Spokane hosts discussion over deferred homeless measures but never mentions them

(The Center Square) – Spokane hosted its first community roundtable over the city council’s deferred ordinances regarding homelessness without mentioning the shelved measures.

Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Councilmember Zack Zappone ran dozens of community stakeholders through the Tuesday meeting. It started with a rundown of the rules for the series and an overhaul of the city’s current municipal code that addresses homelessness.

After reviewing the laws on the books, Zappone had all the participants fill out a questionnaire. The form asked what was working and what they’d like to change about the laws that allow police to cite the homeless. Then, the same was asked about the laws protecting the homeless.

“As much as you guys want to talk about [Proposition] 1, this isn’t about Prop 1,” said Nicolette Ocheltree, the council’s Housing and Homelessness Initiatives manager. “Prop 1 can’t be changed, not for three years … please keep that in mind with your suggestions.”

While Proposition 1 , Spokane’s voter initiative that prohibits camping within 1,000 feet of school, park or daycare, can’t be taken off the books for three years, new policy can strengthen it. However, Ocheltree, Zappone, and Wilkerson never mentioned that fact aloud to the group.

One of the deferred ordinances that the community thought they would discuss would’ve increased Proposition 1 to within 1,000 of any comprehensive support services, but again, it wasn’t mentioned. Neither was the “Homeless Bill of Rights” ordinance , which was deferred after causing an outcry within the business community, although Wilkerson painted their concerns as “ misinformation .”

Councilmember Jonathan Bingle didn’t attend the roundtable but told The Center Square on Thursday that several people contacted him afterward, upset with how the meeting played out.

He said the stakeholders and other participants thought the meeting was to discuss the deferred ordinances. Instead, they spent an hour reviewing the code and filling out a questionnaire before being rushed out the door due to time.

Much of the responses on Thursday noted that the city’s current efforts aren’t working. This was the case for both questionnaires regarding efforts to cite the homeless and protect them.

Justice Forall, director of operations for Spokane Community Against Racism, argued that criminalization efforts aren’t working. Forall thinks the city should host more events to get the homeless involved in the community so they aren’t pulled toward drug addiction.

“None of these things have made anything better,” Forall said. “We need to think of things that are actually productive for the city, and criminalization is not one of them.”

Still, Spokane regularly hosts various community events, and criminalization efforts have been dismal. According to data presented by Ocheltree last month, the Spokane Police Department only cited fewer than 4% of the over 2,400 calls related to illegal camping this year.

Last year, SPD received 1,709 calls for service related to illegal camping for all of 2023, according to Ocheltree’s data; this year’s calls surpassed that, with several months remaining in 2024.

“Some of the comments up there were difficult to read,” Wilkerson said. “Probably from both perspectives of people in this room … We will be gathering [these responses], we will share; there is nothing secret.”

The following community roundtable is scheduled for Oct. 1.