Spokane City Council poised to create an eviction diversion program

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 pass an ordinance that would require landlords to provide tenants with eviction diversion program information and lays the groundwork for a city-operated pre-eviction diversion and mediation program. 

• Spokane City Council could also approve their lobbying agenda for the upcoming state legislative session, which includes fighting for a Climate Commitment Act exemption for the Waste-to-Energy plant and seeking approval to run a land value tax pilot program.

• The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is awarded more than $8 million of federal funding to buy technology to surveil private drones that are apparently a big national security concern. 

• SCSO is looking to spend an extra $1 million+ on TASERs and body cameras over the next decade from the policing technology company Axon.

• Spokane County is asking in its legislative agenda for $10 million to install filters on private West Plains wells that are contaminated with “forever chemicals.”

• Mead School District Board will vote on a staff expression policy reserving the right to fire staff for statements made in their personal capacity and to set out strict guidelines for what teachers can display in their classrooms. 

Important meetings this week:

• Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
• Urban Experience Committee
• Spokane Plan Commission
• Spokane Park Board
• Spokane Public Facilities District
• Board of County Commissioners – Briefing Session and Legislative Session
• Spokane Regional Transportation Council
• Spokane County Planning Commission
• Spokane Valley City Council
• Liberty Lake City Council
• Mead School District Board of Directors
• Central Valley School District Board of Directors
• East Valley School District Board of Directors
• West Valley School District Board of Directors

Spokane City 

Spokane City Council

🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

Safe streets streets projects

Safer streets and more pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure could be coming soon to your neighborhood, if council approves a list of 27 by 2027 and adaptive design street projects, paid for with dollars from the Safe Streets for All Fund. Here’s a preview:

There is also an amendment on the table, proposed by Council Member Zack Zappone and Council Member Kitty Klitzke, that would add an additional resolution requesting the mayor direct staff to present exactly what the “quick-build,” program entails and revising the names for two of the District 3 projects to “Maple/Ash corridor speed control pilot” and “Francis Ave; Cannon St Pedestrian Crossing.”

Legislative session is coming…

Re-using this from last week because it didn’t end up getting voted on, but in about 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 have 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.”

Eviction diversion

Also up for a vote tonight is an ordinance sponsored by Council Members Klitzke and Paul Dillon that creates a rental eviction diversion program in Spokane to “prevent homelessness, restore the landlord tenant relationship and ensure safe and healthy rental housing in Spokane.”

As evictions due to failure to pay rent continue to climb in the city, this legislation could streamline the process for helping tenants access eviction diversion funds. If passed, the ordinance would require landlords to provide tenants with written notice of all citywide eviction diversion programs both at the time of leasing and during any service of a notice to pay or vacate. An updated list of these programs will also be posted on the city’s website for ease of access for both tenants and landlords.

The ordinance also outlines the city’s goal to create a more permanent, city-operated program that would expedite state funds, handle landlord-tenant mediation, help connect tenants with service providers who can intervene early in the eviction process and work to keep tenants in housing and out of homelessness.

Klitzke and Dillon have both pointed to the need to streamline the eviction diversion process so that service providers can intervene on behalf of tenants facing evictions at the earliest possible point — rather than when a tenant has already received a notice to vacate — which can help people retain stable housing. 

Agenda here
Monday, December 8 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 11 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall 
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city)

🌶️🫑/5 peppers

Civil Rights update

There’s no presentation or additional materials linked in the agenda, so we can’t give you much of a preview, but we do know that Jerrall Haynes, the director of the Office of Civil Rights, Equity and Inclusion is going to be presenting an update on the office’s activities. 

Expanding the table

The Community, Housing, and Human Services (CHHS) Board is the body that currently makes recommendations on which housing and homelessness proposals to fund, among other duties. An ordinance up for discussion could soon add a policy-level staffer from the City of Spokane Valley as a non-voting member of the board in an effort to strengthen regional collaboration efforts. The ordinance would also add a representative from the Continuum of Care board as a non-voting member. 

