(The Center Square) – The Spokane region is coordinating on multiple fronts, assembling teams to tackle the opioid crisis, homelessness and crime while developing a proposal to fund a new jail.
The Board of County Commissioners planned to vote on creating a new public safety task force on Tuesday but rescheduled to hash out more details. If approved, the regional Safe & Healthy Spokane Task Force will develop a potential tax proposal to put on the ballot next year.
The group will include the commissioners, the sheriff, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, the Spokane City Council, Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley and her police chief. The county proposed a tax in 2023, but the $1.7 billion proposal failed, largely due to only about a third covering a new jail…