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POD: We Doomscroll so you don't have to
Episode 25 • 18th April 2025 • RANGE • Range
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Luke and Erin got together for what might become a regular segment: “I Doomscroll so you don’t have to,” where Erin caught Luke up on all the big local news from this week. The Washington Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Spokane’s voter-approved Prop 1, which made camping illegal in most of the city, new safe streets measures and an ordinance to make the city safer for queer and trans people were on the docket for discussion this week.

Relevant reading:

Transcripts

Speaker:

There's a lot of local news that

happens every week, not to mention

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national and statewide coverage.

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It's all too easy to get lost in the

sauce or remain blissfully ignorant.

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Like Luke, who's been far too busy

lately to keep up on what's going

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on with Spokane City government.

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This week, I got him caught

up with a new format.

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We're calling, I doom scroll

so you don't have to enjoy.

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This is Free Range, a co-production

of KYRS and Range Media.

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I'm your co-host, Luke Baumgarten.

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If you don't recognize my voice, it's

because I haven't been here in a while.

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And.

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I've been busy with non

journalist related things at our

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little work around cooperative.

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And as a result of that, it's

gonna be my reality for a while.

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And when Erin and I were discussing

this week, how am I going to be a

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contributing number to this show,

we thought, let's just roll with it.

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And so Aaron, today you're gonna

help me and hopefully some of the

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listeners learn what I've been missing.

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What have we been missing?

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Those of us who haven't been doom

scrolling the news as much as you do.

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And, and actually, and weirdly, I'm

longing for a, a return to those days

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of, you know, those, those blissful days

of doom scrolling for myself, honestly,

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I'm being so incredibly plugged into

what's happening, gives you some sense

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of how much fun I've not been having with

the other stuff I've been working on.

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So yeah, let's, let's

just maybe jump right in.

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Yeah.

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So gimme, gimme the upshot, Aaron.

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What's going on?

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Yeah.

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You know, if it makes you feel any better,

you're not the only one that's been

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feeling a little out of touch lately.

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I was doing yard work this weekend

with a friend and as I am want to do, I

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terrorize people and I was like, what's

your most problematic political opinion?

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Go.

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And she was like, well, I

think my fatal political flaw.

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I said, I just don't have the energy

to be as informed as I want to be.

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Oh, wow.

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And like, starting to read the

news can kind of suck me into an

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endless doom scroll and that just

results in me not reading the news.

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Yeah.

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'cause I just, I can't do it.

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And you know, I was thinking about that

the other night at 4:00 AM when I woke

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up with an impending sense of dread and

spent an hour reading the news before

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I was able to go back to sleep because,

you know, even if what's going on is

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bad, like really, really escalation into

fascism style bad, being informed about

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it makes me feel a little bit better.

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And so as I've been reading and writing

like a madman, I thought, you know,

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maybe we could get you caught up.

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And I know you kind of know about the

first thing I'm gonna pitch you on,

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because I also dragged you into my

madness this morning by calling you at

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8:30 AM and being like, Hey, do you wanna

edit something that I am fire drilling?

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Yeah.

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But I figured, you know, if your

brain wasn't awake enough to process

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any of the texts you were editing,

we'd run through it anyways.

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'cause it is the biggest piece of news

that I've heard this week, which is

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that the Washington State Supreme Court

overturned Proposition one, which was

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the voter approved ballot initiative.

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Passed by 75% of the voters in 2023, and

it banned camping within a thousand feet

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of schools, parks, and daycare centers.

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The Supreme Court found this morning that

the ballot language overstepped the bounds

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of what an initiative is allowed to do.

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And so that means that essentially as

of like 7:00 AM this morning, prop one

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is now overturned because the ballot

language that appeared before voters

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was found to be unconstitutional

according to the state Supreme Court.

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Right.

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And as I was reading it and trying to

remember all the stuff that had happened

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before the election last year that led

up to this, I even got a little confused

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remembering the, this lawsuit, which was,

which was originally put up before the

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election to get it off, pulled off the

ballot by Jules Helping Hands and slick

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the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium,

consortium Executive Director Ben Stucker.

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And the fact that that was

still what was on offer here

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was a little surprising to me.

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'cause I'd heard there was also a

constitutional challenge on the grounds

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that it violated the state constitution.

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But that's a completely separate lawsuit.

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Yeah, completely separate lawsuit,

which is picked up by the ACL U.

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Is pushing a lawsuit on behalf

of Jules Helping Hands, right?

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And a couple of unhoused individuals.

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I think the lawsuit name is Curry at all.

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And the grounds of that second lawsuit,

which we still don't have a result for,

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is that arresting people for homelessness,

for camping outside, sleeping outside,

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when there is no shelter space,

right available is unconstitutional.

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So it required people like the police

officers who might be arresting folks or

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other, you know, code enforcement that

might be asking people to move along.

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It required people to check right

shelter capacity before enforcing laws

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on the grounds that, you know, arresting

somebody for sleeping outside if there's

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nowhere else for them to sleep is

cruel and unusual punishment, right?

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One originally.

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So there, there's two levels

of constitutionality we're

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talking about here too, right?

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If I, as again, as I, if I remember,

if there's any room left in my

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brain for news, there is the re the.

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When the law passed locally, it

still wasn't immediately enforced

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because there was, it hadn't reached

the Supreme Court yet, but there was

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a, a federal case Martin v Boise.

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Martin v Boise, and there was

also a Grants Pass, Oregon ruling.

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Mm-hmm.

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That sort of, it basically reinforced

Boise that basically said, you

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can't, you can't arrest somebody

for not having a home if you don't

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have someplace to take them to.

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Basically, that's not jail.

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Or you can't run somebody off

of a camping property that got

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overturned by the Supreme Court.

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But this, the second lawsuit that we're

not even talking about today would be that

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it's a, it's unconstitutional at the state

level because the state constitution is

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not, you know, not the s not the same.

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Yeah.

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And then there's a.

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I think you were kind of getting at this,

but they're also saying that because

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in the second lawsuit, not the one that

we're actually talking about today,

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but in the second lawsuit, they're also

saying that because anti camping laws are

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typically only enforced against somebody

who is unhoused or looks unhoused, right.

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It's like discriminatory.

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Yeah.

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Because technically, you know, you could

have a kid that's camping, pitching

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a tent in their parents' backyard,

and if that backyard was within a

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thousand feet of a school or whatever

that would technically be illegal.

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Of course, that's never

going to be enforced.

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Nobody is ever going to enforce

that, but they are going to enforce

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those anti camping rules, right.

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Against unhoused people.

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Right.

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And so there's that second layer of

like, maybe this is unconstitutional

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because we have a set of laws

that are only being enforced.

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Some people in that, others

against one category of person.

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Well, honestly, that's

been a conversation for.

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F 12, 13 years, starting with

when the sit lie ordinance

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was passed in the early 2010s.

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And actually was one of the people

that passed that was Ben Stucker, who

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who was the other petitioner on this

lawsuit, was the petitioner on the

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lawsuit to get this law struck down.

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And they're not the same.

