Spokane business group denies public access as it lobbies transit agency

Greater Spokane Inc. organized a closed-door meeting with some members of the Spokane Transit Authority board to lobby against the agency's consideration of a permanent renewal of a tax that helps fund the region's bus system.

Organizers of the meeting planned the meeting in a way to dodge state laws that would have required the public to be able to attend.

The STA board last week decided to delay a vote to put a measure on the August ballot to renew a 0.2% sales tax that makes up roughly 19% of the agency's budget, at the request of Lance Beck, chief strategy officer for GSI, which is the region's chamber of commerce.

While several people used the public comment period at last week's STA board meeting to express their support for the tax, Beck instead asked that STA delay the vote so his organization could privately lobby the public agency with stating GSI's position.

Spokane Valley Councilwoman and STA board member Pam Haley urged the board to delay a decision until it could meet with the group, saying that some groups like GSI and the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce - which Beck headed until February - had threatened to finance an opposition campaign against an August tax renewal, in large part because they worried it would undermine efforts to pass a much larger new tax to fund a new jail and other criminal justice investments. Haley argued that meeting with GSI ahead of a vote could help mitigate that opposition.

"Can STA handle a campaign against the ballot measure in August?" Haley asked her fellow board members. "I question that. And have I been told that there will be a concerted effort against the ballot measure if we go in August. Yes."

The deadline for the STA board to place the tax renewal on the August ballot is Friday. The board will now hold a special meeting on Wednesday to decide the fate of asking voters for the tax. The public was not allowed to attend the Tuesday's meeting, and Beck declined to allow The Spokesman-Review inside. The private meeting is necessary to "allow for candid dialogue," Beck said.

GSI also "coordinated with STA" to ensure the meeting would not host a quorum, or a majority, of elected leaders, dodging open public meeting laws that would have forced the organization to open up its lobbying efforts to public scrutiny.

"If the discussion yields information appropriate to share, I'm happy to follow up afterward," Beck wrote in a Tuesday email. He did not respond to an interview request.

Spokane Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke, who serves as vice chair of the STA board, attended the meeting along with Haley and Medical Lake Councilman and STA Board Chair Lance Speirs. STA CEO Karl Otterstrom and CFO Robert Hamud were also in attendance.

GSI's members largely did not present a unified view on the transit agency's tax renewal efforts, Klitzke said, except to express broad concerns about votewr tax fatigue and a desire to see an eventual criminal justice sales tax measure succeed. Beck did urge STA board members to include a sunset clause on the tax renewal, which a majority of board members didn't appear to support at last week's meeting.

Supporters of a sunset clause have argued it helps hold the agency accountable to community concerns; opponents argue it jeopardizes the consistency of the agency's funding and could weaken the agency's competitive edge for federal and state grants.

Roughly 75% of the agency's operating revenues come from a .08% sales tax, which was increased with a 12-year sunset clause in 2016 with voter approval, an increase that is set to expire at the end of 2028. Board members are advocating for an early renewal - and removal of the sunset clause - in part to give the agency a buffer if voters reject the first request and partially out of concern that an $82 million commitment from the federal government to expand rapid bus routes could evaporate if the agency cannot quickly prove its long-term financial stability.

The Spokane City Council waded into the issue Monday with a 6-1 vote in support of STA placing a measure on the August ballot without a sunset clause; Councilman Michael Cathcart, who also sits on the STA board, was the sole no vote, arguing that the agency could only be held accountable by the public if it needed to regularly get voter buy-in.

Concerns from GSI gave Klitzke some pause, she said, despite believing the agency's funding should not be subject to a sunset clause.

"What's more important, getting it on the ballot or getting it on the ballot with no sunset?" she said. "For me, I think probably getting it on the ballot is more important than not having a sunset, but not having a sunset is the norm for transit funding."

Asked whether she agreed with the board delaying its vote to attend GSI's meeting, Klitzke demurred, saying she could "not make any comments counter to what" the board decided, but that GSI and the businesses it represents had "every opportunity" to provide feedback at an earlier date.

Airway Heights Councilman Bill Campbell put it in more direct terms during last week's board meeting.

"None of this has been hidden. None of it's been cloistered away. This initiative has been on the table since October, and if they haven't decided or haven't taken advantage of that up until now, personally, this feels like a delaying action," Campbell said.

Spokane Councilwoman and STA board member Sarah Dixit agreed in a Tuesday interview.

"I think it's interesting that this group is able to derail a whole board vote, when I don't know if there's many other organizations or community groups that would be able to have such an influence," Dixit said. "So it does feel unfair in that way."

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 7:08 PM.