New Year, New Commitment!

Happy New Year! I look forward to kicking off 2018 as the Chair of the Council’s Finance and Neighborhoods Committee. Our first meeting is this coming Wednesday, January 10, at 2:00 p.m.

As Chair of this committee my goals are to ensure departments are spending their money wisely and measuring outcomes based on data. I will review department expenditures and City revenues quarterly at my committee to assure that promises to voters are being kept and we can identify spending trends. I will support regional efforts to tackle our most complex issues including homelessness, opioid addiction and mental health; and ask departments to consider how customer service can be improved without the requirement of new monies.

During these next nine months leading up to our budget season in October, I am committed to working closely with the Mayor and her leadership team to coordinate reports on department programs and expenditures. I want to ensure every department has good fiscal management practices in place that meet our City’s growing needs and prudent financial practices. I will obtain information about department performance measures so we know that the City is spending taxpayers’ money wisely and meeting expected outcomes.

In addition, my committee will oversee the work of the Department of Neighborhoods. I support that department’s efforts to spearhead cross-departmental work and coordinate outreach to neighborhoods across our city. I applaud the work DON is doing to include voices that have not been heard before, while retaining close connections to those who have been the backbone of our neighborhoods for decades

If you would like to stay up to date with my committee, please sign up to receive meeting notices and agendas here. You are also welcome to meet us in Council Chambers on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 2pm.

Regionally Addressing Homelessness

Increasing housing options and working with the private sector

On December 1, 2017 Mayor Jenny Durkan, County Executive Dow Constantine, and Mayor Nancy Backus of Auburn announced a renewed commitment to take regional action on homelessness. Their vision is to bring business, philanthropy, service providers, health care providers, advocates, first responders, and city and county governments together at One Table. This will stitch together the patchwork of housing options and services to make thousands more housing units and appropriate person-centered services available for people experiencing homelessness this year. We know what we need to do. We have solutions to put into action right now, and when implemented across our region we can solve this crisis. It’s time to act regionally, and I support this work.

Working with the private sector: The Employee Hours Tax became the divisive focus of much of our budget discussions last November. Rather than identifying a new tax first, I concur with Mayor Durkan that we invite businesses and non-profits to the table, and agree on how we will make thousands of more units available for people who are homeless or are struggling with very low incomes. If we need more money to do this work, we will bring the community together to address the need.

Increasing the options: To get to the estimated 5,500 more stable units needed, we can take advantage of available options. For example, we are already expanding our enhanced 24/7 shelters, from two to 16 enhanced shelters in Seattle. The goal is to move people into and through the shelter system. We must pilot immediate solutions proven to bring people off the street here and in other cities, and make homelessness a temporary and one-time event:

Here are three immediate options:

Expedite permits for detached accessory dwelling units (DADUs) like Rex Hohlbein’s The Block Project;
Bolster successful programs such as Atlanta’s Open Door program and reinvigorate our Landlord Liaison Project, and;
Offer tiny homes with walls and insulation within managed encampments.

Please read more about all of these efforts on my blog here.

BLOCK Project

The BLOCK Project is more than a low-income housing effort to move people out of homelessness. It is a unique community-building program, led by the nonprofit Facing Homeless, to connect people to people and put roofs over heads. Local architect and friend, Rex Hohlbein and his architect daughter Jenn LaFreniere, invited people with homes in our city to help end homelessness by building a BLOCK Home in their neighborhood. Each BLOCK Home is built on one single-family lot. Rex’s goal is to add at least one on every residentially zoned block within the city. A stretch goal, yes. But the community building and resulting connections have been astounding.

The host families who choose to participate go through a vetting process, thorough review, and join a database for residents to match with those in need. Case management helps find eligible, qualified candidates to get matched with a host family that makes a good fit.

This type of innovative effort is exactly what we need to get more housing built immediately to help address the homelessness crisis—thank you Rex for all you are doing! Read more about the BLOCK project on my blog here.

Sally Bagshaw

Email: Sally.Bagshaw @seattle.gov
Phone: (206) 684-8801
Online: Council Website

For more information on what my office has been up to check out our recent blog posts: