Jonathan Brunt

Rush, Allen debate eliminating city departments

Rush, Allen debate water rates

Condon questions decision to send city utility drivers to 'green driver' training

Allen and Rush critique Rush and Allen

Spokane’s police ombudsman on Monday lost the power to independently investigate misconduct allegations against the city’s law enforcement officers. The Spokane City Council voted 5-2 Monday to repeal police oversight rules it approved unanimously last year, blaming an arbitrator’s decision in July that determined the expanded powers violated the Spokane Police Guild’s labor contract.

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner warned Monday that her budget for 2012 will focus on spending cuts rather than new taxes to help cover projected shortfalls. “We also must limit the financial burdens on citizens and businesses. They, too, are feeling the impacts of the downturn and need predictability of city services and costs so they can prepare their own budgets and be ready to address other rising costs, including higher utility bills,” Verner said.

A gay rights advocate and board member of OutSpokane says he was a victim of what he believes was a hate crime late Friday night. Danny Hawkins said he was enjoying a night out with his friends at Dempsey’s Brass Rail, a popular gay bar in downtown Spokane. His fun night, however, ended with a fight and a visit to a hospital.

Council supports Verner's choice for planning director despite past receipt controversy

The long summer debate over water rates in Spokane apparently will extend into the fall. Spokane Mayor Mary Verner this week promised to float a new proposal on water rates even though the City Council already adopted fees for 2012 that Verner declined to veto.

Condon revises water rate ad

Verner doesn't blame Hession

Spokane city leaders are continuing to mislead the public about the fatal Otto Zehm confrontation, new court documents suggest. Federal authorities say city officials provided “patently false” information in a “Frequently Asked Questions” handout distributed during a Sept. 9 news conference in which Mayor Mary Verner announced her intent to investigate the city’s handling of the controversial 2006 police encounter once all legal proceedings are complete. The false information is contained in several of the city’s responses in the FAQ, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Durkin wrote in a 12-page document filed this week in U.S. District Court.

The Spokane City Council isn’t giving up on stronger police oversight, at least not for two more weeks. The council voted 6-0 this week to delay a decision on whether to repeal the expanded investigative power given to the city’s ombudsman in 2010. The delay will give an outside attorney time to see whether a labor arbitrator’s July decision demanding the city repeal the ordinance should be appealed. The law, which strengthened the city’s original ombudsman rules from 2008, gave Ombudsman Tim Burns the power to investigate accusations of police misconduct separately from the police department’s own reviews.

Spokane debate season in bloom; Verner, Condon will debate twice on Thursday

The Spokane City Council isn’t giving up on stronger police oversight, at least not for two more weeks. The council voted 6-0 this week to delay action on the possible repeal of the city’s 2010 police ombudsman law. That move gives an outside attorney time to analyze an arbitrator's July decision demanding that the city remove the ordinance, and weigh a possible appeal of that ruling.

Council hires second attorney to defend police ombudsman rules

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and a large group of seniors and youth advocates warned the Spokane Park Board on Tuesday to think twice before slashing the budgets of youth and senior centers. “Without this center I know where these kids end up. They end up on the streets,” said Knezovich, who visited the Northeast Youth Center in Hillyard over the weekend. “They end up in my jail. That’s not where we need our kids.”

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner said Monday that the man she picked to be the city’s new planning director was candid about problems that contributed to his resignation from a similar position in Arizona. The city announced last week that Verner chose Scott Chesney, former director of planning and development for El Mirage, Ariz., to be the next planning director. He was “a top pick of” three committees that helped select the new director, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist in a news release. 

Spokane sewer customers will pay nearly $6 a month more for wastewater service in 2012, but they won’t have to pay more to support city trees. The Spokane City Council on Monday approved a 13.5 percent increase in wastewater fees, taking residential bills to $49.64 a month. The city expects to propose similar increases in the next few years in large part to pay for about $450 million in sewer upgrades required by the state to be completed by 2017.

When Spokane Mayor Mary Verner promised this month that there will be an internal review examining the death of Otto Zehm, it wasn’t the first time a city leader has made such a pledge. Indeed, the city has had an open contract with a police consultant for more than five years to perform that review.