New-look Spokane Valley council is bringing back the best of times

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…….” – Charles Dickens.

This statement paints an excellent portrait of the situation in the city of Spokane Valley from incorporation until today. Depending on your point of view, the time of the former City Council under Mayor Munson was either the best of times for the Spokane Valley or the worst of times.

The former City Council can’t be faulted for not having both a solid vision and clear priorities. Their most ambitious and controversial accomplishment was the Sprague Appleway Revitalization Plan, better known as SARP, which was passed just before they lost the majority on the City Council in 2009. This plan took many years, untold staff time, several meetings with the public, paid consultants and over $1.2 million in tax dollars.

When one fast-forwards to today, we see that SARP was overturned by the current City Council under Mayor Towey, thus fulfilling their pledge to the voters, and now it’s time to move onto other things. Or so it would seem. The current City Council is expected to find money for our road preservation fund which will save the taxpayers millions in replacement costs by doing preventative maintenance on the streets today.

Their most outspoken critics are the supporters of SARP for not having the “plan” to meet this need. The interesting thing about this circumstance is the road preservation fund was not a priority under the Munson Council. This does beg the question as to why the former council chose to spend $1.2 million on SARP while ignoring the road preservation fund. Clearly the former council’s “vision” of SARP was more important than road preservation.

So, depending on your perspective the former/current City Councils are the best of times or the worst of times. I have seen three major differences between the councils with the first being the proper role of government. Prevously, the practice was to create a strong city government with multitudes of rules and regulations restricting businesses and property owners use of their land, forcing compliance to SARP standards. Thus, many businesses became nonconforming to various codes which threatened their long-term survivability. These codes were so draconian that only one business permit was given out in the entire affected area during the time SARP existed.

Recently, a concerned citizen reported that 50 businesses had violated the current signage code which could lead to serious fines for these businesses. These codes were enacted under the former council but the heat of these infractions will be felt by the new council. These codes need to be changed if we are to become a destination city for business. Reversing SARP has already had a positive affect for this area as Car-Max, a Fortune 500 company, is building a huge car lot on Sprague/Appleway bringing with them 120 jobs. Car-Max had specifically stated they wouldn’t build here with SARP remaining.

The second difference is their view of spending tax money. The former council’s idea was to do as many projects as possible so we could receive matching state and federal funds, getting what one councilman calls “the most bang for our buck.” Do they not understand that whether the money comes from the city, state or federal it’s still tax money and someone will have to pay back this “free money?” The current council understands the difference and is working to live within its means while prioritizing the real mandates of city government which are safety and infrastructure, such as roads and sewers.

Another major difference is the way citizens are treated at the council meetings. Before, opposing points of view were dismissed out of hand and sometimes quite rudely. The new council is interested in all points of view and treats the citizens with respect.

This fall, voters of Spokane Valley will have a chance to decide which mindset is the best/worst of times by retaining the current council with its plan of limited government and motto of “Open for Business” or, returning the council to SARP supporters whose outlook can be best summarized by these words of a former councilmember, “Let’s just pretend we have the money.”