Spokane City Council to host lesson on legislative process Wednesday

May 31-Hoping to build on a campaign promise to make the Spokane City Council more accessible to residents unfamiliar with the legislative process, Councilwoman Sarah Dixit will host a civics workshop Wednesday evening at City Hall.

"In general, local government can be really confusing for folks, so instead of assuming people already know everything and can understand all of the jargon, we wanted to do something that was just more accessible," Dixit said in a brief interview.

The goal for the event, which Dixit hopes will be the start of a series, will be to better equip local residents with the knowledge to more effectively lobby city government, track legislation as it goes from committee to a vote, and understand the differing powers of the council and mayoral administration.

It may be a hard sell to convince people that it's worthwhile to spend time after work or school learning about local government, Dixit acknowledged, and the civics lesson is just one part of broader efforts to increase engagement from residents who don't typically lobby their elected representatives. The freshman councilwoman hopes that bringing in noncouncil people to discuss effective advocacy will appeal to those who already want to be engaged but don't know how to start.

Dixit will moderate the conversation with the event's panel, which will include Naghmana Sherazi, a member of the City Council's Equity Subcommittee, Luke Tolley, a member of the city's Community Assembly, and former Councilwoman Karen Stratton.

The Civics 101 lesson will be held in the City Council chambers on the lower floor of City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.