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And I'm, I'm not trying to equate them

that way, but the conversation back

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then was the sit lie ordinance basically

gives, and it's, and it's confined

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to downtown specifically gives police

or authorities the power to shoo you

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on if you're sitting on the sidewalk.

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And the funny thing about that was the,

the law passed and without it, within

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a year or so, we got our Apple store,

which, you know, in:

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if we remember back that long or you,

you can like ask your parents about

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it, Aaron, because you were a zygote.

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I was 12.

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Okay, fine.

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Like, we had people camping

outside all the time to get a,

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you know, a thousand dollars iPad.

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And that was, and because these are,

it, it was an ordinance that was

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spurred by the business community,

some of whom are friends of mine.

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I've spent a lot of my life downtown.

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So these, this is not like, you know,

it was inclusive of all the, a lot of

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the same people you see siding with like

Larry Stone over homeless stuff now.

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But it was also, you know, included

the former owner of Boo Radley's and,

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and Atticus who were saying like, it's

really, we don't have any power when

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some, if somebody wants to cause a

disturbance, we don't have any power.

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And there was a feeling that there

needed to be a law passed, but

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we've been talking about this like.

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Sit in live for me,

but not for the mm-hmm.

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You know, si we've been having

this similar conversation for over

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a decade, I guess is the point.

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Yeah.

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And you know, I was 12 when that was

all happening, but I've been thinking a

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lot about pedestrian interference, which

seems to be my generations sit in live.

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Yeah, you're right.

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Sit in lie is so negligible enforced now

because it's just easier for police to

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use PE to do the Pedestrian interference.

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Pedestrian interference, which

is essentially a citation for

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being in the way of pedestrians.

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And I was thinking about a story that

former city hall reporter Nate Sanford

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wrote last summer about a gentleman

who I guess looked homeless or was

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hanging out in an area where homeless

people hang out, but he was just

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downtown eating a breakfast burrito.

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Like he was just.

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Stand in there eating his breakfast

burrito and he gets picked up and cited

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for pedestrian interference, which ended

up being a detail in Nate's story about

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like, how messed up is this that you can

be downtown eating your breakfast burrito

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and if people catch a certain vibe from

you, if SPD decides that you, you know,

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look or seem a certain way or you're

standing in the wrong place, you can

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get cited for pedestrian interference.

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I'd forgotten about that.

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I remember that story.

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I'd forgotten about that anecdote.

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And the reason that's a little, ironically

funny is that I started editing the story

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that you were fire drilling at the, the

rocket market downtown, which is, you

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know, five minutes away from our office.

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And I'd stopped in there

for, to grab a bite.

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And after, so I edit, I did my first

edit on that story, walked out, and I

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was finishing up the breakfast burrito

I had walking down the sidewalk.

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And I definitely did not get

accosted by police while doing so.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So, you know, there's a

lot of backstory with this.

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I think I, I spent one morning calling

up the city Brian Hansen, who was

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the gentleman behind the, he was

sort of the face of the campaign too.

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He was the face of the campaign.

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Yeah.

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The wallet of the campaign was Larry

Stone, who is one of those famous names

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in Spokane politics, always popping

one of the biggest conservative donors.

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He's always popping up.

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Yep.

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Hansen told me this morning

that he was disappointed by

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the Supreme Court's decision.

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He said spicier words than that though.

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Yes.

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I am looking for my story to

read you the exact spicy words

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because the quote is so good.

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I don't just want to paraphrase it.

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I wanna read you, read you the quote.

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Okay, he gave me a couple.

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The first was, this is not the outcome

I was hoping the measure would receive

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from the state's highest court, the

true judicial branches of this state.

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That being all the courts below the

state Supreme Court, they did their job.

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Hansen said the state Supreme Court

unfortunately is a political beast,

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and I'm saddened to say that because

I am a product of the state's law

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schools and I took pride in that fact.

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I asked him, you know, I wonder

if he would say the same thing

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about our National Supreme Court.

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If it's a political beast, is

this, this a, is this a pol?

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Is this a parallel

construction he's building?

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Yeah.

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I wonder.

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Well, I did ask him if he intended to

try to advance this case up further

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to the Supreme, further to the Supreme

Court or and he said that, or like this

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was an, it's called an on bonk decision.

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And I am not like a court reporter

Uhhuh, so I can't capture like

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the full nuances of that term.

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But I think there is a way that he

could ask the Supreme, the state

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Supreme Court to make another verdict

on this before it goes all the way

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up to the National Supreme Court.

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And he said that that would be an

exercise in futility, quote a kabuki

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dance, if you will, to take that route.

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I think the more effective route is

to implore our city council to listen

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to the will of 75% of its constituents

and pass a city ordinance that

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codifies the purpose and intent of

this legislation or this proposition.

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And a kabuki dance,

you say a Kabuki dance.

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I, I don't really know exactly

what he was getting at here.

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I know that there's like kabuki theater

I dunno if this was like a misspeak.

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He did just, I asked him one question

and he like, talked at me for seven

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minutes and I mean, while he was

talking at me, he answered pretty much

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everything that I could think of to ask.

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So that was great.

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But it did mean that there wasn't

a lot of room in there for me to,

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to insert follow up questions.

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Yeah.

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So j just real quickly on, on bonk, I'm

not a lawyer, but I do listen to some

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Supreme Court podcasts and I was an on

bonk decision is, so at a, the, the,

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say the Circuit Court of Appeals, the,

the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals,

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you've got a bunch of judges and it's

generally one judge or a small panel

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of judges is listening to a case.

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An on banc decision, which means I think

from the bench or in the bench French

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is actually when everybody listens to

the decision, like agrees on the or.

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And it's usually for really

complex or technical cases.

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So the fact that it was an on banc

decision actually probably means it's.

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Sort of more.

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'cause sometimes at the appellate level

you can, if you get a single judge or, or

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the, the one of the smaller panels rules

against you, you can appeal for an on

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banc decision to get everybody on board.

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And so the fact that they went

straight to an on banc means that

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there's probably no more recourse.

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They would have to go go to the feral.

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That is very interesting.

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I feel like this morning Hansen was

saying something to me, and again,

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I was like, frantically Googling

on bonk myself as he was talking.

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Yeah.

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But he was saying something about

like how the, the justices who did

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not weigh in have the same political

bents, so it would be pointless.

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But I, I do think so.

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It wasn't, wasn't on Bon.

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No.

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All the justices weighed in.

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There was six who concurred

with the decision and I think.

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Two, three.

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Two dissenters.

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Who dissented?

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Is it a nine?

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Judge?

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Two dissenters.

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Okay.

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So maybe there was one single judge

who just didn't, didn't either.

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Neither confirmed nor denied or whatever.

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Yeah.

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Again, I'm not usually a courts reporter.

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Yeah.

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But every once in a while when city

business escalates up to the court,

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speaking of the city five minutes

after my story went up, we got a press

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release from the mayor's office on how

the city, or at least the city mayoral

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administration plans to approach this.

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They wrote that the city's

unlawful camping ordinance, which

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predated Proposition one, remains

in effect and is being enforced.

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So that's stuff like no

camping under the Viaducts.

