Bloglander

It's Monday the 13th. Freaky.

Tonight, the Spokane City Council will vote on renting a crime analyst from the sheriff's office for an entire year. The deputy's position is funded by a grant and will be solely focused on auto theft prevention. The city will pay the county about $60,000 a year for the services, but here's a free tip: Auto thieves like Honda Civics. You're welcome.

The city will also vote to hire NAC architecture for $415,000 to design the Upriver Facility Project. NAC was chosen because of its "green design" experience, as well as its ability to preserve the historic aspects of places. So, let's see, half-a-mill to make something look old and as if it weren't actually designed and built? Pretty smooth, NAC.

And the council will vote to support negotiations between the mayor and the city's unions to help balance the budget, which is currently $12 million in the hole. There are about 2,000 employees. If my math's right, each employee just needs to take a $6,000 pay cut and we're good.

Speaking of balancing budgets, Spokane Valley is getting ready itself. Tomorrow, the council will hold a public hearing to present a breakdown of what's changed in the last year when it comes to the city's cash flow. For instance, on page three of the presentation, we learn that sales tax revenues are down $400,000 and property tax revenues are down $100,000, while some other tax revenue from the state is up $200,000. Next to this last digit, a helpful parenthetical asks: liquor? Yes, please. Sounds like a fun meeting. Public input is encouraged.

And, finally, the Spokane County Commissioners tomorrow will vote to declare September "Suicide Prevention Month" as well as Sept. 27 "Family Day — A Day to Eat Dinner with your Children." We figure these two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

Happy guvment-ing!