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 ordinance long-awaited by housing advocates that creates a city eviction prevention program to create stability for renters and streamline rental assistance.
- Spokane City Council will also hold a first reading of an ordinance to give the American Indian Community Center a 50-year lease of parts of High Bridge Park for just $1 a year.
- At the Public Safety and Community Health Committee, the council will discuss an ordinance to ban federal agents from using any city-owned or -controlled property for immigration enforcement purposes. Spokane Police Chief Hall will give updates on SPD’s role in immigration enforcement and a quarterly update on homelessness-related arrests.
- Spokane County is finalizing its collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters, the union that represents county employees. The agreement contains a 3% raise for workers.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Public Safety & Community Health Committee
- Board of County Commissioners – Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Central Valley School District Board of Directors
- Spokane School District Board of Directors
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Liberty Lake City Council
Spokane City
Spokane City Council
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Preventing evictions
Tonight, the council could pass an ordinance designed to help keep renters in their homes.
Housing advocates have long argued that the most effective way to help with homelessness is to simply keep people housed. For rent-burdened tenants who are otherwise reliable, one emergency could cause an inability to pay rent that month, leading to an eviction that will follow them forever, making it harder to find new housing…