Hession sees good things in air

Spokane is in good shape now, and could be even better in the future, an upbeat Mayor Dennis Hession told the City Council on Monday night.

Offering what is informally known as the annual “State of the City Address,” Hession listed everything from tax incentives for the Kendall Yards development project and the expanding University District to more library hours and shorter waits for building permits as reasons the “winds of change” are blowing through Spokane.

“But we still have to put up the sail to capture all of its power,” he said in a speech that began and ended with sailing references.

On the plus side, sales tax revenue collections and building permits are up, some new businesses like BlueRay are locating here, and some existing businesses like HollisterStier are growing, he said. The city has better customer service, faster ways to get questions answered and strategic plans that citizens can read on the Internet. It’s exploring a street car system for downtown, development at the old Playfair site, which it owns, and transportation impact fees. It plans to hire more police officers and firefighters.

On the negative side – well, there wasn’t a negative side that appeared in the speech Hession delivered at the start of the weekly council meeting. That prompted a member of the audience later to suggest the mayor was looking through rose-colored glasses.

Hession is seeking election to the post to which he was appointed just under two years ago, and many of the themes in his “2007 Statement of Conditions and Affairs” matched parts of his standard campaign stump speech in which he calls Spokane “The City of Promise.” In both he mentions the same four goals of better government services, a growing economy, better safety and financial stability.

Monday night’s speech included something that doesn’t usually show up in his campaign speeches, a compliment for his opponent, Councilwoman Mary Verner.

The city is studying impact fees that would be levied on new developments and help the city pay for the higher demands on transportation. The city has a committee that is about to send the Plan Commission a recommendation on transportation impact fees, and Hession thanked Verner for her work on the committee.