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Spokane Mayor updates City Council in annual address

FILE - Mayor David Condon, right, gave an update about the City of Spokane’s financial condition and ongoing constructin projects during a speech to the Spokane City Council. In this photo from 2016, City Council President Ben Stuckart is shown at left. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
By Rebecca White rebeccawh@spokesman.com(509) 459-5039

Spokane Mayor David Condon promised to send a completed budget to the City Council by Nov. 1 and highlighted declining property crime rates in his annual Conditions and Affairs of the City address.

The city’s charter requires the mayor to update the council on the city’s status on the second Monday of every October.

In his address, Condon reiterated the priorities he included in his budget proposal earlier this year, such as hiring 10 new police officers at a cost of about $1 million. Another $1 million in one-time funding would continue to help pay for 48 firefighters hired through a soon-to-expire federal grant.

Condon also underscored other areas of his budget, such as investments in housing to combat homelessness, and highlighted the soon-to-be-completed EnVision Center.

The EnVision Center, which will be located in the WorkSource building at 130 S. Arthur St., will offer a variety of housing, legal, behavioral health and employment services and is slated to be completed later this fall. The City Council approved the lease for the new center at its regular meeting last week.

Condon did not include where the funding for the additional investments would come from, but said the city was making progress in budget study sessions.

The mayor also updated the council on the two bonds that will go before voters in November, a $495 million school bond and a $77 million library bond that would build several new middle schools, new libraries and renovate existing structures.

City Council President Ben Stuckart said he agreed with the mayor’s statement that the city was doing well and looked forward to seeing his completed line-item budget proposal next month.