SPOKANE, Wash. — In November, Spokane voters approved a school bond measure that included funding to replace the aging Joe Albi Stadium.
In an advisory vote, people suggested keeping the stadium in its current location.
Then, Wednesday night the school board voted the same way.
However, we received a comment from a viewer who says a large portion of residents on the South Hill weren't able to vote on the measure.
Spokane Public Schools officials confirms there are residents who live within the district's boundaries, but were not able vote on the Joe Albi Stadium advisory measure. The reasoning behind this is a bit complex, but it just boils down to boundaries.
Leading up to the advisory measure, there was discussion on parking availability if the stadium was relocated to downtown Spokane. The city decided to take responsibility for finding a solution to parking in this scenario. This factor alone is why only city voters would receive a ballot with the advisory measure on it. The city wanted to know their interest in the relocation and parking concerns as well.
As a result, only voters who live in Spokane City limits and Spokane Public Schools boundaries could vote on the measure.
According to the Spokane County precinct map, the two populations, city and SPS voters, overlap extensively.
District Communication Director Brian Coddington said there are 18 precincts with SPS voters that do not live in the city limits. And those voters did not get to participate in the advisory vote on the location of the new stadium.
Those 18 precincts include a small portion of voters living in North Spokane along with some South Hill residents.
A majority of the north side of Spokane participated in the vote. But there is a portion of voters there who are not in the city limits, so they couldn't vote either.