Spokane City Council is having a meeting right now during their study session time slot. Why? Well, Tuesday's regular session got cancelled due to suicide-by-police threats. spokesman.com/stories/2024/n… In a very funny twist, Will Hulings -a veteran, frequent City Council commenter and former Proud Boy - was asked to lead the pledge of allegiance in honor of Veteran's Day.

Having a nice cozy City Council and livetweet watch from home because I am ✨sick✨ Getting it all queued up on my tv now! Don't expect the same level of detailed live tweets plz but I'll try to catch the important moments and decisions. Oh man I feel guilty, someone appears to have left a handout at my spot at the media table 😥 sorry I abandoned y'all. All of council is present, but Navarrete is attending virtually (like me!). They're jumping around in the agenda and starting with the public hearings.

We will be live-tweeting at least part of the SRHD meeting (through the decision on whether or not to continue the Feasibility Study). Background info here: rangemedia.co/srhd-opioid-tr… Other items on the agenda: rangemedia.co/srhd-opioid-tr…

City Council meeting is getting started and CP Wilkerson is embarrassing a group of young people in the back - GU Prep students she invited to come to council after she visited their class. Council Member Jonathan Bingle is currently missing, but everyone else is here. CM Michael Cathcart is reading a proclamation honoring "tireless" election officers for ensuring smooth, "nearly flawless" operations every election.

Settling in at the Spokane City Council meeting. It's busier than usual, with a contingent in green shirts (can't read them yet) and a bunch of journalism students from GU. We've also got a new face at the media table! @ElizaBillingham from @TheInlander is here, replacing @sanford_nate as the new City Hall reporter!

Getting ready for the meeting tonight. Looks like my spice meter is gonna be way off - the emergency ordinance was pulled at Briefing Session, which I was unable to watch.

https://twitter.com/RANGEMedia4all/status/1833234741773910201

Another change - there was a clerical correction to item number 11 on the consent agenda. Instead of a $109,912 contract for fire hydrants, it's actually a $1.9 million contract for five years.

As usual, we'll be at tonight's Spokane City Council Meeting. Here's the weekly bingo card as requested by a random twitter poll a few weeks ago! Let us know if you get a bingo. It's a pretty empty room tonight...could be an indicator of a quick meeting? We're just now getting started. Council Member Jonathan Bingle is absent but everyone else is here.

We'll be down at City Council live-tweeting but here's some updates from the Briefing Session. CM Cathcart's amendment on the climate board got voted down, and the ordinance to ban camping near support services was deferred to committee. Follow along tonight w/our bingo card! We're here! It's really dead...room is nearly empty. A quick update - in Briefing Session today the ordinance affectionately referred to as the homelessness bill of rights was deferred "back to committee." Nobody knows how long it will be before that comes back...

We're settled in for the Spokane City Council meeting and we've got a new journo settled in at the media table. Lewis Arthur. The room is *really* full tonight. Perhaps the fullest it's been since January's debates over the council's operating rules for the year. Betsy Wilkerson and Jonathan Bingle are not in attendance so far.

We’re back, and just in time to tell you to vote today and do a quick fact check on recent false claims made by County Commissioner Al French about PFAS and homelessness. Here's a fact check thread and remember - he's on the ballot this year! We've been covering PFAS "forever chemical" contamination in the West Plains by the Spokane International Airport for a while. (See @aaronhedge's pieces on it here: ). 1 big question is what French's role in covering up the contamination was.rangemedia.co/?s=pfas

Alright, the will of the people has been heard. Check back right here at 1:30, where we'll be live tweeting the meeting (though if it goes past three I'll probably have to dip)

https://twitter.com/RANGEMedia4all/status/1816511005184376943

The meeting hasn't started yet, but it's busier than usual. And, I was told as I was getting walked up, they've gotten a new security service.

If you can't make it in person, don't worry! We'll be posted up to do a livetweet! And, in a somewhat nontraditional move, we will also be fielding your questions, right here from the internet! You ask us, we'll get the answer!

https://twitter.com/RANGEMedia4all/status/1816112163867557901

We are off and running! hadley morrow (they/them) is the facilitator for the evening. They are grateful to be leading this conversation about the future of public health services in Spokane.

Tonight's city council meeting is going to be a long one so we have a special tool to help you pay attention - a Bingo card. Play along at home! You can already check one off - @PPH4ALL has handed out paper copies of his testimony

The AC is blasting at Spokane City Council, and we're looking forward to a short meeting (🤞) Preview the meeting here: rangemedia.co/spokane-valley… CM Zack Zappone let me know before the meeting started that something important happened at the Briefing Session prior to the meeting - a proposal to eliminate parking minimums was added, passing 6-1.

Just got down to City Hall for tonight's council meeting. It's blessedly air conditioned here but the room is pretty empty. Could be a quick one 🤞 Here's your little refresher before things really get up and running: rangemedia.co/homeless-campi…

Settled in for a sweaty City Council meeting...it's going to be a long one. Do your pre-read now: rangemedia.co/spokane-safe-s… Bingle has started the night off with a little joke - he's also accepting Council Member Hooptown USA as a title today, because the banner is in front of his seat in the center.

Settled in at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center! It's busy tonight, full room. Looks like Navarrete and Bingle are going to be attending virtually. After the land acknowledgment and the pledge, Council President Wilkerson invited Freda Gandy, director of the MLK Center, to give a welcome. She apologized for the temp (it's a little sweaty) and said she's excited it's such a full room.

The grind never stops - settled in at Spokane City Council for another live tweet! An update: the ordinance to define an emergency has been deferred indefinitely. Familiarize yourself with the meeting by reading CIVICS: rangemedia.co/new-housing-in… Freshman council member Lili Navarrete is starting the evening off by reading a proclamation declaring May as Asian American Heritage Month. There are also cultural groups tabling in the Chase Gallery. Reps from Asians for Collective Liberations are accepting the proclamation now

Settled into the city council meeting! For those of you who rely on our tweets for your meeting news - here's a warning: I have a prior commitment and will be skedaddling at 7:20 sharp, so if the meeting isn't over by then, you'll have to tune in virtually. Council Members Zack Zappone and Kitty Klitzke are wearing their Bloomsday shirts!

Get ready for potentially the spiciest City Council meeting of the pepper-meter era...From Trent Shelter contract to two potential tax levies to the renter-protection ordinance, tonight’s council meeting is going to be hot. Prep for the heat w/ CIVICS: rangemedia.co/spicy-spokane-…

We were a baby bit late, so we didn't get a chance to peruse the community resource fair out in the lobby for Earth Day, but Spokane City Council's meeting is up and running! A reminder - we anticipate this will be a 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 pepper meeting. Some of the things on the agenda include a first read of an ordinance to define what an "emergency" is for the purpose of council ordinances, and a first read of an ordinance to require 120-180 days of notice to tenants before rent increases.