Fear Shouldn’t Shape Future Of Spokane

On two dark evenings in December seven planets lined up.

I hope you saw it, because the chance is gone.

It’s January now. The seven planets aren’t visible anymore.

Some other events are lining up in Spokane, however, that also provide a once-in-a-long-time opportunity.

A truly remarkable series of decisions in the next 45 days will decide:

whether Spokane’s downtown redevelopment project will really happen;

whether all or part of Eastern Washington University is merged into Washington State;

whether historic Lewis and Clark High School is rebuilt.

I have lived in Spokane 19 years. I cannot think of a time when more issues tied directly to the fate and future of the city have been lined up as they are today.

It would be hard to overestimate the importance of these decisions.

The fate of the RiverPark Square development, quite simply, will set the stage for the health and future of downtown Spokane.

The path chosen for EWU and WSU will, in a significant way, set a course for how Spokane educates generations to come.

The decision by voters on Lewis and Clark High School will be a marker for the decade on whether Spokane continues to support its local institutions and preserve its local landmarks.

I have great optimism about these next few weeks.

I envision where Spokane could be headed in the spring.

I see a city with a future brighter than at any time in a decade.

Having a vision, thinking what Spokane can be, is essential for the good citizens and their leaders right now. Tremendous opportunities are before us.

But I also have lived here long enough to know the fear that resides in Spokane.

It is the fear of taking a chance. It is a fear borne from too much poverty, too little education, and a suspicion that somebody else is doing better.

Politicians and opportunists play on this fear. One civic terrorist or obstructionist can stop the work of many.

So, I was saddened to see John Talbott, the newly elected mayor, play into the hands of those who are fearful. Talbott is a creature of the fear that holds Spokane back. He played on that fear to get elected.

In his first national appearance as mayor, he will be acting on behalf of those who feed that fear when he travels to Washington D.C. this week to try to kill the federal financing plan that will ensure downtown redevelopment.

He fears Spokane cannot afford to repay the loan.

He fears the wrong thing.

The HUD loan Talbott wants to kill is the key to rebuilding the retail center that will house Nordstrom, a movie theater, and a host of shops and restaurants.

That redevelopment will, in turn, help revitalize the Davenport Hotel, boost the Spokane Children’s Museum and pollinate a hundred smaller businesses and services that will grow like wildflowers around the core.

If the mayor wants to have nightmares, his fear should be based on what happens if he is successful in killing the loan that is central to downtown revitalization.

I was saddened as well to listen to the Eastern Washington University professors and staff this week who spoke fearfully about the future of their institution. They clearly feared for their jobs and their school.

They also fear the wrong things.

Much will be lost in Spokane if the mission and purpose of higher education cannot be refocused.

Two very good things are possible if the state Higher Education Coordinating Committee acts in good faith toward Spokane in the next few weeks.

First, Washington State University can be given clear authority and a directive to oversee and develop a research facility for upper level students in Spokane.

Second, Eastern Washington University can be instructed to rebuild its core around low-cost undergraduate education with an emphasis on developing teachers and well-trained technical students.

The separate and distinct missions for EWU and WSU would put the city on a path where it could educate Inland Northwest students and workers for the 21st century.

For Lewis and Clark High School, I am sorry only when I think Spokane is in danger of losing sight of the values it has held dear for preserving historical places and supporting public education.

The fear should not be of a few dollars more in taxes, but of what will happen if those dollars are not spent and the support for public education in the city recedes.

I think Spokane still can conceive of itself as a community of hope, not fear.

I think Spokane still can conduct a conversation about the kind of city it wants to be rather than hopelessly bogging down in talk about all the bad things it imagines could happen.

Much will be learned about the fate of Spokane over the next few weeks. Our fate is not in the stars, but in our hands and the hands of our leaders.

We must not let fear be this city’s guide.

, DataTimes MEMO: Chris Peck is the editor of The Spokesman-Review. His column appears each Sunday on Perspective.