SPOKANE, Wash. – The Spokane City Council unanimously passed its ‘Safe and Accessible Public Spaces Ordinance’ last Monday. Now, we’re hearing from the two candidates vying for the council’s District One seat about their thoughts on its results.
Councilmember Jonathan Bingle, who co-sponsored the ordinance alongside all six other members on the council, expressed his satisfaction with the ordinance during a press conference, describing it as a quick success.
“To see it put into action I think is giving people a lot of hope for the future, not just for downtown but also for the future of Spokane,” said Bingle.
Bingle also spoke about his pride in collaborating with fellow council members on the move.
“One of my more proud moments on council is to be able to look at my fellow council members and say we did a really good thing together,” said Bingle.
Bingle pointed to positive feedback from the community, as well as an increase in citations and referrals to services as proof of the ordinance’s success.
“I’m hearing from the community that it has been a much-needed policy,” said Bingle. “You had zero citations in months and in a week you’ve already seen 83.”
Bingle also cited new training for the Spokane Police Department as an improvement under the ordinance. However, he said he has not yet connected the police about their feedback on implementation of the ordinance.
“The training bulletin that went out I thought was a good training bulletin,” said Bingle. “I think the police feel empowered, feel like people actually have their back to do this work.”
Sarah Dixit, Bingle’s opponent in the District One race, emphasized the importance of consulting law enforcement.
“I believe [in] checking in with law enforcement themselves just because they’re the ones who are doing the enforcement,” said Dixit.
With the ordinance still in its early days, she also said it is too early to speak on its effects.
“A week isn’t necessarily long enough to know how it’s impacting this issue. We know the crisis around homelessness is a very robust and diverse problem,” said Dixit. “I would want to see how we’re feeling a month from now, six months from now, especially if the goal with policies like this is to get people into housing.”
Still, if elected, Dixit says she plans to prioritize addressing homelessness in Spokane.
“Getting to the root of the problem, making sure we’re keeping people housed in the first place, having more of a public health approach.”
