SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council has passed the third piece of Mayor Katie Wilson’s three-part plan to add 1,000 shelter beds in Seattle in her first year in office, including 500 shelter beds by the FIFA World Cup.
The legislation creates new capacity limits for shelter sites, expanding from 100 to 150 beds. One shelter in each district can now expand to 250 beds, if a pilot at Camp Second Chance in the South Park Neighborhood proves effective.
“Tiny house villages are actually a really effective way to get people into temporary shelter. Through being in that temporary shelter, people can start to stabilize access to services and get connected to long-term solutions,” said Dionne Foster, the city council member in the city-wide seat 9. Foster also sponsored the bill.
The council debated the bill for hours, especially three amendments.
One from Councilmember Maritza Rivera would have required “trained” security to have a 24-hour presence at shelters, though concerns that it would limit providers currently conducting security work ultimately killed the amendment. Another from Council Member Dan Strauss aimed to create “self-contained” neighborhoods within shelters themselves, but did not gain enough council support.
The only amendment that passed creates guidelines for a public safety plan, good neighbor agreement—both of which are already required for most shelters, and creates additional requirements for shelters that operate within 500 feet of schools.
Many service providers lamented that the requirement is redundant.
“Based on our conversations with shelter providers, we don’t believe it will provide greater safety or well-being for shelter guests or good relationships with the surrounding neighborhood.” Halli Willis, with the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, testified to the council.
Ultimately, the council passed the change 5-4 with supporters citing recent incidents near schools as the reason why.
“Let’s talk about our schools and safety because we did have safety issues, we did have shootings, we did have overdoses.” Debora Saurez, the council member representing District 5.
The legislation now heads to Mayor Katie Wilson for signature.
It will be in place for one year, meaning the council and the Mayor’s Office will need to find permanent funding and create permanent rules if it is to continue past that time.