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 could finally pass a toothier version of the ban on algorithmic price-fixing software for rental housing which would strip violators of their business licenses. They’re also saying hello to new Council Member Kate Telis, voting on a state legislative lobbying agenda and potentially passing a settlement for an eight-year-old lawsuit.
- Spokane’s Public Safety & Community Health Committee is set to discuss a ban on kratom, and a slate of reports that show both an increase in speeding and in arrests of unhoused people for public camping.
- The Spokane Human Rights Commission has no agenda up yet, but they do have a vacancy you can apply for if you want to impact social change in the city!
- The Spokane School District may finally get its own fleet of school buses and end its 50-year reliance on contract bus services. Plus, The Community School might get a new name! Send us your best suggestions.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Public Safety & Community Health Committee
- Community, Housing, and Human Services Board
- Spokane Human Rights Commission
- Board of County Commissioners – Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Liberty Lake City Council
- Spokane School District Board of Directors
Spokane City
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
New face on the dais
Because the seat was previously filled by an appointed member (Council Member Shelby Lambdin), Council Member Kate Telis was sworn in immediately following the certification of the 2025 election results and has replaced Lambdin as one of the two representatives for council district 2. Tonight is her first legislative meeting!
Legislative session is coming…
In just over a month, the Washington State Legislature will convene in Olympia to pass laws. So tonight, the Spokane City Council could adopt their own legislative agenda, laying out the city’s goals they plan to lobby the state for.
At the top of the list is seeking a Climate Commitment Act (CCA) exemption for Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant, which is the only solid waste disposal system in the state currently slated to have to pay fees under the CCA — despite producing less greenhouse gasses than landfills, which received an exemption. If city lobbyists and local legislators can secure an exemption, it could save Spokane residents from up to $8 million in penalties, which will start in 2027 if no exemption is granted.
Other priorities on the list include:
- Fighting for permission to try out land value tax here in Spokane, which would exempt buildings from being subject to tax and instead just tax based on the value of the land (which advocates think could discourage land speculation and encourage development.)
- Seeking funding for: an expansion of the Northeast Regional Law Enforcement Academy, which trains police recruits, an expansion of the system’s behavioral health and substance abuse treatment capacity, more emergency shelters, transitional housing and resources for unhoused people, and increased affordable childcare access through supporting more state-subsidized childcare slots and “the Northeast Public Development Authority’s development of a childcare center serving people who work nontraditional hours.”
- Pushing for statewide vehicle tab fee restructuring that will raise tab fees for heavier vehicles, like large trucks, that cause more damage to streets.
- Looking for permission to charge a sidewalk fee that would fund sidewalk repair and construction.
- Asking for a statewide ban on metal-studded tires.
- Supporting legislation authorizing the state attorney general to “investigate and prosecute local law enforcement and corrections agencies for violations of the State Constitution and state laws – including the Keep Washington Working Act.”
Water fight settlement
Nearly a decade ago, golf courses and residents located outside of Spokane city limits brought a $30 million lawsuit against Spokane, alleging that the city’s higher rates for users outside of city limits were unfair and illegal. Now, the city could approve a settlement in the class action lawsuit that would pay out a maximum of $3,700,000 in total to customers within the settlement class, without admitting fault or liability.
Algorithmic rent price-fixing ban at last?
After weeks of deferrals to tweak the language (and increase penalties for landlords and property managers in violation of the new ordinance), this could finally be the week it passes. If you need a refresher, here’s a summary:
The Spokane City Council could pass an ordinance banning algorithmic rental price fixing software, which analyzes the market and data from other landlords to help users set the maximum rent prices a consumer would pay. A 2024 report from the federal government found that this kind of software can cost renters an average of $70 per month in additional rent expenses. Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown recently filed a lawsuit against one of the software companies, called RealPage, alleging the company and the landlords who used it violated the Consumer Protection Act. If passed in Spokane, this could be the latest move in the council’s quest to protect renters in the city.
Agenda here
Monday, December 1 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, December 4 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.
Public Safety & Community Health Committee
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Cancelling kratom
A new ordinance up for discussion at the Public Safety & Community Health Committee could ban the sale and distribution (not the use) of kratom products within city limits.
What is kratom, you ask? According to the committee agenda, it’s “a psychoactive plant containing alkaloids including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) at low levels that can have stimulant and opioid-like effects.” Google says pretty much the same thing, basically, it’s an uncontrolled substance with potential stimulant and sedative effects, sold as an energy booster or pain reliever. It has potential negative health impacts, like liver toxicity and seizures, and it can also be extremely addictive.