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There was a couple other things,

and this was before my time.

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Right.

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And wrote that our legal team is currently

reviewing the court's opinion in detail.

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We'll be working together to thoughtfully

chart a path forward that reflects

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the court's guidance as well as the

best interests of our community.

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Okay.

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About an hour before we hopped on here

council members Michael Kakar and Jonathan

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Bingle, the two conservatives on this

five two Progressive Majority Council

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announced their intent to introduce

an ordinance legislation to the city

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council to vote on that would reenact

prop one because essentially the Supreme

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Court's decision in this case was that.

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This went beyond the purview of

a voter base initiative, right?

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It's something that's within

city council's purview.

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So they're saying this is within our

purview and the voters clearly wanted it.

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So let's enact prop one via ordinance.

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So we're already seeing, and, and

this, this would be something coming

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from the conservatives in, and so

very unlikely, unless a couple of

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the, they would need to progressives

jump ship to even bring it to a vote.

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But it's also why that that other

lawsuit about the constitutionality of

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the, the camping ban is, might still

be relevant because if something were

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to happen where the two conservatives

convinced a couple progressives to, to

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pass it through the normal legislative

process, which is feasible, doesn't

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seem likely to me, but is feasible.

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There would still be this

opportunity then for.

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That, that other lawsuit that we

started off talking about but was not

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decided today to have some bearing

on to then be like, yeah, okay.

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It doesn't matter that your

city council wanted to do it.

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It's still unconstitutional.

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Yeah.

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Stop.

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Yeah.

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And that is I wasn't able to

get ahold of him this morning.

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I just didn't have time to call all

seven city council members, so I figured

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somebody else will cover that angle.

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But Emery Denman over the spokesman

talked to Paul Dillon who.

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It was like, there's no way I'm

voting for a prop one at the city

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council level, especially when

we've got this other lawsuit out.

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Like, let's wait until that settles,

the dust settles on that one until we

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decide if we want to pass this, this.

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Right.

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So that, that might even be the,

the excuse that the progressives

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use to not even bother with it until

something happens at the state level.

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Right.

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Until they kind of have that clarity.

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Yeah.

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Well, before we move on to

the next story, or if you have

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more to talk about on this one.

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No, I'm almost ready to move on.

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I did wanna share quotes, like

maybe one quote from the folks

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who introduced the legislation.

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Yeah.

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Julie Garcia.

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She was so, or introduced the lawsuit.

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Yes.

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The folks, the petitioners, so Ben Stucker

and Julie Garcia, and they were both so

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excited when I called them this morning.

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This quote didn't make it in,

but Ben Stucker picked up the

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phone and was like, hello?

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And I was like, hi, this is

Aaron, a reporter from Range.

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And before I could really even finish my

sentence telling him like, here's what

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I'm working on, can I turn on my recorder?

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He was like, we won, we won our case.

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And the Camping Ban Initiative is

illegal and has been overturned.

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And I'm like, yes, Ben, that

is what I'm calling you about.

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Can I turn my recorder on?

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And he was like, yes.

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And Julie just seemed so just.

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Overwhelmed and moved.

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She choked up a couple of times and you

know, this is like, the story I wrote

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was a story that very much focused on

the ins and outs of the legality of

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this, but I wanted to make sure to bring

it back around for jewels and the folks

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that she serves through her outreach,

her street outreach team, right, they're

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just getting ready to reintroduce their

mobile showers as the weather gets warmer.

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Yeah.

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Through their their medical respite

beds and their scatter site shelters.

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She said, it's not necessarily that

I disagree that people should not

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sleep next to schools or daycares.

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I agree that nobody, not just people

experiencing homelessness, that nobody

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should exist in those spaces, which

I'm a little confused about that bit.

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But wait, say that again.

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She said not just people

experiencing homelessness, but

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nobody should exist in those spaces.

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But I think what she means is like

we shouldn't ha really have anybody

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loitering around schools or like camping.

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Yeah.

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Or like the one time I didn't quite

make it home and ended up like woke

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up in, in the grass in front of

Roosevelt Elementary or so drunk

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college kids just sleeping on benches.

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I mean, not in decades.

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Definitely didn't happen at the

house I currently live at ever.

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But, but you finished by saying.

379

:

But if we tell people where they can't go,

we have to have somewhere for them to go.

380

:

Yeah.

381

:

Otherwise, all we do is take

away their right to exist.

382

:

And I think that's what's

at the core of this.

383

:

And what I don't want to get

lost, even though the piece I

384

:

had time to write this morning.

385

:

Was about the legality, right?

386

:

Is that this is about people who are just

being like, there are so many ways in

387

:

which their existence is criminalized.

388

:

It makes it harder for

them to get off their feet.

389

:

One little teaser piece of news that

I would love to end on before we move

390

:

on to something else is that, well,

I do have one thing to say after.

391

:

Okay.

392

:

And with gimme your teaser piece.

393

:

Then I wanna do the last thing.

394

:

The Spokane City Council is prepping

to vote on an ordinance on Monday

395

:

the 21st, called Ban the Address.

396

:

Oh yeah.

397

:

That's which would make it illegal

for employers to discriminate against

398

:

potential employees during the hiring

process if they don't have a permanent

399

:

address or if they list a PO box or a

shelter as their address on application.

400

:

So it would kind of ban

asking that question.

401

:

Yeah.

402

:

Unless for some reason having a

permanent physical address is relevant

403

:

to that specific job, there might be

a few edge cases in which that's true.

404

:

So they wrote in that exception, but it's

remote work maybe, or something like that.

405

:

Yeah.

406

:

But that's up for a vote.

407

:

And City Council member, Paul Dillon sent

me an email yesterday from one of the

408

:

foremost leading researchers on this topic

who said that Spokane would be the first

409

:

city in the entire United States Wow.

410

:

To pass a ban.

411

:

The address policy that's pretty cool.

412

:

At the city level.

413

:

I remember we passed the Ban the

Box earlier, which was the check

414

:

mark that you, and most employment

applications, and I think this only

415

:

applied to city level jobs at the

time, but the idea is that the, the

416

:

box was to say if you've ever been

convicted of a felony, which is mm-hmm.

417

:

Like basically the box that most or

a lot of employers use to just like,

418

:

throw your application in the trash.

419

:

And the idea, and I think this,

the address idea is similar, is not

420

:

to like f you know, former felons

should be allowed to be anything

421

:

they want to be or whatever.

422

:

But the idea is like, it's so prejudicial.

423

:

Mm-hmm.

424

:

Just you, you don't know anything

other than the check mark.

425

:

It's.

426

:

Somebody's criminal history or their,

their housing status may be, and again,

427

:

I'm not advocating for one thing or

the other here, but it's like we can

428

:

fight over whether it should be part

of the deliberation process when you're

429

:

looking for a job, it seems sort of

at face value, and especially in the

430

:

housing case for advocates who are like,

people need to pick themselves up by

431

:

the bootstraps, which are some of the

people most, you know, sort of actively

432

:

fighting for these more punitive measures.

433

:

It's, it feels a, like they should also

be very in favor of something like this.

