Joanna Hyatt: Case against Prop 1 is a case against democracy

By Joanna Hyatt

In Frank Capra’s iconic film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the villain, Mr. Potter, is a wealthy but cranky old man who has no love for his hometown of Bedford Falls. But for the work of a single man, George Bailey, Mr. Potter would have gladly turned the town from a thriving, family-friendly community to the corrupted, degraded and economically shattered Pottersville. The more people dependent on Potter’s handouts, the better.

If you grew up in Spokane, you know we used to be a lot like Bedford Falls.

I’m raising fourth-generation Spokanites. My grandfather had a law firm downtown, and my dad has a church downtown. As the Lilac Queen during my senior year of high school, I was privileged to ride in the Lilac Festival Torchlight Parade downtown.

A decade ago, my husband and I chose to raise our five kids here because this city was “a great place to raise a family.” That included a vibrant and safe downtown.

Not anymore.

For years, we have watched Spokane slide downhill. Drive through downtown and you’ll see homeless encampments cropping up as rapidly as the “For Lease” signs of businesses fleeing. Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall announced in January that arrests have increased 20% in just one year, reports of unlawful camping have skyrocketed by 145%, and calls about pedestrian interference increased by 107%. Public spaces are increasingly unsafe for families.

In 2023, Spokane residents attempted to do what our City Council would not, overwhelmingly voting for Proposition 1 to ban homeless encampments within 1,000 feet of schools, licensed day cares and parks.

In other words, residents loudly said that compassionate and effective measures to help the homeless must not come at the expense of the innocence and safety of our youngest and most vulnerable. That children should be free from the risk of drug paraphernalia or from encountering drug and mental health-related behaviors that are neither healthy nor appropriate.

In a time when we are concerned about the vitality of democracy in America, this was a clear win of “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Then, on April 17, the Washington state Supreme Court handed down a decision that reversed Proposition 1, deeming Spokane voters too incompetent, too naive, too simple to be able to make “administrative” decisions. The court said that the initiative to limit (not outright ban) homeless camping “administers the details of Spokane’s pre-existing policy approach to camping.” In other words, the voters don’t get to be specific as to how they would like a policy executed.

Now, you may like the outcome of this particular decision. You may hate it. What should be appalling to every single person is how it happened.

Two individuals, Ben Stuckart and Julie Garcia, sued the city of Spokane when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1. This was after they had unsuccessfully sued to keep voters from having a say at all by trying to remove the proposition from the November ballot.

For those not familiar, Stuckart was Spokane City Council president from 2012-2019 and the current director of the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium, while Garcia runs Jewels Helping Hands. Jewels Helping Hands received nearly $1.5 million to help run the disastrous Camp Hope just blocks from Libby School. Camp Hope ended up costing you and me over $36 million dollars to run and then clean up what became a horribly failed experiment in effectively helping the homeless off the streets and toward housing and job stability.

Stuckart and Garcia could have worked to convince the voters as to why they think the 1,000-foot limit around schools, public parks and licensed day cares could be counterproductive to effectively reducing homelessness in Spokane. But that kind of public education campaign takes time, and still may not yield the results you want. The quicker, albeit blunter approach, was to go the judicial route, where in a 6-2 decision, our state Supreme Court justices negated the clearly spoken will of 52,253 residents of Spokane who wanted better for their city.

To add insult to injury, a majority of our own City Council refused to uphold the overwhelmingly bipartisan plea from residents. By a vote of 4-3, they left children’s spaces unprotected as we finish the school year and head into summer.

Washington, where democracy goes to die.

What happened to Proposition 1 is a travesty, for our children, for the city of Spokane, and for the democratic process. Let’s hope the newly announced H.O.M.E Starts Here Initiative will be an effective step toward addressing homelessness in this city, curbing our descent toward Pottersville.

Joanna Hyatt, of Spokane, has worked in nonprofit advocacy work for 15 years, with an emphasis on youth and women.