Compassion Seattle Amendment Faces Scrutiny From Democratic Group and Homeless Advocates

by Chetanya Robinson

During a discussion in City Hall on June 16 organized by District 43 Democrats on Compassion Seattle’s proposed amendment to the statutes on homelessness, critics who experienced homelessness in person criticized the details and general approach of the proposal.

As the South Seattle Emerald previously reported, if the Compassion Seattle amendment were passed in November, the city of Seattle would include a new approach to homelessness right in its charter. Compassion Seattle is an association of executives from nonprofits, corporations and communities.

Under the change proposed by Compassion Seattle, the city would have to spend at least 12% of its general fund on human services and would have to offer shelter, shelter and behavioral health services to the homeless, including providing 2,000 new emergency units protection or permanent housing within a year.

The change also requires the city “to take steps to ensure that city parks, playgrounds, sports fields, public spaces, as well as sidewalks and streets, remain open and free of warehouses when the programs and services defined by the change are provided” .

After the amendment, the city can dismantle camps that “cause problems related to public health or safety or impair the use of public spaces by others”. The city should not only drive people to other areas in the open air and “avoid possible harm to individuals through the closure of camps”, according to the wording of the amendment.

To take part in the November vote, the campaign is seeking the signatures of 33,060 registered voters in Seattle.

During the first half of the discussion, Jon Scholes, President and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association and proponent of the change, asked questions about Jessi Murray’s proposal of the Democrats in the 43

Scholes briefly presented the proposal, saying it will build on tactics from the JustCARE program, which has relocated people living outdoors, many in Pioneer Square and the Chinatown-International District, primarily to hotel rooms, since the summer of 2020, using this approach does not disperse people in the city and does not require police. “This is the effort and the approach that this charter amendment seeks to scale,” said Scholes.

The reason Compassion Seattle is looking for a city charter change rather than an initiative is that an initiative could be changed by the city council while a constitution change cannot, Scholes said. “Bickering” in the town hall prevented measures against homelessness for too long, he said.

When Murray asked Scholes about Compassion Seattle concerns from people who had experienced homelessness, Scholes said the campaign heard no concerns from that group and consulted dozens of organizations, including people with lived experience.

Although certain measures are required by the city, the change does not include a funding mechanism. Murray expressed concern that without a funding plan to meet its goals, the amendment will not give positive rights such as the right to housing to people who live outdoors. Instead, it is designed as a methodology on how people can be evacuated from parks.

Scholes said that since the change requires the city to provide treatment services and build housing, “this is literally a mandate”.

When Murray found that the Downtown Seattle Association and other new corporate taxes like the JumpStart Seattle tax had turned down, Scholes said Seattle should prioritize hundreds of millions of Biden government aid on homelessness. “I don’t think we should tell the people who suffer the most to get the last dollar, to wait in the parks and sleep outside until we collect the next tax,” he said.

Scholes defended the wording of the amendment allowing camps to be removed in certain circumstances, saying this would force the city to provide adequate housing and services, such as permanent and temporary housing, and a move away from placing people in overnight shelters without further ado Offering treatment to what is not an acceptable option for many people.

The change requires the city to provide at least 2,000 residential units or accommodations within a year without specifying a housing-to-housing ratio. This is because “we wanted to allow the city flexibility in implementing this goal as we realized that it is unlikely that they will be building brand new homes within this next year to meet the requirements,” said Scholes. But the city could purchase existing buildings to help achieve that goal, he said.

Viewers who have experienced homelessness asked Scholes about warehouse moves and said they were harmful to people who experienced them. Amy Madden, the 43rd Democrat board member, if she had been “swept up” in a warehouse move, “it would have made our situation much worse,” she said.

Scholes said it is important to balance the interests of all Seattle residents when it comes to warehouses blocking sidewalks, public spaces and access to public transportation. He stressed that the amendment was not primarily about sweeps. “The real purpose of this change is to bring people inside. So as not to move them. “

Scholes added that the change won’t stop Seattle from building more housing, including micro-housing. He said future plans to add more housing and end land use restrictions would help make more housing affordable.

When asked by an audience member whether Compassion Seattle supports a tax on businesses, Scholes said, “The business community pays more taxes in the city of Seattle today than ever before,” and the city should receive revenue from the federal government for human services and bringing people into the home .

In the second half of City Hall, Dee Powers, CEO of Be: Seattle, spoke against the Compassion Seattle change. Be: Seattle is a non-profit organization focused on providing affordable housing for renters and people affected by homelessness. Be: Seattle, along with Real Change News, Transit Riders Union, and Nickelsville, filed a lawsuit against Compassion Seattle in May, arguing that the language that would appear on the ballot describing the change implied it was creating new means for homelessness would apply and therefore imprecise.

Powers lives in an RV after being dragged out of her downtown apartment in 2015.

“We’re not fooled by the flowery language of Compassion Seattle,” said Powers. “Yes, we need a solution, but it’s not.”

Powers said the change wouldn’t do enough for the working poor or people who are homeless and living in vehicles or in other precarious situations. The proposed change does not apply to vehicle occupants at all.

“Your advertisement is really about, ‘Hey, let’s clean up the parks and put those people who are high in visibility into these 2,000 units,'” they said. “I’ll still end up out here when these 2,000 units are full.”

Powers also criticized the change for its lack of a funding mechanism. The federal government’s money will not be enough to pay for the permanent, affordable and supportive housing needed, they said. “We can’t pretend we don’t need more money for it.”

The city needs full-service RV parks, thousands more affordable permanent housing units, and units affordable to the working poor to really address the homelessness crisis, Powers noted.

Powers urged people to oppose the change. If it goes away, people should push Seattle and King County to expand Compassion Seattle’s services and demand that city sweeps stop, they said.

Those interested have until Friday, June 25th to sign the Compassion Seattle amendment. 33,060 signatures are required for the November ballot. If you want to remove your signature from the initiative, you can follow the Foreign Minister’s instructions here.

Chetanya Robinson is a freelance journalist and editor-in-chief at the International Examiner. He enjoys reporting on the diversity of Seattle life, including the hyperlocal stories of individual communities and neighborhoods. His work has also appeared in Real Change News, Crosscut, Seattle Weekly, and others. Find him on Twitter at @chetanyarobins.

📸 Introduced IMagician: Attributed to David Lee (under a Creative Commons, CC BY 2.0 license).

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