434

:

If they're actually arguing that,

you know, you need to pick yourself

435

:

up by your bootstraps in good faith.

436

:

'cause like to me, if somebody's unhoused

and they still have the wherewithal,

437

:

like if I was sleeping on the streets,

I don't think I could get my poop

438

:

in a group to go to job interview.

439

:

But if that's what people are doing,

we should be, and we've interviewed

440

:

people who were living in trench shelter

before, while working full time jobs.

441

:

And that, and that's the thing

that I think gets lost in the

442

:

conversations we've been having around

Sheldon Jackson and Gavin Cooley.

443

:

I ended up having a conversation

in the real world with Gavin.

444

:

The details of which I will

not go into in great detail.

445

:

But one of the eshots was like.

446

:

Having a job and being homeless

or not mutually exclusive.

447

:

Like, I feel like as often as you hear

the sort of the classic stereotypical

448

:

tale, especially with the deep reporting

that we're doing, starting with Carl

449

:

Segerstrom and myself a little bit and,

and really continuing with, with you and

450

:

Hedge, it's like, it's a flip of the coin.

451

:

People have home, you know, people

who are unhoused often have jobs,

452

:

some don't, but it's like, so.

453

:

Having a job isn't even a

sufficient condition to get

454

:

housing in a lot of cases.

455

:

But not having a job is definitely

not gonna get you housing.

456

:

Right.

457

:

Yeah.

458

:

I mean, the rent control story,

a rent stabilization story I just

459

:

wrote, I found like a piece of data

that said, you know, in Washington

460

:

in general, working a minimum wage

job, you need to be working like 82

461

:

hours a week in order to afford Yeah.

462

:

Who the average, who's doing that

housing and not be rent burdened,

463

:

which means spending more than

30% of your income on rent.

464

:

Yeah.

465

:

And we have a lot of people in Spokane

who are spending between 30 and 50% of

466

:

their monthly income on rent, which makes

survival just like the edge of a knife.

467

:

Yeah.

468

:

All right.

469

:

What was the thing you

wanted to finish on?

470

:

Well, I know you compliments make

you uncomfortable, so I'll start by

471

:

complimenting range and then I'll, you

know, edge into complimenting you, but.

472

:

We don't try to break news.

473

:

We're actually not really

built to break news at range.

474

:

There are four of us.

475

:

There's four of us.

476

:

You know, we don't really work weekends

and it's just not what we're doing.

477

:

We're writing long investigative

pieces or in depth, you know, pieces.

478

:

So it's a real testament.

479

:

And this is a court case.

480

:

This is a public court filing.

481

:

So it's, these are some of the

things where it's a, where daily

482

:

stuff you're, you're racing

to, to beat your competitors.

483

:

'cause everybody has the

information at the same time.

484

:

I think it's a testament to

the work that range has done

485

:

on these issues over the years.

486

:

And and then your, your reporting

specifically sellers, apologies for

487

:

complimenting you here or making you feel

good 'cause I know you don't like that.

488

:

But like we got a head start and

it wasn't from Stucker or Julie

489

:

Garcia, it was from somebody else.

490

:

And so we got a basically a 15

minute head start on the story

491

:

and we beat everybody else to it.

492

:

I just think it's a real testament

to like the, the trust that range

493

:

and you have built in the community.

494

:

So great work.

495

:

Thanks.

496

:

See how awkward that was?

497

:

Yeah.

498

:

I hate it.

499

:

Okay, so let's just talk about some

some queer protection ordinance.

500

:

Yeah, let's jump into that.

501

:

You know, I was looking at my list and as,

as much as I talked about doom scrolling

502

:

and like the misery of what's going on,

the three big things bras to talk about

503

:

are all pieces of arguably good news.

504

:

Yeah.

505

:

I know some people, 75% of

voters voted for prop one.

506

:

So honestly there might be 75% of you

out there who feel like this is bad news.

507

:

Yeah.

508

:

That's totally, you're right.

509

:

I think though we're weighing on, in,

on the legality of processes and if

510

:

it wasn't a legal process then it is

good news that that got corrected.

511

:

Right.

512

:

But Spokane is also going to be

talking about an ordinance next

513

:

Monday, and then voting on the 28th.

514

:

That is an LGBT qia, A two

s plus protection ordinance,

515

:

which is a bit of a mouthful.

516

:

But that two s at the end is

extremely important because

517

:

that answer for Two-Spirit, it's

an indigenous queer identity.

518

:

And because the human rights code

in Spokane hadn't been updated

519

:

since like mid 2010s, I wanna say.

520

:

Mm-hmm.

521

:

Right.

522

:

Two-Spirit people were left out of

Spokane's Human Rights Code, which

523

:

guarantees certain levels of protection

and just reaffirms that folks will not

524

:

be discriminated against in Spokane.

525

:

Right?

526

:

So one thing this ordinance does

is adds two-spirit people into the,

527

:

the definitions and the code for the

human rights code, and guarantees

528

:

that queer indigenous people will

be protected and have will not be

529

:

discriminated against in Spokane.

530

:

It.

531

:

Also creates a shield law for

Spokane, which might be a term that

532

:

you've heard before, specifically

in talking about immigration.

533

:

There's like sanctuary laws, shield laws.

534

:

Right.

535

:

But it is also a thing that is starting

to happen more frequently for people

536

:

who seek reproductive healthcare.

537

:

Sure.

538

:

Gender affirming healthcare

or treatment for aids.

539

:

HIV positive folks who need treatment

because there are a variety of

540

:

level of laws that criminalize

certain things in different states.

541

:

Just across the border in Idaho, I

think it is illegal for people to

542

:

get gender affirming care for minors.

543

:

And so there's been some worries

that like, you know, let's say you

544

:

get, you come across the border

to Washington and you get gender

545

:

affirming care in Washington.

546

:

And now like Idaho is subpoenaing

Washington doctors asking you to turn

547

:

over private medical records for a

case against a parent who helped a

548

:

child get gender affirming healthcare.

549

:

Or for a person who came across the

border into Washington to get reproductive

550

:

healthcare for an unwanted pregnancy.

551

:

And Washington State has its own shield

law, which basically says, no Washington

552

:

State resources will be used to do this.

553

:

Washington residents, employees

do not have to turn over this kind

554

:

of information to other states.

555

:

But Spokane is now going to be doubling up

on that code and saying that like, Spokane

556

:

City resources and information will not

be used, which is important because if for

557

:

some reason the state law fell, we would

have the city law to fall back on and

558

:

it's like in the example of when, when.

559

:

Abortion rights when Dobbs happened.

560

:

States that had their own

laws, enshrining, reproductive

561

:

rights were in decent shape.

562

:

And then other states have, and, and,

and actually initiative processes in, in

563

:

red states in a couple cases were done

to make sure that if, even if the federal

564

:

protections were lost there would be some

form of state or, or local protection.

565

:

It's, it's basically like one level

below that sort of idea as well.

566

:

Exactly.

567

:

And you know, some of the queer

community leaders that I talked to

568

:

for this story told me that there are

some very real fears about Governor

569

:

Bob Ferguson and the way that he's.

