Spokane City Council elections are this November, but one councilmember won't be finishing out her term.
At the end of June, District 2 Councilmember Lili Navarrete, the first immigrant and first Latina to serve on Spokane’s City Council, will step down rather than run to retain her seat, an announcement she made in May.
Navarrete had been appointed to the position left vacant by Betsy Wilkerson’s ascension to council president.
But Navarrete recently announced she wouldn’t be leaving city government entirely.
In a June 17 statement, the Councilmember said she’ll join the City of Spokane’s Community Health and Human Services team in mid-July.
"I’m honored to step into this role at a time when the City is working diligently to address housing—a challenge that touches every part of our community," the statement reads in part. "I’m especially looking forward to applying my background in nonprofits and community organizing to help center equity in our housing work, and to contribute to solutions that are both inclusive and sustainable."
The council began accepting applications to temporarily fill Navarrete's seat on May 23, and the application window closed June 20.
Councilmembers plan to publicly interview candidates on Thursday, July 10, and members of the community can offer testimony on the potential replacements on Monday, July 14.
According to the city, the council will vote on candidates during their meeting Monday, July 28.
Two city council newcomers, Kate Telis and Alejandro Barrientos, are both already campaigning to fill the position next term, and as the only two candidates, both will automatically advance out of the August primary to the general election in the fall.
SPR’s Owen Henderson sat down with Navarrete to talk about her time on council, what she's learned, and her approach to policy issues like homelessness and housing.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OWEN HENDERSON: Joining me now is District 2 Councilmember Lili Navarrete. Thank you so much for joining me.
LILI NAVARRETE: Thank you for the invite.
OH: What did make you decide to not seek another term and to step down?
LN: A lot of people know I have two jobs. For 16 months, I did my full-time job, health equity organizer at Washington State University for the College of Medicine. And I broke my time between that and then my quote-unquote part-time job, which is city council.
So my days usually literally went, maybe, about 12 to 14 hours per day. I was able to do that. Unfortunately, my body reminded me that I am no longer in my 20s or, you know, early 30s, some people.
And I came down with really bad health issues. So it happened once I went to the hospital. I was out of the office for almost three weeks.
Doctors told me it would have taken six to eight months to recuperate. But because I have no time to stay in bed, I worked really hard with my therapy to get back into my jobs. So in three weeks, I was partially healed, but I was back in the office.
And then a few months later, another health scare that also landed me in the hospital. And I just didn't want to go through the surgery because I didn't have time.
So the second time, I just told myself, you know, ‘I can't do this to my body, because if I'm not healthy, if I keep putting my health and my mental health aside, I'm not going to be worth nothing for my family or for the community I'm serving.’
So that's when I decided that I wasn't going to run, which I was actually super excited to do, to run. And then things just got a little worse. And that's why I also decided to step away earlier than November.
OH: What are some of the things that you're proudest of during your time on council, the things that you worked on that you've been able to see come to fruition?
LN: You know, there were many, many things that I wanted to work on. One of my biggest goals was how we can help the houseless folks, because that is a huge, huge problem in our city. I come from a big city.
I come from Mexico City. So, you know, in an over super populated city, we are used to seeing people everywhere, houseless folks. And over there, it's a different approach.
We humanize them. There's assistance. There's help.
But we never dehumanize them and want them out of sight. We always try to offer them food, anything they may need. So here, I wanted to do that.
And luckily, when I started, the Spokane Human Rights Commission approached me with their ordinance that they had passed in October of the year before I came in. So 2023, I believe. And it was basically what the news dubbed the ‘Homeless Bill of Rights.’
And we worked on it. My legislative assistant, who is also Latino, which is like, we clicked, we saw it in the same way. And he worked so hard with the Human Rights Commission to make it passable, to make it good for the city and to assist folks.
Went through legal back and forth, back and forth, until we got everything squared off. You know, in a nutshell, that basically just gave houseless folks the opportunity to not be discriminated [against] when they apply for jobs. It didn't pass.
It was deferred. That was one of my biggest, something that I'm proud of. Even though it didn't pass, you know, we take our losses as experiences.
But that's something great that I feel that I did on top of the winning ordinance, which was the language access.
OH: Well, you know, you mentioned the so-called Homeless Bill of Rights. A few months ago, Spokane became the first city in the state of Washington to pass the Ban the Address ordinance. How do those two compare? The Ban the Address versus the one that you had worked on previously?
LN: It's in some way, it's similar. They won't be, you know, if they don't have an address, then they'll still be able to apply for jobs. The only difference is that on the older one, the quote unquote ‘Homeless Bill of Rights,’ they were going to be put in a protected class.
And that is not in the Bill of Rights — I'm sorry, in the Ban the Address.
OH: But you did also mention the language access bill. Talk to me a little bit about that and the process of working on that.
LN: Yeah, that one, it was good to work on. I worked with Councilmember Dillon and Councilmember Cathcart.
And just being bilingual or speaking other languages, it's incredible and it's such a great asset to have in a workplace. So we wanted to have folks that would apply for the city and spoke more than one language to have more points when they apply.
So for example, when veterans apply for the city, they automatically go on top of the list. In this case, that would happen the same thing with bilingual folks.
And I mean, I remember just translating like bills and going to my mom to the doctor and translating. And we still translate when mom gets information from her healthcare place.
It's a never ending story. But we just wanted folks to be able to also assist our constituents that speak other languages. Spokane is becoming an immigrant and refugee hub.
And we're just so happy to see all these different cultures. And we wanted the city also to tend to them.
