Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s homelessness advisor resigns in move to mitigate tension with city council

A key policy advisor within Seattle Mayor’s leadership team has stepped down.

Jon Grant, Wilson’s chief advisor on homelessness and housing, resigned Wednesday morning, PubliCola first reported. Grant’s departure — his last day is June 1 — came after he was asked to step down.

Grant was in charge of implementing Wilson’s promise to add 4,000 new shelter beds, including 1,000 by the end of 2026.

“[Grant] chose to resign … after playing a key role advancing the mayor’s highest priority: accelerating the development of new shelter with wraparound services to bring people inside,” Wilson’s Chief of Staff, Esther Handy, told Publicola in a prepared statement. “Jon helped develop and implement the mayor’s Shelter Accelerator executive order, worked to pass three key pieces of legislation, and provided support to the Seattle social housing developer through a key period. We thank him for his work in these critical first months of the new administration, and wish him the best going forward.”

Grant came to City Hall from the Low Income Housing Institute — the city’s main supplier of tiny home villages. His job was to find new shelter sites, and to find them fast.

His departure comes after weeks of what The Seattle Times described as a growing tension between the mayor’s office and the city council. Seattle council members have publicly complained about poor communication and a lack of specific plans.

Seattle city council members struggled to work with Grant and Kate Kreuzer, Wilson’s now-former chief of staff. The council voiced its displeasure after the pair urged them to pull a bill on a shelter plan because amendments added by council members that Wilson did not support had been made. Councilmembers considered this a “vast overreach,” according to Publicola, leading to a breaking point in relations between Wilson and the city council.

Grant previously ran for Seattle City Council twice. He lost to Tim Burgess in 2015 and Teresa Mosqueda in 2017.

Grant’s departure not the only staffing change among Wilson’s team

The Seattle Times additionally reported that two other staffers, Jen Chan, the director of departments, and Edie Gillis, a senior staffer, will also be leaving the mayor’s office soon. Both departures were preplanned for six months into Wilson’s term.

“While I understand change can be unsettling, I want to assure all of you that it is common for a new administration to refine its internal staffing roles,” Wilson wrote, according to The Seattle Times. “Being open to new ideas coupled with an honest assessment of what might need adjustment is key to good governance.”

This is not the first shakeup within Wilson’s team. Handy replaced Kate Kreuzer, who was moved to a special projects role, as Wilson’s chief of staff earlier this month. Kruezer is considered to be a longtime friend of Wilson’s, whereas Handy is a city hall veteran with more than a decade of local government experience, including work as an executive operations manager in the mayor’s office.

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