Zackrabbit “Zippy” Zappone trying to pull another fast one
Posted 27 November 2023
Spokane City Council Member Zack Zappone’s “just-in-time” approach to political survival has led to habitual last-minute legislative “emergencies” that are supported by his supermajority allies …
Now, as dates with fate (his ethics hearing & a vote to stop gerrymandering) fast-approach, Zappone is once again in hurry up and wait mode, asking that Council repeal a Vote of the People that Council passed unanimously 4 months ago.
Zappone has sponsored Resolution 2023-0103 “repealing Resolution 2023-0043 [passed unanimously in July 2023] regarding redistricting provisions in the City Charter, and calling for the creation of a City Charter Review Committee”
The Resolution submitted just days ago (11/22/23) in its summary states urgency,
“To ensure the redistricting proposal does not appear on the February 13, 2024 ballot, it must be adopted by the City Council and delivered to the Spokane County Auditor no later than December 15, 2023”
Zappone’s repeal resolution is scheduled for City Council on Monday, December 4th
Possibly a sign of good news: Zappone’s co-sponsor for this last-minute legislation is current Council President (CP) Lori Kinnear whose last day on Spokane Council will be this week, as newly-elected Council President Betsy Wilkerson will take Kinnear’s CP position. Co-sponsoring a controversial resolution is much easier when you won’t be around to take the heat.
However, Wilkerson has hedged many times before and reversed course out of political expediency.
Now is the time to email bwilkerson@spokanecity.org and call Betsy Wilkerson at: 509 625 6269 and tell her that this would be the worst way to begin her tenure as Council President.
Before he began his recent outrage-a-week chapter of public service, leading Council to denounce, demean, and deride his political foes through ridiculous resolutions that the vast majority of citizens had moved past (except his “Trifecta” slate of candidates), Zack Zappone was mostly known for his blatant and well-documented efforts to gerrymander his own political district. In an April 7, 2023 article in The INLANDER, Daniel Walters wrote of Spokane Superior Court proceedings,
"Do I believe it was a good idea for him [Zappone] to submit a map? I don't," [Spokane Superior Court Judge, Tony] Hazel said in court on Friday. "And I do even acknowledge I think that violates the spirit of the charter? ... I don't think they wanted city council persons drawing the maps and doing the business of the board."
"As a matter of law, for precedent going forward, the City Council should not be submitting maps, I will make that ruling here," Hazel said.
Zappone, who officially served in an advisory capacity on the Spokane City Redistricting Board which took place throughout 2022, defied precedent and public trust as reported in a September 30, 2022 article in Center Square by RaeLynn Ricarte,
“The Spokane Redistricting Board has spent months redrawing city council maps to equalize populations between three voting districts, but one member is questioning the ethics of allowing the last-minute addition of a fourth map by Councilor Zack Zappone.”
While Zappone’s map was technically not found to have violated the law, He came under sustained scrutiny for his behind-the-scenes collusion with other council members, donors, and allies as they hopped about in their secret garden.
These activities, as revealed through court documents are alarming and have resulted in a lengthy ethics complaint filed on May 15th of this year and finally set for hearing on December 14, 2023 at 2 pm, City Hall. In typical form, Zappone filed a last-minute request to delay these seven-month-long proceedings as well.
Sensing civil dissatisfaction with the Zappone gerrymandering saga, Council Member Cathcart proposed a remedy to get politicians out of the district map deciding process. KHQ’s Noah Corrin reported on June 4, 2023,
“The Spokane City Council will begin considering an ordinance to give voters a chance to change the way city council districts are drawn on Monday.
“The ordinance, proposed by councilmembers Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle, would put before Spokane voters a chance to change redistricting in the city by striking the existing relevant sections of the city charter and replacing them with a new section.
“The proposal comes in the aftermath of last year's redistricting process, in which the council voted to move forward with a map originally introduced by councilmember Zack Zappone, as opposed to the map favored by the redistricting commission.
“A legal challenge to that map ended with a judge upholding it last month.
“While most people involved have acknowledged the council's legal right to vote to replace the commission's map with Zappone's map, which was also among those recommended by the commission, detractors including council members Bingle and Cathcart have called it unethical. The judge who upheld the map even suggested Zappone had violated the spirit of the law, according to reporting by the Spokesman-Review.”
Cathcart’s resolution did pass unanimously 5-0 (Zappone was absent, one vacancy) on July 24th, 2023, placing the measure on the City of Spokane Ballot as conducted by the Spokane County Auditor’s Elections Division. The Ballot Measure is already posted on the County Elections Division website.
Below, you can view for yourself the Spokane City Council voting to place the thoughtful Cathcart resolution on the February 13, 2024 ballot for voters to decide whether council members should make their own district maps. Kinnear, Stratton, Wilkerson (albeit hedging and disparaging neighborhood councils), Cathcart, and Bingle voted yes. Again Zappone was conveniently absent.
There is an old saying, “Failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis on my part.” And, just like the fabled hare who fell asleep, thinking the race was easily won and tried to make up ground in the last minutes:
Zack Zappone has had 4 months to express any concerns about the unanimous resolution passed by his own colleagues giving the voters control over political district decision-making.