OH: I wanted to return for a moment to the way the Council is approaching homelessness. I'm just curious how you personally think about the idea of Spokane's existing camping ban versus Prop 1 versus something that may potentially replace that. You know, you talked about caring for people and not just moving them out of sight, but really humanizing folks. Talk to me about how you would ideally approach this very complicated issue.
LN: Yeah, it's an interesting question. During, you know, the Camp Hope, I live two blocks from that site. And I remember one October, it started with one tent.
And then throughout, you know, the October, November, December, then more tents started increasing in that site. And then eventually, what became Camp Hope? Yes, there were, you know, several people upset around my neighborhood. We did get folks around my house also.
But, like, they were just standing there. And when I went out, I just asked, you know, do you need anything? And they just wanted water. I asked them if they wanted something to eat.
I could fix them a sandwich. But they just wanted to talk. They're like, we're just walking around seeing the neighborhood.
We just need to approach in a friendly manner and not be scared. And again, maybe because I come from a big city, I'm used to talking to people and approaching them. My ideal world would be to have shelter in place, permanent shelter, but most definitely have mental health assistance.
If they're on any type of drug, if they want to stop, give them that assistance also. Have a recovery place as well in that shelter. So a one-stop shop for anybody that wants to go and succeed and thrive.
Because who wants to be homeless? Who chooses when they ask you at school, what do you want to be when you grow up? You know, it's unfortunate events that happen to individuals that are homeless. And some people don't understand that.
OH: Talking about the cultural difference in how people think about homelessness and their approaches to the problem. How do you find that common ground with people whose approach to this issue is just very different than yours when you're going about trying to really make change?
LN: Yeah. I always come with an open mind when I talk to people that are on the other side of the spectrum. Because I know I'm not going to change their mind.
And I go open-minded. ‘Okay, I'm going to listen. I'm going to see what they have to say.’
And hopefully we come to a compromise, which more than likely we don't. We live there with no compromise. But to me, as long as I listen to them, I listen to their concerns.
I say, ‘Your concern is valid. Listen to mine. This is where I'm coming from.’
Most of the time, we don't come to a conclusion. But we both agree that they're people. You know, they have feelings.
And how are we going to help? In my opinion, personally — and I don't say this when I'm out with them — but it's like, ‘Dude, this is someone's husband. Maybe someone's wife, someone's kid, someone's grandkid.’
And we don't know. We don't know, in reality, what made them be like this. At what point in their life, they became dependent on drugs, or they lost their homes.
Or what happened? Maybe they had a difficult childhood. Some people just don't think about that. They don't think the why's.
They just think, ‘I don't want to see them. You know, they're polluting my city. They are ruining my bike ride.’
It's that type of thought that I will never agree with.
OH: You did work in advocacy in a few other sectors before your time on council. I'm curious how serving in the governing body itself, as opposed to advocating outside of it, has affected your approach to policy, if at all?
LN: It definitely made me look at politics in a different way. Now I know the insights of how things work. Whereas before, as an advocate and an activist, I was in the outside trying to advocate, pass bills, go to Olympia, speak in front of committee to pass bills. And now I know how the process of them being adopted, the road they have to go through, and how many people it's got to go through.
So definitely gave me a more insight of what I will be advocating, because I will not be leaving, you know, and just working one job. I will be, I'm planning on getting back and being an activist again and advocate as well.
OH: Speaking about the future, talk to me a little bit about the process for choosing someone to fill your seat once you've stepped down. How does that process work for the council?
LN: Yeah, it'll be the same as the process I went through. I replaced Council President Betsy Wilkerson's seat. So there will be a pool of applicants.
And then the ones that are chosen are going to be interviewed in a public open forum. They go by city council, and the city council has the final say.
OH: Just — let's just say it was totally up to you. What are the qualities you would look for in someone to fill your seat?
LN: Definitely to have a passion. My district, I represent District 2. And I've lived in District 2 for, since I immigrated here, 37 years. So District 2, it's our biggest district.
And listen to the constituents, represent them well. I really hope I did. I tried my best.
But one thing I learned, I think I learned a long time ago, but now it's like definitely in stone that I will never be liked by everybody, which it was not my intention. I understand that there's some people that have opinions. But as long as they saw my work, I really don't care if they like me or not.
Look at me and judge me by my work, not by my looks or my accent or what I represent. It's what I bring to my job. It's what I've always, always said.
So someone that will represent our constituents well, someone that will speak up. Also, let's not forget that constituents are also immigrants. Some immigrants can't vote, but by law and constitution, once they're in U.S. soil, they do have rights.
So someone that will involve them as well and say, what is this community wanting to do? What's their opinion? How can we help you? Approach them and say, especially how the climate of the country is right now regarding immigration. So someone that will have those qualities and be involved. I would really like to see that.
I believe you were the first Latina representative on the council. Is that correct? Yeah. How did that make you feel to realize that you were this kind of benchmark city council member? It was a very proud moment.
Very proud because I don't know if you followed in this last 16 months while I was on council, but I believe I have a different voice. I'm very loud, you know, and not literally, but I make my thoughts be heard. I speak how I see it and I don't sugarcoat things.
I just say how it is. And I try to do that also on the dais. This is how Spokane is doing.
This is how, you know —- I'm out in the community listening to what they want. This is what I'm bringing to the table because I am representing them. And, you know, my experience, I am here with my experience as an immigrant living in the United States because we have different, we come from a different walk of life, right? So we don't take anything for granted.
We have to fight five times more than maybe my white coworker to get that position that we anxiously strive for and maybe that we deserve, but we don't get it. So being the first immigrant Latina, there was such a proud moment for me that I will forever take with me.
OH: Councilmember Navarrete, thanks so much for joining me.
LN: Thank you so much for the invitation, Owen.
