Tuesday Council Recap | Councilmember Amber Waldref

Tuesday Council Recap

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5 Jun 2013

Changes to City Business License Fees: 6.2.13 Council meeting recap
On Monday, June 3rd, the Council moved very quickly through its agenda (Thanks, Council President Stuckart!). Out of several decisions we made, the ordinance changes to business license fees are of interest to many. We made several changes to the business license fees, including lowering the cost of fees to non-profits, eliminating fees to sole proprietors (more about this later), and repealing the fee for every unique name of a business (multiple locations do not have to pay multiple fees). These changes were developed over seven months with input from Councilmembers and the Administration to ensure our business licensing is fair and easier to understand. I'm especially proud of the changes we made that impact sole proprietors -- this was something that Councilman Jon Snyder and I sponsored. Read More
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21 May 2013

City initiatives & police ombudsman powers: 5.20.13 Council meeting recap
City Council had a longer meeting than usual last night because of an especially difficult decision related to two city initiatives set for the ballot this November. The first decision of the Council was whether to place the initiatives on the ballot and we did this 7-0. Our City Charter is essentially our Constitution. We are following our Constitution by placing initiatives on the ballot because they contain the required number of signatures as certified by the County Auditor. That is our role as a Council -- we are essentially administrative in this way. The second question of the evening was whether or not to support a resolution asking the Mayor to do a pre-election challenge of both initiatives, arguing that they are outside the bounds of local initiative power. We haven’t done Read More
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15 May 2013

Questions about citizen initiatives: 5/13/13 Council Meeting Recap
Last night, the City Council addressed several issues and prepared for a conversation next Monday on citizen initiatives. We voted 7-0 to combine our Water & Wastewater funds. I had some questions about this change (how will rates be established, will the necessary capital improvements be funded for both "lines of business?"). I did vote in support because do believe it gives us more financial capacity & flexibility for bonding projects and I am confident we can address the rate-setting questions later this summer. We also voted to change where the Spokane River access is located under the Division St. bridge near the Convention Center. Now, boaters will be able to enter the river on the Convention Center side (south side) of the River and paddle upstream. The big topic for next Read More
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