(The Center Square) – The Spokane City Council awarded $120,000 Monday to a Latine nonprofit to address barriers and social gaps between the Spokane Police Department and immigrant communities.
Mujeres in Action, which provides support services to Spanish-speaking domestic violence victims, will receive the $120,000. The 6-1 vote marks the second time in the past month that Spokane has pulled from SPD’s outreach budget for nonprofits focusing on immigrant needs, raising the total to $220,000.
Councilmember Michael Cathcart was the only person to vote against the funding, arguing that the city could’ve used it to help address the $13 million deficit heading into 2026. The council could face another budget hole in the 2027-28 biennium, so Cathcart thinks the money would be better spent elsewhere.
“Again, these are dollars that I think could be saved or used in other fashions that would have a better effect,” Cathcart said Monday at the council meeting. “I want to be very clear: I like MiA a lot … I’m sure they would do a fine job with the framework within which they work, but I don’t think that this is the right expense for us.”
According to Monday’s agenda, the spending received approval from Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall.
The $120,000 will fund a one-year SPD pilot program centered around three goals: deepen community relationships, “support underserved populations” with “trauma-informed and holistic service delivery,” and improve trust with “historically marginalized communities,” according to the scope of deliverables.
Councilmember Paul Dillon said the city’s domestic violence unit has been folded into the major crimes unit, and argued that MiA’s cultural competency training would ease immigrants’ fear of police officers.
According to the proposal, MiA plans to host collaborative meetings with SPD to discuss how they can work together, hold listening sessions and conduct community surveys to recommend internal policy changes for SPD, and potentially act as “trusted messengers” on domestic violence calls in the future.
“This is community policing at its finest,” said Councilmember Kate Telis, who previously served as a felony DV prosecutor in New Mexico. “I look forward to other ways that we can bridge the divide.”
Cathcart questioned how the $120,000 award for this pilot program qualifies as community policing. He argued that the money will primarily fund community planning and SPD communication initiatives.
According to a spending breakdown, $86,668 of the money will go toward MiA staff salaries, $19,980 will fund staff benefits, with only $1,550 going toward training development and materials, $8,928 will fund community education and outreach, $2,704 will subsidize rent, and $170 will cover “mileage.”
MiA plans to “leverage” the $120,000 with its “other funding sources, infrastructure and resources.”
“Spokane is facing upheaval, stress, and concern about ICE’s increasing deportations,” MiA staff wrote when asked what makes the nonprofit the most qualified. “Latine and immigrant DV survivors, already disproportionately impacted, are even more fearful to get help and are now more vulnerable than ever.”
