Sheriff Seeks County Parade Ordinance Commissioners Say Proposal Is Too Restrictive, Plan To Meet With Sterk

Holding parades, bicycle races and 10K runs will get more complicated in unincorporated Spokane County if Sheriff Mark Sterk gets his way.

Sterk has asked county commissioners to adopt a special events permitting process that would regulate parades, pickets, marches, races and other events on county roads.

“The county does not have a permit requirement in place, and consequently the Sheriff’s Office does not get informed of these events in time to plan for them,” Sterk wrote in a June 7 letter to commissioners. “Sometimes, we don’t hear about them until after they occur.”

That puts deputies, who are charged with controlling traffic and crowds on county roads, at a disadvantage, he said.

“The Sheriff’s Office needs this process in order to plan for these events and to staff them appropriately,” Sterk said in his letter.

The city of Spokane requires parade permits.

Commissioners gave the request a mixed reaction Tuesday. They weren’t opposed to a parade law of some kind but balked at the 10-page proposed ordinance, with accompanying documents, that Sterk submitted with his request.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Harris said. “Maybe we can do something simple. For an event involving more than a dozen people on public property, maybe the sheriff is notified.”

But Commissioner John Roskelley said the ordinance proposed by Sterk was too onerous.

Among other things, the proposed law calls for event organizers to notify the Sheriff’s Office at least two months before an event, submit a litter cleanup plan and post an insurance bond that would cover potential damage and indemnify the county.

It also establishes a penalty for violating the ordinance.

“Every person violating any provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500 or by imprisonment in the Spokane County Jail for not more than 90 days, or both,” the proposed ordinance states.

Roskelley scoffed at provisions that call for a $50 to $60 permit processing fee and prohibit parade participants from throwing things such as candy to the crowd.

“This is a little bit much, I think,” he said.

Commissioner Kate McCaslin was not in the office Tuesday.

Jim Emacio, the county’s chief civil attorney, warned commissioners that any parade ordinance would have to protect citizens’ constitutional rights.

“You’ll remember, the folks in Coeur d’Alene got into a little trouble over this,” said Emacio, referring to the Coeur d’Alene City Council’s attempts to revamp its parade ordinance in light of Aryan Nations marches there.

Last month, a federal judge ordered the city of Coeur d’Alene to pay about $6,000 in attorney fees based on its failed 1999 attempt to move the white supremacist group’s parade out of downtown.

Commissioners plan to meet with Sterk soon to discuss the request and possibly pound out a compromise.

Attempts to reach Sterk for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.

This sidebar appeared with the story: BACKGROUND Proposed parade law

Among other things, the proposed law calls for event organizers to notify the Sheriff’s Office at least two months before an event, submit a litter cleanup plan and post an insurance bond that would cover potential damage and indemnify the county.