Spokane Council set to force police move from new precinct

(The Center Square) – Last summer Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward defied the city council’s passage of an emergency ordinance requiring police to move out of a new precinct in the vacated East Central Library.

“I don’t plan on moving police out of that building,” she told The Center Square.

Next week the council majority is expected to force the issue by initiating the process to lease out the 6,000-square-foot precinct at 524 S. Stone Street for another purpose. The resolution to find another building occupant has been sponsored by Councilors Betsy Wilkerson and Lori Kinnear.

They contend that plan “aims to put this building back in the hands of the community.”

Wilkerson and Kinnear’s legislation outlines that houses, grocery stores and churches were demolished in East Central in the 1960s to make way for Interstate 90. Prior to that, the neighborhood had been classified as an “Area of Persistent Poverty,” which remains the reality for many families.

Under their proposal, the city would look at potential occupants of the former library in terms of providing neighborhood vitality and spurring economic growth. Applications will be reviewed by the city’s Equity Subcommittee and presented at a community open house for input before a decision is made.

There will be four “equally weighted” criteria in the review and selection process:

The plan for use of the building must reflect the cultural vibrancy of East Central or fulfill essential services that are currently lacking in the neighborhood.Services provided by the entity leasing the site must be affordable for area residents.Entities applying for use must have experience serving the demographics of residents in that location.The successful applicant will demonstrate financial sustainability outside of support from the city.

Woodward could not be immediately reached for comment about the new council proposal, which will be considered during next Monday’s meeting.

In August, the council decided by a 5-2 vote to take control of where employees work, an authority previously held by the mayor. That ordinance not only dealt with police precincts or offices, but fire stations, utility facilities and community centers.

Woodward was joined by Councilors Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle in accusing the council of seizing power out of disagreement with the mayor’s decision to relocate police.

“I am not just speaking out for me, but for the ‘strong mayor’ form of government set up by our voters,” said Woodward, referencing the separation of powers outlined in the city charter.

The emergency designation of the ordinance was done to bypass any possibility of mayoral review, she said.

Woodward said the “strong mayor” form of government outlined in the city charter gave her the authority to decide where employees would work.

Prior to moving the precinct, Woodward said officers were working on the second floor of the former nunnery at Saint Ann Catholic Church, a location not nearly as accessible to the public.

She said the decision in June to move officers into the vacant library, which would also house behavioral health services, followed six months of community outreach. She said the decision was strongly supported by the MLK Center, businesses, neighborhood councils and residents in that sector of the city.

“I think we have to have police protection in that neighborhood, and that’s what people are demanding,” Cathcart told The Center Square. “They are demanding public safety.”

Wilkerson expressed interest last summer in seeing the library building used in other ways, such as a cultural center.