Spokane restoring agency that will assist Native Americans

Spokane is resurrecting a defunct government-owned corporation that could have the power to bring a Native American cultural center downtown, as well as deliver job training and health care assistance to Native Americans living away from reservations.

The City Council approved last week reviving the United Native Americans of Spokane Public Development Authority, a quasi-governmental organization that has bonding and borrowing power similar to city government.

The PDA has been inactive and without any appointed board members for the past five years.

Though no concrete plans are in place, the law reviving the PDA said it will focus on Native Americans living in Spokane and expand its ability to work with federally recognized tribes. The number of board members will drop from seven to five people.

The City Council will appoint new members by the end of the year.

Spokane has created other PDAs, including ones working to improve economic development in the University District and northeast Spokane.

Randy Ramos helped Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart and Brian McClatchey, vice president of the city’s Plan Commission and a former tribal lawyer, revive the PDA. He volunteers as a recruiter with the Spokane Tribal College, which is accredited under the Salish Kootenai College of Pablo, Montana, and offers two-year degrees and certificates.

“It gives the Native community a chance to take part in the community and gives Natives a bigger opportunity to make a difference here in Spokane,” he said.

Ramos said the ultimate goal of the PDA is to build a cultural center in or near downtown Spokane.

“We want it to be the hub,” he said. “We have a bunch of different organizations out there. We want to get them in the same building. Unite them. Then we’re not competing for grants against each other. It will make these organizations more powerful by working together.”

McClatchey said the PDA originally was created in 2001 to build a cultural center. While that’s still the main goal, he said once it’s organized, the PDA likely will start small, by offering seminars for small businesses.

He noted that the PDA is a public-private “hybrid” that can “be entrepreneurial and act in the market.”

With such freedom, as well as its semi-public nature, McClatchey said, the PDA could receive surplus land gifts from the city, and either develop or sell the land for profit.

The most exciting part of the PDA and eventual cultural center, McClatchey said, is its ability to serve the entire Native population of Spokane, not just those who are members of local tribes.

“There are a number of Indians in Spokane who aren’t members of the tribes in the region. Say you’re Blackfeet. (Local tribes are) really not going to go to bat for you. It’s not in their interest,” he said. “They’re not getting the full slate of services that they need, or that the community needs. It’s a good opportunity to help extend needed services for all Indians who live in Spokane.”