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:
- Spokane City Council could approve about $2.5 million in federal funding to go towards affordable housing projects across the city, including 22 new units in Lincoln Heights.
- The Public Safety & Community Health Committee will discuss traffic camera infractions, public defender caseload standards and spending another $250,000 on case management for ‘high utilizers,’ of emergency services.
- The Spokane Transit Authority is holding a mystery special workshop meeting this week, details to be announced.
- Spokane County is scheduling a public hearing on April 14 for a ballot measure that would create a protection district for the contaminated West Plains aquifer.
- The Spokane County Sheriff has received a $725,000 grant from the federal government to send deputies to the World Cup in Seattle in June and July to supplement security at the massive sporting event.
- Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis will present the city council data showing a decline in opioid overdose deaths in 2025 from 2024.
Important meetings this week:
- Spokane City Council (and Study Session)
- Board of County Commissioners – Briefing Session and Legislative Session
Spokane City Council
🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers
Lambdin to the library
Former City Council Member Shelby Lambdin, who was appointed to briefly fill a Spokane council seat before the election last year, could find herself reappointed again tonight — to the Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees, though, not council!
Affordable housing projects
The city needs to spend about $2.5 million in funding from the federal government on affordable housing projects that “increase and/or preserve the supply of affordable housing units serving extremely-low (30% of Area Median Income) and very-low-income households (below 50% of Area Median Income) in the City of Spokane,” according to the notice of funding availability. Tonight, the council could vote to approve the projects the funding will be spent on, following recommendations from the CHHS board:
- $1,191,000 to Proclaim Liberty, a project spearheaded by Bethany Presbyterian Church that plans to put 22 units of affordable housing in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood
- $341,025 to the Volunteers of America for rehabilitating Alexandria’s House, a licensed maternity group home in Spokane for pregnant and parenting homeless teens.
- $352,200 to Take Up The Cause for rehabilitation of the Beloved Sunset apartments, which have more than 50 units for low-income families and individuals under 60% of the area median income
- $152,725 to Trinity Transitional Housing to rehabilitate Maxwell House, which has units available for women with children to “rebuild their lives after treatment or incarceration.”
- $420,000 to Vasilenko for attached townhomes at South Crystal Ridge
New festival streets
Last summer, the Spokane City Council passed a law that identified “festival streets,” in the city and gave those streets access to a new, stream-lined closure process with standardized traffic control requirements and potential cost reductions for both event organizers and the city. Basically, the ordinance made it easier to hold events like Tacos y Tequila, Spokane Pride and Terrain’s Bazaar. Tonight, the council will hold a first reading on an update to the ordinance that would expand the section of Garland Avenue designated for festivals, and add a section of Sprague Avenue to the list.
Agenda here…