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.
It’s Val’s birthday today, which is a very important item, but some of the other things that stick out to us this week include:
- Potential Spokane City rules change to vote on a resolution reaffirm the city’s values of inclusion, respect and justice in the wake of anti-queer vandalism
- Documentary screening to create a free immigration legal center
- Spokane Municipal Court may get much-needed safety upgrades
- Winter is officially coming with a $1.5 million de-icing contract
- A taxpayer town hall with Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council
- Finance and Administration Committee (Spokane city)
- Board of County Commissioners
- Spokane City Council Study Sessions
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Liberty Lake City Council
- Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
- Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
- Bicycle Advisory Board
- Spokane Airport Board
Taxpayer Town Hall
Spokane County Treasurer Michael Baumgartner and Senator Mike Padden are hosting a town hall for the taxpayers of Spokane County. This free event will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions and learn about issues like 2024 property taxes, the senior and disabled exemption program and policy proposals for the upcoming year.
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 6 to 7pm
CenterPlace Auditorium
2426 N. Discovery Place
Spokane Valley, WA 99216
Accelerating to a Clean Future
The 2023 Transportation Summit is this week, so if you can, join the Spokane Regional Transportation Council and other organizations as they discuss the possibilities for the future of clean and sustainable transportation. The $25 event registration includes breakfast with Charlie Allcock, the keynote speaker and an expert in clean transportation technologies, and a panel of local and regional experts who will discuss current transportation trends. If you’re one of our readers who envisions a future with less cars and more sustainable transportation around the city, this might be the event for you.
Thursday, Oct. 19, 8 to 10 am
CenterPlace Auditorium
2426 N. Discovery Place, Spokane Valley, WA 99216
Registration available for purchase here.
Latinos en Spokane documentary screening
This Friday, Latinos en Spokane is hosting their 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 City Council
Continued vandalism sparks resolution
Just hours after Pop-up Pride in Perry and crosswalk clean-ups organized in response to queerphobic vandalism, the Perry District found itself hit by vandals again. Wishing Tree Books and the Pride flags of local residents were targeted this time. In response to the wave of vandalism targeting queer gathering spaces like Odyssey Youth Movement and Atomic Threads, rainbow crosswalks, and Pride flags displayed in city residents’ yards, Spokane City Council is voting to suspend the rules so they can vote on an emergency resolution that would reaffirm the city’s values of inclusion, respect and justice, and commit to actions that reinforce those values.
The resolution, if passed, would also add a line to the city’s legislative agenda for the year that could classify crimes targeting public property and places as hate crimes. It could be an opportunity for the city to empower the Office of Civil Rights, Equity and Inclusion, as we heard from some candidates at multiple forums over the last few weeks that there are some frustrations about the roles and actual power the office holds.
Winter is coming…
And city preparations are in the works (or, at least for the streets. We still haven’t seen a comprehensive plan for housing the homeless during extreme weather conditions.) At this week’s meeting, council will vote on purchases to protect the city streets and improve winter driving conditions. The winter prep items on the table come with some pretty hefty price tags, including $1.5 million for liquid de-icer, $140,000 for road salt, and $115,000 for ice kicker, which melts ice and snow.
Agenda here.
Monday, October 16 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 19 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Valley City Council
Transportation Benefit District is TBD
The Valley’s on a roll this year, as they established a Tourism Promotion Area and are looking to establish a Transportation Benefit District (TBD). After starting to publicly discuss the potential of a TBD in September, they will hold a public hearing on the formation of one at this week’s meeting. The TLDR on the TBD is that it would have the same boundaries as the city, be governed by the city council, and may establish fees, taxes and other revenue sources, including an annual vehicle fee, which would fund transportation infrastructure improvements. This public hearing would not set any particular method or amount of funding, and a note in the agenda states that funding would be discussed at future Council or TBD meetings if the TBD is approved.
Contamination judgment leads to more funding for city budget
In 2015, both Spokane Valley and Spokane were part of a lawsuit against Monsanto, one of the largest seed producers, accountable for contaminating the cities’ stormwater and wastewater systems with polychlorinated biphenyls, which are hazardous chemicals that can have dangerous impacts on the environment and health. Monsanto settled, and after an increase in judgments and settlements, the Valley saw a $3.56 million increase in payout from the company. Spokane Valley will vote on amending their budget for 2024 to reflect that, as well as almost $5 million received grant dollars, and a $3.4 million increase in planned expenditures.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 17 at 6 pm
CenterPlace Great Room
2426 N Discovery Place, Spokane Valley, WA 99216
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Finance and Administration Committee
Safety upgrades for municipal court
The city council will be considering a Special Budget Ordinance to address some serious safety issues in the Spokane Municipal Court that a recent US Marshal’s report identified. The ordinance would take savings from salaries, about $58,000, to pay for the upgrades, which include: enclosing a large fuel tank immediately adjacent to the courtrooms and in the parking lot designated for judicial officers, installing a locking door on the fire hose in the public hallway outside of courtrooms, replacing a door to secure building access and enclosing or reconfiguring the 2nd floor HVAC system to prevent any tampering. They would also get the courtroom walls painted, which according to the agenda packet, have never been painted and are dirty.
The project also includes upgrading and properly installing the audio recording system, which is required statewide. The current system is “outdated and poorly installed” and even has wiring running across floors and under desks, which causes damage and audio shorts.
These upgrades are also crucial, as last year, the city council was considering acquiring the East Spokane Premera property to house the municipal court and Spokane Police Department. Councilmembers cited safety concerns, like the ones above, and space issues as the main reasoning for moving. The property was listed at $14 million and the city had even entered into a purchasing agreement for the property before quietly exiting in May.
Agenda here
Monday, October 16 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 County Commissioners
Fire clean up continues
Spokane County Emergency Management got a grant from the Washington Military Department for costs related to asbestos testing for uninsured or underinsured properties destroyed in the Oregon and Gray Road wildfires. The county will contract with Specialty Environmental Group for $250,000 through September 30, 2024 for testing and disaster clean up.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 17 at 2 pm
Public Works Building, Commissioners’ Hearing Room.
1026 W Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260
Liberty Lake City Council
More Measure 1 resolutions
Measure 1 support or disapproval is the hot agenda item at all of our local city council meetings. This week, Liberty Lake will vote on joining Spokane Valley in passing a resolution to support ballot Measure 1, which would increase sales and use tax in Spokane County by an additional two-tenths of one percent (0.2%), with proceeds going to build a new county jail, among other, unspecified criminal justice projects.
Agenda here
Tuesday, October 17 at 7 pm
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
Agenda here.
Tuesday, October 17 at 4:30 pm
Shadle Park Library
2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Bicycle Advisory Board
Agenda here.
Tuesday, October 17 at 6 pm
City Council Briefing Center
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Airport Board
Agenda here.
Thursday, October 19 at 9 am
Airport Event Center
9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
Agenda here (when available)
Thursday, October 19 at 1:30 pm
STA Boardroom
1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