Shelter in the cold

As the temperatures continue to drop and Spokane starts to see snowfall, the city is working to approve additional inclement weather shelter beds, which open up in extreme weather conditions. Originally, the council approved contracts with Catholic Charities and The Salvation Army, funding up to 35 beds for men at the House of Charity Shelter, 10 beds for families with children at St. Margaret’s Shelter and 25 beds for single adults at The Way Out Shelter. 

The city reopened a request for proposals to seek additional shelter providers and Jewels Helping Hands (JHH) was the sole applicant. The CHHS board is recommending the city fund JHH to operate up to 15 beds for adult women at the Morning Star Shelter.

Inclement weather beds are paid for with dollars from the Heart fund (which is raised from a 0.1% sales tax authorized by the state in bill 1590). From that fund, 70% must be spent on building housing and treatment facilities and 10% must be spent on administrative costs, but the rest can be used to address emergent housing and homelessness needs. Up to $1 million can be spent on inclement weather sheltering this year.

Agenda here
Monday, December 8 at 12 pm
Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Plan Commission

🫑/5 peppers

Agenda here 
Wednesday, December 10 at 2 pm
Council Briefing Center 
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Park Board

?/5 peppers

Agenda here when available
Thursday, December 11 at 3:30 pm
Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed via WebEx, 
Call in: 408-418-9388 Access code: 2491 764 3350

Spokane Public Facilities District

?/5 peppers

Agenda here when available
Wednesday, December 10 at 12:30 pm
Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Board Room
720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99201
Virtual attendance here.

Spokane County

Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

Millions in federal funding for private drone surveillance

The Trump administration has allocated half a billion dollars in federal money over the next three years for local governments to surveil privately owned drones. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) has applied for $8.2 million of that money, which will be distributed in response to “growing national security concerns surrounding the unlawful or nefarious use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS),” according to an announcement of the funding by the US Department of Homeland Security. The SCSO will brief the BOCC on the grant application.

County will potentially buy $11M in Taser, body cam tech

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is looking to buy nearly $13 million in Taser and body camera technology over the next decade from Axon, the Scottsdale, Arizona, company that pioneered electroshock weapons. The SCSO maintains existing contracts with the company, but that amount represents an increase in spending of $170,000 over the next nine years. Tasers are used to shock suspects who are engaged with law enforcement, ideally when an altercation requires force. Body cameras are designed to record interactions between law enforcement officers and people they engage, but their audio and video recording capabilities are often turned off during important moments.

$1M on offer for public defenders

The state Office of Public Defense has awarded the SCSO more than $1 million to better fund the notoriously under-resourced public defenders office, which represents people accused of crimes in district court who can’t afford a private lawyer.

Agenda here 
Tuesday, December 9 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

County finalizing legislative agenda, emphasizing PFAS response

The county intends to request $10 million in state funding to install filters in homes that draw their drinking water from wells contaminated with “forever chemicals.” The wells, located on the West Plains, source their water from aquifers laden with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from firefighting compounds used by Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport. It’s the third-largest funding request in the package, next to requests for public defender and infrastructure funding.

BOCC to vote on fee increase for 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. 

Board appointments

The BOCC is set to appoint the following people to various county boards and commissions:

• Eric Robison to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee as a City of Spokane Valley representative
• Rusty Barnett applied for reappointment as an at-large North representative on the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee
• Jared Harward to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee as the Town of Fairfield representative
• Lauri Bowen to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee as the Public Interest representative
• Gayle Kogle to the Spokane County Community Services Behavioral Health Advisory Board as a Spokane County representative
• Reneice “Neicy” Jones to the Spokane County Community Services Behavioral Health Advisory Board as a Spokane County representative

Agenda here 
Tuesday, December 9 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 Regional Transportation Council

🌶️/5 peppers

Agenda here 
Thursday, December 11 at 1 pm
Spokane Regional Transportation Office
21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane County Planning Commission

🌶️/5 peppers

Urban growth workshops

There is no specific information, but the commission will host workshops on the “growth alternatives and impacts on the urban growth area,” according to the agenda sheet.

Agenda here
Thursday, December 11 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.

