Spokane County Commission partially grants Mayor Brown’s conditions for joining regional 911 system

As the city of Spokane continues to weigh joining the regional 911 communication system, the Spokane County Commission Tuesday voted to satisfy at least one of Mayor Lisa Brown’s prerequisites – while rejecting another.

The commissioners voted 3-2 to commit to adding the Spokane police chief to the governing board of Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, if the city elects to move its dispatch services out of house.

At present, SREC answers all 911 calls in the region, but it forwards calls for police services within Spokane city limits to the city’s own dispatchers. Since joining in 2022, calls necessitating a response from the Spokane Fire Department are dispatched by the regional center.

Earlier this year, the governing board for the dispatch center gave the city an ultimatum – join or plan to handle your own calls for fire and police service. The Spokane Police Department is the last holdout among regional public safety agencies, with every other fire and police department joining SREC since its creation in 2019.

Brown countered the ultimatum – which SREC’s leadership has said is a last request after years of back and forth with the city – with her own requests at the end of August. In addition to asking the dispatch center to do away with user fees for participating agencies, Brown requested additional representation for the city on the governing board based on recommendations from a city consultant.

The consultant recommended adding additional seats to the existing board made up of public safety officials such as Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels, Fire District 3 Chief Cody Rohrbach and Spokane Fire Department Assistant Chief Tom Williams.

The overhaul could also include the creation of a separate board composed of elected officials from participating municipalities to oversee the financial side of things, or a weighted voting system used in King County that would give the city more control over the board and dispatch center.

Spokane holds two seats, filled by Williams and the deputy city administrator, on the current nine-member board, where decisions must be made with at least a two-thirds majority. Brown has said the existing representation is inadequate for a city that makes up more than 40% of the population in the county.

In its response, the SREC board recommended the commissioners add a seat for the Spokane Police Department. With this change, the City of Spokane would control three of 10 board seats – a rate Deputy City Administrator Maggie Yates said in an Aug. 29 board meeting would still be unrepresentative.

“This isn’t about control,” Yates said at the time. “This isn’t a zero-sum game. We think that allowing for equitable and proportional representation to address the needs of our urban centers and our rural jurisdictions will improve public safety across the region.”

SREC board member and Spokane County CEO Scott Simmons countered, claiming SREC needs “regional representation” and not “dominant representation.”

The same talking points and conflict over board structure came up at the commissioners meeting Tuesday, as Democrats Chris Jordan and Amber Waldref voiced concern over not fully satisfying the city’s requests.

Both said the move may be too early as negotiations between SREC and the city are ongoing, and that other governance models might be worth exploring.

“I’m not opposed to the police chief being on the board, but I think that SREC and the city should propose a final proposal back to this board, and then we can vote on that when those negotiations have been completed,” Waldref said. “This, to me, just kind of seems like it’s presupposing what the governance structure should be before those negotiations have been completed.”

“I just think we should remain open and let that negotiation process play out before weighing in prematurely,” Jordan added.

It was apparent the comments ruffled the feathers of Commissioner Al French, who began his response with, “I’ll take this opportunity to speak on behalf of the rest of the county.”

The conservative commission board mainstay said the county intentionally left elected officials off the board so that it would be “led by the experts, those that are on the front line.”

“And you know what? It’s working,” French said. “Our response times have been reduced, our efficiencies have been increased, we’ve achieved many, if not all of the original goals that we set out to achieve.”

French said the city’s interest in joining now, after years of cold feet, is further evidence the model is successful. He went on to say the city is under no obligation to join, and told city leadership to “do it on your own, pay for it on your own,” before making a jab at the city for its budget deficit totaling tens of millions.

“There’s no one forcing the city of Spokane to be part of SREC; it’s a decision they can make,” French said. “If you don’t like the party, don’t show up.”

Commission Chair Mary Kuney echoed French’s sentiments about the value of leaving politics out of the governance model, albeit with a more congenial approach. She cited the tangible benefits the regional collaboration has had for 911 callers, including those in the city, with a 30-second reduction in call time for Spokane Fire services since the agency joined in 2022.

Kuney said other members of the collaboration, like many of the smaller municipalities, have advocated to keep the board’s structure as it is, with the addition of a seat for the Spokane police chief.

“I’d hate to see us take apart an organization that is doing really well for one entity that wants to join,” Kuney said. “If they don’t want to join, they don’t have to join.”

Commissioner Josh Kerns’ thoughts were in line with his fellow Republicans, and he noted the Inland Empire Fire Chiefs Association, the Spokane County Fire Commissioners Association and the majority of the SREC board support the current structure.

Waldref responded to the trio by saying she’s encouraged by the success of the dispatch center, and that she hopes negotiations will continue in good faith.

Jordan said he appreciated the perspectives shared by his fellow commissioners, but that it’s still too early to take a position as the city and SREC continue to work towards an agreement.

“I just prefer that we remain open to the discussion and let the process play out,” Jordan said.