New Council Majority Draws Up Priority List Group Meets At Mayor’S House Without Three Other Members

A group that will constitute a majority on the new Spokane City Council already has met and discussed a list of new ordinances it may consider next month.

The list includes scrapping the Lincoln Street bridge project and having the city take control of the languishing Davenport Hotel downtown.

“It’s just the beginning,” said city Councilman-elect Steve Eugster.

The proposals were discussed at a dinner meeting at the home of Mayor John Talbott. Eugster was joined there by Councilman-elect Steve Corker and Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers.

Once Corker and Eugster are sworn in later this month, those four will constitute a majority of the council. It takes four votes for the City Council to enact an ordinance.

Eugster, a Spokane attorney who defeated incumbent Jeff Colliton in the Nov. 2 election, has a half-dozen proposed ordinances he wants acted on in early January.

Councilwomen Phyllis Holmes and Roberta Greene, who will remain on the council in January, said they weren’t invited to participate in the group’s meeting.

Councilman Rob Higgins, who also will remain on the council in January, could not be reached for comment.

Typically, the full council holds a retreat early in the year to develop a list of priorities and goals. The retreats have been open to the public, but usually held outside City Hall.

New council members are also scheduled to meet with police and fire chiefs and the city manager. They will tour City Hall and receive orientation on council responsibilities before they take their seats.

Corker said the meeting of the councilmen-elect with the mayor and Rodgers was important to discuss subjects brought up during their campaigns.

“The meeting was a dinner, not decision-making,” Eugster said. “It was just talking over ideas, a general discussion.”

Eugster said he wrote up the proposals and submitted them to the city attorney to put the information in final form for the January City Council meetings.

Talbott said he was surprised to see the package of proposals submitted by Eugster and said he wouldn’t comment further, except to say he has talked about most of the same issues for the past several years.

“I haven’t seen anything in final form. I will hold my comments until I see that,” Talbott said.

Corker said he agrees with all of the proposals.

“We have discussed these and I am in concurrence,” Corker said. “This is just the beginning, there are so many issues to be dealt with.”

One proposal would stop the Lincoln Street bridge project and all related legal appeals.

Another would form a Davenport Public Development Authority to redevelop the historic Davenport Hotel downtown.

Rodgers, who was often on the losing end of council votes this year, said she generally supports Eugster’s proposals but would still rather see the Davenport succeed on its own.

“I keep hoping the private guy will do something,” she said.

Eugster first proposed a Davenport public development authority more than a year ago.

“We can’t continue to have this blight in the downtown area,” he said.

Sun International Hotels bought the building in 1990 and announced plans to restore it to a full-service hotel.

Holmes said she hasn’t heard the details of Eugster’s Davenport proposal, but added, “It would be nice if someone asked the owners first.”

The hotel’s executive director, Jeffrey Ng, said he hasn’t spoken to Eugster.

“We are in the final stages of finalizing our financing,” said Ng, adding that Sun International is also about to contract with a major hotel chain for management services.

“We are not able to release any other details at this time,” Ng said. “We are open to any suggestions.”

Eugster’s proposed ordinance calls for the city to acquire the Davenport by purchase or condemnation and pass the property on to the public development authority.

“The Ng family has no serious intention of doing anything with the property. They’ve had the building for a decade and nothing has happened,” Eugster said.

Eugster has been a vocal critic and has filed lawsuits in connection with the city’s public-private partnership with the River Park Square downtown shopping center and the Spokane Parking Public Development Authority for the center’s parking garage.

The difference, said Eugster, is that the Davenport development authority would issue revenue bonds that don’t obligate the city financially.

“It’s not a subsidy from the city,” Eugster said. “We aren’t going to have the city subsidize the Davenport, but only act as a catalyst.”

Another proposal would create an emergency snowplowing ordinance modeled after a similar ordinance in Minneapolis.

It would be more restrictive than Spokane’s current code, detailing when and where cars can park during heavy snowfall.

Holmes said comments need to be gathered from neighborhoods and other organizations before the council votes on Eugster’s proposals.

“I don’t think Steve is thinking about other people,” Holmes said of Eugster. “We make a tremendous effort to involve people who are impacted by our decisions.”

But Eugster said some proposals just need action, not a lot of discussion.

“This is fairly important,” he said. “I don’t believe we need a great deal of discussion. And frankly, I was elected to make decisions like this. No one really needs to talk about it in my opinion.”

His other proposals include:

An ordinance allowing the city to remove abandoned or nuisance vehicles from private property.

A resolution requiring the city manager to keep a copy in City Hall of the lease agreement between Nordstrom and the River Park Square developers.

Rearranging seating on the council dais.

Holding City Council briefing sessions in the council chamber instead of the briefing center.