Safe streets finally?

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. This week is a full one, so grab your coffee.  

Some things that stick out to us this week include: 

• A vote on the Safe Streets Now! resolution in Spokane City Council which could jumpstart adaptive design strategies to make our streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.
• Spokane city’s Finance and Administration committee will discuss an ordinance that could make camping near treatment services and transitional housing illegal, even as the city continues to struggle enforcing existing camping restrictions.
• The Board of County Commissioners could approve a new 20-year lease to allow Fairchild Air Force Base to continue monitoring PFAS contamination in area wells.
• The Spokane School District Board of Directors will hold a special meeting to discuss when to hold another bond election after the last one failed in February.

Important meetings this week:

• Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
• Finance and Administration Committee
• Board of County Commissioners – Briefing Session and Legislative Session
• Spokane Valley City Council 
• Spokane Housing Authority Board
• Central Valley School District Board of Directors
• Spokane School District Board of Directors
• Plan Commission
• Spokane Regional Health District Board

Touch a Truck

If your kid gets excited about big city trucks, tomorrow could be their chance to play with one in person. It’s Touch a Truck Day at the Hillyard Library from 9:30 to 11:30 am. The event promises a recycling truck, a water truck and more! Kids will be able to sit in a recycling truck, talk to drivers and learn how these vehicles do their jobs in our community. 

Tuesday, June 25 at 9:30 am
Hillyard Library
4110 N Cook St, Spokane, WA 99207

Pizza and Panel discussion

FāVS News is hosting a free Pizza and Panel discussion on Saturday with the theme “Does Indifference Make a Difference?” Speakers including Rev. Paul Graves, who recently wrote a column asking people to “give a damn” about societal issues, and Rev. Gen Heywood from the Veradale United Church of Christ will speak and lead a discussion to address the theme of indifference versus engagement, facilitated by the FāVS News board president. If the title didn’t make it obvious, there will also be free pizza, though donations are accepted.

Saturday, June 29 at 5:30 pm
The Hive
2904 E Sprague Ave

Spokane City Council

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

It’s World Refugee Community Day at the Spokane City Council, which means there will be organizations tabling in the Chase Gallery with resources, event information and free food. It’s also going to be an extremely jam-packed meeting with a lot of controversial and important items on the agenda. We’ve done our best to highlight the spiciest ones. 

Commerce funding decision

In 2023, the CHHS department released a request for proposals (RFP) for organizations to apply for $7.6 million in funding from the state Commerce department funds for Homeless, Housing, Operations, and Services. That RFP closed in October of last year, and received 36 applications, which were reviewed by the RFP committee and the CHHS Board. However, the process has been messy: after the original funding recommendations were shared in December, providers and advocates had concerns, which led to a reconsideration of the recommendations by the RFP committee. Applicants who had applied initially were allowed to submit a supplemental application form to provide additional information, but no new applications were accepted, which was considered controversial by some members of the provider community. 

On May 1, the CHHS board voted on a list of revised recommendations with the goal of ensuring contracts are ready by July 1. Now, it’s coming down to the wire for the council to approve the list of recommendations, which includes large chunks of money slated to go to Catholic Charities, Family Promise and YWCA Spokane, among other organizations. 

However, multiple council members have submitted different amendments to the list, including a proposal submitted by Council Member Lili Navarrete on behalf of the administration that adds over $3 million in funding to go to Goodwill, another proposal by Cathcart that takes Catholic Charities off the list, an amendment submitted by both Navarrete and Paul Dillon, and a final amendment submitted by Navarrete that approves the majority of the list but disapproves an $120,000 set to go to the Salvation Army — which has received over $10 million from the city in the last two years for operations of the Trent Shelter. 

Decisions on which amendment will actually make it to the consent agenda tonight will likely be made at the Briefing Session prior to the meeting.

Aardvarks for cops

A $98,694 purchase order for 28 new tactical vests and accessories from the brand Aardvark Tactical is on the consent agenda for tonight. That amounts to roughly $3,500 a vest, which will go to SPD’s SWAT team. 

