Want sheriff body cam footage? It could cost you

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 could finally pass the rules that govern them for 2026, more than three months into the year.
The Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee will discuss a new ordinance to allow Spokanites with disabilities to reserve a free street parking spot near their house.
Spokane County sheriff wants to establish a fee schedule for releasing body camera footage to people who request it, citing the time it takes for records custodians to review and redact the videos.
The Central Valley School District will weigh in on a proposed change to policies related to school sports that says transgender students shouldn’t be allowed to play. The state has a law against this, so the vote is merely ceremonial.

Important meetings this week:

Spokane City Council

🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers

Council staff structure consultant contract

Tonight, the council will vote on a $64,500 contract with Matrix Consulting Group. Matrix won the bid to do an organization analysis of the council staff to help the council decide which (if any) council staffers should have their positions cut, after budget negotiations last year. They’re also planning to do other stuff, like create an office handbook that formalizes roles, responsibilities and expectations. The whole process is slated to take 10 weeks, once the $64,500 contract is approved.

Flashbang injury

Also on the agenda for tonight is the approval of a $425,000 settlement for Sierra Athos, who was injured in “a joint training with Spokane County Sheriff’s Office,” in 2023. Athos’ Facebook page shows her being sworn into the Eastern Washington University Police, and in 2024, she posted about still being unable to walk after being hit by a flashbang grenade. If this settlement is passed, it will resolve Athos’ claims against the city, but she may still have claims against the county.

Rules, at last?

It’s the second week of the third month of the year, and the council may finally decide on the ruleset that will govern (the rest of) their year. Last week, they passed the portion of the rules that would move future meetings to Wednesday nights, with agenda review and committees happening on Tuesday, starting in July. They also passed amendments to the package that would change the process of how an ordinance becomes a law, shortening the time from committee introduction to passage, while allowing for more public comment throughout the process. Council Member Sarah Dixit posted an explainer video from staff on the new flow of an ordinance.

Tonight, they’ve got one last amendment on the table from Council Member Zack Zappone that further clarifies the public comment procedure and timeline. If the Zappone amendment is passed without a rules suspension, it would defer the final rules vote one more week.

HEART Funding

Previously known as the 1590 fund — in reference to the state law that allowed the city to collect the sales tax to seed it — the HEART fund spending priorities are going to be approved today. In general, the rules governing the fund state that 70% must be spent on things like building affordable housing, supporting or acquiring behavioral health facilities and funding operation of these facilities. The other 30% can be spent on the “Legal Services and Relocation Fund,” — which helps tenants relocate if landlords violate habitability requirements — and costs related to operating behavioral health and housing-related services and programs.

The specific priority setting up for a vote today would set the priorities for the committee reviewing proposals for the funding. While the original draft left the priorities blank, an amendment from Council President Betsy Wilkerson lays out eleven specific kinds of projects the council wants to fund from HEART dollars this year:

Constructing mixed-use housing
Constructing new units of affordable housing
Creating permanently affordable housing, defined as maintaining affordability for households earning up to 60% of AMI for at least forty (40) years for rental housing and for at least twenty-five (25) years for owner- occupied housing
Addressing the racial wealth gap through increasing homeownership for populations that have historically been subject to discrimination in housing markets or housing policy
Distributing attainable housing throughout the City, in a variety of neighborhoods and in closer proximity to services such as parks and open space, schools, and grocery stores
Constructing units that are safe and accessible, regardless of age, physical ability or stature
Constructing units that use less net energy and require less maintenance in order to reduce long term costs of ownership.
Projects which include anti-displacement strategies
Constructing or rehabilitating new units of affordable housing, that would break ground for construction within 12 months and/or be “move-in ready” within 18 months.
Constructing new units of affordable housing that allow for occupant homeownership, rent-to-own leases, or cooperatively-owned multi-family projects.
The provider must document a realistic and achievable capital stack strategy that identifies prospective follow-on funding sources, including Housing Trust Fund opportunities, and provides evidence of alignment with eligibility criteria, application timelines, and project readiness benchmarks

A second amendment proposed by Wilkerson cuts number 7 from the list, winnowing it down to 10 priorities. Both Wilkerson amendments also state that a minimum of 80% of the 70% of revenue earmarked for capital expenses should exclusively fund affordable housing projects and not behavioral health projects.

