Residents urge support for school-and‑parks bond and raise homelessness, policing, and social‑media concerns at open forum

Residents and local organizations used the Spokane City Council open forum on Feb. 24 to urge support for a proposed schools‑and‑parks bond, describe gaps in homelessness services, and press the council about policing priorities and social‑media moderation on city pages.

Sheldon Bennett, who identified himself as a District 2 resident of the East Central neighborhood, spoke in favor of the schools and parks initiative, citing long‑term improvements at Underhill and Liberty parks and the effect on neighborhood pride: "The transformation of those over the 30 years I've been a resident ... has improved the morale and the pride of our neighborhood. I speak in favor of this." Tony Edwards of Carpenters Local 59 told the council the bond would create career pathways and workforce training, singling out a proposed trade high school: participants "could come out with some training and come straight into an apprenticeship and immediately begin to earn wages starting at over $25 an hour," he said.

Several speakers raised homelessness and shelter concerns. Eugene Knowles summarized his view of the city's approach over a decade as an "expensive circle to nowhere," and described a missed opportunity to make more progress. Sunshine Wiggins described personal barriers to housing assistance, saying the "YMCA domestic violence program denied me access to the housing assessment and SNAP" and linking the denial to her mental‑health status.

Public safety and policing were also prominent topics. A speaker using the name Dream said, "The city of Spokane has a policing addiction," and urged a reallocation of funds toward safe‑streets infrastructure and alternative responses. Will Healings and others criticized snow removal on protected bike lanes and called for better maintenance of non‑motorized infrastructure.

Jeff Johnson, executive director of Spokane COPS, said his nonprofit is awaiting an announcement on who will carry forward a police‑community partnership program and proposed extending Spokane COPS' role through 2026, possibly in combination with another organization: "Maybe it's a combination of us and another organization because I don't see where crime prevention and advocacy... you're not gonna get it all from one group," he said.

Comments also touched on climate grants and federal policy. Dennis Flynn questioned a climate resilience award reported as roughly $19,900,000 and criticized use of the Inflation Reduction Act as a policy justification in local planning, describing the underlying study and communications as, in his view, "fraudulent" and urging careful review.

Other speakers raised neighborhood parking and traffic‑calming concerns, thanked the council for recent immigrant support resolutions, or expressed general civic observations. The council acknowledged the comments and noted items on the agenda tied to parks and the consent agenda, which passed earlier in the meeting.

Open forum concluded and the council adjourned to its next scheduled meeting.