After nine months, the privately funded Safe and Healthy Spokane task force has finished looking for solutions to myriad issues within the criminal justice and behavioral health systems, narrowing the focus to 14 recommendations the community should tackle.
The task force of more than 30 people was convened by Greater Spokane Incorporated, Waters Meet Foundation (formerly Empire Health), Downtown Spokane Partnership, Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce and Avista to address the “unprecedented drug and mental health crisis that is overwhelming our community’s safety and health resources.”
The idea for the group came together after Spokane County voters rejected a 2023 ballot measure that would’ve increased the local sales tax by 0.2% (20 cents per $100 purchase) for 30 years to pay for a new jail. The private funders decided to model an effort in Whatcom County that brought together experts and people with lived experience to identify necessary investments in health and public safety before successfully passing a ballot measure to build a new jail…