March 10 City Council Recap

Hi everyone! Here's my recap of our short but exciting Cheney City Council meeting from March 10th. You can also watch the full meeting recording, check out the meeting agenda, and read the official draft meeting minutes which are up for review and approval at tonight's Council meeting.

General Notes

This was the first meeting following passage of Resolution F-473, which brought back the Pledge of Allegiance to the start of Council meetings. The resolution requires the Pledge to appear on the agenda immediately after the call to order, allows the Mayor to delegate who leads the room, and makes participation optional. To kick things off, Mayor Martin invited Councilmember Mark Posthuma to lead us in the Pledge for the first time under the new resolution.

We had one in-person public comment, and a two emailed comments:

• One resident thanked the Council for reinstating the Pledge of Allegiance and thanked the Mayor for hosting the public meet-and-greet with Chief of Police candidates.
• One resident emailed resources to help onboard new Council members.
• One resident emailed to raise awareness of a scam involving impersonation of an insurance company. (You can read about that news story here.)

Claims, vouchers, and small contracts were all routine. There were no informational items this time around.

Highlight of the Night: New Chief of Police Appointed

The big ticket and exciting item of the night came next with the appointment of our new permanent Chief of Police! Mayor Martin recommended to Council to appoint Chris Oakes, who has been our interim Police Chief for the past year. The council chambers was literally overflowing with attendance in a show of support for this appointment. We had friends, family, community members, local police and fire in attendance, plus neighboring law enforcement all present filling every seat in the house and then some. It was incredible to see and really affirming in this selection. Council wasted no time in quickly, enthusiastically, and unanimously confirming Chris Oakes as our new Chief of Police.

Our City Clerk then brought up Oakes to get him officially sworn in as our new Chief of Police in front of everyone followed by tremendous applause and cheers.

Remaining Business

The meeting wrapped up with one resolution:

• Resolution F-476 - Elm Street Phase 2 - N 6th & Betz Road Roundabout: Public Works presented the bids received for the new roundabout project and requested approval to move forward with the lowest qualified bid. The project was identified in a previous traffic study, and grant funding has been secured to cover the cost. It's exciting to see a contractor now approved and this project on its way to becoming a reality! The resolution passed unanimously.

There were no staff reports or Mayor's report. Council reports were predominantly congratulatory toward Chief Oakes, with Councilmember Shelly Hahn also noting she has an upcoming Spokane County Elected Officials meeting on her calendar.

I also shared a few slides highlighting some recent activities. I had the opportunity to join our City Planning Team and Planning Commissioners for a Short Course on Local Planning offered by the Washington State Department of Commerce. This course is free and available online, so anyone can sign up: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/growth-management/education-outreach/short-course/

I also shared that Councilmember Danielle LaBar and I got to tour the Cheney CHAS Health Clinic, and that this month's Historic Planning Commission meeting featured a tour of the newly restored Cheney Depot. Eastern Coffee Roasters will be moving into the Depot to manage the space and serve coffee and snacks. They are hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony open to the public on Friday, April 24th at 9:30am — mark your calendars!

Wrap Up

At just 16 minutes, this was one of our quickest meetings yet, but what it lacked in length it more than made up for in energy. Plenty of photos and congratulations followed for our new Chief, and the excitement in the room was palpable. I'm looking forward to everything we can accomplish together in service of our community!