a volunteer-run nonprofit “building an effective movement for climate action in the greater Spokane area.”
- Happy Avery, the executive director of Spokane River Forum.
- Amanda Parrish, the executive director of The Lands Council.
- Brian Henning, director of the Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment.
- Elyse Hochstadt, executive director of Spokane Zero Waste.
Two public hearings could be scheduled for next week
Tonight, the city council will vote on whether or not to set two public hearings for next Monday. Those public hearings would be taking feedback on possible revenue sources for the 2025 budget and feedback on the Citywide Capital Improvement Program 2025-2030. While the phrase “possible revenue sources,” sounds pretty innocuous, it’s actually referring to the possibility of increasing the regular property tax levy, so if that’s something you feel passionately about, make time to come share your opinion with council next week!
Opposing cap-and-trade initiative
Statewide Initiative 2117 has been controversial locally, with regional boards debating whether or not to take stances for or against it. Spokane City Council could make their own statement on the initiative — which we have an in-depth breakdown here — tonight, as they vote on a resolution to officially oppose the initiative, encouraging voters to cast their ballots against it.
Council Member Michael Cathcart has submitted an amendment to the resolution, which would strike one “whereas clause” (the archaic way of stating reasons to pass a piece of legislation that are listed at the beginning of the legislation.) The clause Cathcart wants to strike reads, “WHEREAS, repealing the Cap-and-Invest Program created by the state’s Climate Commitment Act could eliminate budgeted funding for the on-time completion of the North-South Corridor.”
This has been a point of contention about the initiative: funds collected from the cap-and-trade program do not go directly to the construction of the North-South freeway, but opponents of the initiative have argued that funds allocated for the freeway will have to go to fund other projects that are funded through cap-and-trade if the initiative passes and cuts off those income sources.
CHHS Board restructure
The council will conduct a first reading of a piece of legislation that would restructure the Community, Housing and Human Services Board, converting Spokane City and Spokane County reps on the board to non-voting members. The board currently includes two City Council members and one County representative, who all vote. The legislation in the agenda says that the council “has been advised that, given that the City Council typically has final authority to decide on grant, awards and funding recommendations from the CHHS board, having voting council members creates an inherent conflict of interest.” This legislation is supposed to address that issue.
Agenda here
Monday, October 28 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 31 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Finance and Administration Committee
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Levy spending & implementation
There isn’t any information included in the agenda, but a 15 minute presentation on “Levy Spending Proposal & Implementation Plans,” from members of Mayor Brown’s cabinet is scheduled. Could be an interesting watch if you want more details on the potential property tax levy and what it would be spent on.
Stop smuggling synthetic drugs!
The city government wants people to stop smuggling illicit synthetic drugs into Spokane. They could decide to pass a resolution to officially state that by supporting the “Stop Smuggling Illicit Synthetic Drugs on US Transportation Networks Act of 2024,” and supporting it on the city’s federal legislative agenda. During the committee meeting today, council will discuss the resolution in support of the proposed federal legislation, which the agenda claims “will improve the multi-jurisdictional response by assisting law enforcement with action against illegal drug trafficking.”
ARPA check-in
Council continues to be in a time crunch to ensure all the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars get officially contracted out before the end of the year. At today’s Finance and Administration Committee meeting, they’ll be checking in on the status of a bunch of ARPA projects they voted to fund, to see if they’re on track to get contracts out, or if the money needs to be clawed back and reallocated quickly.
Some of the project buckets up for discussion:
- Language Access
- Childcare
- Municipal Criminal Justice
- Working Families Tax Credit Marketing Campaign
Agenda here
Monday, October 28 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.
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Discussions of new PFAS task force
Commissioner Chris Jordan is spearheading an effort to create a regional task force to address “forever chemicals” water contamination on the West Plains. Jordan wants members of the County Water Resources team to weigh in with their input. The agenda item for this says Jordan wants to discuss:
- timing for a Board meeting with the Washington State Department of Ecology and other local stakeholders
- what the scope of such a task force could be
- what organizations/stakeholders should be engaged for feedback and/or invited to participate, and
- how and when invitations to various stakeholders could be formally extended.
