Consequences could be coming for landlords who haven’t registered with the city

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:

• An emergency ordinance at Spokane City Council that would require neighborhood feedback and good neighbor agreements before any organization receiving city funds and providing comprehensive support services, like behavioral health services and addiction treatment, could relocate or open.
• Discussion of a new ordinance during the Urban Experience Committee that would prevent landlords without a business license and proper rental unit registration from raising rent or evicting tenants
• The city of Spokane is ramping down bed counts at the Trent Shelter in preparation for an end-of-October closure date.
• The Board of County Commissioners could approve a contract to build stable housing with recovery support for parents of babies with neonatal alcohol syndrome.
• Spokane Public Schools and the City of Spokane are planning to continue their partnership with the creation of a third school-based health clinic, pending an agreement passage at the Spokane City Council Meeting. During the SPS School Board meeting, there will be a discussion on the location for the third clinic and performance stats for the first two.

Important meetings this week:

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

Vigil for UW graduate Aysenur Eygi

This Thursday, the International Solidarity Movement is hosting a vigil to honor Aysenur Eygi, a Turkish American and University of Washington graduate who was killed in the West Bank last week while protesting. The vigil will begin at 6 pm at the Rotary Fountain in Riverfront Park.

Spokane City Council

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After two short meetings and a holiday cancellation in a row, it looks like we may be back to normal (long) council meetings. There are a few important things on the consent agenda — which typically gets passed as a lot at the beginning of the meetings — that we wanted to highlight for you:

• The city is set to purchase six mobile speed feedback trailers for a total of $71,940 for the Department of Neighborhood Services. These trailers — which are the signs that sit and tell you how fast you’re going — were purchased with Traffic Calming Fund dollars and will double the department’s stock of feedback trailers. The agenda does not say which neighborhoods will be getting a new trailer.

• Council will be reviewing and voting on recommendations from the Community, Housing, and Human Services (CHHS) RFP Committee on how to allocate nearly $4 million in funding, which Spokane received from the state Department of Commerce. The funding is slated to help service providers expand emergency sheltering capacity. Some of the organizations selected for funding include Family Promise, Jewels Helping Hands, Catholic Charities and Volunteers of America.

• There are a lot of clean water related items in the consent agenda, as Spokane is set to approve an agreement with the city of Airway Heights to continue providing them with supplementary water. This is part of efforts to ensure folks in Airway Heights have clean water to drink, replacing the PFAS-contaminated water on the West Plains.

• The council had previously approved ARPA funding to help create health clinics at local high schools. Two clinics have already been created — at North Central and Shadle High Schools . With an additional $200,000 in ARPA dollars approved recently by council and a $200,000 match by the Spokane Public Schools (SPS), construction is set to begin for a third clinic — which will either be located at Lewis & Clark High School or Ferris High School — once council approved this most recent Interlocal Agreement with SPS.

Voluntary retirement incentives

One of Mayor Lisa Brown’s strategies for slashing the city’s budget deficit has been to offer voluntary retirement incentives, which can ultimately save the city money in salaries. The program has already been implemented with the police department, per an agreement with their union. Now, Brown is looking to expand that program to city staff members in the Managerial and Professional Association bargaining unit. If this agreement is approved by council, eligible employees who choose to retire before October 11 could receive between $10,000 and $20,000 deposited into their health reimbursement arrangement plans, depending on how long the employee has been with the city.

Emergency good neighbor ordinance

Currently, the city requires city-owned shelters like Cannon Street Shelter to sign good neighbor agreements — a set of commitments to the neighborhood the shelter is in to ensure conditions stay clean and safe and have limited impact on the neighborhood. An emergency ordinance proposed by Council Members Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle would expand the requirement of good neighborhood agreements to any facility that receives city funding and provides “comprehensive support services,” like addiction recovery services, resource distribution or behavioral health services.

The ordinance would also further outline requirements for good neighbor agreements, including the formation of a roundtable of stakeholders including:

• Representative of the city-funded facility operator;
• Neighborhood council chair or designee;
• Representative of each business district, business association, or BID that is within 1/4 mile of the facility;
• Representative of City of Spokane Neighborhood Services;
• Representative of City of Spokane Police Department;
• Representative of City of Spokane Code Enforcement;
• Local representative of the funding agency for the facility;
• All immediately adjacent property owners, residents and tenants.

Those stakeholders would have to meet monthly and fulfill goals like reducing neighborhood crime. Any business that receives city funding and provides comprehensive support services would also be required to maintain a website with information about the project.

The ordinance also includes a section near the end that states before the opening, re-locating or funding of a facility, the city would need to convene a public community meeting and solicit written feedback from members of the neighborhood and publish any alternative locations considered for the proposed facility and solicit comment on all the proposed alternate locations. The city would also need to get review from the Equity Subcommittee, to weigh factors like financial sustainability, neighborhood responsiveness to needs and geographic equity for distribution of support services.

While the agenda sheet doesn’t list why the ordinance is considered an emergency, it’s possible it’s because of recent pushback to the relocation of Compassionate Addiction Treatment’s (CAT) sobering center to the Chief Garry Park neighborhood. The move is funded partially by city dollars, which would make CAT a “city funded comprehensive support service,” and subject to this ordinance, which could prevent or slow the organization’s move.