Lawyer fees

Spokane City Council had a heated debate a few weeks ago over their tendency to approve settlements in lawsuits against SPD as a cost-saving measure, which came to a head in their vote over whether or not to settle with the family of Peterson Kamo, who was fatally shot by SPD in 2022. In a 4-3 vote, they decided to settle with the family. Tonight, another SPD fatal shooting is on the docket, but instead of voting to settle, the council will likely approve an additional $100,000 in legal fees to fight a wrongful death lawsuit from the family of Robert Bradley, who was killed by SPD in 2022. The additional money would bring the total spent fighting the lawsuit up to $250,000, which is the same amount the council voted to give to Kamo’s family earlier this month.  

Nine million more from Commerce

Council will vote to accept an additional $9,100,203 from the Washington State Department of Commerce Housing Division Homelessness Assistance Unit System Demonstration Grant, bringing the total the city has received up to $24,921,140. These funds are supposed to be spent to “maintain current levels of emergency housing services and homeless subsidies.”

Biennial budgeting

One emergency ordinance is on the docket for tonight’s meeting: the ordinance to switch the city to biennial budgeting. Instead of drafting and passing a budget each year, if this ordinance passes, the city would only need to pass their budget every two years, which could allow for more long-term planning. Cathcart has been advocating for this process for months, and Mayor Lisa Brown recently announced her intent to move to biennial budgeting. 

The ordinance must be enacted at least six months before the fiscal biennium begins, which is why it must be passed as an emergency ordinance — if the council waits until after July 1, they wouldn’t be able to get the city on a biennial budget until 2026. If they pass this tonight, the city will move to the biennial budgeting starting January 1, 2025, with the budget running through December 31, 2026. There will be a mid-biennial review and modification process written in to account for any major changes. 

Safe streets today maybe?

The Safe Streets Now! resolution was deferred a few weeks ago, but it’s back with a vengeance — and six new clauses to further outline what the council wants to see, beyond just the more vague request for adaptive design strategies listed in the earlier version. The new requests include:

• The purchasing of armadillos, wheel stops, temporary speed tables and cushions, bollards and candlesticks, planters, to be tested at locations identified by staff as potential traffic calming locations.
• The implementation of a pilot project in each council district. These projects could be curb extensions, traffic islands or bike improvements that prevent vehicles from parking or driving in the bike lane and would be implemented in 2024.
• The identification of high use bike lanes by the Planning Department to schedule priority sweeping and plowing.
• The implementation of quick adaptive traffic calming that can later be upgraded to more permanent infrastructure.
• The hiring of a project employee to oversee adaptive design measures, and training for existing staff to install adaptive design.
• The quick implementation of automated traffic safety cameras in collaboration with the Spokane Police Department and Public Works Department.
• The contracting of a consultant to develop an adaptive strategies manual to be completed by the end of 2024, with the goal of seeing more projects implemented citywide in 2025. 

Resolutions are non-binding, but the detailed list of requests could be a great starting point to get both the council and the mayor’s administration on the same page about traffic safety, which has been a key issue in 2024.

Commission consolidation

The city currently has four transportation related boards and commissions: the Bicycle Advisory Board, Citizens’ Transportation Advisory Board, Parking Advisory Board and Plan Commission Transportation Subcommittee. There is an ordinance up for a vote today that would consolidate these four boards into one Transportation Commission that will hopefully eliminate redundancies, ease recruitment and create a formalized process for considering transportation projects. This sounds great, but is not without its complications; four different proposals for what exactly this should look like and who should sit on it.

The original version in the agenda says the commission will be made up of nine commissioners nominated by the mayor and appointed by council. Each city council district would have at least one representative on the commission, one member would be a downtown business owner, one would represent the bicycling community, four members would have technical expertise and reside or work in the city and one of those experts would be focused on meeting ADA requirements and serving “mobility-impaired populations.” These terms would last four years.