570

:

Been moving.

571

:

Some of his language around wealth tax

and around rent con stabilization has

572

:

been less than the progressive ideal.

573

:

And though there has been reassurances

from aspects of his office.

574

:

So like the governor's office, you

know, oversees like the Office of

575

:

Superintendent of Public Instruction

and it oversees like the lgbtq

576

:

plus commission on a state level.

577

:

And to an extent the

Attorney General as well.

578

:

And like there have been definitive

supports for queer and trans

579

:

people coming out of those offices.

580

:

Bob Ferguson himself has been

pretty quiet on the issue.

581

:

I could find one example like a

couple months ago where he expedited

582

:

gender and name changes on birth

certificates, right, in order to help

583

:

people like maybe get passports changed

or shore up their documentation.

584

:

But there's been just like a.

585

:

Flow of executive orders and decisions

coming out of Trump's administration

586

:

that criminalize or make it difficult for

trans people to exist in society, to get

587

:

medical care, to be in the military, to

play sports, to have a public civic life.

588

:

Like trans people cannot get

passports with their correct

589

:

name and gender right now.

590

:

Right, yeah.

591

:

Which can impact, like

leaving the country.

592

:

If that doesn't make you a bit

nervous, it probably should.

593

:

Yeah.

594

:

And Ferguson hasn't necessarily

been extremely proactive in

595

:

his communications about that.

596

:

So I think there is some weariness.

597

:

About Ferguson's administration and

seeing a local jurisdiction step up

598

:

and be like, right, just in case.

599

:

Yeah.

600

:

Here's another blanket of

protections I think has been

601

:

reassuring for community leaders.

602

:

Not to dive totally into too much of a

tangent, but I've been thinking about

603

:

this a lot with, with, I think Ferguson,

especially through this legislative

604

:

session, is showing himself that, I

think he made his, he built his brand

605

:

on basically suing Donald Trump, right?

606

:

Like since 2016.

607

:

Yes.

608

:

He's, and, and this is what state's

attorneys generals obvi often do when

609

:

their political party is not in power

at the federal level, they'll sue.

610

:

And this happened, you know,

it was conservatives doing

611

:

it when Obama was president.

612

:

I don't, wasn't, you know, paying

attention too much to state court

613

:

fights when Biden was around.

614

:

But then obviously.

615

:

There was so much action that happened

during the Trump administration,

616

:

and Ferguson was one of those

people, like at the forefront.

617

:

It was like either him or whoever

it was it who was the Attorney

618

:

General of California at the time.

619

:

Oh yeah.

620

:

It was like, it was either like, it

was either US, California, or New York.

621

:

Right.

622

:

And really built his brand that way.

623

:

What I think this legislative session

is showing is that Ferguson's really

624

:

comfortable with the part of like

democratic or progressive politics that's

625

:

built around more identity themed issues

like queerness or, you know, race issues.

626

:

I think.

627

:

Not so good from a progressive

perspective on class stuff, like mm-hmm.

628

:

Pretty a and I think people I've been

talking to at the legislative level or

629

:

a advocates and stuff are like actually

pretty disappointed with what's been

630

:

going on this legislative session.

631

:

I mean, just today the House and the

Senate came out with new budget drafts

632

:

that have even more sales tax in them

to make up for cutting the wealth tax.

633

:

Right.

634

:

Which Ferguson threatened to veto and

sales tax is the most regressive because

635

:

it impacts poor people disproportionately.

636

:

And we, I wrote, this is a story I wrote

about last year that we have only just

637

:

since because of the other wealth the,

the capital gains tax or the excise tax.

638

:

Oh, you're gonna be so excited.

639

:

There may be doing more capital

making studies, more of that.

640

:

Well, I mean, we went from the 50th, the

absolute most regressive state in America

641

:

to the 49th worst, most regressive state.

642

:

Yay.

643

:

And we, so something like this,

and, and again, it's like.

644

:

I had this conversation with a

hedge fund person for that story.

645

:

It's, and he had obviously

had a different perspective.

646

:

'cause that's what, you know, hedge

funds and, you know, gains from long

647

:

held stocks or ownership in companies is

where that is, where that money comes in.

648

:

But it's like everybody pays

sales tax, literally everyone.

649

:

And when you are a million, you

know, a millionaire actually

650

:

doesn't mean that much anymore.

651

:

Say you have tens of millions of

dollars and you shop at Whole Foods

652

:

and you say you work minimum wage.

653

:

And actually, well, grocery doesn't count.

654

:

So say you, like if you're a bit, you

know, tens of millionaire and you buy

655

:

something, you're needing to get a

new car to get to work or a new, like,

656

:

the tax, the tax on that thing is a

much higher, a much lower percentage

657

:

of your income or worth or wealth than

somebody who's working minimum wage.

658

:

So that's what makes it regressive.

659

:

The wealth tax, the, the one

that's, that is in effect the,

660

:

the capital gains excise tax.

661

:

Like 90% of the money didn't

just come from the west side.

662

:

It didn't just come from like the

tech hubs in the Puget Sound area.

663

:

It came from a single legislative

district, which is the legislative

664

:

district where Bill Gates, Steve

Ballmer, who's the former or current

665

:

Microsoft, CEO, the founder of

Microsoft, and where Jeff Bezos used

666

:

to live and currently has a house.

667

:

So all of that money, and it was like

the first year it came in, it was

668

:

close to a billion dollars of tax,

came from one legislative district.

669

:

And so, but getting back, so

it's just, if we need to raise

670

:

revenue, we're in a budget crisis.

671

:

It's, it's been really shocking to people.

672

:

I think that Ferguson is, has been

like, I'm gonna veto any new revenue,

673

:

wealth, wealth, tax related revenue.

674

:

It strikes me though, and getting

back to the actual topic of this

675

:

story that I'm really curious

to get your thoughts on, Aaron.

676

:

Because he has been historically good

on identity stuff and because he did

677

:

build his brand on just trying to punch

Trump in the nose, any chance he got.

678

:

This feels like it could be

an a, a political win for him.

679

:

That would be easy and that would

maybe distract from all the, you

680

:

know, the, the bad feelings people

have about the wealth tax stuff.

681

:

So why isn't he doing it?

682

:

So the one place that I'm

really worried, this is, I think

683

:

an answer to your question.

684

:

Yeah, go for it.

685

:

A story that I wrote earlier this

year was on Medicaid coverage for

686

:

trans people which we've already

seen attacks on even this week.

687

:

Totally.

688

:

And the thing with that is that

Washington State law guarantees that

689

:

people will have the access to gender

affirming care through Medicaid.

690

:

So even if, so, even if there's a

federal prohibition, they take the money

691

:

away, then the state has to pay for it.

692

:

The state is legally required

to make sure that that care is

693

:

covered through state insurance.

694

:

Right now, the feds pay for 50 to 90%

of Medicaid coverage in Washington.

695

:

So if the feds are like, Hey, we're not.

696

:

Do en gender affirming or

reproductive healthcare anymore.

697

:

The worry is then yes, that all of

that cost burden gets punted to the

698

:

state and then the state is going

to be forced to make a choice of

699

:

like, Hey, we're in a budget deficit.

