Let's be abundantly clear. The Spokane City Council needs to approve an ordinance that mirrors Proposition 1. Any alternative is disrespectful to the constituents that Council members are elected to serve and a disservice to the vulnerable populations the elected leaders are trying to assist. 

Members of the community have implored the Council to move in that direction. We've used this space to make this case. And of course, the voters have spoken emphatically. 

As Spokane citizens might recall, Proposition 1 appeared on the general-election ballot in 2023 and asked voters whether they supported a ban on camping on public lands and within 1,000 feet of schools, daycares, and public parks. Voters backed the measure with about 75% approval. 

Low-income housing advocates Ben Stuckart and Jewels Helping Hands challenged the validity of the measure with a lawsuit, and in April, the Washington state Supreme Court struck down Proposition 1 on procedural grounds, stating in simplest terms that the scope of the ballot measure fell outside of the initiative process.

Indisputably, that ruling is based on procedure, not the content of Proposition 1. In other words, there's nothing to suggest at this juncture that camping bans themselves are unconstitutional. 

And yet, some Council members and the Mayor's office continue to insist on toying with new rules that appear to go against the will of the voters. Some of them tried to rush through a new ordinance that would give illegal campers a seven-day notice ahead of enforcement action. Later, reportedly after most people who had testified against the ordinance had left for the night, the Council tried to push through a provision that would provide a three-day notice, only to have it defeated. 

One business executive in attendance referred to the meeting as "chaos" and referred to sequence of events as unprecedented. Whether perception or reality, it's a bad look for a city that should set the example of the region. 

The actions of the city leadership are in stark contrast to the steps taken in other communities to clean up drug use, reduce crime, and bring vibrancy back to their neighborhoods. Elected leaders from Seattle and northern California have spoken in Spokane in recent months about the steps they've taken to get help to those who need it and compel change with those who refuse assistance. Both spoke of success in an approach that holds people accountable for their actions. 

Who could have imagined a world in which liberal bastions such as Seattle and California were more aggressive in cleaning up their streets than Spokane.

The hard truth is this: Despite aggressive measures to invest in treatment services and work with federal prosecutors to curtail drug trafficking, drug deaths are increasing in our community at a time when they're on decline nationally. We're bumping along the bottom, and we aren't being aggressive enough to help those who, in some cases, are unable or resistant to helping themselves. 

None of this is new. We've been banging the same drum for months, going on years. The Council is scheduled to broach this subject again at its June 30 meeting. Let's hope they listen.