SPOKANE, Wash. — The mayor-elect of Spokane is getting ready to get to work at the beginning of the year, and has created several teams to help her get prepared.
Spokane Mayor-elect Lisa Brown announced her plan to join neighborhood, businesses and local leaders together to identify the most pressing concerns in the city before she takes office.
"I want this to be everything from we need to do this right now, very action-oriented, to here's where we're headed.""I want this to be everything from we need to do this right now, very action-oriented, to here's where we're headed," Brown said.
Brown announced those five transition committees during a press conference Tuesday:
- Public Safety and Building Trust
- Health and Housing Options
- Economy and Workforce
- Families and Communities
- City Budget and Sustainability
Brown said she plans to use their guidance to decide where she needs to focus her attention.
Ginger Ewing, co-founder of Terrain, will co-chair the family and community committee and says Brown intentionally sought out diversity in the team volunteers.
"Voices representing views of all backgrounds that stretch across the city, across politics," Ewing said.
The committees will meet three times before Brown takes office January 1 to identify top issues and plans to address them.
The housing committee will focus on one of Brown's top campaign issues: homelessness and a new approach to aiding Spokane's unhoused population. She sticks by her stance the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC) is not a best practice.
"So I believe there will be a transition but I'm certainly not going to second-guess the current council or administration," she said.
The current city council is tasked with deciding whether to fund TRAC through the winter as the contract with Salvation Army expires December 31. Council has deferred a vote to December 14.
"I'm not sure we'll be looking at one provider for TRAC or for whatever its successor location might be," Brown said when asked how she plans to move forward on running the shelter. "I think it'll be more about working with a provider network."
She added TRAC has been near or at capacity often, evidence whatever replacement needs greater space.
Brown's team is asking for the public to weigh in with ideas and recommendations; you can submit them at BetterWaySpokane.com.
Below are the members Brown appointed to each committee:
Enhancing Public Safety and Building Trust
- Maggie Yates
- Mike Ormsby
- Virla Spencer
- Chris Jordan
- Maryann Moreno
- Justin Bingham
- Sean Nemec
- Hanncel Sanchez
- Emilie Cameron
- Greg Bulkley
- Larry Soehren
- Curtis Hampton
- Mike Connelly
- Jeremiah Bourgeois
- Howard Delaney
- Toni Lodge
- Andy Bessmer
- Francis Adewale
- Sally Winn
Improving Health and Housing Options
- Fawn Schott
- Marty Dickinson
- Dr. Luis Manriquez
- Marcus Riccelli
- Tija Danzig
- Dylan Dressler
- Amber Lenhart
- Lerria Schuh
- Jonathan Mallahan
- Zeke Smith
- Robert Lippman
- Ben Stuckart
- Cara Carlton
- James Gallina
- Jim Frank
- Chris Batten
- Joe Ader
- Kelli Miller
- Terri Anderson
Investing in Economy and Workforce
- Charlotte Nemec
- Kelly Fukai
- Luis Licea
- Marvo Reguindin
- Laura Ives
- Tom Simpson
- Francis SiJohn
- Vange Hochheimer
- Todd Woodard
- John Sklut
- Stacie Maier
- John Bryant
- Marcelo Morales
- Mark Mattke
- Brian Walter
- Mike Senske
- Gary Livingston
- Kerra Bower
- Stephanie Curran
Building a Resilient Future
- Dr. Brian Henning
- Gavin Cooley
- Latisha Hill
- Elyse Hochstadt
- Jerry White
- Rick Romero
- Steve Helmbrecht
- Larry Luton
- Karl Otterstrom
- Rick Boutz
- Andy Barrett
- Mike Allen
- Kara Odegard
- Tim Dunivant
- Darrin Griechen
- Dale Silha
- John Powers
- Margo Hill
Enriching Families and Communities
- Amber Waldref
- Freda Gandy
- Ginger Ewing
- Mark Finney
- Juan Mas
- Jennyfer Mesa
- Sima Thorpe
- Rick Welliver
- Amy Knapton Vega
- Deb Brock
- Tamara Bradley
- Jeremy Whittington
- Maisa Abudayha
- Lu Hill
- Ian Sullivan
- Ryan Oelrich
- Adam Swinyard
For more information about the mayor-elect's transition plan, click here.
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