Budget negotiations, water
rate adjustments: big decisions involving lots of money that impact most,
if not all, Spokanites.
The two issues also lay at the
core of attempts by the newly minted Spokane City Council to assert its
independence from both the Condon administration and city staff.
Council members spoke last week
of engineering their own water rate adjustments in response to a plan due soon
by Mayor David Condon's office.
"We should come up with
our own rate structure" to counter any proposal made by Condon, Council President Ben Stuckart
said at Thursday's study session. "That's how government works."
At Friday's council goals
retreat — more like an imprisonment in the basement briefing room — council
members expressed frustration that they have little time to react to budget
proposals made by Spokane mayors.
"We received the info the
same time the media did," said Councilman Jon Snyder, referring to the
city's budget overview last May.
Councilman Steve Salvatori
recommended asking Condon to allow a council representative to be present
for the budgeting process. And Councilman Mike Allen said the council needs to
get "our own info and our own analysis" on budget matters to exercise
its autonomy from city staff and the mayor's office.
Whether any of those actions can be executed remains to be seen, though the council does plan on discussing it’s a new water rate structure at an upcoming study session.
