Citizens Forum Focuses On River Park Project Critics Blast City’s Involvement, Question Newspaper Poll Results

A vision for Spokane’s future. Lower city taxes. Roads without potholes. Less crime.

Organizers of Saturday’s “citizens’ retreat” hoped all of those topics would be discussed among more than 75 people who attended the event at the Masonic Temple.

But the talk-show styled conversation kept circling back to one issue: the proposed redevelopment of River Park Square.

The retreat’s sponsor, Citizens Putting Priorities First, sent out 15,000 fliers inviting the public to discuss, among other things, the city’s involvement in expanding River Park Square’s parking garage.

The garage is part of the planned $100 million redevelopment of River Park Square, which would include a new Nordstrom store, a 24-screen cinema and other shops and restaurants.

River Park Square is owned by Citizens Realty Co. and Lincoln Investment Co., affiliates of Cowles Publishing Co., owner of The Spokesman-Review.

Under a plan approved last month by the City Council, a non-profit corporation formed by River Park Square’s owners will issue bonds to buy the garage after it has been renovated and expanded.

A public development authority, formed by the city of Spokane, would then sublease the garage and the land beneath it from the non-profit corporation, Spokane Downtown Foundation.

Three of the four panelists at Saturday’s forum opposed the city’s involvement in the project. And most comments from panelist Stephen Eugster, an attorney leading the opposition, received applause.

“The government has no authority to engage in the subsidization of private projects,” he said, adding that downtown needs more affordable housing not another shopping mall.

The project ought to be considered an alliance between the public and private sectors, countered Betsy Cowles, president of Citizens and Lincoln.

“If we don’t do the project, how many more problems are we going to create?” she said. “If the project doesn’t happen, it will hamper our ability to recruit new people, new businesses to our city.”

Some in attendance said the city doesn’t need low-paying jobs created by the project.

“The people who hold the purse strings in this city have a willing slave market here,” said Mary Jo Pullen-Hughes, a downtown resident. “Minimum-wage jobs don’t cut it.”

Cowles, who answered questions one-onone throughout the retreat, said she realizes the project is not the solution to what ails the city. But it is the first and essential piece of the puzzle, she said.

Some residents tried to steer the discussion away from the River Park Square project.

Many complained about the City Council’s inability to listen to its constituents.

Others took advantage of the retreat’s informal atmosphere to talk out of turn, to interrupt one another with comments and questions.

“Do away with our current system of government,” one man said.

“Let’s do things differently around here,” said another. An initiative. A referendum. Anything but what we’ve got, others said.

But the conversation swirled back to River Park Square.

Eugster said he felt information about the project was being withheld from the public.

An opinion poll about the project was sponsored by KHQ-TV and The Spokesman-Review, Eugster said, but results were not published in the newspaper.

“Fifty-six percent of the city residents polled were against the project,” Eugster said. “And you didn’t know about it because the paper decided not to run the story. I still think money is running the show here.”

Polling by The Spokesman-Review found that 39 percent of respondents countywide approved of local governments becoming involved in projects such as the parking garage, while 50 percent opposed it, and 11 percent were unsure or had no opinion.

While 56 percent of city residents said they were opposed, that represented only half of the total survey.

“There was only one question in the poll that dealt with the role of local government in redevelopment projects,” said business editor Richard Wagoner. “The focus of the poll was on the Growth Management Act. We decided to gather more information on the redevelopment issue and do more polling for a more complete story in the next few weeks.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: MEETING On Monday, members of Citizens Putting Priorities First will present a statement of residents’ concerns to the City Council. The council meets at 6 p.m. in its chambers, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.