700

:

How do we pay for this?

701

:

Where people think Ferguson is all

pretty iffy on new revenue, right?

702

:

Wealth tax, I mean, more than pretty

ffy me trying, like he's on the record.

703

:

I'm trying, saying I'm

trying to be no new revenue.

704

:

Yeah.

705

:

Or they'll be forced to repeal the state

law requiring Medicaid to cover that.

706

:

And so it's kind of a rock in a hard

place and, but it's, Ferguson hasn't

707

:

come out with any definitive statement

on what would happen there, even though

708

:

the lgbtq plus commission I talked to, I

think the, the, the chair of that, I don't

709

:

know if they do chair or president, but I

talked to representative Nicole Ery and.

710

:

Senator Ni, I don't, it's been like

months since I wrote this story,

711

:

but she was like a state legislator.

712

:

Sure.

713

:

Of some port.

714

:

Yes.

715

:

Some ery was like, you know, we are

not backing down from the state law.

716

:

Like we will figure it out.

717

:

But again, we don't know where

Ferguson Sands on revenue for that.

718

:

And I think that that's making queer

people like rightfully nervous.

719

:

This is a time when people should be

proactive in stating their support for

720

:

marginalized groups that are under attack.

721

:

And if you're not proactive in

stating your support, you're silent

722

:

on the issue and people have rightful

doubts about where you stand and

723

:

what you'll do to protect them.

724

:

Well and honestly, and, and this is

not me sort of trying to put forth an

725

:

opinion, but just to point out that like.

726

:

Oftentimes identity issues get

set in opposition to class issues.

727

:

This has been happening my whole life.

728

:

It's happening less and less now.

729

:

'cause I think people are realizing,

this is a very concrete example

730

:

of where there is a class.

731

:

This is like this identity issue of being

able to access, you know, healthcare.

732

:

Healthcare means access to Medicaid.

733

:

Medicaid is a hundred

percent class focused.

734

:

Mm-hmm.

735

:

People are only on Medicaid if they're,

you know, so disabled, they can't work

736

:

or their kids or they're elderly or

they're below a certain income threshold.

737

:

And so the idea trans and gender

non-conforming people are like

738

:

disproportionately more likely to be under

a certain income threshold like an among.

739

:

Yeah.

740

:

Among all groups, like some of the

most deeply impoverished people

741

:

tend to be specifically trans folks.

742

:

It's, it's sort of like and a spectrum.

743

:

And then when you look at those

intersections of being trans and

744

:

disabled, or being trans and bipoc,

the financial situation or your,

745

:

your likelihood of being above that

poverty line gets lower and lower.

746

:

Yeah.

747

:

Not to be depressing.

748

:

So there's two more other good

provisions in this city law.

749

:

The first would prohibit the city

from collecting or disseminating

750

:

information about anyone's sex assigned

at birth, with the exception of if it's

751

:

related to a criminal investigation.

752

:

So basically the city is saying,

we don't need to know anything

753

:

about your sex when you were born.

754

:

If they ask for any information on

paperwork, it is just going to be your

755

:

gender that you identify as Now, which is

great, I think it also guarantees health

756

:

insurance for the city employees and

their families covers both reproductive

757

:

and gender affirming healthcare as well

as care for people who are HIV positive.

758

:

And that one is a pretty big win

because currently the mayor has say

759

:

over what the city's healthcare plan is.

760

:

Oh, right.

761

:

We've got a mayor right now

who I think is largely pretty

762

:

supportive of LGBTQ plus people.

763

:

But axone the first.

764

:

Openly queer elected on city council.

765

:

Told me over the phone yesterday.

766

:

Openly queer while in office.

767

:

Well, no, openly queer elected because

Kate Burke, who was formerly on city

768

:

council, came out after she was elected.

769

:

That's what I meant.

770

:

Yeah.

771

:

While in office.

772

:

Yeah.

773

:

So there's like a, a sort of little, you

know, asterisk that in asterisk there.

774

:

But Zopone told me that like this

one is particularly important

775

:

because if power on the mayoral level

changes, it would require a full

776

:

ordinance with the support of city

council to roll back those insurance

777

:

coverage protections for employees.

778

:

Yeah.

779

:

And it would also create a, there was

sort of an informal police liaison

780

:

position where somebody in SPD would

liaise with LGBTQ plus people in

781

:

advance of like, pride or other issues.

782

:

This person's sort of informal capacity

was to build trust with the queer

783

:

community so that like if something

happened, people had somebody that

784

:

they felt comfortable going to.

785

:

Mm-hmm.

786

:

That would formalize that position.

787

:

I think they've already filled it.

788

:

I know the name, but not

off the top of my head.

789

:

And so this would kind of create

a formal rule for somebody.

790

:

This is going to be up for a

first reading on April 21st and

791

:

up for a vote on April 28th.

792

:

So next Monday.

793

:

For the reading and the Monday

after, after, for the, for the vote.

794

:

We've got some more information on

this legislation and you know how you

795

:

can talk to council about it if it's

something that you're interested in,

796

:

that I will throw in our KYRS page.

797

:

Awesome.

798

:

And with that note, we are gonna play

you a message from our underwriters.

799

:

One, one quick thing, just because

I'm curious about this, the whole, you

800

:

don't need to collect or disseminate

people's information unless it's

801

:

related to a criminal investigation.

802

:

Did you talk to anybody about what, even,

even if there is a criminal investigation,

803

:

why they would need to know?

804

:

And is it like a sexual assault,

rape kit situation or like why, why?

805

:

I mean, I guess that might be one example.

806

:

Okay.

807

:

Of, and also like.

808

:

It might be related to a criminal

investigation on the side of

809

:

victimhood, because then you would

know if you knew somebody was trans,

810

:

that it might be a hate crime.

811

:

I see.

812

:

And you might be able to

bring up hate crime charges.

813

:

Right.

814

:

So there are like a couple of cases

that I think I can imagine that being

815

:

maybe like relevant information.

816

:

It almost seems like maybe more like

they're carving out the possibility.

817

:

Mm-hmm.

818

:

So if it is like a crime situation,

they wouldn't be prohibited from asking

819

:

or like clarifying, Hey, are you, it

seems like you may be transgender.

820

:

Is that true or not?

821

:

That would, yeah.

822

:

Whether or not there's an active

plan to be asking for that sort of

823

:

identifying information in criminal

proceedings, it might just be Yeah.

824

:

Yeah.

825

:

Carve out.

826

:

Okay.

827

:

All right.

828

:

Aaron, yeah, there's, would you

mind telling me about this Safe

829

:

Streets press conference that our

urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn

830

:

and you attended yesterday?

831

:

Yeah.

832

:

So.

833

:

I get a slack from Lauren and she's

like, where is this press conference

834

:

that Erin Hut is tweeting about?

835

:

Posting about on Blue Sky?

836

:

And I like Erin Huts, the

communication director for the mayor.

837

:

Yes.

838

:

And I'm like, oh, well

it's it main and post.

839

:

It's like, that's such an interesting

location for a press conference.