Complaints posted on the Save Chief Garry Park website state that the move would make their neighborhood unsafe, create undue burden on their neighborhood and had no public involvement or dialogue. The website lists a “growing coalition” of concerned neighbors, which includes Larry Stone’s new Spokane Business Association and other organizations he’s a part of or works closely with, like the East Spokane Business Association (ESBA), Associated Builders & Contractors and Bouten Construction. The list also includes Spokanimal, Union Gospel Mission and the East Central Neighborhood Council — which is chaired by Doug Trudeau, the former president of ESBA.

We anticipate this will be the spiciest item up for discussion tonight, both because of its emergency designation and because items related to comprehensive support service often draw polarized debate.

What’s in a name?

The Office of Police Ombudsman and the Police Ombudsman Commission could be getting new names with a small change of “Ombudsman” to “Ombuds.” The first reading of this ordinance drew some criticism last week from people who didn’t like the “woke agenda” of gender neutral language and found “Office of Police Ombuds” more difficult to pronounce than “Office of Police Ombudsman.” We think it’s likely this will pass, especially as the report from the Office of Police Ombudsman published late August already used the “Ombuds” language.

Tourism Investments

It’s time for an allocation of funds collected from the Lodging Tax! These funds are intended to be spent on supporting local events that bring in tourism dollars and attract out of town visitors. The most recent list of events slated to receive funds, should council approve the recommendation from the Tourism and Cultural Investment Committee tonight, includes:

• Terrain’s BrrrZaar
• Tacos y Tequila
• Northwest Improv Fest
• Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Festival
• Riverfront Trail of Lights
• Garland Pride
• And more! Read the full list on page 1015 of the agenda.

Agenda here
Monday, September 9 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, September 12 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)

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Deferred, dead, survived?

Last month, both the ordinance to enshrine human rights for people experiencing homelessness and an ordinance to ban camping near comprehensive support services were deferred back to committee . That can be the kiss of death for policies, but Council Member Lili Navarrete is scheduled to lead a discussion on the next steps for the deferred ordinances at the top of today’s committee meeting. Hopefully, we’ll all find out what’s going on and whether they actually will be brought back, put on hold until after the election (like Council Member Michael Cathcart predicted) or something else entirely.

More youth on the Human Rights Commission

Navarrete and her legislative assistant Andres Grageda will also be discussing a new ordinance that could change the makeup of the Spokane Human Rights Commission. Currently, there are eight adult members and one youth member. Under this ordinance, the commission would be expanded to nine adult members and three youth — one from each city council district.

Affordable housing projects

The CHHS department is requesting a Special Budget Ordinance (SBO) that would allow them to spend nearly $12 million of Sales and Uses Tax Revenue funds to increase affordable housing opportunities by funding capital projects “contributing to the development/construction/ preservation of affordable housing.” This money was not budgeted in the annual budgeting process, so unless council passes the SBO at a later legislative session, this wouldn’t be able to move forward.

Goodbye, Trent Shelter

A final $620,000 contract extension with the Salvation Army to operate the Trent Shelter through the end of October is up for discussion, bringing the total spent on shelter operations at Trent Shelter since 2022 up to $16,865,586. This would be paid for with Right-of-way and/or ARPA dollars, and would be the last ever month of Trent Shelter operations as the city prepares to phase it out and replace it with scatter site shelters, a navigation center and additional capacity at existing shelters. The phaseout process also includes gradually reducing capacity at the Trent Shelter over the next two months and placing current residents at different facilities so that when the shelter fully shuts down at the end of October, there aren’t hundreds of people left with nowhere to go. Below is the ramp-down plan.

Rental Registry Requirements

In 2023, the Spokane City Council passed an ordinance that requires landlords to get a business license and register their rentals with the city. Council Members Paul Dillon, Kitty Klitzke and Zack Zappone are proposing a new ordinance that would provide a registration fee waiver for units that are funded through a housing assistance program, federally funded, operated by a public housing authority or occupied by a tenant using a Housing Choice Voucher or a Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Voucher.

The ordinance would also forbid landlords from increasing rent or evicting a tenant if they don’t have a business license to operate and/or haven’t complied with the requirement to register each residential housing unit. We anticipate discussion around this to be spicy.

Agenda here
Monday, September 9 at 1:15 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 .

Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session

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Sorting the compost

The county’s Public Works Department is looking at contracting with BarrTech LLC to process composting for its solid waste management operations. BarrTech is the only industrial composting facility in Spokane County “able to accept commingled food waste and yard waste.” The contract would cost around $1.6 million, which would be appropriated from the solid waste fund. The county says this would align with goals established in state code.

Agenda here
Tuesday, September 10 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

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Committee appointment

Gloria Mantz may be appointed as one of the Spokane Valley representatives on the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee.