We’ve heard through the grapevine that local medical professionals are going to be talking to the committee on the impacts of kratom at this meeting, going into discussions on the potential ban.
Safety reports
As always, this committee gets a treasure trove of information in the form of reports from Spokane Police Department (SPD), the Office of the Police Ombuds and more. Here’s a few highlights we noticed:
- According to the city’s red light and speed cameras, running red lights was down slightly in September and October — although part of the drop in October’s numbers was due to a system failure affecting red light cameras for almost two weeks — and speeding is way, way up. Speed violations were up 1,912 from the same time period last year in September, and 1,036 violations in October, with people speeding most frequently heading southbound at the Nevada and Longfellow intersection.
- SPD is sitting at two deadly use-of-force incidents for the entirety of 2025, which both occurred in the first two months of the year. One of those cases now sits with the county prosecutor, following an investigation by the Spokane Independent Investigative Response (SIIR). The other is still under investigation by SIIR. If the trend holds, it will be a big reduction from 2024, which saw police fatally shoot six people.
- According to Police Chief Kevin Hall, in the first week of enforcing the city’s new ordinance criminalizing public homelessness citywide, just 34 out of 300 unhoused people contacted by police accepted services, though that is up from a stark zero when the law was less strict. As of November 7, Hall wrote, SPD has issued more than 100 citations for camping in public spaces.
Agenda here
Monday, December 1 at 12 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.
Community, Housing, and Human Services Board
Agenda here when available
Wednesday, December 3 at 4 pm
City Council Briefing Chambers
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
Virtual attendance link included on their agenda
Spokane Human Rights Commission
The agenda for this commission isn’t available yet, but a reminder: there is a vacancy on this commission that you (yes, you!) can apply for. More information here.
Agenda here when available.
Thursday, December 4 at 5:30 pm
Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
Spokane County
Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
Fee increase on table to fund county fair capital projects
The Spokane County Fairgrounds wants to raise fees to rent its facilities by about 5% to fund several building projects, including a bathroom renovation that’s already been completed (it’s unclear why an already completed project still needs funding). For example, camping fees would increase from $47 to $49.
Agenda here
Tuesday, December 2 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
Aquifer protection renewal requires amendment for fee collection
In a tiny but important change, the BOCC is adding the phrase “Spokane County Resolution No. 2005-1046, which is amended by this ordinance, shall remain in force and effect until the effective date of this ordinance” to the policy governing the approximately $3 million in fees to protect the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer approved by voters in August. The new language codifies the time period covered by the approved ballot measure, which pays for pollutant monitoring and public programs to increase awareness of environmental issues affecting the drinking water supply.
Agenda here
Tuesday, December 2 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.
Liberty Lake City Council
🌶️/5 peppers
Agenda here
Tuesday, December 2 at 7 pm
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019
The meeting is also live streamed here.
School Boards
Spokane School District Board of Directors
🌶️🌶️/5 peppers
The wheels on the bus go in house
It looks like the Spokane School District may be finally taking the leap on buying its own school bus fleet and bringing those services in-house. The district has contracted out the service since the 1970s, but rising costs and new legislation that requires contractor benefits be equivalent to district employee benefits has pretty much nixed any savings that outsourcing brought.
The SPS fleet won’t start operating until the district’s current contract expires in 2028, according to The Spokesman. In the meantime, a work group will begin working on recommendations for bus operations, like reevaluating school start times. The consent agenda item in this meeting approves up to $32.3 million in state funding to be spent on procuring a fleet, but it might end up costing less if fewer buses are needed.
What’s in a name?
The Community School might be getting a name change, but we’re not sure what the options are yet because the agenda item only says that there is a request to change the name. Perhaps they’re still taking suggestions? We’re feeling silly, so if you have any pithy ideas, send them to us at erin@rangemedia.co with the subject line “New School Name,” and we’ll add the best community suggestion to the CIVICS item in the future where we share whatever the school district picks.
Deficit is down, but so is enrollment
The school board will get its annual financial report for 2024-2025 at this meeting. From what we can tell in the attached presentation, the projected $13 million operating deficit actually ended up being just $6.7 million deficit. This might be because the district had fewer full-time equivalent students than budgeted for, showing a year-over-year decline of 109 students. However, funding is based on average annual student enrollment, which is projected to be 313 students lower than last year.
Agenda here
Wednesday, December 3 at 6 pm
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.
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