July 8, 2022

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your support and engagement in Wednesday’s press conference announcing our proposed revisions to the City’s ordinances on Sit/Lie and urban camping. I greatly value your feedback and willingness to collaborate on these tough discussions.

City Council is moving quickly to revise these ordinances, and it is imperative our downtown business community continues to stay engaged. On July 11^th, Council will be discussing the proposed changes to the ordinances at their regular Public Safety Committee Meeting at 1:15 pm. There are no public comments taken, but we are hopeful that Council will acknowledge the voices of our business community and make the changes we want to see. We ask that you consider contacting City Council prior to the July 11^th Committee meeting and also consider attending the July 11^th City Council meeting at 6:00 pm. We all want our downtown to be as safe and healthy as possible, and City Councilmembers need to hear from you.

As you may know, the proposed Ordinance is part of our work identified in the Homeless Plan 2.0, which is an extension of the plan announced in July 2020 and built around eight focus areas: Emergency Sheltering, Individualized Services, Supportive Resources, Housing, Case Workers, Real-time Data, and Transparency & Accountability. The local plan is the culmination of months of listening to providers, nonprofits, private industry, and government, reviewing recommendations, and searching for common ground to further build a regional system of assets and resources that meet people with services, prevent them from becoming homeless or get them temporarily housed, and move them out of homelessness.

Thank you again for raising awareness and/or attending the press conference and for your continued support as we work to prioritize the needs of our community and deliver results.

Sincerely,

Nadine Woodward | city of spokane | Mayor

509.625.6250  | mayor@spokanecity.org| spokanecity.org