(The Center Square) – Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown says she “generally supports” the recommendations of a regional public safety task force ahead of a potential tax proposal this fall, but her call to prioritize existing resources before determining whether additional jail capacity is needed is attracting criticism.
Brown sent a letter on Monday to the Safe & Healthy Task Force, a group focused on addressing a lack of interconnectivity between the county’s criminal justice and behavioral health systems.
The message came one day before the body’s final meeting and a week before it’s set to release its recommendations.
Those recommendations are intended to help regional officials develop a tax proposal ahead of August to place on the November ballot. A draft report, obtained by The Center Square, suggests investing in “right-sized” justice facilities and community-based behavioral health, treatment and housing facilities.
“The City generally supports each of the Task Force’s recommendations,” Brown wrote in her letter before urging the prioritization of existing resources rather than immediately pursuing more correctional spaces.
The task force is led by regional stakeholders across the private and public sectors, but Brown and city and county elected officials aren’t included. The goal was to draft recommendations to hand off to the elected officials in May or June so they could submit a tax proposal for this fall by the August deadline.
Brown’s letter argued “a few key investments” will improve safety and stability while alleviating “strain on an understaffed and aging jail.” She wrote that those investments will help determine whether there is a need for “costly” correctional capacity or whether they should utilize or renovate existing facilities.
Mike Sparber, who sits on the task force and acts as the senior director of the county’s law and justice departments, sent the county commissioners the letter after receiving it on Monday.
Josh Kerns, vice chair of the Board of County Commissioners, received a copy of the letter on Tuesday.
“Before the proposal is made public, she sends a letter to torpedo it,” Kerns told The Center Square on Thursday, arguing that Brown’s financial concerns also played a role in priorities stalling in the past, including a 2023 jail tax measure that failed overwhelmingly and a regional homeless authority.
“She tries to be the queen of Spokane County,” he said.
The county commissioners will ultimately decide whether to place a facilities tax on the fall ballot, and they haven’t always had the best relationship with Brown, especially about the county’s downtown jail.
In her letter, Brown urged the county to address staffing concerns and conditions at the downtown jail.
She also said the region should “immediately” expand pretrial services at intake, medication-assisted treatment, or MAT services, which provide methadone and other substances to wean inmates off their addictions, and conduct weekly population reviews to identify individuals who can be “safely released.”
Brown suggested the region has several existing tax measures and opioid settlement funds that could expand behavioral health and housing services as the city and county eye additional revenue streams.
When asked about Kerns’ comments, Spokane Communications Director Erin Hut sent a text message to The Center Square, arguing that Brown’s letter “explicitly says we support the recommendations.”
After noting that the letter says “generally supports,” Hut responded with a statement from the mayor.
“Brown doesn’t believe in queens or kings. And as she reiterated again at the State of Downtown this morning – she supports all of the Safe and Healthy recommendations,” Hut wrote in a Friday message.
Task force rollout nears
The Downtown Spokane Partnership, which helped convene the task force, hosted the event on Friday morning, during which DSP President Emilie Cameron outlined what the recommendations may entail.
“I know there are questions about how facilities will fit into the recommendations, so let me be clear about the DSP’s perspective: Spokane needs a jail. Our current facilities do not meet the needs of our community. But a jail alone will not bring the improvements we need,” according to Cameron’s speech.
After the event, Cameron told The Center Square that she wasn’t sure if the entire task force had read Brown’s letter. When asked whether it raised concerns, given that critics argue Brown’s lack of support contributed to the failure of the last jail tax, Cameron initially sidestepped the question.
“I think that the timing of the letter raises questions, but I’m continuing to be encouraged by the work of the task force,” Cameron said after being asked again whether Brown’s letter raised alarms for her.
Kerns claimed Brown’s letter was meant to appease the “anti-jail crowd” and cited concerns that if the mayor expressed formal opposition to a tax proposal this fall, it could undermine the effort as in 2023.
One of the task force “conveners,” Zeke Smith, president of Waters Meet Foundation, formerly known as Empire Health Foundation, publicly opposed the last jail tax in 2023.
His organization financed an opposition campaign to the tax while he personally donated to Brown’s campaign, state records show.
In an email to The Center Square in April, Smith denied advocating for or against the construction of a new jail in the recommendations, but said this issue is more nuanced than replacing the outdated jail.
Michael Cathcart, the lone conservative on the Spokane City Council, told The Center Square that he may have “heartburn” over some of the task force’s recommendations, but said a jail “is absolutely critical.”
He said Spokane knew from day one that the task force would recommend investing in facilities, such as additional correctional capacity and behavioral health services.
He said other policies will come with that, but said “whittling away” at some recommendations could make it harder to implement others.
“I guess from that perspective, I just disagree with the mayor. I think we don’t need to single anything out at this point. We need to consider the package as a whole, as a region, and you know, start taking our next steps. But I think a jail is absolutely critical,” Cathcart told The Center Square on Thursday.
However, Cathcart said he’s more concerned about other tax measures on the August and November ballots that could cause taxpayer fatigue ahead of a potential countywide facilities proposal.
The city and county have also recently discussed funding options to address their own budget woes, including councilmanic taxes that don’t require voter approval.
“I don’t know [if Brown’s letter is] going to have that sort of weight; there could be some influence from it, but I’m really more concerned, when it comes to the jail measure this year, about all of the other tax measures that are moving forward, both in the primary [and] the general [elections],” he said.
