With a contentious election season in the rearview mirror, it’s time for Spokane’s political factions to come together to solve the region’s overarching problems.

Doing so will require people from different backgrounds and political perspectives—both those already in office and newly elected public servants—to find common ground in addressing homelessness, law enforcement, and budget challenges. All must understand how pivotal the next few years will be in preserving the quality of life the Inland Northwest has boasted for so long.

Regarding homelessness, a regional approach must be the top priority, and the Spokane Regional Collaborative’s plan for combining resources remains the preferred path. The Spokane City Council passed a resolution earlier this year that put a pause on supporting the Collaborative. At that time, some members of the Council expressed support for a regional approach and the Houston model on which the Spokane plan is based, while expressing doubts about some of the plan’s particulars.

The differences sound surmountable, and all municipalities in the region should focus on making the plan a reality. The Collaborative has the aggressive goal of reducing Spokane’s point-in-time homeless population count by 40% in two years, and that two-year clock needs to start sooner than later.

One of the sticking points for the Council majority is the mention of detention as an accountability tool. Separately, some of the more left-leaning electeds at the city and county came out against Measure 1, the soundly defeated proposal to increase the sales tax to fund law enforcement and a new jail. Looking at those events collectively, it becomes clear that the county commissioners and city councilors at all municipalities need a meeting of the minds on incarceration’s role in law enforcement.

The Journal used this space to support Measure 1, with caveats and concerns about some of the proposal’s details. The need to address jail overcrowding outweighed the proposal’s shortcomings. Even so, voters spoke loud and clear in their rejection of the massive proposal, which would have raised $1.2 billion over 30 years.

But the fact remains that 14% of Spokane-area offenders are booked and released because there isn’t anywhere to put them, and that’s a problem that needs to be solved. Elected officials across the political spectrum should acknowledge that and find common ground, in the name of keeping the community safe. We can’t have a clean and safe community without some accountability for people’s actions.

These challenges have metastasized at a time when governments are facing budget deficits, and those deficits are occurring in an era in which it’s more expensive—and more difficult, in some cases—to borrow money.

During Greater Spokane Incorporated’s recent 2024 Economic Forecast, economist Steve Scranton said government might be entering an era of austerity. He was speaking in the context of federal politics, but it’s not a stretch to think such a trend could apply to the local level as well. The city of Spokane, and perhaps others, will need to be more fiscally disciplined, and while we might not know what that looks like, it adds a layer to addressing broader challenges.

That said, in both the private and public sectors, Spokane leaders have proven time and again they can address complex problems and accomplish great things when setting aside agendas and not worrying about who gets credit. Our elected officials need to do that now, before the problems that plague our community worsen.