05/19/2026
COUNCIL RECAP: For our boards and commission appointments, we unanimously approved Justin Ackerman to the Ombuds Commission.
We held a hearing and approved design flexibility for small businesses in Planned Unit Developments and approved contract funding for legal services to support ongoing litigation against the City of Spokane.
We approved several grants including funding from the Department of Health which will be passed through to the Spokane Regional Health District for an emergency streets fund to support signage and visibility for safer streets as well as a Department of Commerce grant for building the new Spokane Police Department training academy. All passed unanimously.
A big vote of the night was a resolution to approve our preferred growth alternative maps. There was some confusion as to whether this represented a final vote or why were we passing legislation in the midst of our Comprehensive Plan review? The resolution points the direction of how we accommodate land capacity and zoning changes for the next stage of environmental review and a more focused approach to a final plan. This is critical as we work to adopt a Comprehensive Plan that will guide growth for the next two decades in Spokane. The resolution passed 6-1 with CM Cathcart voting no.
We also approved a resolution co-sponsored by CP Wilkerson and myself for recommending “Opportunity Zones” that would be federally designated areas that need additional federal grant investments that are low-income census tracts. For District 2, this was most of East Central and lower Cliff Cannon near by Interstate 90.
For open forum, we heard commentary about Poetry at the Podium, literacy and a community library in Chief Garry, lane reductions, speeding and jail conditions.
Just a reminder: No legislative meeting next Monday with Memorial Day and our next meeting will be June 1st. That’s it for now, thanks for reading!