Spokane Valley City Council

🌶️/5 peppers

2nd budget reading

The city council will host a second reading of the city of Spokane Valley’s 2026 budget, a $148,412,534 spending package that emphasizes more than $8 million in street construction spending, mostly offset by state and federal grants, and $2.6 million on police, paid for by a new sales tax.

Agenda here
Tuesday, December 9 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, WA 99206
Virtual attendance here.

Liberty Lake City Council

🌶️/5 peppers

Filling vacant city council position

The city council will interview applicants for the vacant No. 7 position. The applicants are: 

• Robin Lynn Bekkedahl
• Michael David Willis
• James Alan Baumker
• Kathryn Lynn Atkins
• Hugh Douglas Severs
• Judith Ann Schumacher
• Jacob Tyler Phillips and
• Abigail Christine Sprague

You can read their applications here.

Agenda here
Tuesday, December 9 at 7 pm
22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019
The meeting is also live streamed here. 

School Boards

Mead School District Board of Directors

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

Social media and classroom decor

Considering posting a Charlie Kirk meme, coming out as gay on Facebook or criticizing your boss? If you work for Mead School District, you might want to think again.

A new staff expression policy up for approval today, stating that, despite staff members’ First Amendment rights to free speech, any “employee expression that has an adverse impact on district operations and/or negatively impacts an employee’s ability to perform their job,” could result in disciplinary action, up to termination. That includes social media statements and speech outside of work, because “the school community may not be able to separate employees as private citizens from their role within the district.” Though this part largely mirrors what other local school districts have in their staff expression policy, Mead goes much further, including outlining what classroom decor is allowed. While it lists “classroom activity photos,” and “content-neutral decorations like colorful borders or curtains,” Pride flags don’t make the list. If passed, staff would be forbidden from “using decor or displays to advocate for or promote their personal beliefs.”

It is unclear whether Mead considers pictures of loved ones or signs proclaiming “Everyone is welcome here,” to be advocating for personal beliefs, but it seems likely.

Last year, Jacob Knight, a beloved fifth grade teacher who worked for Mead School District until he faced multiple investigations after coming out as gay and hanging a Pride flag in his classroom. The district later paid Knight to resign, after allegedly asking his students if Knight ever wore pink overalls or shared experiences from his life with his class. 

Agenda here
Monday, December 8 at 6 pm
Union Event Center
12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021
Watch via Zoom here.

Central Valley School District Board of Directors

🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

A solution to back to school supply shopping headaches? 

The Central Valley school board will hear an update on the Student Supply Kit Standardization Project, which a committee has been working on since November. The project is meant to make school supplies for elementary school families affordable and equitable by, at the very least, standardizing school supply lists across the board or, at the most, providing all school supplies for students. The board will get three options with varying costs to the district. 

Sex Ed policy is up for review

School boards periodically review school policies to make sure they’re up-to-date and next up for CVSD are the policies on Sexual Health Education and HIV-AIDS Prevention Education. The board will start reviewing and tweaking in January. 

Agenda here
Monday, December 8 at 6 pm
Learning and Teaching Center (district office) 
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here.

East Valley School District Board of Directors

🫑/5 peppers

Agenda here
Tuesday, December 9 at 6 pm
EVSD Administration Office
3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1
Spokane Valley, WA 99216

West Valley School District Board of Directors

🌶️/5 peppers

Tweaks to staff vaccine recommendations

The West Valley school board will be hearing a change to the district’s infectious control policy for personnel that removes the recommendation that staffers provide their vaccine records to the district. The old policy was pretty flimsy anyway, only saying, “the board strongly urges that school staff members (including volunteers) provide documentation of immunization or evidence of immunity…” The new policy just lists the recommended immunizations that school staff should get. However, there are no changes to the procedure part of that policy, so it still says personnel are encouraged to put their vaccine history on file at the district. 

The district’s policy for students, updated in May, and state law still requires that students provide proof of vaccinations. 

Agenda here
Wednesday, December 10 at 6:30 pm
District Conference Center 
8818 E. Grace, Spokane, WA 99212
Watch via Zoom here.

Editor’s Note: This story has been edited to correct the sponsors listed for the Safe Streets amendment.