Judge Rejects Lawsuit Against City Attorney Sought To Bar Council From Buying Downtown Garage

A Superior Court judge rejected a lawsuit over the city of Spokane’s role in a downtown shopping center project Wednesday, saying he can’t stop the City Council from doing something it hasn’t yet decided to do.

“What you’ve asked for is beyond my power to grant,” Superior Court Judge Michael Donohue told attorney Stephen Eugster in a hearing on the lawsuit.

Eugster sued the city of Spokane last week, seeking a court order to prevent the Council from agreeing to buy the River Park Square parking garage.

The developers proposed to sell the garage to the city for nearly $30 million to help finance the $100 million redevelopment project. The city would raise the money by issuing revenue bonds that would be paid back through parking garage fees.

Eugster’s lawsuit claimed, among other things, that the purchase would amount to an illegal gift to the developer, violate environmental laws, bypass the collective bidding process and put money for lowincome neighborhoods at risk.

“We have a whole series of activities bound up in the subsidization of a shopping mall for a private developer,” he said.

Assistant City Attorney Stan Schwartz argued that the lawsuit is premature because it’s impossible to know what action the City Council will take. “The deal is not complete. The terms are not known at this point. The parties are talking,” Schwartz said.

The City Council originally planned to vote on the deal Oct. 21, but postponed the matter. It’s unclear now when the issue will be considered.

Donohue said he didn’t have authority to prevent a legislative body from making a decision. “I will not engage in a political decision. That is not within my power,” he said.

The developers are Lincoln Investment Co. and Citizens Realty Co., affiliates of Cowles Publishing Co., owner of The Spokesman-Review.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the city began considering other ways to purchase the garage without direct city involvement.

The River Park Square redevelopment would include a new Nordstrom store, a 24-screen cinema, and numerous shops and restaurants.

, DataTimes