City plan comes at a price

I watched in dismay last week as the Spokane City Council adopted the mayor’s sustainability plan.

The dismay was not for the adoption of the plan. The plan has many good goals and objectives that strive for efficiency. The dismay was that this council eliminated the financial accountability requirement that ensures that actions taken from the plan are publicly vetted and financial impact, good or bad, is known. Here is the language that was removed.

“Any future actions relating to the implementation of the recommendations contained within the Plan shall only occur after a thorough financial analysis and feasibility study on the merits of the recommendation. The City Council, as a legislative body, shall review the results of the analysis and studies and where appropriate take subsequent legislative action, after public input and council deliberation, to adopt the appropriate ordinances, resolutions or other legislative action.”

For full disclosure, I added that language while on the council. Our city has no adopted comprehensive capital program, approves contract expenses beyond expected revenues and lacks published performance measurements so we know the value we get for our tax dollars. Now we have another plan adopted without financial accountability. Get ready for more taxes.

Mike Allen

Spokane