Spokane Valley councilman asks fellow members to follow rules of governance

Chuck Hafner called on his fellow Spokane Valley City Council members to follow the governance manual at Tuesday’s meeting.

Among other things, the manual guarantees that an issue is presented to the council three times before a decision is made.

“These rules and procedures were chosen to make meetings efficient and to manage conflict, and we’ve had some conflict,” Hafner said.

Hafner asked for council consensus to follow the rules, and that if changes have to be made to the manual that the process outlined for making changes is followed.

Mayor Rod Higgins asked Hafner to wait until the governance manual is on the agenda in two weeks, before having a formal vote.

Recent resolutions about immigration and transgender restroom access have surprised some council members.

Both Hafner and Dean Grafos have repeated that they worry governing by resolution will cut the public out of decision making.

Councilman Ed Pace said the governance manual is merely guidelines, not rules.

“I don’t think conflict is a bad thing. It is energy; it gets things done,” Pace said.

Windstorm aid follow-up

On City Manager Mike Jackson’s suggestion, Spokane Valley made a special allocation to some of the nonprofit organizations that helped the city through the November windstorm.

SNAP received $10,000; Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels received $2,500 and Spokane Valley Partners received $1,500.

Meals on Wheels’ Pam Almeida thanked the council for the donation.

“We did 600 meals a day, in the dark, during the windstorm,” Almeida said. “I just want to tell you thank you.”