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:
- After years of fighting about allegedly unnecessary euthanasias, Spokane City could approve a new animal control contract with SCRAPS.
- The city council electeds are gearing up for the annual seat shuffle and will discuss a first draft of their 2026 board and committee appointments at the Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee. These appointments will tell you which representatives you should bug for specific issues.
- The Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees will discuss how much to pay the Library Director.
- A new budget, legislative priorities and chair person for 2026 could all be approved at the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors.
- The county commission will accept nearly $1 million in state funding to pay for the management of solid waste.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee
- Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees
- Board of County Commissioners – Briefing Session and Legislative Session
- Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors
- Spokane Airport Board
- Spokane Valley City Council
- Spokane School District Board of Directors
Spokane City
Spokane City Council
/5 peppers
PFAS lawyers
The city has been paying an outside legal firm to consult and give advice on their legal responsibilities regarding the Spokane International Airport and its role in the West Plains PFAS contamination. The contamination issue — and who is on the hook to deal with it — is obviously still ongoing, so council is set to approve an additional $100,000 to the legal contract, bringing the total spent so far to $150,000.
The Year of the Co-op
Council will be voting on a non-binding resolution, sponsored by Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon, which will declare 2025 to be “The Year of the Cooperative,” and commit the city to exploring “all options to support the development and resilience of local cooperative businesses.”
Putting our bias front and center here, but we think this is pretty rad, for two reasons…