(The Center Square) – With unanimous support, the Spokane City Council set aside ideological divides on Monday, just a week before the election, to replace Mayor Lisa Brown’s unenforceable camping ban.
The historic vote follows community backlash after the council majority passed the mayor’s proposal in June. Much of the business community had argued it didn’t have enough teeth and would let habitable offenders get off scot-free, pleading with the council to reinstate another voter-approved camping ban.
The conservative minority attempted to revive that law, which nearly 75% of voters approved in 2023, but the majority declined to do so more than once. However, now their tune has changed as their vote on the most politicized issue in Spokane comes under scrutiny in the weeks leading up to the election.
“I don’t know why downtown couldn’t have been cleaned up before an election year,” Spokanite Justin Haller testified Monday. “It’s just a shell game, don’t let this temporary thing fool you. When there are seats in jeopardy on the city council to break up the supermajority, then this is what happens.”
The progressives and conservatives settled on an ordinance that gives officers discretion to enforce as they see fit while still emphasizing service referrals. Police Chief Kevin Hall recently confirmed officers were unable to issue any citations or referrals for months due to the language in the mayor’s version.
Monday’s approval ushers in a new era for the city that Councilmembers Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart asked their colleagues to support for over a year. While the new ban retains some elements of Brown’s proposal, the council ultimately passed many of the reforms proposed by the conservatives.
“Does the administration plan to enforce this ordinance?” Bingle asked City Administrator Alex Scott during an agenda review meeting before he responded “absolutely” on Monday. “And are we going to prioritize that enforcement?” Bingle followed up, with Scott reaffirming his stance again, “Absolutely.”
Robin Bernhart, managing partner of Landmark Restaurants, testified that “camping, trash and open drug use exploded” downtown after the council passed the mayor’s camping ban. She emphasized the importance of supporting businesses amid $13 million budget deficit driven by plateauing tax revenue.
Emilie Cameron, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, and Brad Barnett, president of the Spokane Business Association, both offered support as well. As did Greater Spokane Incorporated and Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington, though CCEW noted that the ban is not a complete solution.
“I’ve been on council for four years,” Councilmember Zack Zappone said, “we have not been able to pass a law like this — and so we’re finally at a place that we can all agree … now it’s that charge to say, what do we need to build the facilities and the resources to be able to implement this policy.”
Zappone and Bingle are both up for reelection next week, along with another seat representing District 2 with Councilmember Paul Dillon. Former Councilmember Lili Navarrete occupied that position up until the end of June, when she officially resigned after the council majority passed Brown’s camping ban.
The Spokane Ethics Commission launched an independent investigation into Brown, Navarrete and the rest of the council majority in July amid claims of quid pro quo over how they passed her ban in June.
The next commission meeting is on December 17, with an investigation report due ahead of then.
“I’ve spent four years, almost four years now, on this city council, and in four years in government, you can get pretty cynical pretty quickly, but today I’m choosing not to be cynical,” Bingle said Monday. “This policy, in my opinion, does have the ability to be a legacy piece for us as a council.”
