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Advocates ask Seattle City Council for more money to help homeless

By Daniel Beekman, The Seattle Times
Published: November 13, 2015, 12:20pm

When Seattle Mayor Ed Murray proclaimed a state of emergency last week to address homelessness, he asked the City Council for $5 million in new funding on top of the more than $40 million for homeless services in his proposed 2016 budget.

The council obliged the next day, approving the one-time allocation for 100 additional shelter beds, plus prevention and outreach to people without homes.

But services providers and advocates, along with some council members, are now arguing that isn’t enough. They’re pushing for the council – which votes Monday on changes to Murray’s proposed budget – to allocate at least $2.3 million more, possibly by diverting money automatically earmarked for the city’s rainy-day fund.

Nick Licata, the council’s budget-committee chairman, has been seeking support for the plan.

“We agree there’s an emergency and applaud (Murray) for recognizing that. But his proposal suggests 100 beds is an adequate response,” said Alison Eisinger, executive director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. “There’s no way a reasonable person can see the tremendous need and agree with that.”

“We’re asking the council: ‘Please don’t put this money in the rainy-day fund. It’s raining right now. Use this money to bring homeless people inside, out of the rain.”

Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine, in proclaiming states of emergency in the city and county and comparing the situation to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, cited the One Night Count on Jan. 23, which found 3,772 people without shelter across the county – a 21 percent increase over 2014.

There were an additional 2,993 people in transitional housing and 3,282 in homeless shelters on the night of the count, for a total of more than 10,000 homeless people.

The mayor also pointed to the number of homeless people dying on Seattle streets – 66 this year, through September – and the number of homeless children in the public schools – nearly 3,000, according to school-district statistics from June.

Eisinger said Murray talked the right talk but isn’t walking the walk needed to bring homelessness down.

The mayor last week said Seattle’s state of emergency will end only after “a significant reduction in the number of people dying on our streets.”

Eisinger said, “You have to have actions, not just words standing at a podium,” noting Seattle’s Disaster Readiness and Response Plan from 2012 lists 28 community centers as emergency-shelter sites in disasters with 14,000 people needing shelter.

The mayor bridled Thursday at the suggestion his emergency proclamation lacks substance, and warned the council against plundering the city’s funding reserves.

“I’m stunned. I had Alison in my office several times. I thought we were declaring a state of emergency because just doubling down on city resources was not the right approach, because we need to seek assistance from the state and federal governments,” Murray said.

“I can hardly make the argument to the White House that we’re desperate for money for homelessness if we constantly use every penny available on homelessness. There are poor neighborhoods in this city that need things, too.”

Eisinger on Thursday said she’s had only one recent meeting with the mayor and was clear with him about her concerns. She said help from the state and federal governments is indeed needed but is unlikely to arrive immediately.

Eisinger said the private sector should be involved.

Murray said some of Seattle’s homeless-services providers need to help make the shelter system more efficient. His Department of Human Services has been streamlining its contracts and demanding more information on results.

“This idea that the city can continue to give more and more money while getting worse and worse results is something we need to examine,” he said.

Seattle spends more than $40 million annually on homeless services. About half comes from the general fund and nearly half the rest from the federal government.

In 2014, the largest chunk of the $40 million – nearly $15 million – was spent on homelessness intervention for single adults, according to an analysis released in March.

Services for families, seniors and youth received less money, as did homelessness prevention and permanent housing.

Murray left $3 million unallocated in his proposed budget and $9 million in newly forecast revenues is available to the council for homelessness funding, he said.

“That would be a better approach than . opening up the rainy-day fund, which is meant to help when we’re forced to cut services during a recession,” Murray said.

Licata on Thursday said he’s not wedded to rainy-day money as the source of additional homeless funding, partly because some other council members oppose it.

Licata said he’s unaware of the $9 million in newly forecast revenues cited by Murray. He said he is now “scrambling to find an alternative” source.

The mayor last week said a decline in federal support for affordable housing has contributed to homelessness. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sent Seattle $11.37 million in Community Development Block Grant and HOME money this year, $5.32 million less than in 2009.

On the other hand, HUD has actually increased its homelessness assistance to the city and county. It sent about $28 million last year in Continuum of Care funding, up more than $5 million since 2010.

And just this week, HUD awarded 10 additional Seattle Housing Authority rental vouchers to homeless veterans.

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