Public Perscope

Isn’t that special … treatment?

Downtown business owners who rely on sandwich boards to reel in street traffic have whined a lot recently about the city’s crackdown on these illegal customer lures … The grousing got so bad the Spokane City Council agreed at a recent briefing session to let members of the new Parking Business Improvement Area draft their own street sign policy … So we’re wondering: would that new policy apply to other business districts such as Garland and Liberty Park? Or will they have to do their own complaining?

Bookworms in the coffee beans

Starting today, coffee fiends can get a fix at the downtown Spokane Library. Cafe Maison is renting lobby space at $350 per month, where it will offer coffee, espresso and edible treats. The library will provide tables and chairs…Don’t even think of bringing that tall double mocha and lemon poppy seed muffin upstairs, where food and drink still are banned.

So, Joel, how do you REALLY feel?

Spokane City Councilman Joel Crosby didn’t pull any punches when he let loose on the Spokane Transit Authority’s new Downtown Plaza … Complaining about the lack of benches outside the building, Crosby told his colleagues “I feel like I’ve been vindicated in my feeling that it was a mistake.” … Councilwoman Bev Numbers, an STA board member, told Crosby the board was considering hiring inmates to make benches … “We should have had inmates making the art inside instead of spending all this money on the building,” Crosby shot back.

Town hall in cyber-land

A state task force trying to come up with new telecommunications policy covering phones, cable TV and computers wants public input. Rather than hold several week’s worth of hearings around the state, it will hold a statewide electronic town hall meeting on Thursday…The “downlink” site for Spokane County is at the Spokane Community College Library, Room 118. More info is available by calling Nancy Sanders at WSU, at 335-2929.

One more reason to hate those new meters

Spokane city officials weren’t paying close attention to those fancy electronic parking meters they are treating us to. But a woman who tried to use one downtown managed to set them straight….The woman flagged down a meter officer to question the instruction inside the dome: “Insert coin, turn handle to the right as far as possible after each coin.” Problem is, the meters don’t have handles … A new set of instructions is in the works.

Getting involved

The city is looking for two people with diverse backgrounds to serve on the Human Services Advisory Board, and five with “demonstrated commitment to human rights and time to serve” to be on the newly expanded Human Rights Commission. Applications at the Mayor’s Office, 5th Floor City Hall, due in by Nov. 3.

Because you asked

Question: When we voted for a new arena, it was supposed to cost $44.8 million, but the final price tag is $62.2 million. Did they jack up the price when we weren’t looking, or what?

Answer:Not really. The arena itself cost nearly $45 million, and that’s what Spokane voters approved in 1991. The $62.2 million represents the whole project, including demolition of the old Coliseum, paving parking lots, renovating a pair of peripheral buildings and purchasing land that wasn’t anticipated in 1991.

, DataTimes MEMO: Public Periscope, published Mondays, is compiled by Jim Camden from staff reports. If you have a question about government, growth or development, we’d like to help find an answer. Write us c/o The Spokesman-Review, Box 2160, Spokane 99210. Or call Cityline at 458-8800 on a TouchTone phone, then press 9120 to leave a message. Or send e-mail to jimc@spokesman.com for on-line readers.