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Spokane council approves refinancing authority, updates truck routes and ‘ban the address’ hiring rule
Summary
At its Oct. 12 meeting, the Spokane City Council passed an emergency ordinance allowing the administration to refinance bonds if interest rates fall, finalized a long-delayed truck routes update and approved a ‘ban the address’ ordinance to let applicants omit addresses during initial hiring steps, Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke said.
Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke, Spokane City Council member for District 3, said the council on Oct. 12 passed several administrative and equity measures, including an emergency ordinance that lets city administrators refinance certain bonds should interest rates decline.
"We passed an emergency ordinance to give our administration the ability to refinance some of our bonds to take advantage of any dips in interest rates that may be coming," Klitzke said.
The council also completed an update to municipal truck routes, the first such update in more than a decade. "That's been over a decade since we've done that, so there's been a lot of changes, and we look forward to getting those trucks on the routes that they should be and away from areas where they might be interfering with pedestrians and small businesses," Klitzke said.
Council members approved a separate ordinance commonly described as a "ban the address" policy aimed at reducing employment discrimination tied to where applicants live. Klitzke described the measure as allowing applicants to proceed through the first phase of hiring without disclosing an address. "This will allow them to get through the first phase of the application process without disclosing their address and give them a fair chance at employment," she said.
Klitzke said two ordinances are scheduled for council hearings next week: a fees ordinance that would require departments that rely on user fees to update those fees every two years, and an LGBTQIA+ affirming ordinance that Klitzke said would "affirm the protections that the state has provided for that community and also protects city employees medical coverage for those issues." Specific ordinance numbers, vote tallies and mover/second details were not specified in the meeting remarks.
Votes at a glance
- Emergency bond-refinancing ordinance — Approved. Motion described as authorizing the administration to refinance some city bonds to take advantage of lower interest rates; vote tally not specified.
- Truck routes update — Approved. Described as the city’s first comprehensive truck-route update in more than 10 years; vote tally not specified.
- "Ban the address" hiring ordinance — Approved. Described as permitting job applicants to withhold their address during initial application stages to reduce discrimination; vote tally not specified.
What’s next
The council will consider a fees ordinance requiring biennial updates to department fee schedules and an LGBTQIA+ affirming ordinance at hearings next week, Klitzke said. The meeting remarks did not include ordinance numbers, specific implementation dates or detailed fiscal analyses for the measures.
