Councilmember Merkel decries Spokane Valley Council ‘taking a summer vacation’

(The Center Square) – Spokane Valley Councilmember Al Merkel issued a press release on Friday condemning the local government’s inefficiencies after canceling an eighth public meeting in 2024.

The Valley canceled its first city council meeting for 2024, less than three weeks into the year. Since then, it’s called off three others and four Planning Commission meetings. However, Merkel said the issue is bigger, calling out the recent lack of action items as well.

“It is deeply concerning that our city continues to squander taxpayer time and resources,” Merkel wrote in the release. “Two weeks ago, we held a formal session meeting without any action items. This week, we skipped the meeting entirely because it was a ‘holiday week.’ Now, we are facing another formal meeting with hardly anything on the agenda. This is unacceptable.”

He believes that elected officials are obligated to serve their constituents 24/7, regardless of holidays or other vacations. Merkel said the Valley could spend that time and resources taking care of its many priorities, such as identifying means to hire up to 28 officers, mitigating the regional homelessness crisis and balancing its budget without clawing back services.

The last action item considered by the Valley’s council was over its six-Year Transportation Improvement Program and a Memorial Sign Program three weeks ago. Merkel said other than that, the council spent time reviewing grant opportunities and administrative reports, which could lead to action items down the road, but in the meantime, only entertains the council’s options.

Merkel said his issue is that the city could spend time taking action instead of letting the items build up for weeks. Some admin reports, he said, lead to nothing but a waste of hard-earned tax dollars if they never advance to an action item in the future.

According to the release, city staff canceled this week’s Planning Commission meeting because they failed to prepare an agenda in time; however, state law only requires that a governing body post an agenda for public meetings at least 24 hours before its start and this week’s meeting is still three days away.

Merkel said that Planning Commissioner Sue Delucchi told him about the cancellation, citing the city staff’s issue with preparing an agenda in time despite still having days to put it together. Delucchi took to the app Nextdoor to vent about the whole ordeal.

“We have a lot to do about educating the majority of new commissioners about the potential changes to the Spokane Valley Comprehensive Land Use Plan, but are continually being told we have no official business and the City doesn’t want to pay for 4-5 employees (mostly salaried) to attend,” Delucchi wrote on Nextdoor. “I think this is disrespectful to the 7 volunteer appointees who have already scheduled in the meetings. What is going on? Don’t ask me, I am in the dark. I think we have a lot of business to attend to.”

Merkel said this is the second time city staff has canceled a Planning Commission meeting, “highlighting a troubling pattern of delay and inaction.

Spokane Valley canceled five Planning Commission meetings in 2023, one for Thanksgiving and another for Thursday, Dec. 28, only a few days after Christmas. It also canceled seven council meetings, one scheduled on Thanksgiving and another the day after Christmas.

“This is not the time to be taking a summer vacation,” Merkel wrote in the release. “Valley residents want and need us as a council and city to work on these pressing issues now. Delaying action is not an option. We need to prioritize the welfare of our community and demonstrate our commitment to effective governance.”