Spokane City Council Passes Homeless Sheltering Ordinance And Amended Emergency Weather Ordinance

Press release from the City of Spokane:

July 13, 2021

During Monday’s City Council legislative session, Council voted 6-1 on two emergency ordinances; improving the standards for the City’s efforts to help vulnerable and unhoused people during extreme environmental conditions declaring an emergency, and an ordinance amending the policy framework for the City’s homeless response system. Following Council votes, The City ordered to reopen cooling centers through Wednesday in anticipation of extreme temperatures.

“It is our obligation to protect all of our Spokane citizens,” says Public Safety and Community Health Councilwoman Lori Kinnear. “We need to have a plan and procedure in place for every emergency of extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and freezing temperatures followed by thorough communication.”

The emergency sheltering ordinance concentrates on establishing emergency protocols, community partnerships, and timing based on extreme weather for both vulnerable and houseless citizens in Spokane. While the homeless sheltering ordinance concentrates solely on a strategic homeless response system whenever Spokane faces extreme environmental conditions providing night-by-night shelter as the City’s minimum response to homelessness in the City and in collaboration with other jurisdictions.

This press release was produced by the City of Spokane. The views expressed here are the author’s own.