Spokane

Valley won't get seat on PFD board
Bill will die in committee, chairwoman says
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Megan Cooley
Staff writer

Spokane Valley's hope for a seat on the Public Facilities District board has been squashed.

Rep. Velma Veloria, D-Seattle, said Tuesday that a bill giving the new city a permanent role on the board -- increasing its size to seven members from five -- won't get out of committee.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bob McCaslin, R-Spokane Valley, passed 47-1 in the Senate earlier this month. But Veloria said board representation is an issue that officials should hash out locally, and as chairwoman of the House Trade and Economic Development committee, she has the power to kill the bill.

Spokane Valley City Council members were disappointed.

"It's unfortunate that we didn't convince the legislators to make a change," said Deputy Mayor Diana Wilhite.

The Legislature determines the county board's size.

The board oversees operations of the Opera House, the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the Convention Center and that facility's big expansion project. It also handled a $7 million bond sale that raised money for CenterPlace, a community center that will be built at Mirabeau Point Park in Spokane Valley.

The City Council has argued for two years that Spokane Valley is large enough to merit a permanent seat on the board.

PFD board members have opposed changing its makeup, saying increasing the size would make it less efficient. Chairman Shaun Cross also has said board members don't want to represent factions; they want to speak for Spokane County as a whole.

"We're going to do our best to represent all the citizens," he said Tuesday. "We would have continued to do that if the board had been expanded, but we'll continue to do our best with five."

The board is composed of two members from the city of Spokane and two Spokane County appointees. Those four appoint the fifth member.

Currently, one of the county's appointees lives in Spokane Valley.

"I feel they're being represented," Veloria said of Spokane Valley residents. "I can't find anything that the board has done against their wishes."

Wilhite said the council will continue to work locally for the change. It will ask the PFD to rewrite its rules to allow the new city to appoint one of the five members.

"With the additional responsibility they've taken on, I think it would behoove them to have a larger board," she said.

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