The Wilkerson amendment expands that to ten commissioners consisting of all of the above except it would have:

• Three at-large members (instead of four) who live or work in the city and have technical expertise related to: “transportation planning, pedestrian facilities, bicycle facilities, public transit, traffic safety programs, transportation technology, parking policy, public health, freight mobility, or commercial transportation.”

• Add one representative from the Community Assembly and designated by the Community Assembly.

The Cathcart proposal would further expand the commission to eleven members consisting of the positions in the original proposal except it would have:

• Three at-large members (instead of four) who live or work in the city and have technical expertise related to: “transportation planning, pedestrian facilities, bicycle facilities, public transit, traffic safety programs, transportation technology, parking policy, public health, freight mobility, or commercial transportation.”
• Add two executive directors of a local Public Development Authority.

The final proposal is by Zack Zappone, and shrinks the list back down to the original nine. His proposal seems nearly identical to the original in the agenda, with minor wording changes and a few additional duties for the commission. Anyone interested in looking at the details of this proposal can read these amendments in detail starting on page 726 of the agenda.  

Whistleblower protections

There is a first read scheduled for an ordinance penned by Wilkerson that would expand the procedures to process ethics complaints, add a preliminary review by the City Attorney to filter out complaints that don’t meet the threshold for an ethics violation and add a formal investigation by an independent investigator before a complaint can move to the Ethics Commission for a hearing. The ordinance would also codify Washington State’s Local Government Whistleblower Protection Act.

First read for gun violence prevention ordinance

The ordinance proposed by Council Member Paul Dillon that would make it illegal to discharge firearms within city limits and open carry in city-owned stadiums or public buildings used for Spokane city government meetings is up for a first reading tonight. Criticisms of the ordinance during its committee discussion stated that most of these things are already illegal under state law, but Dillon argued this ordinance would strengthen existing laws by ensuring gun violence prevention measures are codified on the city books as well.  

Cathcart also submitted an amendment that states any city-owned building where firearms are banned would provide a lockbox or official whose job is to hold onto weapons for safekeeping while the owner is working or visiting the building. 

An important note — nothing in the current ordinance prevents or limits concealed carrying with a license.

Agenda here
Monday, June 24 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, June 27 at 11 am
City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall 
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Finance and Administration Committee

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

Affordable housing now please

The Finance and Administration Committee will discuss asking Gov. Jay Inslee to speed up the process that would allow more developers to turn commercial buildings into housing. The letter would specifically ask Inslee to direct the Department of Revenue to expedite the rulemaking process on Senate Bill 6175.  The bill, which was signed into law on March 28, allows city governments to pass resolutions establishing a sales and use tax deferral for developers who are converting commercial buildings into affordable housing.

It hypothetically went into effect on June 6, but before cities can actually pass resolutions allowing the tax exemption in their jurisdiction, the Department of Revenue must complete the related rulemaking process, which they have yet to do. The letter drafted by the council states that this extended process is hitting pause on potential conversions of existing buildings into affordable housing, because developers are waiting to see if they can get a tax exemption before they start new projects that may end up qualifying. 

“We urge you to direct the department to conduct emergency rulemaking under RCW 34.05.350 or at least expedited rule-making pursuant to RCW 34.05.353,” the letter states. “Our Spokane developers stand ready to convert existing buildings in our downtown core to new and affordable housing.”

The letter will be discussed at the top of the committee meeting to get all council members’ approval before it can be sent off.

New city holidays?

Currently, city employees have seven holidays: New Year’s, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the Friday after and Christmas Day. An ordinance co-sponsored by Council Member Michael Cathcart and Council President Betsy Wilkerson would add three additional holidays to the list. The first clause of the ordinance states that “recognizing the cultural diversity of our community enriches the social fabric and promotes a comprehensive understanding and appreciation among its members.”

If it passes, the ordinance would add Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth, which are both already holidays recognized by the state, as official holidays. It would also add Lunar New Year — the first day of the first lunar month — to the list, because it is a “significant celebration for many Asian communities,” and reflects “the rich cultural heritage and contributions of these communities to our society.” 

