Drafter

Clerk 06/29/2022

Title

A MOTION requesting the executive to develop an interagency taskforce to develop a plan to create a pilot project for homeless encampment clean-up practices in the rural unincorporated area.

Body

                     WHEREAS, on November 2, 2015, King County executive Dow Constantine and Seattle mayor Ed Murray proclaimed homelessness to be in a state of emergency in King County and the city of Seattle, and

                     WHEREAS, the number of individuals in King County experiencing homelessness is more than eleven thousand seven hundred, according to the 2020 Point-in-Time Count for Seattle and King County, and

                     WHEREAS, on December 18, 2019, King County and the city of Seattle entered into an interlocal agreement approved by the King County council and the Seattle city council creating the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to oversee a coordinated and unified response to homelessness, and

                     WHEREAS, since the creation of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, the King County council enacted Ordinance 19179, imposing a one-tenth of one percent sales tax for construction of new affordable housing units and construction and operation of new behavioral health facilities, known as the Health Through Housing sales tax, and

                     WHEREAS, in April 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided interim guidance on people experiencing unsheltered homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, which in part recommends allowing "people who are living unsheltered or in encampments to remain where they are" in order to minimize the spread of infection disease, and

                     WHEREAS the council is committed to making homelessness rare, brief and one time;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     A.  The council requests that the executive develop an interagency taskforce to develop a plan to create a pilot project on homelessness encampment clean-up practices in the unincorporated rural area.  The pilot project should focus on the homelessness encampment near the Green river on the roads services division parcel 302205-9006.  The interagency taskforce should include, but not be limited to, representation from the following agencies: the department of local services' roads services division, the department of community and human services and the King County sheriff's office.  In developing the plan, the taskforce should coordinate with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and individuals who have experience living in or around the encampment.

                     B.  The plan should include at least the following components:

                       1.  The status of the homeless encampment near the Green river;

                       2.  Information on the history of the encampment, a summary of any issues at the camp perceived by members of the interagency taskforce, including issues of the camp residents;

                       3.  Recommendations for clearing and cleaning the encampment, including the amount of funding needed to carry out the recommendations;

                       4.  An outreach strategy to engage neighboring property owners, including users of the nearby park; and

                       5.  Measures King County could take to connect residents to services, restore the hillside and prevent future homeless encampments from siting at that location.

                     C.  The executive should electronically file the plan no later than October 1, 2022, with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council chief of staff, the chief policy officer and the lead staff

for the committee of the whole, or its successor.  The plan should be accompanied by a proposed motion that should acknowledge receipt of the plan.