We’re in the thick of election season and Spokane has two controversial and really very similar and quite confusingly named items on the ballot. One has spurred a slew of campaign signs proclaiming “protect our kids.” The other has launched a (hundred) thousand mailers highlighting all the law enforcement things that a $1.7 billion tax increase could buy.
The two items on the ballot are both numbered “1” and related to the criminal legal system, so it’s easy to mix them up. In Spokane city proper, Proposition 1 would make camping within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and daycare centers illegal (if you live outside Spokane city limits, this will not appear on your ballot, so feel free to skip down to the next one). Measure 1 would implement a sales tax increase county-wide that would primarily fund a new jail, but also fund some criminal justice purposes.
But there’s more to both ballot items, so we’re going to explain and provide context for each so you can make an informed decision.
Proposition 1
This is how the proposition is worded on your ballot:
Initiative Prohibiting Encampments Near Schools, Parks, Playgrounds, & Child Care Facilities
Shall the Spokane Municipal Code be amended to prohibit encampments within 1,000 feet of any public or private school, public park, playground, or licensed child care facility as set forth in Ordinance No. C-36408?
Yes
No
What it does
Right now, it’s illegal to camp on public property, along the river, underneath or within 50 feet of any railroad viaduct in downtown or within three blocks of any congregate shelter. This proposition would add a new subsection to that law and make it a misdemeanor. But it’s important to note that 1,000 feet from schools and other facilities with kids ends up being more than half of Spokane city.
According to a map created by Robert Sauders, an Eastern Washington University professor, this law would push unhoused people out of about half the city — including much of the downtown core, where crucial service providers currently operate.
Restricting that much land inside the city might present a constitutional problem for the city to implement the law if passed. Martin v. Boise, a Supreme Court decision issued in 2019, states that unhoused people can’t be punished for sleeping in public if there is no space at local shelters. As we’ve recently reported, shelters in Spokane, including the city’s 350-bed Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC), regularly hit capacity even when the city emergency shelter plan flexes TRAC to add 50 more beds. Passing this law could mean a legal battle for the city if it’s challenged in court.
Behind the proposition
The creator of, or “petitioner” for, Prop 1 is Brian Hansen, a local attorney who says he first wanted to pursue the petition after reading affidavits about illegal activities happening around Camp Hope. In order to get the proposition on the November ballot, he needed at least 2,624 valid signatures on the petition. Continuing a trend of outside political organizations exerting influence in Spokane politics, a Missouri-based political consulting company that hires and pays petitioners by the signature was used to get those signatures. Local businessman — and owner of the warehouse that holds TRAC — Larry Stone, paid $115,000 to Clean and Safe Spokane, a single issue Political Action Committee (PAC), to bankroll Hansen’s efforts to get the proposition on the ballot. Most of that, $70,000, went to the consulting company.
Read more about the proposition from the Inlander’s Samantha Wohlfeil.
For extra credit, you can also read our analysis on housing and homelessness policy here, written by an EWU professor who studies such things.
Measure 1
This is how the measure is worded on your ballot:
Two-Tenths of One Percent Sales and Use Tax for Criminal Justice, Public Safety, Correctional Infrastructure, and Behavioral Health Purposes
The Board of County Commissioners adopted Resolution No. 22-0824 concerning a sales and use tax increase pursuant to RCW 82.14.450.
If approved the County may impose an additional 0.2% county-wide sales and use tax, commencing April 1, 2024, and terminating December 31, 2054, to be used by the County and Cities and Towns within Spokane County for criminal justice, public safety, and behavioral health purposes, including building and improving jails or correctional facilities as provided in Resolution No. 22-0824.
Should this measure be approved?
Yes
No
What it does
This measure would raise sales taxes by 20 cents for every $100 spent in the county, raising an estimated $1.7 billion over the next 30 years. About 60% of that will go to the county and the rest will be split between the cities in the county based on population.
This money can be used for “criminal justice, public safety, and behavioral health purposes, including building and improving jails or correctional facilities.” The county commissioners have made it clear since the measure was first announced that they wanted to use the county’s portion of the funds to build new jail facilities — though it took a lawsuit and a fight the courts to force the county to change the actual ballot language to disclose that the money would, in fact, be used for a new jail. The county’s Measure 1 information page expands on some of what this would mean for the downtown and Geiger jails, but no official plans have been released.
Behind the measure
The measure first hit on our radar in December 2022, when the then-three-person County Commission voted to put the measure on the November ballot, just weeks before the two new commissioners were set to be sworn in.
In July, new county commissioners Chris Jordan and Amber Waldref tried to postpone the Measure 1 vote until next year to develop a more detailed plan on how the county and cities would spend the money. The three other commissioners, Al French, Josh Kerns and Mary Kuney, shot down their proposal and even voted to bar Waldref and Jordan from bringing it up again.
Meanwhile, the measure has mixed support among local city councils. Spokane City Council voted 5-2 in October to formally oppose the measure, citing a lack of concrete plans for the money and echoing opponents’ statements dubbing the measure a “blank check.” Around the same time, Airway Heights City Council announced its support for the measure and Spokane Valley City Council opted out of voting for any resolution for or against it altogether.
The money raised to fight Measure 1 is significant. Emry Dinman of the Spokesman-Review reported this week that the committee against the measure, Justice Not Jails, has raised more than $520,000 to fight it. The committee says its opposition stems from not just the lack of a detailed plan for the taxpayer’s money, but also because our region should be investing in alternatives to jails.
In addition to this explainer and reading up on the linked stories, you can also read some of the official arguments for and against each item in Spokane County’s official voter guide.
Learn more about the money spent this election season before you turn in your ballot:
Election Explainers
The Peoples’ Priorities: Public safety can be more than cops
