Our View: Development for all

Imagine living on $339 a month, plus food stamps, like 59-year-old Nancy Volcko at the Otis Hotel in downtown Spokane.

That’s the amount of her state disability check. With it, she pays $255 in rent for a room she shares with her schnauzer named Wolfie. She uses a bathroom across the hall. Sirens frequently wail outside.

She’s one of more than 200 tenants whose lives will likely be changed by downtown redevelopment. Residents of the Commercial Building and New Madison Apartments are already in the process of moving, and tenants at the Otis Hotel may soon face eviction. Frustrated tenants and angry housing advocates say it’s nearly impossible to find options as cheap as these dreary downtown rooms.

Yet even many of the city’s fierce advocates for the poor agree that all of Spokane can benefit from a revitalized downtown, not just the symphony-goers heading to concerts at the renovated Fox Theater. Low-income residents also can appreciate increased police protection, a wider range of activities, and an improved quality of life.

And there’s even the glimmer of hope that many of the city’s poorest tenants will have a chance to move out of their dilapidated rooms and into better quarters.

But it will take considerable hard work, collaboration and creativity – not to mention dollars – to make that happen. These tenants have a variety of needs. Many have mental or physical disabilities. Some are convicted felons or sex offenders. Some are veterans. Others are elderly.

Fortunately, the mayor has convened a task force with diverse perspectives – developers and property managers as well as representatives of social service agencies, churches, and local, state and federal government.

Ideas have already come rolling in from this group.

They have creative thoughts about temporary housing solutions in empty buildings or even tent cities. They have suggestions about tapping various pockets of public funds. They propose examining the policies, ordinances and housing levies of other cities to find out what’s working elsewhere. And they recommend providing incentives to developers for adding new low-income housing units to their projects.

By the end of the summer, they’ll draft a policy recommendation for the mayor.

None of this work will be easy.

As they press ahead, task force members should keep this vision in mind: The best redevelopment will benefit the symphony-goers streaming past the renovated Otis and the hotel’s