Incorporation Vote Deserves Thought
Proponents of Valley incorporation are getting way ahead of themselves and they need to chill out.
A few nights ago, a crowd of overheated incorporation supporters tried to muscle the state Boundary Review Board into a rushed judgment on whether to include the industrial area known as Yardley within the boundaries of the proposed new city.
What’s the rush?
No one genuinely interested in good government should want to press ahead with a cobbled up plan for a new city that perhaps can’t be supported by its own tax base or that doesn’t make geographic or political sense.
Yet proponents of Valley incorporation want a vote in May because they think this is the best political window of opportunity they have.
This is the wrong reason for a vote.
Before this third vote on incorporation, citizens of the county need to be confident incorporation of a portion of the Spokane suburbs into a new city makes for good government.
As the discussion over the Yardley industrial area demonstrates, this issue isn’t yet clear.
Yardley, an area just east of Spokane’s city limits, is part of the county tax base.
Yet the city of Spokane already provides some services to the area and plans to add sewers in two years. Does it make sense for Yardley to go to the new city?
Incorporation supporters want it included, even though many property owners in Yardley have said they don’t want to be part of a new city. What does this say about the idea of local control?
Yardley is but an example of the kinds of issues that have yet to be worked out in a new government for the Valley:
Why is rural Otis Orchards, a place where horses graze on small farms, included in this proposed city?
Who speaks for the thousands of Valley residents who live outside the boundaries of the proposed new city, but whose police services and fire protection will be profoundly affected by any incorporation?
The Boundary Review Board can do citizens of the Spokane Valley a favor by slowing down the freight train that is pushing for an early May vote on Valley incorporation.
Maybe Valley incorporation makes sense.
The current rush to a vote and the the frantic political maneuvering by incorporation supporters short-circuit efforts to stay focused on how to accomplish good government, not just more government in a hurry.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Chris Peck/For the editorial board