Agenda here
Monday, March 9 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, March 12 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

Airport Property Purchase

The committee will be discussing a resolution giving the Spokane Airport Board the authority to purchase residential property at 10614 W 59th Avenue and acquire first right of refusal on an adjoining property. This purchase is part of remediation efforts after a fuel spill was discovered to have been impacting the property.

Reserved residential disabled parking

Also up for discussion is an ordinance that would establish an official on-street, residential parking program for people with disabilities. If passed later, this would allow Spokane residents with a permanent disability identification card or licence plate to reserve a street parking space near their house. The parking space could be between 8 and 18 feet, and would cost the city roughly $400 per spot for the sign installation and staff time.

Agenda here
Monday, March 9 at 12 pm
Council Chambers
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Public Facilities District

🌶️🫑/5 peppers

Agenda here when available
Wednesday, January 7 at 12:30 pm
Board Room, 720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane
Virtual attendance here.

Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

Potential fees for body cam requests

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is asking the BOCC to consider charging the public when they request body-worn camera footage that requires redactions according to a formal fee schedule.

That kind of footage is subject to public records laws in Washington and is instrumental in holding police accountable for their work in the field. But the footage can be redacted for a number of reasons, and it takes a lot of time and labor for records custodians to review it for redactions.

According to a presentation document, police can redact body camera footage that shows:

Area of a medical facility, counseling or therapeutic program office where a patient is registered to receive treatment, receiving treatment, waiting for treatment, or being transported during treatment
Protected health information
Images of minors
Images that are highly offensive to a reasonable person, such as images of deceased or seriously injured persons
Communications from a victim or witness of an incident involving domestic violence or sexual assault
Identifiable location information of a community-based domestic violence program
Persons with apparent mental illness in crisis or who are detained for a mental health evaluation

The fee schedule will also be discussed at the BOCC’s legislative meeting at 2 pm March 10. A public hearing about the fee schedule is set for 2 pm on March 24.

Agenda here
Wednesday, March 11 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

Board appointment

The BOCC will likely reappoint Dawn Wynne as a Spokane County At-Large representative on the Historic Landmarks Commission.

More than half a million in vehicle spending

The Public Works Department is requesting the BOCC to approve bids from Corwin Ford totalling $613,771 in truck purchases. The trucks include:

Eight Ford Maverick XL all wheel drives
Eight F250 Super Cab 4x4s
Two Ford Ranger 4x4 crew cabs

Agenda here
Tuesday, January 6 at 2 pm
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Airport Board

🌶️🫑/5 peppers

Agenda here.
Wednesday, March 11 at 9 am
9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane|
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Mead School District Board of Directors

🌶️🫑/5 peppers

There’s very little information in the agenda sheet, but the district will discuss its policy banning harassment, intimidation and bullying and its relationship with the CHAS Health Clinic.

Agenda here
Monday, March 9 at 6 pm
12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead
Watch via Zoom here.

Central Valley School District Board of Directors

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

Vote on transgender athletes up

Central Valley School District will discuss its policy positions on a variety of potential amendments to the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) rules. WIAA is a nonprofit founded to preserve “equitable playing conditions between high school sports teams in Washington,” and every year, they decide on rule changes. One of the rule changes on the table that CVSD is discussing this week is a vote to limit transfender athletes participation in sports. However, because the state of Washington allows transgender athletes in public schools to play sports according to their gender identity, the vote WIAA is holding is purely non-binding and advisory.

While CVSD is slated to discuss the whole batch of proposed amendments, they’ve paid special attention to transgender kids over the last few years, trying to get them banned from sports both in WIAA lobbying and asking the federal government to investigate Washington’s state position on transgender athletes’ sports participation.

Agenda here
Monday, March 9 at 6 pm
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Road
Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here.

West Valley School District Board of Directors

🌶️🫑/5 peppers

Agenda here
Wednesday, March 11 at 8:00 a.m.
Orchard Center Elementary School
7519 E. Buckeye Ave, Spokane Valley
Watch via Zoom here.

Spokane Valley City Council (special meeting)

🌶️🫑/5 peppers

Comprehensive plan update

City staff will present an update to the city council on its progress toward implementing the long-term plan that will govern the way Spokane Valley is developed between this year and 2046. The plan has three main elements: economic, land use and natural resources. The planning process is dictated by Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA) and applies to all local governments. Cities can choose to emphasize the way they grow — whether that focus is on dense urban infill or expansion into urban growth areas. But the planning process must meet several specific metrics, including a public participation schedule and planning for climate change.