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:
- The Spokane City Council could pass an emergency moratorium on data centers within city limits, effective immediately.
- The Spokane City Council is also set to pass a $200,000 settlement to a man who sued the city for Spokane Police Department excessive force, and $70,000 in grants to events that could generate tourism, like Terrain and Feast Fest.
- At the Urban Experience Committee, there’s a continued focus on eviction prevention work, including allocating $20,000 towards it. The Spokane city Council members will also get a presentation on the 2026 Point-in-Time count data here.
- The Spokane Public Library board will hear results of an employee satisfaction survey, so if you’ve ever wondered how good it is to work for the library, this might be your meeting.
- The Spokane Transit Authority board could approve a nearly $7 million contract for six years of mobility-on-demand, a pilot program approved in their Connect 2035 strategic plan.
- The Spokane County Auditor wants to buy a new land records management system to replace the existing one, which was purchased in 2006 and which the auditor says is outdated.
- The Spokane Valley City Council is set to adopt its six-year transportation improvements plan, which includes tens of millions in roads projects.
Important meetings this week:
Spokane City Council
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Data center moratorium
Though Avista announced plans to “pause” development on their large load data center partnership, the city is not planning to pause their emergency one-year pause on new data centers in the city. Tonight, the council could vote to impose an immediate moratorium on data centers anywhere in the city limits of Spokane. Avista’s coverage area is large though, and even if this passes, a data center could be sited outside Spokane city limits without similar moratoriums or legislation from the bodies that govern all the land outside the city — like the county commissioners.
Police violence settlement
After spending $175,000 to fight a lawsuit about Spokane Police Department conduct, the council is set to approve a $200,000 settlement for Andrei Johnson. Johnson alleged that his civil rights were violated by excessive force used against him by SPD in 2022. According to the lawsuit, Johnson was holding a shard of glass against his own neck, and instead of deescalating, SPD officers deployed tasers, 40mm less-lethal rounds and then unleashed a K9 after Johnson was prone and surrounded. The dog inflicted severe injuries to Johnson’s head.
New Urban Native Advisory Council
The council will hold a first reading of an ordinance to formally establish the Spokane Urban Native Advisory Council (SUNAC), composed of up to 12 voting members. The new advisory council will advise the mayor, city council and city staff on “policies, programs, and initiatives affecting the urban Native population and grounding City decision-making in lived experience, cultural knowledge, and a commitment to equity and sovereignty-informed partnership,” according to the agenda.
Tourism grants
A small lodging tax on hotel rooms rented in the city funds grants that make investments in new cultural activities and events that could draw tourists to Spokane, ideally creating an ouroboros of benefit for Spokane. Tonight, on recommendations from the Tourism and Cultural Investment Committee, the council could give out seven $10,000 grants funded by the lodging tax to:
- Terrain for its flagship event and BrrZAAR
- Local Inland Northwest Cooperative Foods for Grainmaker Fest
- Feast World Kitchen for Feast Fest 2026
- South Perry Together for South Perry Street Fair
- Spokane Pride for Garland Pride
- Boomjam Arts and Music Festival
- CorpoRAT for the Punk Rock Flea Market
Agenda hereMonday, June 15 at 6 pmCouncil Chambers 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, SpokaneThe meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane City Council Study Sessions
Agenda here when available.Thursday, June 18 at 11 amCouncil Chambers808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, SpokaneThe meeting is also live streamed here.
Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city)
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This week’s Urban Experience committee is set to be a busy one. Here’s the highlight reel of what the council will discuss today:
- the emergency ordinance to impose a moratorium on data centers, which is scheduled to go up for a vote tonight
- an ordinance to authorize the residential rental property mitigation fund to support the city’s new Eviction Prevention program (which we covered here)
- a special budget ordinance to spend $20,000 in funds collected from rental-related business license fees and rental registry revenues on contractual services related to the Eviction Prevention program
- detailed results from the 2026 Point-in-Time count, which is a “snapshot” of the number of people who are homeless during a short time period in January.
Agenda hereMonday, June 15 at 12 pmCouncil Briefing Center 808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, SpokaneThe meeting is also live streamed here.
Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
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