Camping ordinance

The hot topic of the last 12 months has been where unhoused people can camp, with Prop 1’s November passage, lack of enforcement and legal challenges. A new ordinance coming up through committee could further clarify — or complicate — the rules on the books. Currently, the city prohibits camping within three blocks of “congregate shelters.” This ordinance would change that section of city code to prohibit camping within 1000 feet of “any facility providing comprehensive support services.”

It also defines comprehensive support services as any “services encompassing addiction recovery services, resource distribution centers, congregate shelters, transitional or non-permanent housing,” though neither version of the ordinance provides a clear definition for what exactly constitutes a congregate shelter. We anticipate the discussion around this at today’s committee meeting will be interesting.

Agenda here 
Monday, June 24 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 Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session

🌶️/5 peppers

Federal funding for sheriff body cameras

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will present about a $1 million grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance for body worn camera programs. “SCSO would use the awarded funds to employ AI software to analyze BWC footage for training purposes and re-hire the Director and Deputy Director of Training once their respective contracts end to assist in reporting,” according to the agenda sheet. This comes amid a nationwide trend of police agencies turning to artificial intelligence to review massive volumes of body worn camera footage recorded during patrols, according to Propublica. The report says the data is so voluminous that it’s difficult to realize the promise of cameras to identify bad actors among police.

Agenda here
Tuesday, June 25 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

Fairchild PFAS monitoring wells

The BOCC will vote whether to allow Fairchild Air Force Base continued access to the 16 wells on county property it drilled into West Plains aquifers to monitor plumes of chemical contamination from firefighting drills it conducted for decades on the base. The new lease would give Fairchild access to the wells for the next 20 years. Fairchild’s monitoring and water provision programs are expanding after the Environmental Protection Agency codified drinking water limits for the chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in April. Hundreds of wells between Spokane and Airway Heights are contaminated with PFAS, which are thought to cause many diseases, including some cancers.

Emergency vehicle training track contract

The BOCC will vote whether to award Kilgore Construction a contract to build an Emergency Vehicle Operator Course at the Regional Training Center and Small Arms Range near Medical Lake. Kilgore bid $2,565,784.18 to build the track.

Another thermal imaging camera

The BOCC will vote whether to approve a $200,000 purchase of a thermal imaging camera for a Spokane Valley Police helicopter. The camera is a Trakka TC-300, which is capable of reading a license plate from a distance of more than 1 kilometer. The email chain between county officials and Trakka salespeople is titled “Pursuit Vehicle Pursuit Tech Award.” The money will come from a Department of Commerce grant, as Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis reported in the email chain.

Separately, as we reported here last week, Spokane County has been offered a “Star” system camera from Teledyne Technologies, a $625,000 device “fully hardened for military fixed-wing and helicopter operations” and uses high definition imaging to produce hyper-accurate video. Teledyne is sending similar cameras to the Tehama County Sheriff’s and the Modesto Police departments in California. The Sheriff’s office already has the camera and needs the BoCC’s approval to use it.

ARPA funds for salaries

The BOCC will vote whether to redirect nearly $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan funding to general salaries and benefits for Spokane County employees.

Agenda here Tuesday, June 25 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 Valley City Council

🫑/5 peppers

We have an extremely light week in Spokane Valley, with the council set to get reports on and discuss emergency plans and restricted revenues for capital projects. 

Agenda here
Tuesday, June 25 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here.

Spokane Housing Authority Board

​​🫑/5 peppers

The SHA meets this week for a relatively routine meeting, where they will receive a development report, and consider resolutions to approve various project contracts. 

Agenda here
Monday, June 24 at 3:30 pm
Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Central Valley School District Board of Directors

🌶️/5 peppers

Paid meal prices on the rise?

The board will take action on a proposal to raise meal prices for students. At the moment, the board has three options to cover rising food and meal program costs for future school years, they can: raise paid meal prices by a minimum of $0.05, pay for meal programs with non-federal funds instead of raising prices, or split the costs between non-federal funds and paid lunch prices. Currently, the board’s recommended action is to raise prices by $0.05, which would be implemented in the 2024-2025 school year. 

