Jonathan Brunt

City leaders on Monday agreed for the second time this year to a deal that keeps Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy Plant open another three years. The Spokane City Council voted 6-1 to approve an operating contract with Wheelabrator, the Waste Management subsidiary that has operated the plant since it opened. The city’s current 20-year deal with Wheelabrator expires in November.

Animal shelter tax gets boost from City Council

Wheelabrator will manage incinerator 3 more years

U.S. Department of Justice officials two years ago had significant enough “ethical concerns” with the city of Spokane’s legal department that they asked to meet with Mayor Mary Verner, police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick and City Council President Joe Shogan. But none of the three ever responded, and it’s unclear whether City Attorney Howard Delaney even informed them of the request that an assistant U.S. attorney labeled “urgent.”

Spokane City Council members suggested they may need voters to save the stronger police oversight rules they approved last year, by working to place the concept on the ballot. Passions were high during the council’s Monday meeting as they discussed overturning police oversight rules. The debate included a few shouting matches between attendees and Council President Joe Shogan.

A majority of Spokane City Council members say they weren’t told until this month that the city’s assistant police chief believes officers violated department policies in the beating of a man who died after a confrontation in 2006.  But city attorneys likely knew at least by September 2009 that Assistant Chief Jim Nicks had changed his view of the incident that resulted in the death of Otto Zehm; that’s when federal prosecutors filed court documents saying Nicks might testify as their witness.

In Spokane, where voters routinely chew up and spit out their chief elected officials after one term, Mayor Mary Verner’s primary win Tuesday was rare. But to finish with nearly twice as many votes as her closest opponent, David Condon, is unprecedented. It’s a story best told by numbers.

David Condon is no Jim West

Expect only one vote count tonight

Voters will have to make a decision on a proposed citizens initiative without the observations of elected city leaders on the same ballot. The Spokane City Council on Monday rejected a proposal to add two questions to the November ballot that City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin described as red flags about the initiative that also will be decided in the election.

As city deals with more revelations in Zehm case, Verner campaign points to ombudsman

No candidate for Spokane office has had as much air time this campaign season as Mike Fagan, and he hasn’t had to dig into his campaign funds to get it. Fagan co-hosts a conservative local talk show five mornings a week on KTRW 630 AM, and a couple of his opponents question Fagan’s decision to keep his show while running for office.

Spokane voters could get a hint from the Spokane City Council when deciding the fate of a citizens initiative on the November ballot. The City Council will consider on Monday the addition of two nonbinding questions for the November election. The two proposals would ask voters how the council should respond to Envision Spokane’s Community Bill of Rights if it’s approved: raise taxes or cut services.

Council president candidates have nearly exhausted campaign funds

Candidate says he can't comply with state law

A Spokane City Council candidate is refusing to disclose where he’s getting thousands of dollars that he says is funding his campaign. Chris Bowen, who is running for an open seat representing Northeast Spokane, claimed in a filing with the state Public Disclosure Commission in May to have spent $18,221 and to have another $14,093 on hand. But he hasn’t filed any required paperwork showing where his money comes from or what he has spent it on.

Council may add two more questions on 'Community Bill of Rights'

Tax subsidies will flow to Kendall Yards even if the developer of the 78-acre project does not seek public bids on construction of streets, sewers and other public infrastructure, as originally agreed. The Spokane City Council on Monday voted 6-1 to amend the tax-increment financing agreement it has with Kendall Yards.The city approved its original tax deal for Kendall Yards in 2007. The developer would be reimbursed for building public infrastructure, such as roads, with tax revenues generated by the property if several conditions were met, including that infrastructure projects be publicly bid.

A city councilman is continuing his push to keep expanded investigative authority for Spokane’s police ombudsman, citing new disclosures that the assistant chief privately considered his department’s investigation of the fatal Otto Zehm confrontation to be flawed. City Councilman Richard Rush said Tuesday that the testimony of Assistant Police Chief Jim Nicks, contained in newly filed U.S. District Court documents, shows that the strengthened powers of the ombudsman could avert the kind of problems that developed in the Zehm case.

Council eases tax subsidy rules for Kendall Yards

The politics of water rates

The Spokane City Council on Monday unanimously rejected a nearly 8 percent increase in water rates, but that doesn’t mean bills won’t rise next year. A majority of the council appeared to favor raising revenue by increasing fees but disagree on how best to do that. A rejection of Council President Joe Shogan’s request to delay a decision for a week to examine competing proposals doomed the water rate plan for the night.