SPOKANE, Wash. – In a standing room only crowd, Spokane City Council held their longest meeting of the 2023 legislative session. In the end, Interim Council President Lori Kinnear and Councilmembers Karen Stratton, Betsy Wilkerson and Zack Zappone voted to formally denounce Mayor Nadine Woodward for her on-stage appearance with Matt Shea, a former state lawmaker who was expelled from the Republican caucus for his extremism.
The denouncement came after a nearly two-hour debate while the Mayor sat and watched. 32 people signed up for public comment, most of whom were in favor of the Mayor, often citing the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and freedom of religion clauses.
“It’s a scary slippery slope when you say, ‘maybe for some people but not for others,’” MJ Bolt, the acting chair for the Spokane County GOP, said. “Even our mayor has those rights and if we violate those rights… is it me next?”
After public comment concluded, all the members of City Council spent time explaining why they decided to vote the way they did, with newest Interim Councilmember Ryan Oelrich saying he wanted to wait until he heard the implications from the city’s legal department. Councilmember Michael Cathcart shared in those concerns, being the sole vote to have the city suspend attorney-client privilege, wanting to release the legal advice they were given on the issue for the sake of transparency.
In the end, with the option of pushing back the vote on the table, Kinnear decided a vote was necessary.
“At this point, however, I want to put this to rest,” she said. “As a group, we need to coalesce and move on.”
Earlier in the night, City Council also voted 6-0 to approve an emergency ordinance in response to SCRAPs euthanizing 14 dogs last week. The ordinance added language to city code, affirming that shelter animals from the city are to only be euthanized for physical reasons if diagnosed by a vet, or for behavioral reasons if determined by an advisory board that still needs to be set up. It also clarifies that no otherwise healthy animal can be euthanized for shelter overcapacity.
This comes after the ordinance was expected to be tabled earlier in the day after accelerating talks between the city and Spokane County, who operates the shelter. However, without a promise to put a temporary hold on non-medical euthanasia, Council went through with the ordinance.