2024-2025 budget proposal

The proposed budget for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year will be presented at the board of directors’ upcoming meeting with a public comment opportunity. The budget covers all potential costs for the upcoming school year, including those for the General Fund, transportation services for students, and the costs needed by the Associated Student Body (ASB) among others. The budget for the next school year will also include information about $1.25 million of grant funding, which will provide five electric buses and charging stations for district activities. 

Alternative graduation pathway for CVSD students

The board will also hold their first reading of policy revisions, including a new graduation pathway for CVSD students. Under this potential revision, students would have the ability to apply performance-based credits from English Language Arts (ELA) and Math courses to their graduation process. The goal of this program is to make required course distributions accessible and flexible for students based on personal interests, and would allow students to complete coursework by pursuing personal projects, career goals, or community service, rather than learning in a traditional classroom model. The board aims to implement this new pathway by this summer, so that students can begin to pursue performance-based courses for graduation requirements in the Fall of 2024. More information on the program can be found here. 

Agenda here
Monday, June 24 at 6 p.m.
Learning and Teaching Center (district office) 
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here.

Spokane School District Board of Directors

🌶️🌶️/5 peppers

Special Meeting 

The Spokane School District Board of Directors will hold a special meeting on Wednesday at 4 pm. The meeting will focus on potential goals and priority strategies for the 2024-2025 school year and continued discussion about when to hold another bond election after the last one failed in February. Potential priority strategies for next year are based on current goals that were not met in the 2023-2024 school year. Priority strategies range from adding sports programs to enhancing behavioral health programming, and evaluating technology use in schools. 

The board will continue discussing advantages and disadvantages of an early or late bond election, but according to Elena Perry at The Spokesman, the board will need to approve a resolution before the July 10 board meeting. Early elections would occur as soon as August to November of this year, while a later bond election would postpone the process to 2025 to 2027. This is an ongoing discussion amongst the board, and includes possible influences on the bond election like the current six-year bond cycle and economic inflation. 

Highly Capable info session

In their regular meeting, the board will provide additional information on changes to the district’s HiCap, or Highly Capable programming. These programs include alternate educational resources like Tessera, and a new Young Scholars program. These programs serve gifted students in the district at three locations in Lidgerwood, Ridgeview and the Libby Center. Under new changes, these programs will increase access for students by increasing instructional time by 15 minutes daily and expanding their screening tests for students who have been historically overlooked for gifted services. 

(More) 2024-2025 budget information

District Superintendent Adam Swinyard will present a proposed budget for the 2024-2025 school year. His presentation will include information about the 2023-2024 school year and estimated expenditures and have a public hearing opportunity. The budget is scheduled for adoption at the August 28 board meeting, and will be open for public comment before the August meeting. 

Agenda here 
Wednesday, June 26 at 6 pm, special meeting at 4 pm
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Plan Commission

🌶️/5 peppers

Citywide Capital Improvement Plan coming up

Every six years, the Plan Commission updates its blueprint for improvements to the physical infrastructure for the entire city of Spokane, known at the Capital Improvement Plan. The plan “includes capital projects for 19 functional departments in the city, including streets, water, wastewater, stormwater, information technology, neighborhoods, facilities, police, fire and others,” according to the notice on the agenda. Most of these improvements deal with the physical environment of the city, but they also include software and contracting for professional services. Some of the projects are already approved and are carried over from the previous six-year plan; others are new. City planners will present these plans to the commission at its regular meeting Wednesday.

Agenda here 
Wednesday, June 26 at 2 pm
Council Briefing Center 
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Regional Health District Board

🌶️/5 peppers

The SRHD will meet and hear reports from their Administrative Officer, Financial office, and Health Officer. They will also hear from agency officials, who have prepared presentations on wildfire smoke preparedness and awareness messaging, and board of health roles and responsibilities. 

Agenda here 
Thursday, June 27 at 12:30 p.m.
Auditorium, First Floor
Spokane Regional Health District
1101 West College Avenue