Seattle now has a director of homelessness. Mayor Ed Murray announced the new addition to his cabinet Tuesday.

George Scarola will be the first ever to serve in the new position “responsible for leading the City’s homelessness efforts across departments, providing oversight and evaluation of outcomes, strategic guidance, and leading community engagement.”

“Homelessness is a national epidemic, leaving cities like Seattle stepping in to fill the large gaps left behind by state and federal agencies,” Murray said in the announcement of the hire, “We have made unprecedented investments in homelessness prevention and services. Because of the growing scope of work around homelessness, Seattle needs a proven manager to ensure we are achieving our desired outcomes. I have known George for many years, working alongside him in Seattle and Olympia, and know him as a unifying leader that excels at creating successful results through community engagement.”

Scarola is described as an “experienced public affairs and community relations manager having led advocacy organizations in Seattle and Olympia for over 25 years” in the announcement.

As part of the hiring, Murray issued an executive order “calling upon the director of homelessness to oversee and direct key City policy makers responsible for implementing the City’s efforts to address the ongoing homelessness crisis in Seattle” to ensure the city has “a consistent approach to planning, budgeting, development and implementation of policies addressing homelessness.”

Late last year, Seattle declared a state of emergency for homelessness and has pledged millions for both short term and long term measures to try to get more people off the streets of the city. Some programs have drawn praise — a homeless outreach program that came to Capitol Hill in February continues its efforts to meet the immediate needs of people living outside in the neighborhood. Outreach workers from the Downtown Seattle Association team up with Seattle Police officers to go on daily directed patrols of Cal Anderson Park and Pike/Pine streets to offer everything from dry socks to temporary shelter. Meanwhile other efforts like clearing The Jungle below I-5 continue to draw criticism from all sides including homeless advocates who opposed the heavy handed tactics utilized in euphemistically labeled “sweeps.”

City Hall is now touting its homelessness spending to address the epidemic will reach $50 million in 2016. Scarola will be paid an annual salary of $137,500, according to the announcement.