CITY OF SHORELINE

 

SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL

SUMMARY MINUTES OF WORKSHOP DINNER MEETING

 

Monday, August 28, 2006

6:00 p.m.

Shoreline Conference Center

Highlander Room

 

PRESENT:       Mayor Ransom, Deputy Mayor Fimia, and Councilmembers Hansen, Ryu, and Way

 

ABSENT:        Councilmembers Gustafson and McGlashan

 

STAFF:            Bob Olander, City Manager; Julie Modrzejewski, Assistant City Manager; Rob Beem, Human Services Manager; George Smith, Human Services; Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director

 

GUEST:           Bill Block, 10-Year Committee to End Homelessness

 

10-Year Plan to End Homelessness

 

George Smith introduced Mr. Block, who chairs the 10-Year Committee to End Homelessness.  Mr. Block was formerly with Buck & Gordon Law Firm and the Seattle Housing Authority.  Mr. Block began his presentation by providing some data on homelessness.  There are more than 8,300 homeless people in King County on any given night.  Approximately 24,000 experience homelessness in King County each year.  27% of the homeless in shelters are children under 17 years of age.  Homelessness is a regional issue; the 10-Year Plan began in the community and was broadened to include a wide range of partners.  Key strategies of the plan include: preventing homelessness; integrating housing and services; rapidly moving people to permanent supported housing (Housing First Models); addressing racial disproportionality; continue building the political will to end homelessness; and measuring results.

 

Councilmember Way asked about youth homelessness and how big the problem is in our area.

 

Mr. Block said that due to the “Becca Bill,” which requires agencies housing homeless minors to report information to police, many homeless youth do not enter formal shelters, and thus, it’s very hard to get an accurate number.

 

Councilmember Hansen asked Mr. Block to define “ending homelessness.”

 

Mr. Block said the definition they are using is not to say no one will become homeless ever again, but preventing homelessness and getting people into permanent housing is the key.  However, some people will always be in some form of shelters at any given time.

 

Mr. Block added that a study of homelessness in San Francisco showed that the homeless cohort there is aging and not replenishing itself.  He noted that many of these aging homeless people are part of the large number of people de-institutionalized in the 1980’s and had no support system to fall back on.  The good news from the survey was that fewer people are becoming homeless than are now homeless.

 

Deputy Mayor Fimia asked if there was funding to help with homelessness prevention and what the plan is.

 

Mr. Block said House Bill 2863 provided additional funds for homelessness programs and the Legislature added more money for the Housing Trust Fund.  But, the job doesn’t end there.  They need more than $90 million to do the job over the next 10 years.  Other funding sources, including McKinney federal funding, Seattle Housing Levy funds, Section 8 funds, and CDBG funds are going into both services and structures for the homeless.  He added that King County could levy an additional 0.01-cent sales tax to fund new mental health programs.  $46 million per year would be generated by this tax.

 

He said that Shoreline could help by creating enough density in its housing so people who live here can have their kids live here as adults in affordable housing.

 

Deputy Mayor Fimia said an integrated transit system could really help families save money on cars and car maintenance, perhaps $300-$500 per month.  She asked Mr. Beem for his recommendation.

 

Mr. Beem recommended that the City Council endorse the Committee’s work and goals.

 

Implementation of Veteran’s and Human Services Levy

 

Mr. Beem provided background on the recently-passed levy, which is a six-year property tax that raises about $13.3 million annually to be spent on human services and veteran’s services.  Approximately 42% of the levy funds are currently proposed to deal with homelessness, and the proposal we’ve heard about would allocate the vast majority of the funds to South Seattle and South King County.  However, the final plan is not available for public review, so it is not yet known how the levy funds will be spent.  County Executive Ron Sims is expected to send the proposal to King County Council around September 15.

 

Discussion continued and several Councilmembers expressed dismay that our north end cities may be receiving little, if any, levy funds.  There was Council consensus to direct staff to draft a letter urging Executive Sims and the King County Council to consider the many needs of North Seattle and North King County residents as they complete plans for the Veterans and Human Services Levy as well as opposing closure of two Public Health Centers serving Shoreline and North King County.

 

Mayor Ransom declared the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

 

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Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director