840

:

I wonder if they're going turn

it into a pedestrian street.

841

:

Oh man.

842

:

We were disappointed.

843

:

We set our expectations really high.

844

:

The street in front of the mall,

which is the intersection of Oh yeah.

845

:

Main and Post is not becoming

a full pedestrian street.

846

:

However, there was a lot of

other more exciting developments.

847

:

It's the, it's the front door to the mall.

848

:

It's also where you can get a Red

Robin Burger on one corner and a pf

849

:

Chang's bowl of noodles on the other,

if you're, if you're trying to figure

850

:

that, if you're, if you navigate by

food like I do, and they shut it down

851

:

periodically for events like terrains.

852

:

Bizarre.

853

:

Like bizarre.

854

:

Yeah.

855

:

There's some like other street

festivaly things that happen over

856

:

there, but honestly it's very,

very difficult to shut down.

857

:

We were the, I'm associated with

Terrain and it took more than one, it

858

:

took like two years to finally, it was

actually in our third year of doing

859

:

Bazaar that we were finally given

permission after talking to basically

860

:

every business owner on that street.

861

:

To shut it down, so it's

not an easy thing to do.

862

:

Yeah.

863

:

Well actually that was one thing

that was announced at this press

864

:

conference for Safer Streets is that

there's an ordinance that will be

865

:

coming before City Council very soon.

866

:

They're hoping to get

it passed before June.

867

:

That would make it much easier for you to

shut down any street that is non arterial.

868

:

That'd be awesome.

869

:

They didn't give a ton of details.

870

:

I'm sure once the draft of the

ordinance launches, we'll be able

871

:

to get more of a sense for what

exactly that process is, but.

872

:

They are calling it, like, making it

easier to establish a Play Streets

873

:

program which will allow neighbors to

temporarily close non arterial streets

874

:

to provide car safe spaces, like

block party stuff, like block parties,

875

:

neighborhood play, community activities.

876

:

It's starting in June and

running through Halloween.

877

:

So you have to imagine they want people

to be able to do like summer markets.

878

:

Yeah.

879

:

And, you know, a trunk or treat and make

that really easy to just have a, a block

880

:

or a chunk of street that is completely

shut down to cars so that folks can walk

881

:

around, bike around, scoot around in

freedom, hang with their neighbors, meet

882

:

people without having to worry about

becoming one of the ever increasing number

883

:

of pedestrian fatalities in our city.

884

:

It's so dark that that's like

where we're at with this.

885

:

And, and it's also just a testament like

to see, I'm, I'm just going to, to fully

886

:

send my opinion here, like, we're just way

too deferential to cars in our culture.

887

:

And I don't even feel bad saying it.

888

:

You can slide into my dms if you're

a, if you're a car guy or a truck guy.

889

:

But this is my, my whole thing has

always been like, even if you are

890

:

a car and truck eye, don't you want

fewer cars and trucks on the streets?

891

:

So it's fun.

892

:

It's more fun to drive.

893

:

You're not getting stuck in traffic like

we should be making a society that's

894

:

better for all types of transportation

so that the people that want to do the

895

:

various types of transportation they

want to do, have the space to do it.

896

:

And that includes cars.

897

:

And what we've seen is like, wow,

you're like a full on urbanist.

898

:

Oh, well, and look, it, it strikes

me that the thing like with Ban

899

:

the address, we might be the

first city in America to do it.

900

:

The stuff we're talking about here

that has taken decades to get through

901

:

is not even remotely controversial.

902

:

It's not revolutionary.

903

:

It's, it is, it is literally

a, a worldwide movement.

904

:

One of them, one of the

movements is called Selo.

905

:

It is the idea, and it starts like

this, it starts with like making

906

:

it easier to shut down streets.

907

:

We do the, the, we do the, I can't

remember what's the bike shutdown thing

908

:

that we do do a couple times a year?

909

:

Oh yeah, Lauren talked about that.

910

:

Par it's parks to summer parkways.

911

:

Yeah, summer parkways.

912

:

Like in, when I was traveled to

Mexico City a couple years before the

913

:

pandemic, they like literally their

biggest street, which imagine division

914

:

in Spokane, but lined with beautiful

trees rather than lined with strip

915

:

malls that entire street shuts down.

916

:

On like, I think every Sunday and

people ride and they bike and they go

917

:

get brunch and they, people put their

patio ch like the restaurants put their

918

:

patio furniture in the street and it

basically transforms like one of the major

919

:

arterials in one of the largest cities

in the world into a big pedestrian mall.

920

:

And that then has led to so

much more interest in this.

921

:

And it's actually dropped

commuting times in Mexico City.

922

:

Again, one of the most dense and

hectic and crazy like 25 million people

923

:

live in basically a, a river valley.

924

:

Not on, or a valley, not on like Spokane.

925

:

It's made it a less polluted city.

926

:

It's made it an easier city for cars

to get around into because people

927

:

saw what was possible and they, you

know, were like, yeah, let's do this,

928

:

you know, complete streets thing.

929

:

Yeah.

930

:

And kind of on your point about, you

know, every car off the road actually

931

:

makes it better to be a driver, right?

932

:

Like if somebody's choosing

to bike instead of drive.

933

:

One of the other things that they

announced at this press conference

934

:

was that they're going to be revamping

our old Safe Streets ordinance, which

935

:

l filled me in on a very funny bit of

history, which was that three of our

936

:

current big names in Spokane politics.

937

:

We've got John Snyder, who is

our director of Transportation

938

:

and Sustainability at the city.

939

:

And Paul Dylan and Kitty Kki, who are

currently Spokane City Council members.

940

:

Yeah.

941

:

Back in the day, they were working on

the original Complete Streets Original.

942

:

Complete, yeah.

943

:

As Snyder was a council member, then

Dylan was his legislative assistant

944

:

and Ksky was an organizer who was

just like pushing for this to happen.

945

:

But now they're all three going to

be working on revamping the Complete

946

:

Streets ordinance to be more in line

with best practices of today's times.

947

:

And so what that does is that

basically whenever the city tears

948

:

up a street, so like let's say

they're doing a big like refinishing.

949

:

Yeah.

950

:

When they put that street back

together, it has to be put back

951

:

together in a way that includes

options for biking and walking.

952

:

That's really smart.

953

:

Yeah.

954

:

So basically adding in new corridors,

rethinking what the street looks like.

955

:

Yeah.

956

:

So that we are considering

pedestrians or alternative modes

957

:

of transportation in our streets.

958

:

I'm old enough, I'm pretty sure I met,

well, I guess kitty's old enough as well.

959

:

I'm pretty sure I met now

Councilwoman Kitty Klasky when

960

:

she was flyering for Complete

Streets like close to 20 years ago.

961

:

So this has been long

time in the works and.

962

:

Yeah.

963

:

And it's really cool.

964

:

And honestly, that whole idea of

like, when we tear up a street,

965

:

we replace it, you know, we sort

of, we take the opportunity to

966

:

not just relay pavement mm-hmm.

967

:

But to rethink what's going on there.

