Councilmembers seek to set record straight on homelessness discrimination proposal
Spokane residents looking to learn more about the city’s policies on homelessness will soon be able to attend educational roundtables on the subject.
The planned talks come after massive public backlash to a city council ordinance that would have prohibited discrimination based on housing status.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Council President Betsy Wilkerson said much of that negative reaction was fueled by misinformation.
“When you are running, I would say, full-page ads in the paper repeatedly over several weeks and they have not heard the other side of the story, I think that was a challenge,” Wilkerson said.
“I think we waited too long to really speak up because there was a void, and people kept filling the void with what they thought the ordinance was.”
At the same press conference, Councilmember Lili Navarrete addressed some of the misconceptions she’s heard about the measure.
“This ordinance does not have a direct fiscal element and doesn't commit any state, city, or federal dollars to any new programming,” Navarette said. “Again, it is to protect those who are unprotected in their journey of homelessness.”
The first roundtable will be held at the central library in downtown Spokane Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Speakers will explain what is, and is not, currently part of Spokane law regarding homelessness.
Open primary/ranked choice initiative will appear on Idaho’s November ballots
Idaho voters will get to decide whether to change the state’s current voting practices, after an Ada County judge turned down Attorney General Raul Labrador’s bid to block an upcoming ballot initiative.
If approved by voters, Proposition 1 would change Idaho’s primary elections to a model similar to the one used in Washington – the primary would be open to all candidates and voters, and the top four, regardless of party, would move on to the general election. It would also institute ranked choice voting in general elections, a system in which voters would have the option to rank candidates in order of preference. The candidate with the fewest votes would see their votes awarded to the second-choice candidate on the voter’s ballot, and so on, until two candidates remain and a winner is declared.
Labrador claimed the initiative’s organizers misled people about the measure’s true purpose. Judge Patrick Miller disagreed, writing that “the record is devoid of any evidence that the required ballot titles were not included on the initiative shown to voters or that the short title was not on every initiative signature page.”
In a statement Thursday, Labrador said he was disappointed in the ruling. He stuck to his argument that the initiative petition was misleading, and criticized the all-candidate primary and ranked choice elections.
Judge Miller heard oral arguments Wednesday and issued his decision the following morning. The quick turnaround was forced by the election calendar; absentee ballots start going out to Idaho voters this month.
WA program aims to help communities affected by ‘war on drugs’
Washingtonians will decide this fall whether to keep the state’s two-year-old capital gains tax. The opposing camps are now making their case on TVW’s video voter guide.
The state legislature enacted a seven percent tax on sales of assets like stocks and bonds above $250,000. The proceeds fund childcare and school construction. Opponents claim the tax could drive entrepreneurs away.
“Over four thousand households including job creators and investors may relocate, taking their economic contributions with them,” said Hallie Balch, spokesperson for Initiative 2109 to repeal the tax.
Stephan Blanfod heads The Children’s Alliance, a group that opposes the repeal effort. He told KUOW public radio eliminating the tax will worsen the funding crisis for schools and childcare.
“By cutting taxes on the extremely wealthy, I-2109 will unfairly shift the bill to middle class families,” Blanfod said.
The capital gains tax raised more than a billion dollars in its first two years.
Two more NW athletes shine at Paris Paralympic Games
Taylor Swanson and Jaleen Roberts won silver and bronze in the women’s 100-meter race.
Swanson, a Seattle native who now trains in Spokane, posted a time of 13.19 seconds. That was more than half a second behind a Chinese sprinter who is the world record holder.
Swanson finished a tenth of a second ahead of the third-place finisher, Jaleen Roberts, a native of Kent who attended Eastern Washington University. Roberts had already won a bronze medal in the long jump.
This is Swanson’s first Paralympics and her first medal. She’ll compete today in the 4-by-100 Universal Relay, in which athletes with four different disabilities each run 100-meter legs.
For Roberts, it’s her second Paralympic Games and her third and fourth medals. She won silver in both the 100 meters and long jump in Tokyo three years ago.
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Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Brandon Hollingsworth, Amy Radil and Doug Nadvornick.