In 2017, Fairchild Air Force Base alerted the city of Airway Heights and surrounding governments and agencies that it had discovered per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the groundwater under the base. Local authorities scrambled to get many of them clean water, but many cannot access it. Spokane International Airport also discovered contamination but didn’t disclose it until 2023. PFAS is increasingly linked to brain, liver and birth defects and several deadly kinds of cancer. People who live on the West Plains have been drinking it for years.
New state money for sustainable disaster recovery
The county is looking to accept $1.8 million in new state money to be dedicated to sustainable disaster recovery. The money is approved through a law passed in the last legislative session in Washington that provides money to disaster victims, like people who lost homes to the Gray Fire last year, to replace their homes using sustainable and energy efficient building products. It is intended to “encourage more sustainable use of resources, and increase climate resilience.”
SREC chairs’ letter advises against board reform
The chair and vice-chair of Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, which triages emergency calls in much of Spokane County, have written a letter to the BOCC arguing against proposed reforms. The city of Spokane has proposed creating two boards, one dealing with executive matters, the other operations. Under the city’s proposal, it would be made up of elected officials. The board is currently mostly composed of top police officers and firefighters from around the county. The letter recommends adding the chief of Spokane Police to the board as a city voice, rather than reforming the board.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 29 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 is set to appoint two people to boards:
- reappoint Ellen Clark to the Spokane County Library District Board of Trustees
- reappoint Yvonne Warren as the Town of Latah representative on the Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 29 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
Public defender debate
The Washington State Bar Association has asked the Washington State Supreme Court to review and revise the number of cases public defenders are allowed to take at once, reducing the allowed misdemeanor caseload from 150 to 120 cases a year per public defender.
Supporters of the proposed caseload reduction say it would help keep public defenders from leaving their careers, and ensure that people in need of public defense are getting quality services. As other outlets have covered, prosecutors are pushing back on this request, claiming it will result in vigilante justice. Others opposed to the reduction of caseload say it would require cities to hire more public defenders, which could be rough to budget for.
Spokane Valley City Council is preparing to wade into this debate; tonight, they will vote on whether or not to send a letter to the Washington State Supreme Court, imploring the court to do a statewide study before reducing the public defender caseload, because “there is no evidence that there is a crisis of vacancies or quality representation throughout the state.”
The letter in the agenda claims that the National Public Defense Workload study released by the the American Bar Association, the National Center for State Courts and the RAND Justice Policy Program, which came to the conclusion public defenders should handle fewer cases, wasn’t Washington-centric and shouldn’t be a basis for changing policies here in the state. Reducing caseload would also have a significant impact on Spokane Valley’s budget, with the estimated increase in costs falling somewhere between $1.8 and $2.7 million. “To put this in perspective,” the letter reads, “the 2024 budget for public defense is approximately $920,000.”
The Washington State Supreme Court justices have already held a first hearing on the issue, but is scheduled to take a second public hearing about the caseload standard on November 13, and is encouraging stakeholders to submit comments to the court until October 31. The letter from Spokane Valley is intended to get into the Supreme Court before that October 31 feedback deadline, and specifically requests the Court, hold “a statewide study because there is lack of consensus on not only the source of the issue, but whether an issue exists in the first place, and because the necessary data is available.”
The Budget
Spokane Valley City Council has three action items related to the city’s budget on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting:
- a public hearing on an amendment to the 2024 budget that would include an additional $50,000 for the cost of third party investigations and $115,000 for outside legal services. One has to wonder if this is related to Council Member Al Merkel.
- A first reading of that 2024 budget amendment after the public hearing on it
- A first reading of the 2025 budget, which can be perused here.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 29 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here.
