(The Center Square) – The Spokane region is coordinating on multiple fronts, assembling teams to tackle the opioid crisis, homelessness and crime while developing a proposal to fund a new jail.
The Board of County Commissioners planned to vote on creating a new public safety task force on Tuesday but rescheduled to hash out more details. If approved, the regional Safe & Healthy Spokane Task Force will develop a potential tax proposal to put on the ballot next year.
The group will include the commissioners, the sheriff, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, the Spokane City Council, Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley and her police chief. The county proposed a tax in 2023, but the $1.7 billion proposal failed, largely due to only about a third covering a new jail.
“This group will thoughtfully address the intersection of behavioral health and public safety with a goal of improving outcomes for people working through the system,” Brown told The Center Square on Wednesday, “creating a more accountable approach that better serves taxpayers.”
Brown was a mayoral candidate when the last jail measure failed, but many blamed her lack of support for the shortcomings. She thinks around 63% of voters said no because the proposal didn’t address regional needs around behavioral health and homelessness like this one would.
Last week, the county and cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley signed an interlocal agreement to coordinate their responses to homelessness. The Valley split from Spokane in 2004, but they fit together like a puzzle. Aligning all three jurisdictions is seen as a way to fill a crucial gap in addressing the crisis.
If approved, the new task force would build on those efforts. Brown said it would bring together a spectrum of viewpoints to make the criminal justice system more effective. The plan is to include businesses, financial experts, health and service providers, first responders, people with lived experience navigating the system, labor representatives and individuals within the court system.
Barry Barfield, an administrator with the Spokane Homeless Coalition, criticized the regional effort in an open letter to the officials on Wednesday. Barfield has led daily marches at 5 a.m. for several months, calling on local officials to take immediate action, not sometime next year.
“An ‘urgent’ Action Plan by the Spring of 2026. URGENT?! By the Spring of 2026?!!! Be serious,” Barfield wrote to the community and local officials. “That is not urgent enough!”
Last year, residents frequently criticized Brown for the city’s homelessness response and crime downtown. Greater Spokane Inc. conducted a survey in October that saw respondents rate the average quality of life as 3.6 out of 10 countywide and 3.7 in Spokane.
Another GSI survey released last month dropped the average rating countywide to 3.5, with the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley at 3.6 for quality of life. Over 60% of the respondents in each jurisdiction reported “actively considering moving out of the area.”
Like Barfield, respondents said they were most concerned with homelessness and public safety.
Brown is addressing some of the issues on her own. The city led a law enforcement emphasis last fall that resulted in several narcotics investigations, and the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new special assistant U.S. attorney on Tuesday to tackle trafficking in the city.
Communications Manager Pat Bell said the county commissioners delayed a vote on the task force because the initiative is still going through a legal review. The Center Square contacted Spokane Valley for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
“What makes this so interesting to me is it’s actually going to take subject matter experts and have them come together and talk about things that can be done,” Haley told Valley officials earlier this month, “and most importantly, things that can be done now, not years from now.”
