128 members of the Spokane Alliance and guests joined together with three Spokane City Councilmembers for a powerful night of action.

We gathered to discuss the importance of the housing levy, 1590, which would increase Spokane’s sales tax from 8.99% to 9.00%, costing taxpayers only an additional $16 per year to generate nearly $6M a year. This money would go directly to funding more necessary and affordable housing in our community. We asked City Council if they would actively work towards getting a vote on City Council’s agenda by the end of the year and to vote yes on 1590!

During the meeting we heard from Rob McCann, CEO of Catholic Charities, who shared with us the stark reality of generational poverty in Spokane, attributing the cause to the lack of affordable housing. We also heard passionate testimonials from Gina Mauro Gambell, a business owner and resident of Spokane Emerson-Garfield neighborhood, who meets people everyday who struggle to provide for their families, and from Alyx Franz and Megan Curran who shared personal stories of their struggles with homelessness and navigating a broken system. We thank Gina, Alyx, and Megan for sharing their stories and beautiful strength.

We also heard commitments from three Spokane City Council Members, Betsy Wilkerson, Karen Stratton, and Kate Burke. All three enthusiastically committed to working to schedule a vote on 1590 before December 15th! 

Additionally, Councilmember Wilkerson, Stratton and Burke were supportive in pursuing ways to involve black, indigenous and people of color members of our community in future decisions regarding Spokane's housing system. 

Now we need to urge the rest of the City Council members to do the same! We are asking you to take action in the fight to pass 1590, by doing one or more of the following:

1. Email your city council representative https://fusewashington.actionkit.com/letter/BuildMoreAffordableHomesSpokane/

2. Call your city council representative https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/members/

3. Email [email protected] if you’d like to invite the HEART (Housing Equity Action Team) team to your neighborhood council. 

4. Join HEART if you are a Spokane Alliance member. RSVP to the next HEART meeting on our website: http://www.spokanealliance.org/heart_housing_equity_action_research_team_20200728_20201027 

If you believe that Spokane needs more affordable housing and that housing is a human right, join us in the fight to pass Spokane Housing Levy 1590! 

Here is a recording of the action event if you missed it or would like to watch it again:

Meeting Recording:

https://iafnw.zoom.us/rec/share/dZoGAL5HdO5DHtmWJ48ABx5F0DXjam3sL32oR1bXfQxmDXXLQSfCMeJc_TEailvj.zC73vOcjbF5NkDAR

Access Passcode: wI@9$5@b