Albert Tripp: Airway Heights needs community’s support to extend to public buildings

By Albert Tripp

I’ve served the residents of Airway Heights for 14 years. There is a sense of pride in our community that has kept me here. If you live in Airway Heights, I know you feel it too. People are committed to our city, and they give back to make it a better place.

A few weeks ago, however, I was at an event where someone called us “Spokane’s Cinderella.” I wasn’t pleased to hear such a comment and let them know. (Politely, of course.)

Then I started thinking about “Cinderella” on my drive home. That person may have thought they were being funny, but maybe they had a point.

Much like Cinderella, Airway Heights is blossoming. Businesses want to come here because of our known retail area. Young families are moving to Airway Heights because housing is more affordable than other communities. Our recreation center attracts people from multiple counties. We also offer more city services at less cost to taxpayers than cities 10 times our size.

One thing we need to discuss with residents is our public facilities. The ones we have – the fire station, city hall and municipal court building – do not represent the city that Airway Heights is becoming.

It’s difficult to secure voter approval to fund public buildings. Many people believe that government is bloated and wasteful. While they recognize the critical need for police and fire services, they are less inclined to support tax dollars being used for things like city halls or municipal court buildings. Airway Heights has a need in all four of these areas that would require voter-approved bonds.

We recently moved the city offices across the street to the court building to give the fire department more space. This is a short-term fix as the building/fire station is past its usable life despite our aggressive maintenance efforts. For example, there is no air conditioning or heat in the building. We are unable to purchase another fire engine because it won’t fit in the bays. Our firefighters also require a modern decontamination area to clean themselves, their gear and medical equipment after calls.

The city is going to start this discussion with our community soon. Just like Cinderella in the fairy tale, it’s our turn to go to the ball.

Albert Tripp is the city manager for Airway Heights. He was appointed to the position June 2008.