Advocacy teamwork

The Airway Heights City Council made quick work of a busy agenda at its Aug. 20 meeting, approving progress on an agreement with the Kalispel Tribe that has been several months in the making.

The council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians Victim Services Program for the purpose of voluntarily providing services for victims and survivors who have been affected or harmed by a crime.

This would be accomplished by having a Kalispel Tribe victim of crime advocate in Municipal Court once a week while the court is in session. According to the text of the MOU, “each party shall be responsible for assuming its costs and fees associated with this MOU.”

The agreement would be for one year at no cost to the city, saving it $4,000 – $5,000 this year and up to $12,000 next year.

For several years, the YWCA provided advocacy services to Airway Heights Municipal Court, but that practice ceased in 2017 due to a sharp price increase, according to staff reports. The city then switched to another company which later requested additional money, leading staff to reach out to the Tribe’s Victim Services.

The council also unanimously approved the re-allocation and consolidation of budget funds to provide for a new assistant clerk–treasurer position. According to city documents, an assistant clerk-treasurer is needed to both reduce outside consultant costs and to develop a back-up for the clerk-treasurer. The current assistant clerk-treasurer will migrate to a new payroll and human resources specialist position.

Council waived a second reading and unanimously approved an ordinance adopting a public defense case weighting policy and unanimously approved a resolution designating and authorizing individuals to act on behalf of the city in exercising banking activities due to changes in personnel.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].