Kid City Hall Neighborhood Children Have A Place To Call Their Own At The West Central Cops Station
The former mayor was there, dressed in a long, silky green gown that hung just above her slightly scuffed tennis shoes.
She strolled around Kid City Hall also known as the back room of West Central COPS station - campaigning for re-election as youngsters cast their ballots.
Rose Hobbs, 13, last year became the first mayor of COPS Club, overseeing a range of projects, helping organize events, and helping younger children.
“It was hard, but we had a lot of fun,” she said.
COPS Club is the brainstorm of West Central neighbor and “professional volunteer” Louise Stamper, a tiny woman with warm eyes and a fluff of dark hair who seems to connect naturally with children at the COPS West office.
The original idea was to give kids a place to go in the summer to gather, play, work on crafts or maybe watch a little TV.
COPS Club took on a life of its own, earning the nickname “Kid City” from some of the volunteers.
Last week, Hobbs and three other candidates vied for the summer mayor’s job.
Renae Fisher, 10, wasn’t exactly sure what being mayor involved, but she was planning to learn on the job.
Tracy Jackman, “almost 12,” was a COPS Club regular last year.
“The mayor makes up the rules,” Jackman explained.
Nikki Hobbs, the former mayor’s sister, was also a candidate, creating a dilemma for brother Josh. Who would he vote for?
“My sister,” he answered diplomatically, offering no further details.
The winner was Jackman. The new mayor smiled warmly as the other kids clapped.
Some youngsters go to summer school in the morning and swimming afterward, but by late afternoon, and after dinner, many are just hanging around with nothing to do. So they come to COPS Club.
“It’s really, really fun,” said Hobbs. “Without this, I would be bored.”
“It keeps kids in the neighborhood busy and they don’t have to deal with drugs or the creepy, wiggly things that come out of the woodwork in the evening,” said Hobbs’ mom, Karrin Hurley. “It keeps them busy and out of trouble.”
Not only do they have their own mayor, they have a city council to help make decisions and come up with new ideas. The mayoral candidates and some of their friends will fill those slots.
They have their own money, printed with pictures of their neighborhood resource officer Ken Lesperance and the COPS Club mascot “Terry the Tiger” named after Spokane Police Chief Terry Mangan. A stuffed “Terry the Tiger” is kept in the COPS Club room, passed around from one child to the other.
The play money is paid to the kids each time they come to the center. They squirrel it away until the end of summer when COPS Club store opens, filled with T-shirts, stuffed tigers, and other goodies that can only be bought with club cash.
Club regulars range in age from 4-14.
Last summer, a group of kids from the neighborhood Head Start program came to visit COPS Club. When they returned to their Head Start center, they transformed their grocery store into a mini-COPS office, taking turns sitting at the desk and answering the phone.
The craftmaking was so successful last year, some of the members held yard sales to sell hats, trinkets, art, necklaces and bead work.
About 160 neighborhood children participated last year, said Stamper. About 30 or 40 have been involved so far this summer.
“It picks up toward the end of summer when school and other activities end, and word gets around about what we’re doing here,” said Stamper. “Some kids spend part of the summer with mom or dad, whichever parent they don’t live with during the school year.”
Nanean Shupp brings her three kids to COPS Club.
“Those who don’t participate don’t know what fun they’re missing,” she said.
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