City jobs grow out of Seattle homelessness crisis
May 17, 2017, 3:46 PM
Aaron Benedict Morman wakes up in a nest of sleeping bags and a foam pad beneath a viaduct as traffic passes near him in Seattle. Morman said that he's been homeless for over 30 years, the last two in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Two new jobs have been created to tackle the Seattle homelessness crisis. This adds to other positions directly related to homelessness the city created within the last year.
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The new positions bring the total number of new homeless-related jobs to six that the city has hired for since August. The two positions currently advertised for will potentially pay more than $100,000 each.
• Homelessness czar: $137,500 annually
• Homeless encampment trash/litter program administrator: up to $46.80 / hour
• Two homeless encampment field operations advisers (x2): up to $42 / hour
• Executive for encampment response: Between $119,997.36 and $140,000.41 annually
• Homeless communications director: Between $91,872 and $125,843.76 annually
Adding all that up – at the high end of estimated annual pay – it comes to $537,908.17 in new salaries.
Before Seattle and King County declared a state of emergency over the homeless crisis in 2015, the city spent about $40 million on the issue; the county spent $36 million. After the state of emergency was declared, Seattle put up $5 million more, and the county threw in $2 million more.
Job descriptions
“Executive overseeing the homeless encampment response program” pays between $119,997.36 and $140,000.41. The role of the executive will be to lead cleanup programs for homeless encampments on public property while finding housing for people living in those camps. The purpose will be to move people living in tents into “indoor housing alternatives.”
Communications director will be dedicated solely to the homeless response program. This position pays between $91,872 and $125,843.76 annually. They will handle all internal and external communications around encampment issues. They will work with everyone from the mayor to the council, the police department and more to create messaging around homelessness.
And let’s not forget, in August 2016, the city hired George Scarola to be Seattle’s homelessness czar. Scarola is charged with leading the city’s homeless response efforts, organizing multiple departments and providing oversight and strategic guidance.
Seattle began hiring again in March 2017, this time to solve the homelessness issue. One position was for an administrator for a homeless encampment trash/litter cleanup program. The position is paid up to $46.80 an hour and was listed as temporary. The city also advertised to hire two field positions that would coordinate cleanup of encampments. They are paid up to $42 an hour.
