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Nicholas Deshais

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News >  Spokane

Ousted Scott Chesney gains support of Spokane developers

Within a day of being ousted as Spokane’s planning director, Scott Chesney gained influential supporters both within and outside City Hall. Walt Worthy, developer of the Grand Hotel Spokane being built downtown, and Dave Black, who brought Target to the South Hill, said separately that Chesney’s dismissal was unneeded and called for his reinstatement. Their support comes on the heels of that from Jim Frank, president of Greenstone Corp., which is developing Kendall Yards, and Ron Wells, who is renovating the Ridpath Hotel.
News >  Spokane

Spokane planning director leaves abruptly after ‘loss of confidence’

Hours after the city planning director was forced out of his job on Wednesday, one of Spokane’s premier developers publicly called on the mayor to hire him back. Jim Frank, president of Greenstone Corp., which is developing Kendall Yards, sent an email to numerous city and business leaders Wednesday evening after hearing that Scott Chesney, Spokane’s planning director since 2011, abruptly left the city.
News >  Spokane

Spokane 2015 budget pays 164 workers six figures

The number of city employees earning six figures has increased under Spokane Mayor David Condon, despite his critical stance against such high earners when he was campaigning for office and drastic cuts to the number of people on the city’s payroll under his watch. In Condon’s 2015 budget proposal, 164 positions at City Hall will earn more than $100,000, not counting overtime pay. Of the top 100 paid positions at City Hall, 64 are from the police or fire departments.
News >  Spokane

Spokane voters willing to pay to fix streets, park

Spokane voters handed city leaders a big win Tuesday night and a chance to shape Spokane for decades to come, with the overwhelming approval of a bond to revitalize Riverfront Park and a levy to extend the massive reconstruction of city streets that began 10 years ago. The park bond, which needed 60 percent to pass, took 67 percent of the vote. The street levy garnered 77 percent, though it needed just 50 percent.

Parks, streets wins will shape Spokane for decades to come

Spokane city leaders scored two big wins tonight with passage of a park bond that will revitalize Riverfront Park and a levy that will continue the street reconstruction program it began a decade ago. Spokane voters handed city leaders a big win, and a chance to shape Spokane for decades to come, with the overwhelming approval of a bond to revitalize Riverfront Park and a levy to extend the massive reconstruction of city streets that began 10 years ago.
News >  Spokane

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.
News >  Spokane

Stuckart action referred to city’s ethics panel

Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart is the subject of a possible ethics violation for leaking what city officials call a “highly confidential email regarding a pending matter of litigation.” The matter was referred to the city’s Ethics Committee Thursday by City Attorney Nancy Isserlis, and Stuckart already has retained an attorney to represent him.
News >  Spokane

Names for plaza next to City Hall narrowed down to three finalists

The man who brought Expo ’74 to town. A doctor who delivered thousands of babies and helped stop a bridge from being built over the lower Spokane Falls. The region’s native language. All of these are candidates for the name of the plaza that opened next to City Hall this spring. The former parking lot is now a geometric, basalt-themed home to various levels of seating and viewpoints of the falls. The plaza, a joint project between the city and Avista, connects Riverfront Park to Huntington Park, which was constructed last year by the utility company when it was celebrating its 125th anniversary.
News >  Washington Voices

Preservation of tunnel near Playfair sought

For 100 years, horses galloped at Playfair Race Course in Spokane’s East Central neighborhood, and workers packed the bars and restaurants of East Sprague Avenue. Those days are long gone. Sunshine Scholar was the last horse to win there more than a decade ago, and Sprague has suffered through a deteriorating reputation and even worse pavement.
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Council prohibits immigration status inquiries by employees, including police

Beheadings and Ebola made an appearance at this week’s Spokane City Council meeting, as did some deferred gratitude from Council President Ben Stuckart, who thanked the Spokane Tribe of Indians for allowing the city’s founders to settle here. It’s fair to say discussion got off track about an ordinance proposed by Stuckart that said, “no Spokane City officer or employee shall inquire into the immigration status of any person, or engage in activities designed to ascertain the immigration status of any person.”
News >  Washington Voices

Bike path a test project for permeable pavement

Cyclists in Spokane’s Lincoln Heights and Glenrose neighborhoods may have a little bumpier ride starting next year, but at least it’ll be drier. Construction is set to begin in 2015 on what will be one of the city’s more modern bike lanes, stretching for almost a mile on Havana Street from Glenrose Road to 37th Avenue. It will be made of permeable pavement, which is rougher than standard asphalt because it isn’t made with sand and other fine particles. By being porous, it allows stormwater to drain through, instead running over, its surface.
News >  Spokane

Mayor inherits $1 million from Myrtle Woldson

Spokane Mayor David Condon inherited $1 million earlier this year from noted Spokane philanthropist Myrtle Woldson, who died in April at age 104. Condon, who was called a “personal friend” in Woldson’s obituary, lives just down the street from her West Sumner Avenue home, the same street where he grew up. He is one of eight people who received gifts in Woldson’s will.
News >  Spokane

Spokane City Countil to consider registry for abandoned homes

The windows and doors are boarded with plywood, the siding is fading and falling off and the yard is littered with soggy mattresses. No crystal ball is needed to see that the abandoned fourplex at the corner of North Napa Street and East Fairview Drive has a dim future. “It’s a health hazard,” said Spokane City Councilwoman Amber Waldref. “It’s a blight on the neighborhood.”
News >  Spokane

Spokane mayor to decline $7,000 pay raise

Facing public pressure and criticism from the City Council, Spokane Mayor David Condon said Wednesday he will not take a $7,000 pay increase as planned in his 2015 budget proposal. Condon’s salary was set to climb to nearly $180,000, which would almost match that of Seattle’s mayor. The increase in pay sparked an uproar, and the City Council said the budget didn’t reflect the “community’s values.”