With the clock ticking on $2.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, Pierce County leaders seem farther apart then ever on their approach to homelessness.
Democrats on the Pierce County Council want to use the money to build a temporary stability site somewhere outside Tacoma, saying it would provide important shelter for those experiencing homelessness.
Pierce County Council Chair Ryan Mello (District 4, Democrat) told The News Tribune a well-managed and safe stability site is something the county needs to get folks off the street and into a “stable option while we wait for the next many years for housing to get built at a scale we need it built.”
On July 15, County Executive Bruce Dammeier’s office proposed a supplemental budget to the council that would move the $2.5 million set aside by the council for the stability site into other programs and services for the homeless — abandoning the stability site altogether.
In an interview with The News Tribune on July 17, Dammeier said he thinks the county already has enough temporary housing and needs more permanent, supportive housing instead.
The council directed $2.5 million in ARPA funding to be used for the stability site, but the planning process has been difficult as county staff has had trouble finding a suitable site for it in Pierce County and has encountered zoning obstacles. The county has until the end of the year to obligate the ARPA funding before it expires.
Ordinance on stability site fails
An ordinance that would have made it easier to establish tiny-home villages for the homeless failed on July 9.
Ordinance No. O2024-538 , sponsored by council members Mello, Robyn Denson (District 7, Democrat), Jani Hitchen (District 6, Democrat), was intended to amend a county code that prevents emergency shelters and temporary housing projects from being established in the county.
County code prevents shelters from existing for longer than 90 days, which was hampering a council-directed project to establish a stability site outside of Tacoma.
Human Services director Heather Moss reported multiple difficulties with finding a viable location for the stability site to the council’s Select Committee on Homelessness, including zoning that prevented such shelters.
In May, the County Council asked the County Executive’s office and the Human Services Department to make a proposal to amend the code to allow for a stability site so that the council could approve it, Mello told The News Tribune.
On July 17, Dammeier, a Republican, told The News Tribune he was never aware of the council’s request for zoning amendments.
After months of no movement towards zoning changes to allow the stability site, Mello, Denson, and Hitchen brought forth Ordinance No. O2024-538 . The emergency ordinance would have allowed a stability site to bypass the usual committee process but have required approval from five out of the seven council members instead of a simple majority.
Councilmember Dave Morell (District 1, Republican), who voted no, said in a statement the ordinance was circumventing processes that are intended to protect the community.
“I don’t see the emergency. Rushing to change regulations to allow temporary homeless housing villages like tents or pallet shelters is short-sighted,” Morell said in a statement July 16. “Probably the most concerning is that it limits the community’s ability to influence what happens when one of these villages is planned in their neighborhood.”
During the July 9 meeting, Morell also pointed out the ordinance was drafted without input or collaboration from the Human Services Department. During the meeting, a representative from the county’s Planning and Public Works Department told the council it also was not contacted during the drafting of the ordinance. Morell suggested that not asking county staff for input could be an “overreach” by the council.
When asked why he objected to the ordinance, council member Paul Herrera (District 2, Republican) told The News Tribune he had serious concerns about the lack of process.
“With only one week for the public to understand that the council was considering allowing 100 person encampments all over the county,” Herrera wrote in an email to The News Tribune. “I’ve seen first hand the failures and challenges of low-barrier tent cities, what drugs and alcohol can do to compound behavior health issues and drive up crime, and I know we can do better.”
Mello, who spearheaded the legislation, responded to those concerns during the meeting.
“I want to be abundantly clear, the select committee [on homelessness], and the council, has asked the Human Services Department since the very beginning of this year to bring us a code,” Mello said. “We have asked it repeatedly on the record, had repeated meetings with the Human Service Department and sent repeated emails asking for them to provide us a code. That has not happened — we feel like this is a true emergency.”
“Republicans unfortunately are clearly politicizing this effort, spreading misinformation and not bringing real, affordable and quick solutions to the table and that is shameful and disappointing,” Mello told The News Tribune on July 16.
New ordinance goes through committee
On July 16, a new ordinance was proposed by Mello, Denson and Hitchen .
According to a news release from council spokesperson Bryan Dominique, the ordinance would authorize religious, nonprofit and governmental organizations to provide Temporary Housing Communities for up to 60 individuals experiencing homelessness. Any temporary housing community would have requirements to be professionally managed, with 24/7 staff and public health and safety standards.
Mello said the main difference between the new ordinance and the one that failed the previous week is that the new one will go through the normal committee hearing process before being considered. He estimated it could take weeks before it could be voted on.
The new ordinance would not require a super majority to pass like the previous emergency ordinance and would pass if council members voted the same way they previously did.
County Executive pivots from stability site
Dammeier told The News Tribune on July 17 the stability site was “not what our chronically homeless need,” but that a full spectrum of services and housing was needed to benefit the homeless-response system.
He also said the ordinance brought forward by Democrats on the council would have allowed “tent cities” to be established around the county with little notice to neighboring residents.
Mello told The News Tribune he was “frustrated” with the executive’s pivot away from the stability site. In recent meetings Mello fought the narrative that the ordinance would allow for “tent cities” and pointed out the ordinances stipulated that temporary housing communities would require management staff, hygiene facilities and other amenities.
He told The News Tribune the executive is playing politics with people’s lives, in reference to his “unwillingness to work with the council to site well-managed safe tiny-home villages for temporary housing.”
When asked if he thought the Pierce County Council, Human Services and his office were not on the same page when it comes to the county’s approach to homelessness, Dammeier said that would be a “fair characterization” of the current dynamic.
“It is a conflict we are trying to work through,” Dammeier told The News Tribune.
Editor’s note: The county has until the end of the year to obligate $2.5 million in federal money before it expires. The original version of the story incorrectly reported the requirement the county must meet.
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