(The Center Square) – Members of the King County Council are pleased with proposed changes to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, but note more needs to be done.
The King County Council, the City of Seattle and the Sound Cities Association are set to vote on a new five-year interlocal agreement with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, or KCRHA.
The proposed agreement would create a single governing board within KCRHA that is responsible for providing fiscal oversight, setting strategic policy direction, monitoring performance, and ensuring the agency is making progress to fulfill its mission.
KCRHA currently has three separate boards that have oversight authority: the governing committee , the implementation board, and the Seattle King County Continuum of Care Board, which is in charge of applying for federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for homelessness assistance.
The board is anticipated to meet once a month rather than quarterly.
The majority of King County councilmembers who spoke during the first discussion on the interlocal agreement on Tuesday seem pleased with the streamlining approach. However, some council members noted more needs to be done in addressing homelessness.
King County Councilmember Jorge Barón serves on the governing committee and said that the changes to the governance structure is only one step to lowering homelessness rates in the county.
“Even making these changes is not going to be sufficient to address the issues. This is a step that is needed, but ultimately we need a lot more resources to our system, because we still have a lack of capacity to provide shelter,” Barón said during Tuesday morning's Committee of the Whole meeting.
Fellow Councilmember Rod Dembowski was part of the county council when the KCRHA was first developed in 2019. Dembowski approves of the singular government structure, and added that he was pleased to see representation from other King County cities on the board.
The proposed KCRHA Governing Board would be comprised of 12 total members, including King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, two members of the King County Council, two members of the Seattle City Council, three elected officials from the Sound Cities Association, and three members who have lived experience with homelessness who would have to be appointed by the city, county and association.
The Sound Cities Association represents 38 cities within King County outside of Seattle.
“If we want to solve [homelessness] from a regional perspective, our regional partners should have an equal voice on the table,” Dembowski said.
The interlocal agreement will be discussed by the Regional Policy Committee on Sept. 3 and will be discussed one more time by the Committee of the Whole on Sept. 4.
The legislation is anticipated to be voted on by the county, Seattle City Council and Sound Cities Association next month.
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