It’s shocking and backwards! In the wake of nationwide unrest due to the murder of George Floyd, Spokane’s Mayor Nadine Woodward released a draft police contract that would reduce independent oversight of the police.
You read that correctly — instead of a bold policy to respond to protestor demands to end police violence and invest in our communities, she is proposing to make the police less accountable.
Whatever our race, background, or zip code, we all want to move through our communities without fearing for our lives or our loved ones. But time and again, we have witnessed evidence of horrors committed against Black people by police in cities and on back roads, in living rooms and on neighborhood streets, in the dark of night and the light of day. We are coming together to demand that liberty and justice be for all and that our elected officials and public servants respect our rights, no matter our race, accent or zip code.
Time is short! The draft contract was released to the City Council this week and a vote is expected next Monday June 15th. To stop this awful contract from passing, we need to demand the city council reject any contract that violates the city charter and fails to provide independent oversight of the police.
Almost 70% of Spokane voters demanded and passed independent police investigations in 2013 and Mayor Woodward is joining our previous Mayors’ failure to represent voters in union contract negotiations. The City Council can reject this contract. It’s up to us to make sure they stand strong.
