SPOKANE, WA – Despite reservations, the Spokane Valley City Council agreed to participate in a new regional public safety task force on Tuesday, following its launch without the municipality last month.
The Safe & Healthy Spokane Task Force will offer policy and funding proposals next spring to align the region and bolster its public safety and emergency response systems. The effort follows the failure of a $1.7 billion tax proposal in November 2023 that would have funded the construction of a new jail.
Critics said that the tax would have generated more than enough revenue for the jail without requiring an expansion of the region’s behavioral health response. The task force plans to address that with the help of local officials, medical professionals, service providers and businesses across Spokane County…