OK. Now the clock is ticking. CHS reported last week on the Seattle City Council task force being set up to find revenue for homelessness services and the roster of affordability and housing experts, nonprofit representatives, and, yes, marijuana entrepreneurs who had put their hats in the rings to be part of the effort. Tuesday, the final task force roster was announced:
Progressive Revenue Task Force Members:
- Councilmember M. Lorena González, Co-Chair
- Councilmember Lisa A. Herbold, Co-Chair
- Jennifer Adams, Lived Experience of Homelessness
- Andrew Coak, Labor Representative
- Lisa Daugaard, Subject Matter Expert
- Ian Eisenberg, Business Representative
- Samantha Grad, Labor Representative Kirsten Harris-Talley, Community Co-Chair
- Katie B. Wilson, Subject Matter Expert
- Brianna Little, Service Provider
- Daniel K. Malone, Housing/Service Provider
- Tom Mathews, Business Representative
- Fernando Mejia-Ledesma, Business Representative
- Courtney O’Toole, Lived Experience of Homelessness
- Tony To, Community Co-Chair
- Maiko Winkler-Chin, Housing Provider
The group will have until February to deliver recommendations to the council that identify progressive revenue sources as well as specific investments for said revenue that help address Seattle’s homelessness crisis. If the task force doesn’t deliver recommendations by the imposed deadline, the council will begin considering implementing a version of the employee head tax by March 2018.
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I thought Barbara Poppe concluded we spend enough, we’re just not spending it in a coordinated way? Instead of looking for new revenue sources shouldn’t this task force look for ways to efficiently and effectively spend the money we already raise?
Because that would mean the heavy train has to end for some very connected organizations that are funded by City Hall, but have no impact on reducing homelessness.
I agree. King County spends $200 million on homeless issues, and the bulk of that is in Seattle. Throwing more money is not going to lead to a better outcome….but spending the $200 million more wisely will do so. The City Council is on the right track when they recently (as part of the budget process) defunded those service providers who have been ineffective, in favor of those who actually reduce homelessness.
Love to see it. I am not certain to trust that this is possible considering the track record of those I am familiar with. And look at the Seahawks justice fund. They are millionaires how many blacks are going to be serviced through this? Time out for dumb stuff.
One of the key issues that needs to be addressed, and rarely is, is employability. Any solution that includes housing can only be made better by including some sort of employment training. I’m sure it won’t work for everybody, but I have to believe a lot of homeless people would love to work as part of their services rendered. It’s the old “teach a man to fish” thing. The longer you’re homeless the harder it is to crawl out of it as you become less and less employable. Helping people build some sort of job skills can only help.
Good point, Jim. In addition to job training/placement, it will be critical for the new housing programs to include mental health assessment/referral and also addiction treatment….otherwise long-term success for the homeless will be elusive. But such “wrap-around services” will be very expensive and I’m not sure if they are affordable on top of the huge amount of money needed for just the housing component.