Spokane Housing Authority Board
Agenda here
Monday, October 28 at 3:30 pm
Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Central Valley School District Board of Directors
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Language Access
Tonight, the CVSD Board of Directors will do a first reading of a policy that would make a few changes to the statewide standard policy on language access. The changes CVSD wants to make include removing a line that would require the district to have implemented a language access program by the 2023-24 school year, and removing a paragraph that would commit the district to providing “effective communication for students’ families who are deaf, deaf and blind, blind, hard of hearing, or need other communication assistance according to 4217 – Effective Communication.” To read the full text of the proposed policy, click here.
Agenda here
Monday, October 28 at 6 p.m.
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
Decision day
The School Board has no regular meeting, but will hold a special meeting in executive session to make the final decision on who will replace Melissa Bedford on the board. More about the final candidates here.
Agenda hereat 4 pm
Tuesday, October 29
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Regional Health District Board
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Finally, a Feasibility Study decision
Last month, the SRHD Board of Health (BOH) voted to delay their vote on whether or not to advance their Feasibility Study on privatizing their opioid Treatment Services Division to the second step. This week, they are once again scheduled to make the vote, pending the presentation of pro forma financial statements from administrative officer Dr. Alicia Thompson. Those statements will show projections of future expenses and revenues for the Division, which some board members said they needed to see to better inform their decision making.
If you’re curious about what exactly this decision is, we’ve covered it in-depth here, here and here, and live-tweeted the last meeting, but here’s the TLDR: for the last six months, SRHD has been conducting a Feasibility Study to decide if SRHD’s Treatment Services would be better off privatized, how that privatization would legally work and who might be interested in taking it over.
If the process reaches the end, it would culminate in a Request for Proposals from providers who want to take over or buy the division (it’s unclear which of these would be the legal path forward.)
There are some pretty big stakes here: just talking about privatization has caused a lot of stress and distrust from some of the 1,000 patients who rely on the division for counseling and methadone prescriptions to help them stay out of active addiction and from the unionized employees who work in the division and could lose their union and retirement benefits, if privatization moves forward.
At last month’s meeting, the BOH seemed split, with some board members pointing to the potential harm in moving forward and some stating that, despite the overwhelming stakeholder opposition to privatization that was revealed in Step One of the process, it was best to continue down the path.
(One of those board members was Spokane City Council Member Michael Cathcart, who claimed the sample size of nearly 400 responses wasn’t large enough to consider the community engaged or make a call on what the opinion actually is, a point that’s a bit ironic considering Cathcart has recently pointed to a 600 respondent study as being proof the city needs more police and isn’t safe enough for people’s satisfaction.)
Other board members, like Charlie Duranona and Dr. Monica Blykowski-May, pointed to the overwhelmingly opposed responses as a real indicator the study should stop and the board should instead focus on how to make Treatment Services better within SRHD. At the time, Patricia Kienholz was positioned as the tie-breaker vote, and ultimately moved to postpone the vote so she had more time to review the packet.
We’ll likely be in attendance at this meeting to keep you abreast of what SRHD’s board decides to do in live time.
Overdose review
Spokane County and SRHD could enter into an interlocal agreement for the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office to generate a monthly list of all cases of overdose deaths that have occurred in adults. This partnership could result in better countywide data about overdoses — a big improvement from earlier this year. The contract is up for approval at this week’s meeting.
Smoking in private clubs
The last action item on the agenda for this week would amend an old SRHD resolution that governs smoking in public places and places of employment. The proposed changes are pretty minor but would add a few sentences to legislation, which governs where smoking is allowed, including adding this sentence to the definition of employee: “‘Employee’ shall not include members of a membership association or club whose work activities in the facility are limited to cleanup of the members’ own tableware and/or trash generated by the member during their attendance at the membership association or club.” There are a couple other small changes
If we’re reading this resolution correctly, it would make it slightly easier for a private club that doesn’t require membership dues to allow smoking, but also the changes appear pretty minor, so it’s not super clear what exactly this would do.
Agenda here
Thursday, October 31 at 12:30 p.m.
Auditorium, First Floor
Spokane Regional Health District
1101 West College Avenue