Airport bonds may become purview of county

The Spokane Airport wants the county to sell bonds for it, to make money for facility improvements. Per the airport’s operating agreement, if the airport wants to issue and sell bonds to gain revenue for projects, that has to be authorized with a joint resolution from both the Spokane City Council, the Airport Board and the Board of County Commissioners. This week, the county is scheduled to pass their versions of the joint resolution, which will allow the county to move forward with issuing bonds for the airport. The amount of bonds issued is not to exceed $150 million.

Contract with Maddie’s Place to house parents of babies with NAS

The Community Services Department is looking to contract with Maddie’s Place to build stable housing with recovery support for parents of babies with neonatal alcohol syndrome. The contract is for $600,000 and could include renovating old facilities or building new ones.

Millions in state/fed funding for housing and juvenile court

The county is scheduled to accept about $5 million in funding for juvenile court contracting costs, including services related to truancy, children in need and at-risk youth programs, as well as programs that provide housing for the next fiscal year.

Amendments to tens of millions in transportation projects

The Spokane County Public Works Department is asking the BOCC to approve amendments to various Transportation Improvement Program construction projects planned for the next five years. The program includes more than $30 million in projects, $4.4 million of which comes from county road funds. The vast majority of the remainder come from grants. They include building a new roundabout at the intersection of Freya Street and 57th Avenue and a replacement of the Little Spokane Drive Bridge.

Agenda here
Tuesday, September 10 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

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Analyzing Annexation

The Spokane Valley City Council will get a presentation on what the city should be thinking about when they consider bringing in unincorporated areas into the city, also known as annexing. The city hired BERK Consulting to do the analysis and evaluation on 16 areas surrounding the city limits that could be annexed. This included figuring out how much tax revenue could be gained, what development opportunities there are, costs for extending city services and any other financial impacts that would happen as a result of annexation.

The point of the analysis is so the city can develop an annexation strategy for future decisions and help in updating the Comprehensive Plan.

Big budgets for tourism plans

The council is set to vote on the 2025 Tourism and Promotion Area (TPA) budget and work plan that is estimated to cost $1.275 million. The money will come from the TPA Fund, which is projected to be about $1.3 million of the 2025 budget. The city is planning to use two marketing consultants it has worked with for the past year, 116 & West for destination marketing and Spokane Sports for sports recruitment and programming.

Mark your calendars for budget public hearings

The city council is planning to set the second of three public hearings on the 2025 Budget for October 8. This is when citizens will be able to give their input on how the city should allocate money for the next year.

The council is then set to have the first reading of an ordinance to adopt the budget on October 22 and then the final public hearing and final vote on November 12.

Agenda here
Tuesday, September 10 at 6 pm
City Hall
10210 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, Washington 99206
Virtual attendance here .

Liberty Lake City Council

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Special Meeting on transparency

The mayor and the Liberty Lake City Council are holding a special meeting on Tuesday from 6 to 8 pm at the Trailhead Golf Course Rotary Room (22302 E. Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA) to discuss transparency in local government. Citizens will be able to attend a meet and greet with the mayor, council members, city staff and members of various commissions like the Library Board of Trustees and the Planning Commission. The meeting will also include discussion and a question and answer period.

Agenda here
Tuesday, September 10 at 6 pm
22302 E. Country Vista Drive
Liberty Lake, WA 99019

Spokane School District Board of Directors

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Update on school-based clinics

As the Spokane City Council prepares to continue its agreement with the schools to create a third school-based health clinic, the Spokane Public School District Board of Directors will be receiving an update on how the first two clinics have been functioning, as well as a discussion on the potential location for this new, third clinic. There were a few statistics included in the agenda, including one that stuck out to us: the CHAS clinic at Rogers High School has served 667 patients, which is over 40% of the student body, according to the most recent enrollment data we could find.

Agenda here
Wednesday, September 11 at 6 pm
Spokane Public Schools Administration Building
200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Plan Commission

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Historic Preservation review

The Spokane Plan Commission is reviewing and discussing a proposed ordinance that would add new zones to the areas where a Historic Preservation review would have to be conducted when demolition of a historic structure is proposed.

Agenda here
Wednesday, September 11 at 2 pm
Council Briefing Center
808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

Spokane Regional Transportation Council

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Legislative Priorities

The Spokane Regional Transportation Council will be discussing its list of regional transportation priorities for the upcoming year, as well as legislative priority statements, which are used for determining which bills to lobby for or against. If you’re curious about what the SRTC wants for the future of the region’s transportation, this might be a good meeting to attend!

Agenda here
Thursday, September 12 at 1 pm
Spokane Regional Transportation Office
21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201
The meeting is also live streamed here.

The following meetings either don’t have any agendas available yet or we didn’t notice any big items of interest. (But that doesn’t mean you won’t find something interesting if you take a look!)

Mead School District Board of Directors

Agenda here
Monday, September 9 at 6 p.m.
Union Event Center
12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021
Watch via Zoom here .

Central Valley School District Board of Directors

Agenda here
Monday, September 9 at 6 p.m.
Learning and Teaching Center (district office)
Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake
Watch via Zoom here .

Park Board

Agenda here , when available
Thursday, September 12 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 County Planning Commission

Agenda here , when available
Thursday, September 12,at 9 am
Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room
1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260The meeting is also live streamed here .

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