Council President Betsy Wilkerson issued the following statement regarding the dedication of service of Lori Kinnear:
“As I move forward into this new role of Council President, I want to take a moment to recognize my immediate predecessor, Lori Kinnear for her service to the City of Spokane.
Lori started with the City as the first Legislative Assistant in the City Council office until she was elected District 2 Council Member in 2016. Most recently, she served as the first female City Council President. She has devoted her time on Council to effecting change through a prolific amount of legislation, including creating a noise-limiting ordinance around healthcare facilities, legislation involving human trafficking prevention, and working to help small businesses through initiatives to expand parklets and “streateries”, and legislation capping delivery fees from third party platforms. Collaboration has been the reason many projects in Spokane have been completed. Lori is known for building consensus and working collaboratively with other city officials and community members to get things done.
Lori introduced the elephant hook ban and amended the animal cruelty city code. The ordinance was Lori’s first one working with then Legislative Assistant Adam McDaniel on the law preventing any Circus with captive animals from coming to Spokane. The City of Spokane was the 100th city in the United States to implement that ban, ultimately leading Ringling Brothers to place their animals into sanctuaries.
In her first term, Lori worked on the Complete Streets ordinance, ensuring that roads were designed to be safe for all modes of transportation, ages and abilities. Working with Paul Dillon and Kitty Klitzke before they ran for office to accomplish the ambitious goals of the project ensured its success.
Lori also worked closely with Pat Munts to create the Spokane Community Garden program. This was the impetus for the Urban Farm Ordinance that took effect in 2014and facilitated the establishment and operation of market gardens in residential zones. The Urban Farm ordinance gained momentum and ultimately led to the creation of the Sustainability Action Plan. Lori also worked closely with Amber Waldref and community members to implement the Centers and Corridors design guidelines.
Lori Kinnear and Larry Stone worked together to have the Ponderosa Pine designated as Spokane’s official tree. In 2014, City Council celebrated the Ponderosa Pine, alongside the Spokane Ponderosa led by Larry Stone, to preserve Spokane’s environmental heritage. This designation led to the urban forestry ordinance and the protection of street trees and tree canopy 40% by 2030.
In 2016, Lori and Megan Duvall worked to craft the ordinance to establish local historic districts, which have already been utilized by two neighborhoods and will continue to preserve Spokane’s history for future generations.
In her time on Council, Lori has driven environmental protection policy, including sponsoring the passage of the City of Spokane’s Sustainability Action Plan, passing two revisions to the urban forestry code, leading the effort to use goats in Spokane’s urban-wildlife interface for fire fuel mitigation, passing a drought response plan and an ordinance re-establishing water use expectations, updating impact fees and GFCs, and leading the way on legislation that protects riparian zones.
I appreciate all that Lori Kinnear has done for our city and appreciate her steadfast leadership throughout her tenure. She will be missed by all in the Council Office.”
Warmest regards,
Betsy Wilkerson
Spokane City Council President
About the Spokane City Council
The City Council is the legislative body of the City of Spokane, which is home to more than 220,000 people and is located in the heart of the Inland Northwest. The City’s 2,000 employees strive to deliver efficient and effective services that facilitate economic opportunity and enhance the quality of life for all our citizens. For more information, visit SpokaneCity.org/CityCouncil/ and follow us @SpokaneCityCouncil on Facebook.
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