Confession time: after last week’s non-agendized surprise resolution by the county commissioners that authorized the county prosecutor to sue the state in order to build the legal case for the county to sweep Camp Hope, I flew into a panic thinking I had missed something big and obvious on the county’s agenda. I double and triple-checked the posted agendas and confirmed that, no, I did not — the resolution was just snuck into the meeting under the guise of an executive session.
Needless to say, I’m still a little paranoid about making sure I don’t miss anything big happening in our upcoming meetings. But, there are a TON of public meetings in Spokane alone every week, and we learned that — intentionally or not — posted agendas don’t always give all the context, so if you know of something important happening at a given meeting, or if you know about a board or meeting we aren’t tracking yet, please send me an email at valerie@rangemedia.co.
Spokane Indigenous People’s Day March
Monday is Indigenous Peoples Day and there will be a march with local native speakers, drummers, singers and dancers. It’s hosted by Yoyot Sp’q’n’i, Indigenous Eats, MAC Movement, The NATIVE Project, The Native American Alliance for Policy & Action, We X Voter Outreach.
“We are marching in honor of our residential school survivors, the children that did not come home, the current nationwide MMIWP epidemic as well as the domestic violence that our people suffer through,” the Facebook event says.
Details:
Event info here.
Monday, Oct. 10 from 3 to 5 p.m.
The march begins and ends at Mission Park
1208 E. Mission Ave.
Spokane City Council
Master Park Plan: The city council will consider adopting the 2022 Parks and Natural Lands Master Plan. This is the plan that lays out how the city will go about improving the parks system over the next decade and was last updated in 2010. The latest plan was developed through extensive public outreach and analysis, according to the agenda, and was adopted by the Park Board in June 2022. The plan also gives the city a framework for making investment decisions and making policy actions. Read more about it from the Spokesman here.
Details:
Agenda here.
Monday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Park Board
Speaking of parks: The Park Board is planning to vote on proposed dog park guidelines that will be referenced in selecting and designing future dog parks in Spokane. As of now, the city’s plan is to build at least one dog park in each district with the first being in District 2 because its original dog park was displaced by the construction of a new middle school. This park also has dedicated funding from Spokane Public Schools.
The guidelines won’t determine the specific sites where dog parks will be built and the final locations won’t be decided until the parks department gets feedback from neighborhood councils. There will also be dog park open houses in the next two weeks hosted by the parks department, where they will share the top three location options. See dates and details here.
See the proposed guidelines here.
Details:
Agenda here (once posted).
Thursday, Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m.
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also available virtually by calling in on the number provided in the agenda.
Spokane County Commissioners Strategic Session
These are public meetings and livestreamed, but do not have a general public comment time. However, any person has the right to provide oral comment to the board if they take final action on any item on the strategic planning meeting agenda. The agendas for these are often also light on details.
Airway Heights Public Safety Campus: The commission will be talking about supporting the Airway Heights’ letter to state legislators asking for $1.3 million for a new public safety campus, which will include new spaces for the fire department, police department and municipal court. This item is also on Tuesday’s regular session consent agenda.
Plus: The commission will also be presented with a six-year Transportation Improvement Program and given an update on the spending plan for the American Rescue Plan Act.
There are standing notices for possible executive sessions on Enforcement Action or Pending/Potential Litigation in Strategic Session agendas, in case they try to slide another sneaky resolution in.
Details:
Agenda here
Monday, Oct. 10 at 9 a.m.
Public Works Building, 1026 West Broadway Ave.
Board of County Commissioners’ Conference Room
The meeting can be accessed virtually here.
Spokane County Commissioners Regular Session
Budget roundtable: The county budget office will present on the 2023 budget revenue estimates with time for public testimony. This is the first of three and the following two are on Nov. 8 and 29 at the same time and location.
Details:
Agenda here
Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.
Public Works Building, 1026 West Broadway Ave.
Lower level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room
The meeting can be accessed virtually here.
Spokane School District Board of Directors
It’s Bond. School Bond: The board will be presented with an update on their plan for the 2018 bond project financing. Voters approved up to $495,300,000 of bonds in 2018 and the district is planning on issuing a third series of bonds from it in the amount of up to $100,000,000. The board will also vote on a resolution to implement this plan.
Details:
Agenda here
Wednesday, Oct 12 at 7 p.m.
Boardroom, SPS Administration Building
200 N. Bernard
Watch virtually here.
The Mead School District Board of Directors is also meeting this week, but doesn’t appear to have any big items on their agenda.
Details:
Agenda here.
Monday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.
Union Event Center
12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021
Watch via Zoom here.
