Spokane has a big problem.

In 2014, there were six traffic fatalities on Spokane streets.

In 2023, there were 20.

Already, Spokane had three pedestrian fatalities in the first 3 months of 2024. We are on track for a record-breaking year of traffic violence.

To make matters worse, the city has wasted tens of millions of dollars in wages and benefits paid to first responders who respond to collisions that were engineered to occur.

Now, facing a $50 million budget deficit that is the result of reactive rather than proactive measures, the city wants to throw more taxpayer money at Police and Fire Departments which already encompass 55% of the city's general fund.

I demand the city stop throwing money down the drain of department operations and actually address the structural cause of an inordinate amount of emergency responses: 

FIX OUR UNSAFE STREETS

Any public safety levy must include robust funding to build a protected bike lane network, fast-track neighborhood traffic safety improvements already in the pipeline, and invest in substantive calming projects citywide.

Thank you.