(The Center Square) – As more than 7,000 residents seek housing across Spokane, local officials are renewing negotiations over a potential regional homelessness collaborative, or authority, to mitigate the crisis.
The idea nearly came to fruition two years ago, but the Spokane City Council switched course at the last minute. Officials had an opportunity to support a short trial in August 2023 but opted to lay out their terms for participation instead, despite others wanting to proceed.
Officials wanted a “realistic” operational and funding plan before moving forward, which may be on the way. Dawn Kinder, director of the city’s Neighborhood, Housing, and Human Services division, presented a new agreement to the council on Monday that could finally bring it to life.
“This interlocal agreement does not commit any funding, at any level, from the city,” Council President Betsy Wilkerson confirmed Monday. “This is an administrative and local agreement.”
Rather than building on the guiding principles from 2023, Kinder said this new agreement aims to memorialize what the city, Spokane Valley and Spokane County are already doing together.
Each municipality touts strong relationships at the staff level, but Kinder said the agreement would ensure that collaboration doesn’t stop due to turnover. She called it a tool for elected officials to hold staff accountable, although any party could terminate it with 60 days’ notice.
Shared responsibilities would include coordinating planning and outreach, updating housing inventory counts, implementing an inclement weather response plan, conducting point-in-time counts, aligning funding priorities, evaluating providers and sharing relevant data.
“We want to memorialize that so that if there is turnover,” Kinder said, “the collaboration does not stop itself simply because there’s new people at the table.”
Gavin Cooley, director of strategic initiatives for the Spokane Business Association, led the last push for a regional authority, applauded the new effort but called for implementing a board and executive staff. A CEO and others could keep the vision moving without getting caught up in the chain of command between multiple jurisdictions.
He compared it to a team that works together daily but requires a vote from the higher-ups whenever they want to start an initiative. With roughly 7,000 people accessing homeless services last year, Cooley said they can’t afford the slowdowns. He wants to see an effort that emphasizes daily collaboration across the region, putting eyes where the municipalities can’t individually.
“The board would have reps from each of those jurisdictions, and they would have to agree on that representation,” he said, “but at some point, you have to be able to let go a little bit of your authority to get stuff done.”
