Downtown Spokane business owner describes fires, drug activity and increased safety concerns

A downtown Spokane property owner and business operator told county commissioners during the open public forum that chronic homelessness and associated drug activity have made the downtown area unsafe for employees and businesses and could prompt businesses to relocate.

Mark (Matt) Kartcher said he owns a building at Stevens and First and an engineering firm there and serves on the board of homeless‑service providers. He described multiple incidents this week, including fires started by people sleeping in an alcove and “22 people” visible on the street at one time. “A third of them seemed functional, a third seemed obviously transient, and a third were in a state in a zombie state,” Kartcher said. He said employees of nearby firms will not walk short distances alone in daylight because of safety concerns.

Kartcher also described observing apparent drug sales from a black sedan with license plate EKD080. He said an employee called police after witnessing transactions and provided name, phone number and employment details; she continued to observe alleged transaction activity and said police vehicles drove by during the episode but the activity continued for about 50 minutes before the vehicle left.

Kartcher told the commissioners the situation in his two decades downtown has grown worse and that Spokane faces a mounting overdose toll; he cited a figure from another speaker that Spokane County may be on track for nearly 500 overdose deaths in the year. He said he has tried to connect with county community‑services staff about the issues but had not fully connected at the time of the meeting.

The comments were part of the meeting’s public forum; there was no formal response recorded from the commissioners beyond a staff follow‑up note that community services had been contacted previously. No formal county action or directive was recorded on the issue during the meeting.