SPOKANE, Wash. — Despite a long agenda, Spokane City Council’s meeting on Monday night ended up being a short session as council members voted on each agenda item.
One of the first items on the list: the approval of the consent agenda, which included the recommendation of buying four used undercover vehicles for the Spokane Police and adding $80,000 to the current contract with a law group representing the city in a lawsuit.
That lawsuit involves Spokane Fire Department plaintiffs who claimed their rights were violated because of Washington’s Covid-19 vaccination mandate.
Council members considered approving more than $9 million later in the meeting to build more affordable housing.
One of the proposed projects would use around $2 million dollars for the Bethany Presbyterian Redevelopment project by the nonprofit Proclaim Liberty. That money would go towards demolishing a Lincoln Heights building burned in a fire in early January of 2022 and build two multi-family residential buildings.
Councilmember Michael Cathcart voted against the proposed ordinance, stating he didn't think the request for proposals followed city code.
“I think there are some priorities and things that are in the code that should be included,” he said. “Maybe we need to update the code in the meantime if there are changes we want to see, but the code's the code.”
One item that was supposed to be on Monday night's agenda was the final reading of an ordinance to make being homeless a protected class under Spokane city code.
That was taken off the agenda after being referred to committee last week.