Drafter
Clerk 09/07/2004
Title
A MOTION responding to the report of the citizens' advisory commission on homeless encampments and asking the executive to submit proposed policies for siting and permitting homeless encampments as well as recommendations regarding longer term steps for ending homelessness.
Body
WHEREAS, King County council Ordinance 14922 adopted on June 1, 2004, created the citizens' advisory commission on homeless encampments to make recommendations to the executive and council regarding the need for homeless encampments and policies and procedures for locating encampments, including analyses of the issues and options involved in using publicly and privately owned sites, and
WHEREAS, the eighteen voting and four advisory members of the citizens' advisory commission on homeless encampments were appointed by the executive and confirmed by the council on June 14, 2004, and
WHEREAS, the citizens' advisory commission on homeless encampments completed its work and transmitted its written report to the council on August 13, 2004, and
WHEREAS, the co-chairs of the citizens' advisory commission on homeless encampments presented and discussed the commission's recommendations to the council's committee-of-the-whole on September 7, 2004, and
WHEREAS, the commission found that homeless encampments are not a long term means of solving homelessness but rather one piece of evidence of the failure to adequately address and end the problem of homelessness, and
WHEREAS, the majority of the commission agreed that homeless encampments are currently a necessary expedient, given the continuing and growing lack of access to regular, stable housing, and
WHEREAS, the commission's recommendations include some policy and procedural guidelines for siting encampments, mitigating their impacts on surrounding areas and assuring basic health and safety, and
WHEREAS, the commission's policy and procedure recommendations may have operational implications for county and city governments, and
WHEREAS, the Committee to End Homelessness in King County is completing a plan this fall to end homelessness within ten years and will be seeking county, city and community support to implement significant improvements in housing and services;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. Based on review of the recommendations of the citizens' advisory commission on homeless encampments and alternative viewpoints expressed by members of the commission, the executive is requested to develop and submit, by October 28, 2004, for council review and approval, proposed policies for siting and permitting homeless encampments, noting what agencies will be responsible for implementation and what costs and impacts, if any, these agencies project, and
B. The executive is requested to submit recommendations to the council regarding how the county will take significant steps to help reduce homelessness, with particular emphasis on those vulnerable populations for which the county has service responsibilities. These recommendations shall be developed in accord with and response to the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness soon to be completed by the Committee to End
Homelessness in King County and submitted for council review and approval within ninety days of completion of the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.
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