968

:

That was actually an innovation that

David Conn did, you know, famous,

969

:

pragmatic, conservative, David Conn.

970

:

And he was doing it with like, all

the infrastructure under the street.

971

:

So his whole thing was like, okay, cool.

972

:

Like when it's torn up, we've

gotta do everything at once.

973

:

We can, we can lay fiber optic cable

for high-speed internet or what,

974

:

like, whatever needs to happen, let's

just do it in a coordinated manner.

975

:

So it saves money and it like, gives

us this opportunity to, like, we don't,

976

:

nobody likes having roads torn up.

977

:

It sucks.

978

:

It's like, inconvenience for everyone.

979

:

So if we're gonna do it, we might as

well do it in a way that's like thinking

980

:

10, 20, 30 years into the future.

981

:

Yeah.

982

:

And we're gonna see that coming up soon.

983

:

River, Spokane River, the Falls, Spokane

Falls Boulevard is slated for redo soon.

984

:

And so some of the discussions,

oh man, have been around planning

985

:

for what that redo is going to

look like under Complete Streets.

986

:

I know we're running close to time,

so I'll run you through the other main

987

:

points that got brought up at this

presser The traffic unit is coming back.

988

:

This was a big controversy in 2023.

989

:

Okay.

990

:

Yeah.

991

:

When I got pulled, when Mayor

Woodward pulled money out of the

992

:

traffic calming fund in a budget

that was again, unanimously

993

:

improved by the council at the time.

994

:

Right?

995

:

So not entirely Woodward's fault,

they all green stamped that to

996

:

stand up the previously disbanded

Spokane Police Department unit

997

:

focused on traffic enforcement.

998

:

However.

999

:

It's two years later and that

unit has still not been stood up.

:

00:49:39,769 --> 00:49:42,529

They announced at the press conference

that it's finally happening.

:

00:49:42,739 --> 00:49:45,889

There will be four officers

whose full-time work is entirely

:

00:49:45,889 --> 00:49:49,189

dedicated to traffic enforcement

and another three officers whose

:

00:49:49,189 --> 00:49:50,869

focus is on DUI enforcement.

:

00:49:51,139 --> 00:49:55,159

Okay, so we've got seven officers now

who are dedicated to, to traffic work.

:

00:49:56,209 --> 00:50:01,489

Also under that kind of umbrella

is a traffic fatality review team.

:

00:50:01,609 --> 00:50:01,699

Oh, wow.

:

00:50:01,759 --> 00:50:06,199

That will consist of police, fire

streets, engineering, et cetera, and

:

00:50:06,199 --> 00:50:10,159

they'll meet four times a year to discuss

fatal crashes, what the underlying

:

00:50:10,159 --> 00:50:14,269

issues might be and how those underlying

issues might be able to be addressed.

:

00:50:14,719 --> 00:50:17,419

We're getting more red light

and speed cameras, which is a

:

00:50:17,419 --> 00:50:18,739

bit of a controversial move.

:

00:50:18,739 --> 00:50:22,009

I've, I've seen some public complaints

about, you know, a surveillance

:

00:50:22,009 --> 00:50:26,479

state and having all this data about

people's movements being tracked.

:

00:50:26,479 --> 00:50:27,739

The flock cameras specifically?

:

00:50:27,739 --> 00:50:32,989

Yeah, the flock cameras specifically,

these red light cameras are going on one,

:

00:50:32,994 --> 00:50:36,019

or at least the first couple red light

cameras are going at the intersection of

:

00:50:36,019 --> 00:50:40,729

Mission Avenue and Green Street, which is

one of the top 10 deadliest intersections

:

00:50:40,729 --> 00:50:42,169

Lauren and I wrote about last year.

:

00:50:42,169 --> 00:50:46,149

So I used to live near that intersection

when I was a senior in college.

:

00:50:46,149 --> 00:50:47,469

It is, it's dicey.

:

00:50:47,844 --> 00:50:48,654

It is.

:

00:50:48,954 --> 00:50:54,474

And finally they're banning right turn on

red at some key intersections downtown.

:

00:50:54,534 --> 00:50:54,834

Oh, interesting.

:

00:50:54,834 --> 00:50:54,894

Yeah.

:

00:50:55,174 --> 00:51:00,004

Which is, you know, people are thinking

a lot about the oncoming traffic from

:

00:51:00,004 --> 00:51:01,294

the left when they're turning Right.

:

00:51:01,294 --> 00:51:04,754

And not necessarily about

the pedestrians that might be

:

00:51:04,754 --> 00:51:06,404

crossing perpendicular right.

:

00:51:06,469 --> 00:51:07,304

In, in front of, well, I'm sorry.

:

00:51:07,304 --> 00:51:09,854

You're thinking more about who's coming

from the left when you're turning

:

00:51:09,854 --> 00:51:11,354

right on a one way street as well.

:

00:51:11,354 --> 00:51:11,444

Mm-hmm.

:

00:51:11,684 --> 00:51:15,164

So that's another argument for one of

the, the pushes that a lot of Complete

:

00:51:15,164 --> 00:51:18,974

Streets advocates want, which is getting

rid of one ways and making them two ways.

:

00:51:19,214 --> 00:51:22,514

'cause it makes, even, it's better for

retail, it's better for everything,

:

00:51:22,514 --> 00:51:26,474

but it also makes drivers more aware of

their surroundings from both directions,

:

00:51:26,474 --> 00:51:30,344

which will hopefully, and, and in most

cases when it's implemented, saves lives.

:

00:51:30,644 --> 00:51:30,944

Yep.

:

00:51:31,334 --> 00:51:34,064

So we've got a piece on that

coming out shortly from Lauren.

:

00:51:34,064 --> 00:51:35,834

I think that's been

through one or two edits.

:

00:51:36,114 --> 00:51:36,894

But that's your.

:

00:51:37,139 --> 00:51:38,369

Quick and dirty breakdown.

:

00:51:38,399 --> 00:51:41,309

I got a, I got a halfway pitch

from a, a mutual friend of ours.

:

00:51:41,309 --> 00:51:45,184

I don't wanna say too much on camera

or on mic, but there might be a, a

:

00:51:45,184 --> 00:51:47,059

flock camera data story we could do.

:

00:51:47,059 --> 00:51:50,629

And we might have a, we might have

a, a, a developer who's interested

:

00:51:50,629 --> 00:51:52,519

in crunching some numbers for us.

:

00:51:52,849 --> 00:51:53,494

Well, more to come.

:

00:51:53,809 --> 00:51:54,409

More to come.

:

00:51:54,469 --> 00:51:58,794

That's our time This week free Range is

a weekly news and public affairs program

:

00:51:58,794 --> 00:52:03,174

presented by Range Media and produced

by Range Media and KYRS Community Radio.

:

00:52:03,584 --> 00:52:04,184

I'm Aaron.

:

00:52:04,274 --> 00:52:04,874

That's Luke.

:

00:52:04,904 --> 00:52:05,894

We'll catch you next week.

:

00:52:05,899 --> 00:52:06,739

Thanks for letting me hang out.

:

00:52:06,739 --> 00:52:06,939

Aaron.

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