Dear Spokane Community,
Collaboration Is the Key to Solving Our Crisis
This morning, 27 of us walked together from City Hall through downtown, growing our group from yesterday. These walks are about building collaboration among our City, County, and other leaders to URGENTLY resolve the health and safety crisis facing our community.
But here’s a hard truth: even as nearly one person dies each day from overdose and the economic toll deepens, collaboration is still missing.
During my time working with seven consecutive mayors, I’ve seen firsthand when City Hall and the County work effectively. It was not unusual to see our City and County leaders meeting weekly—a stark contrast to what’s happening today.
Consider this—our Mayor has been in office for over a year and has yet to have a direct conversation with the longest-serving elected official in the County, Al French. That’s not a political statement for or against either of those important leaders; it’s just a fact. Many people might assume these discussions are happening behind the scenes, but they simply are not.
That should shock all of us, especially when we realize that the vast majority of mental health funding flows through the County as our region’s Administrative Services Organization (ASO) – The ASO oversees tens of millions of dollars for mental health and substance use treatment services, ensuring access to care for those in crisis. For our chronically homeless population in the downtown and other neighborhoods, NOTHING will improve without a collaborative approach to using those mental health dollars effectively.
In other words, if our elected leaders aren’t working closely together, this crisis won’t get solved. Think about what happens in many of our own families when people stop talking – husbands, wives, children. Distance grows, trust fades, and problems go unresolved.
This is why we will continue these walks indefinitely—5 AM, seven days a week. We hope our elected officials will join us. Maybe they’ll walk together and start having the conversations we’re all having — the kinds of collaborative conversations that could resolve this crisis.
Tomorrow’s Walk
Tomorrow’s walk will begin at 5:00 AM at David’s Pizza (Broadway & Post), thanks to the generosity of Mark Starr. With breakfast pizza and coffee in hand we will set off through Riverfront Park and downtown.
See you there – leaders leading together.