Council Faces Long, Controversial Agenda Items Proposed By Eugster Range From Street Bonds To Dissolution Of Downtown Business Improvement District

Given the number and range of items on its agenda, the Spokane City Council could change the face of Spokane and city government at tonight’s meeting.

Or it just as likely could defer any or all of the eight resolutions and proposed ordinances.

Many of tonight’s agenda items were introduced last week by Councilman Steve Eugster. Eugster, by far the most active council member in drafting legislation, was asked by Mayor John Talbott to refer his proposals to a council study session but refused.

Items Eugster has introduced for tonight’s meeting are:

A vote of no-confidence in City Attorney Jim Sloane, a proposal which may be withdrawn.

Creation of a pedestrian-friendly zone downtown on First Avenue and Bernard Street.

Dissolution of the Spokane Parking and Business Improvement District.

An increase in salary for the new position of council president to $50,000 a year.

$40 million in bonds for street repairs to be put before the voters.

Also on the agenda are a pair of resolutions that would allow the city to sell two parcels of land together worth approximately $2.2 million, plus a resolution that would amend the Latah Creek neighborhood plan to allow for commercial development at U.S. Highway 195 and Meadowlane Road.

At its 3:30 p.m. briefing session, the council is expected to discuss a proposal to consolidate the city’s entertainment facilities under the management of the Public Facilities District, the agency that runs the Spokane Arena.

A number of council members have expressed frustration with Eugster’s deluge of proposals because they have had little time to study them.

City Manager Hank Miggins said he wishes city staff could prepare reports for council members on the merits of the proposals.

“I think we should have a process where we can provide council members with the information to make decisions,” Miggins said.

The ordinance on the proposed street bond issue also has rankled members of the Citizens Committee on Street Repair.

The committee was charged by the City Council last year with collecting citizen feedback and drafting a range of options for dealing with a nearly $100 million backlog in street repairs. Its report is due in July.

Committee member Al French said Eugster’s proposal sends the wrong message to city residents whom the committee is asking to participate in forums on how to fix Spokane’s streets. Citizens won’t show up if they believe the city is going to ignore their suggestions and proceed with another plan, French said.

“Why should they participate in a process that is sanctioned by the City Council if the City Council is not going to stay true to the process?” French said. “This speaks volumes about what’s wrong with city government.”

French also noted that voters twice have voted down street bonds.

“What is it about `no’ that he doesn’t understand?” French asked. “The whole idea is to go out and ask people what they want and structure something around what people want.”

Eugster said French’s concerns are valid but he is reluctant to wait until July before the city decides if it wants a vote on bonds this fall.

“We need to get something in place,” he said. “I don’t want to wait until the last minute.”

One of the reasons street bond efforts have failed is that the city delayed before putting them on the ballot, Eugster said.

“People haven’t understood the issues,” he said.

Another group perturbed by one of Eugster’s proposals is the Downtown Spokane Partnership, which administers the Spokane Parking and Business Improvement District.

The district collects fees from downtown business owners to implement a parking validation plan, clean up garbage and provide security.

Eugster, who owns downtown real estate and pays business improvement district fees, has had a history of complaints against the district, including a lawsuit that protested the petition process that created the district.

He also says the district focuses too much on the area around the River Park Square shopping mall.

His goal is to replace the district with business improvement districts focused on more specific areas and with local improvement districts that would fund upgrades in infrastructure.

“It’s time for the BID to evolve into something a bit more sophisticated,” Eugster said.

Eugster would use a local improvement district, paid for by area business owners, to fund street trees and new traffic lights on First Avenue from Maple to Bernard and on Bernard to Spokane Falls Boulevard.

Michael Edwards, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, said the city can establish local improvement districts without dismantling the downtown business improvement district.

“From a national perspective, most downtowns view that the first priority is to make people safe and secure and make downtown clean and attractive,” Edwards said. “It’s a feeling of the board that you don’t dismantle a good, functioning BID” for local improvement districts.

As for the business improvement district’s emphasis around River Park Square, Edwards said businesses in the core of downtown pay twice as much as peripheral businesses and get twice the benefit.

Of the numerous measures Eugster has put on the agenda, perhaps the most likely to gain support tonight is the proposed raise in salary for the new council president.

Because the council president is expected to manage the legislative branch of the new strong-mayor form of government, the job likely will require more time than current council positions, Eugster said.

Miggins agreed.

“The council president is responsible for the legislative affairs of the city,” Miggins said. “I don’t see that as a volunteer position.”

The council session begins at 6 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall. The meeting is shown live on City-Cable 5.