Boards & Commissions

Housing Action Subcommittee

Meeting Times

The Housing Action Subcommittee meets the third Thursday of each month at 9:30 a.m. The meeting location and relevant access information can be found in the applicable meeting agenda below.

Mission Statement/Purpose: The Housing Action Subcommittee (HAS) is a group of appointed volunteer community members who care about the greater Spokane community and want to see it thrive. City Council created the HAS in early 2021 in order to focus on housing issues.

The Housing Action Subcommittee will:

Investigate and make periodic reports to City Council on the progress of the City’s efforts toward meeting Comprehensive Plan goals of providing opportunities for a variety of housing needs that is safe and affordable for all income levels, improving the overall quality of Spokane’s housing and monitoring progress towards achieve housing goals.
Recommend any necessary changes to the Spokane Municipal Code and other necessary policy actions to advance the City’s Comprehensive Plan housing goals
Receive and examine applications for housing project funding as described in Chapter 08.07C, SMC and from other locally derived sources of funding for housing in Spokane, oversee such projects after the City Council awards funding, and make reports on the outcomes of such funding decisions on at least an annual basis.
Organize into workgroups as needed
Collaborate and consult with any technical advisory groups established by City Administration in developing the framework and guidance for the implementation of the fund program contemplated in Charter 08.07C, SMC
Other specific tasks as assigned or referred to subcommittee by City Council

Equity in Housing

As the City Council considers housing recommendations, it is important to understand and consider the historic context that has contributed to the patterns of inequity present today. Housing options, and especially homeownership, are not equally accessible to everyone in the community. Practices such as 'red lining,' restrictive covenants on property, and exclusionary zoning have had long-lasting impacts on neighborhoods, like wealth inequality, less access to opportunity, and lower health outcomes. These inequalities are reproduced across generations, leading to continued patterns of inequality today.

As part of the focus on equity in the Housing Action Plan, we will work to understand and address the history of racial and income inequality. This includes:

Reviewing local zoning practices
Understanding barriers to accessing housing and homeownership
Working with impacted voices to understand experiences
Identify communities at risk of displacement
Consider strategies to address equitable outcomes

Learn more about housing discrimination in Spokane:

In 2019, the Northwest Fair Housing Alliance created a video outlining the history of housing discrimination in Spokane, funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. View the video and learn more: Systemic Residential Race Discrimination in Spokane - A 6 Minute History.

The federal-sponsored Homeowners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) created maps in cities across the country in the 1930s to evaluate lending risk. Neighborhoods considered high risk were “hazardous” or "redlined," meaning they were denied loans and capital investment. This often corresponded to the presence of low-income households, African Americans and immigrants. Learn more at the University of Richmond's Mapping Inequality project.