Spokane council moves to change police precinct, wrest authority from mayor | Washington


(The Center Square) – The Spokane City Council in a split decision has approved a nonbinding resolution calling on Mayor Nadine Woodward to move the new East Central Police Precinct to another location.

The council majority is seeking to establish a precinct somewhere along, or within two blocks of, East Sprague Avenue between the Hamilton Street overpass and Havana Street. The resolution requests opening that precinct no later than Jan. 1, 2023.

By a second 4-2 vote, the council approved a separate resolution Monday to begin exploring lease options for the former East Side Library now being used as a precinct. Councilman Zack Zappone was not present at the July 11 meeting where that vote took place.

Councilors Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart opposed both resolutions.

“I think we have to have police protection in that [East Central] neighborhood, and that’s what people are demanding,” said Cathcart. “They are demanding public safety.”

He said the administration had conducted six months of community outreach prior to making the decision about relocating officers to the library vacant library building at Stone Street and Sixth Avenue East. Prior to the June 30 move, seven or eight officers had been based on the second floor of a former nunnery at Saint Ann Catholic Church.

Bingle reminded the council that a ThoughtExchange survey drew more than 600 responses, most in favor of the new precinct and greater police presence in East Central.

Voting in favor of shifting the precinct location again was Council President Breean Beggs, who sponsored the resolutions, and Councilors Karen Stratton, Betsy Wilkerson and Lori Kinnear.

Wilkerson questioned the results of the survey referenced by Bingle. She said anyone could have accessed it to render an opinion, even if they didn’t live in the city.

“We had all of this outside energy telling us what was best for East Central from all over the city,” she said. “We don’t know if those are truly the voices of East Central or not.”

The resolution involving lease options requires the administration to publish requests for information so interested tenants can submit proposals for the city-owned building. A community open house to lay out the suggested uses of the facility is also required.

Although the approved resolutions are nonbinding, meaning the city administration is not obligated to grant the requests, the council is taking another step to force compliance.

An ordinance sponsored by Beggs and Wilkerson will be considered at Monday’s meeting.

The proposed code would transfer authority from the administration to the council to locate “essential city facilities.” These are defined as police precincts or offices, fire stations, utility facilities and community centers.

In addition, the city administration could not recommend a site without first publishing alternate locations, conducting at least one community meeting, and soliciting written comment from neighborhood councils in the affected area.

The council’s Equity Subcommittee, an advisory board, also would review any proposals.

The ordinance lays out qualifying criteria for suitable police precinct locations. The site must be near the main street of a neighborhood district, within a documented cluster of criminal activities and within a commercial zone with high visibility of police patrols.

If approved, the ordinance goes into effect immediately as it has been proposed as an emergency measure. Quick action is deemed by Beggs and Wilkerson to be necessary for preservation of the public peace and safety, and support of city government.

Woodward told The Center Square this week that she is concerned the ordinance sets the stage for lawsuits anytime a resident disagrees with the process to decide use of a building, among other problems.

The measure gives standing to any resident to file a suit to stop delivery of services if they believe the city has not acted properly.

Beggs told The Center Square that challenges will only happen if the city does not fully engage citizens by following the outlined process before acting.  

He said the legislation was introduced through committee in late June, just a few days before officers changed locations. 

In May, Woodward announced in a press conference that the 6,000 square foot former library space would be shared by officers and on-site behavioral health specialists. In addition, she said the building would provide community meeting space.

Joining her at the forum in a show of support was Freda Gandy, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, and representatives from the East Central Neighborhood Council and East Spokane Business Association.

Wilkerson interrupted the press conference to register objections to the plan. She took the microphone to say there was interest among some community members in seeing the facility used in other ways, such as a cultural center.

Wilkerson, who is African-American, also criticized the mayor for not consulting Rebuild East Central, a group she is aligned with that includes members of the Spokane NAACP, about the project.

She said Monday that she wants to see development of a new precinct undergo the involved process used to site downtown precinct because anything else is “a disservice to our citizens.”

“When the downtown precinct was sited, if you all remember, there was significant community engagement,” Wilkerson said. “There was a process. People had the opportunity to come down here and speak. There was actually a budget presented to us. It wasn’t done, I felt like, in the dark of night.”



Click Here For This Articles Original Source.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *