Commissioner Amber Waldrep summarized her 2024 accomplishments and laid out goals for 2025 during recorded remarks at a Spokane County meeting.

Waldrep said the county has directed significant funds toward public safety and behavioral health. "Commissioners allocated over $7,000,000 in opioid settlement dollars to sobering facilities and treatment organizations like Maddy's Place," she said. She also said the county "funded $650,000 in mental health sales tax to increase joint paramedic and mental health response in Spokane and Spokane Valley." Waldrep added that she "was excited to vote to approve a balanced budget for 2024 that includes increased funding for public safety, including our prosecutors and public defenders. Commissioners ensured 1,000,000 of American Rescue Plan dollars were obligated by the end of 2024 to support affordable housing, community services, workforce development, and public infrastructure in our county."

Why it matters: The allocations cited by Waldrep represent county-level investments in addiction treatment, mental-health crisis response and homelessness-related services. Those decisions affect how county responders, treatment providers and support programs coordinate services across Spokane and Spokane Valley.

On housing and homelessness, Waldrep said regional planning stalled but remains a priority. She said she hopes a memorandum of understanding will be signed between local governments to commit to joint funding strategies, regional planning and data sharing. She described ongoing work on the Spokane County comprehensive plan and noted participation on the Governor's Council on Homelessness.

Waldrep also raised public and environmental health concerns tied to legacy chemicals. "I continue to be concerned about the health impacts of legacy chemicals or PFAS on our west plains," she said, and announced the county "will be forming a task force to share information and mitigate risks with our community stakeholders. We'll be reaching out to the state and federal government as well."

On county operations, Waldrep said she supports moving the commission's 2 p.m. meetings to evenings to make meetings more accessible to working residents and praised increases to public comment time and updates to meeting protocols. She said the county plans substantial investments in energy efficiency on the main county campus over the next three years and that she helped appoint new citizen members to the county Board of Health and was elected chair for 2025.

The remarks were presented as a report of past actions and future priorities; Waldrep framed several items as commitments for 2025, including pursuing regional partnerships on housing and expanding investments in treatment and crisis stabilization. She also invited residents to follow updates in her newsletter and to upcoming public meetings.