I have two ballot measures I want to stump for heavily here:

The EMS Levy April 27th: EMS stands for "Emergency Medical Response," which basically means our City's ability to respond to 911 medical calls. This ballot measure, which has passed every 6 years since 1980, pays for some 60 firefighter/paramedics. These are all jobs-not equipment. Without this levy our ability to respond to the increasing demands of EMS calls would be devastated. I strongly urge you to vote for this measure.

The Children's Investment Fund: This is an amazing citizen initiative to tackle the twin priorities of early childhood education and high school dropout prevention. The best way we can improve our economy and reduce criminal justice costs is to increase educational attainment, and this measure takes bold steps to do just that. The measure is not on the ballot yet, but is gathering signatures now. Please visit their website or contact me to sign the petition, I have one with me all the time.

Here are some recent citizen concerns my office has been tackling (OK, "my office" is a stretch--it's just me and my part-time assistant Paul):

- What's up with Lincoln St. construction work?: Expect 4 months of disruption, minimum.

- Where's my City water rebate?: Good question--we're looking into it.

- Why is the City still using de-icer on the roads?: According to the street depart we aren't. What you are seeing is spray trucks with water working in tandem with street sweepers trying to keep dust down.

- Is there some way we can make 37th and Grand safer for pedestrians?: Great question. We are working on a Complete Street's policy that would address this and we are also working with council member Rush in regards to the Jefferson Elementary rebuild/relocation to see if the city can't partner with the school district he to create a Safe Route to School for kids.

Some things coming up that you might be interested in:

- Sustainability Task Force will be working on an update soon

- The City is looking at adding a few all-electric Nissan Leafs to it's fleet,

- A complete streets resolution is going to be considered by Council in early April

- I'll be speaking at Earth Day Spokane in Riverfront Park April 17

- Shoreline Management Plan process is nearing resolution

- First Pass of the City Budget should be coming at the begining of May

- Pedals2People will be presenting to the City Council on April 19

Time to go to bed and get this email out tonight so that nobody thinks any of it is for April Fool's Day!

Best regards,

Jon Snyder
Spokane City Council
District 2, Position 2

P.S.

Things you might find helpful on my website:

- My calendar with all my important City meetings and events
- Frequent blog posts, including a recap of our Monday night meetings on Tuesday
- My twitter feed (@jonbsnyder)