SPOKANE, Wash. — After spending the last two weeks on summer break, Spokane City Council returned to their chambers for a busy night of work.
They returned, once again, tackling issues tied to homelessness.
Homelessness proved to be a big talker during Monday night's Spokane City Council meeting, but two agenda items took different approaches, with one establishing making being homeless a protected class, while the other would expand no-camping zones.
The first of the two to appear before Spokane City Council ended up being the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting illegal encampments from being within 1,000 feet of facilities offering comprehensive support services.
That includes behavioral health facilities and addiction treatment facilities.
Monday night's meeting rounded out with the final reading of an ordinance aiming to make being homeless a protected class under Spokane City Code. According to City documents, the item would add "housing status" to the City's list of protected classes and create stronger protections against discriminatory hiring and employment practices, property rights and privacy rights for people dealing with homelessness.
This also saw a lot of public comment, leading to City Council to initially consider deferring the ordinance indefinitely.
Spokane City Councilmember Lili Navarrete sponsored the item.
"We have received a lot of pros, a lot of cons on this," Navarrete said. "This is a topic, that, it's hot right now."
Councilmember Michael Cathcart was not happy about the move, citing the upcoming election.
"To defer indefinitely makes me strongly believe that we are in for a 13-week pause, and then this will come back shortly after the voters have voted," Cathcart said.
Spokane City Council ended up deferring the ordinance for two weeks.