The JustCare program, which takes a compassionate and constructive approach to bringing off the streets 130 of downtown Seattle’s homeless individuals causing the greatest issues, is set to run out of money next month. That has left organizers and some local officials scrambling to find additional funds to keep the program running through September.
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A trio of COVID-19 response announcements from the city (UPDATED 3/18)
Today the City of Seattle made three separate announcements of actions it is taking as part of its response to the COVID-19 outbreak. (UPDATE 3/18 — see below on encampment cleanups)
Continue readingDurkan administration tries to stop “RV ranching,” writes a bad bill, gets told off by Council
Back in June, Mayor Durkan announced that she would be transmitting to the City Council a bill that prohibits the renting of “hazardous vehicles” to vulnerable individuals as shelter. Today that bill had its first hearing in front of a Council committee, and it did not go well.
Continue readingUnderstanding the Mayor’s Proposed 2019-2020 Budget: Homelessness Response
On October 3, the Mayor’s Office walked through for the City Council the parts of the proposed budget related to responding to the homelessness crisis, which span several departments. Let’s dive into the details.
Continue readingUnderstanding the 2018 Point in Time homeless count
Yesterday, King County released a report with statistics from its annual “Point in Time” count of homeless people living in the county. The 140-page report is an ocean of data and charts. But if you look closely, you can see the story of what’s happening to the homeless population — as well as the city and county’s response.
Continue readingCouncil passes shrunken head tax
This afternoon the City Council resolved its stalemate and passed a compromise “head tax.” It imposes an annual tax of $275 per full-time employee (or full-time equivalent) on businesses making $20 million or more in revenues per year in Seattle.
Continue readingCouncil looks to fine-tune reporting on homeless encampment cleanups
Earlier this week, Council member Kshama Sawant held a discussion in her committee to push for some revisions in how the city reports on scheduled encampment cleanups.
Continue readingSawant holds political rally disguised as committee meeting
This evening Council member Kshama Sawant held a special meeting (video) of her Human Services, Equitable Development, and Renter Rights Committee. According to the agenda, the meeting was to discuss “Human Service Department (HSD) funding cuts to the women’s homeless service programs operated by the Women’s Housing, Equality, and Enhancement League (WHEEL) and the Women’s Referral Center.” And it was, but not quite the way you’d expect.
Continue readingJudge hands ACLU big setback in lawsuit over homelss encampments
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez ruled against the ACLU on two motions it had filed in its case against the city and WSDOT over the ongoing “sweeps” of unsanctioned homeless encampments.
Continue readingO’Brien releases working draft of “vehicular residence” legislation
Local media have been buzzing this week with reports that Council member Mike O’Brien would introduce a law that relaxes parking restrictions for homeless people using a vehicle (including cars and RVs) for shelter. This afternoon, O’Brien did just that.
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