Mayor Murray proposes adding $12 million to Seattle homeless budget

Mayor Ed Murray proposed adding another $12 million to Seattle’s homeless budget Monday while unveiling his 2017-2018 budget for the City of Seattle and also confronted the idea that the city needed “adult supervision” to deal with the issue.

The mayor’s proposed funding would go on top of the approximately $50 million the city spends annually on crisis. The money would go toward implementing strategies laid out in the City’s new homelessness plan, “Pathways Home,” which is described as “Seattle’s person-centered plan to support people experiencing homelessness.” Murray said the funding would come through a combination of new general-fund dollars, additional revenue from the housing levy to support an increase to the Homelessness Prevention Program and a continuation of funding for key programs originally funded under the 2015 State of Emergency.

“We must create an integrated system,” he said.

While Murray didn’t specifically call Mark Miloscia out by name, he addressed a quote from a “state senator” who said that the city “needs adult supervision” around the issue of homelessness.

“I know state senators. I like state senators. I used to be a state senator. But I do not remember ever seeing a state senator go into another jurisdiction to tell them what to do, much less say they need adult supervision,” he said. “This city, this council, and this mayor may not fully agree with each other on this issue, and at times the issue is messy and at times we are frustrated with each other… but Senator, this city, this council and this mayor are doing the serious work.”

Murray called for the state and federal government to “step up” and fund more mental health treatment, expand affordable housing capacity and increase funding for addiction services.

Where the extra money for homeless would go:
• Almost $1 million to house the unsheltered families on the waitlist. That includes funding rental assistance, rapid rehousing, motel vouchers for families, and domestic violence and sexual assault-related housing and case management programs.
• $5 million to convert an existing shelter to a 24-hour, low-barrier shelter with case management, for outreach to unsheltered individuals and families, and mobile medical van services.
• $1.1 million for staffing and data capacity, enhancing the Coordinated Entry system.
• $2.1 million “to maintain stability in shelter and encampments as system changes are made.”
• $2.8 million for homeless encampment sweeps and to offer service and shelter that go with them.
• $2.1 million to maintain stability in shelter and encampments as system changes are made.
• $2.8 million to improve coordination and outreach; increase safe sleeping locations, shelter and housing options; address public health and safety issues and the storage of belongings.

Other highlights

• Council member Kshama Sawant proposed opening the Council Chambers further to allow in people who had been waiting to enter all morning. Council president Bruce Harrell said he worried about fire codes since the chambers were at capacity. The council voted against Sawant’s idea. That decision was blasted by some during public comment.
• Speaking about the Black Lives Matter movement, Murray said the city is filled with anger and mistrust toward police, similar to the rest of the country. He said he has heard the fears from the black community but also has heard their resilience. He said it’s important for white residents to recognize their privilege. “What I do know is that white America has work to do.”
• Murray’s proposal would pay for 200 additional officers to be fully trained and on the streets by 2020.
• Murray addressed the nationwide shootings of people of color by officers and shootings overall. “These are profoundly difficult times in the history of our nation and of our city regarding the issues of race and policing.”
• Murray said he wants to limit the city’s dependence on construction, saying the city suspects it will start to slow beginning in 2017. He said the objective is to avoid major new investments and long-term commitments, instead moving to two reserve funds that would hedge against economic decline and natural disaster.
• Murray called the current state of politics ”poisonous.” He asked that in the last year “of this term” that the city show that “in times of great change, that democracy can function.”

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