(The Center Square) – The Seattle City Council approved Mayor Katie Wilson’s plan Tuesday to increase the capacity of emergency shelters like tiny home villages, but not without some disagreement over how the expanded housing for the unhoused should be managed.
Under the new rules approved Tuesday, the temporary housing villages can house up to 150 people, up from the current limit of 100.
Several additional shelters could hold up to 250 persons under the initiative.
The plan is part of Wilson’s initiative to build 1,000 new units of temporary housing within 12 months and 4,000 in four years.
Five hundred of the units are supposed to be ready before the start of the first FIFA World Cup Game on June 15, but Wilson has admitted the goal may be unrealistic.
While the plan was approved unanimously by council members, individual members disagreed over elements of it.
One part that raised questions is whether 24-hour security should be provided at the expanded homeless villages, due to concerns about public safety and the use of drugs and drug dealing.
“We absolutely need to make sure that not only do we have robust services on site, but we also have a plan with the mayor’s office, with SPD, in case there are issues in the neighborhood,” said Councilmember Eddie Lin, who chairs Seattle’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee.
But cost concerns derailed that amendment.
Another amendment that would have changed Wilson’s plan by proposing that temporary housing sites be subdivided into “neighborhoods” with fewer than 50 beds also failed, but by a narrow 5-4 margin.
“I have no interest in warehousing people,” said Councilman Dan Strauss, who sponsored the amendment.
The homeless temporary housing plan has also created tensions between Wilson and members of the City Council.
Some council members were upset that the Wilson administration was trying to dictate the terms of the legislation without council input.
Wilson replaced last week her Chief of Staff, Kate Brunette Kreuzer, who was the primary liaison between the mayor’s office and the city council. A spokesman for the mayor, Sage Wilson, did not respond to requests for comment.
Before Tuesday’s vote, Councilman Bob Kettle put out a statement with questions about the legislation,
“The bill, as drafted, would expand the use of tiny homes and raise the allowable maximum capacity for sited encampments, but has raised many questions about the stakeholder process, standards of care for high-service shelter, and lacks a fully thought-out plan on expansion,” said Kettle.
But Kettle and his eight colleagues eventually cast a unanimous vote in favor of the overall plan.
The measure approved by the council is an interim plan; the council will still need to approve a permanent version next year.
The city of Seattle already contributes more than $118 million annually through the King County Regional Homeless Authority to build housing for the homeless in Seattle.
But the mayor is bypassing the authority, known for its lengthy process for new housing, to speed up the creation of the temporary housing.
The city council has already allocated an initial $9 million to fund Wilson’s plan, in addition to $8 million from existing city funds.
The regional homeless authority was subject to a critical audit last month due to its inability to document how millions of dollars had been spent.
Both Seattle and King County officials, who jointly fund the authority, are considering amending or even disbanding it.
