Hillyard not on Envision board

The Hillyard Neighborhood Council is distancing itself from Envision Spokane, the grass-roots organization that’s put together a bill of rights for Spokane which is now a ballot measure.

“We have a very diverse group of people here in Hillyard, and we just couldn’t come in line with all the different paragraphs in their bill of rights,” said Luke Tolley, chairman of the Hillyard Neighborhood Council. “The whole group couldn’t agree on the majority of what Envision Spokane stands for.”

Tolley said the neighborhood council sent someone to three Envision Spokane meetings, just to get an idea about what the initiative was all about.

“Then when things began coming out from Envision Spokane, we were listed there as part of their board, and we’re not,” Tolley said.

Kai Huschke, project director for Envision Spokane, said he’s surprised by the neighborhood’s strong reaction.

“I wish they’d just tell us instead of sending out these letters,” said Huschke.

He said having Hillyard Neighborhood Council listed among groups featured on the back of an Envision Spokane brochure may have created confusion about which community groups are endorsing the initiative.

“When we began to put out material through the town hall process, we listed the active groups on the back of the brochure,” said Huschke. “They were not necessarily endorsing Envision Spokane.”

Huschke explained that Envision Spokane began when a handful of people met with 90 different neighborhood groups – including some neighborhood councils – back in 2007.

“When we created an organization, a request went back out to the community groups asking if they wanted to join Envision Spokane,” Huschke said. Some groups, including the Hillyard Neighborhood Council, wanted to just be observers, but there was no “observer” status at the time.

Now there is, Huschke said.

“Some neighborhood councils are great supporters, like the Latah-Hangman neighborhood and Peaceful Valley,” said Huschke. “Some, like the Cannon neighborhood council, is 50-50. We try to honor the role of those who just want to be observers.”

The Spokane bill of rights developed by Envision Spokane calls for, among other things, residents’ right to a locally-based economy, right to affordable housing, residents’ right to work for a prevailing wage and to work as apprentices, as well as a right to determine the future of the neighborhoods.

“One of our initiatives actually has to do with neighborhood planning and the influence the neighborhood has on its own future,” said Huschke. “So it’s a little surprising that some of the neighborhoods have such a strong reaction to the bill of rights.”