For the second time in as many years, the Spokane City Council is accepting applications for an appointment to one of its District 2 seats. Last week, City Council member Lili Navarrete announced she would resign from her seat by June 30.
"I have strived to bring diversity and inclusion to the workplace, and I hope my efforts have positively impacted the City Council and its employees," Navarrete said on May 20. "However, as much as I have enjoyed my role, it is time for me to move on to new challenges and opportunities."
In March, Navarrete announced she would not seek election to her seat on council because she was "experiencing some recent health concerns," but at the time she did not indicate she would step down early.
Navarrete was appointed to her District 2 seat in January 2024 a few months after Betsy Wilkerson's November 2023 election to council president left it open. At the time, Council members Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle voted against Navarrete's appointment, stating that they disagreed with the appointment process because the council's vote wasn't more open to the public. Cathcart argued there should've been a debate or town hall where people could meet the applicants for the two-year position.
"I think it's a great disservice to the community that a small number of people get to essentially determine the future of a district like that," Cathcart told the Inlander at the time.
However, the City Council plans to appoint Navarrete's replacement through the same process. The application window has already opened, and those who have lived in District 2 — Spokane's southernmost district spanning from the Spokane Airport to South Havana Street — for at least a year may apply by June 20. The council will conduct interviews in mid-July with a plan to vote for Navarrete's replacement on July 28. Neither Telis nor Barrientos plan to apply for the interim position.
Whoever the council chooses will then serve a nearly four-month tenure until voters choose a full-term council member in the November election.
Navarrete said she was proud to work to affirm the human rights and basic dignity of those experiencing homelessness during her year-and-a-half on the council. Those efforts stirred controversy when she introduced what others dubbed the "Homeless Bill of Rights" last summer.
The law would have prevented landlords and employers from discriminating against unhoused people solely for their housing status while also enshrining unhoused peoples' rights to move freely in public spaces, retain control of their personal belongings and be free from unreasonable searches. Citing community division and a need for more outreach, the council deferred the ordinance indefinitely.
Less than a year later, the council voted 6-1 to enact a watered-down version that bans employers from asking someone for their address until after they've been hired. This "Ban the Address" ordinance, which passed on April 21, is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.
Navarrete, who immigrated to Spokane from Mexico City in 1988 and made history as the first known immigrant and Hispanic woman to hold a seat on the City Council, also worked to increase accessibility for non-English speakers. In February, an ordinance instructing the city's civil service departments to recruit and reward bilingual or multilingual employees was passed unanimously. The law, co-sponsored by Council members Cathcart and Paul Dillon, aims to make city government more approachable for the 8% of Spokanites who report speaking a language other than English at home.
(We scheduled a phone interview last week with Navarrete to talk about her time on the council, but we were unable to connect by press time.)
ELECTION TO THE SEAT
As the City Council gears up to appoint a replacement, two candidates are hoping to be elected to the District 2 seat in November. Kate Telis, a former deputy prosecutor in New Mexico who moved to Spokane in 2019 and worked on Dillon's campaign in 2023, will face Alejandro Barrientos, the chief operating officer of SCAFCO Steel Stud Company, who also works as the purchasing director for developer Larry Stone's Stone Group.
"I've been thinking about running for a long time, which is why I worked on some campaigns around here to get my feet under me and understand the local issues better," Telis says.
"I experienced Spokane 16 to 17 years ago, when I first moved here as a college student living in the Logan neighborhood and experienced downtown. Compared to when I first arrived here, to what has become today, the major changes [in Spokane] are part of what motivated me to run," Barrientos says. "I want to be part of shaping a better future for Spokane, not just for my kids, but for all the families here in Spokane."
Telis and Barrientos are still working out the specific policies they will focus on while campaigning, but they each said making Spokane safer and managing the city's growth are their top priorities if elected.
"When I've had the opportunity to meet with a lot of grassroot leaders here in my district ... it always comes back to the same issue. Public safety is one that is going to be our main focus, specifically with the fentanyl crisis that we have downtown," Barrientos says. "One single person can't come up with or solve the very complex issues that we have in our city. We need to find a way to collaborate with the city and the county and use the resources that we have available to kind of have lasting solutions."
When asked which influential grassroots leaders he's spoken with, Barrientos declines to share names, instead listing a few current and former elected officials in Spokane, including City Council members Dillon and Navarrete and former state Sen. Andy Billig.
Telis says ensuring the city grows responsibly — such as, lifting downtown height restrictions, as the council did earlier this year — will make the city safer.
"People really love the current character of the neighborhoods, so preserving that is important but then also making downtown as robust and as thriving as possible, and a place where people feel safe and the businesses can thrive," she says. "Right now, there is a narrative among some people that downtown is dangerous, and as a prosecutor, I know that the more legal activity we have in a place, the less illegal activity we have in a place. I'm all about doing what we can to make that feel safe."
Both candidates will appear on the August primary ballot and move forward to the general election, unless a write-in candidate receives enough support to defeat one of them. After the general election has been certified in November, the new council member will be sworn-in to replace the appointee. ♦
