REPRESENT!
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown says "regional cooperation" is going to be a big focus of her new administration. "We have a set of issues between the city and county that have been unresolved for a period of time," Brown says. During her first month in office, Brown has sent several letters firmly asking the Spokane County commissioners to give the city of Spokane more representation on various intergovernmental agencies. In a recent letter to the commissioners, Brown argued that the city needs to be better represented on the Spokane Regional Health District Board. The board used to have three seats set aside for elected officials from the city of Spokane. In 2021, the county reduced it to one seat set aside for an elected official from a city or town in Spokane County. The commissioners still have three seats — a point many city officials have expressed frustration over in recent years. At the start of this year, the commissioners chose to appoint Spokane City Council member Michael Cathcart to fill the city/town seat. In her letter, Brown told the commissioners that, while she's confident in Cathcart's abilities, she still thinks the city should have a say in which of its elected leaders sits on the board. County Commissioner Mary Kuney replied to Brown with a letter that largely boiled down to: Thanks for the feedback, we'll think about it. (NATE SANFORD)
TAX ASK
On Tuesday, Spokane County Voters will have one last chance to make their voices heard about the many tax asks on the Feb. 13 special election ballot — which are primarily for public school districts, with a few propositions for fire districts and the Spokane Public Library. And many of these school districts have more than one proposition to vote on. Between the educational levies that pay for specific curriculum and extracurriculars, capital levies that pay to improve school infrastructure like added security and technology, and the bonds that will pay to rebuild or modernize aging schools, there's more than $1 billion on the ballot. While a levy only needs a simple majority to be approved, bonds require at least 60% of the vote to pass. Spokane Public Schools will be asking its voters to approve a three-year, $297 million levy and a six-year $200 million bond. Meanwhile, the Central Valley School District will be asking its voters to approve two levies, one a three-year, $137 million educational levy and another six-year $47.5 million capital levy. Visit Inlander.com for info. (COLTON RASANEN)
POLITICAL MAPMAKING
Spokane has a special election coming up on Feb. 13. In addition to a school and library levy, Spokane voters are being asked to consider a ballot measure that aims to make the process of drawing City Council district boundaries more fair and equitable. The borders of Spokane's three City Council districts are adjusted by a committee every decade to keep populations mostly equal. In 2022, the process of redrawing boundaries was clouded by a legal dispute and accusations of partisan gerrymandering. Measure 2 aims to prevent a repeat of the controversy by limiting elected officials' influence over how maps are drawn. The measure would expand the city's Redistricting Commission from three members to seven, prohibit council members from modifying maps and require a more thorough public engagement process. If the City Council can't agree on the map submitted by the commission, a judge steps in. The measure has bipartisan support: Council members Michael Cathcart, a conservative, and Zack Zappone, a liberal, co-wrote the "argument for" text that appears on the voters guide. They say Measure 2 is a step toward a redistricting process rooted in "fairness, inclusivity, and transparency." The "argument against" section is empty because nobody volunteered to write it. (NATE SANFORD) ♦
