Seattle City Wire

Seattle City Council members Lisa Herbold (D) and Andrew Lewis (D) shared their opinions and comments on hot issues facing Seattle, particularly homelessness, in a recent edition of City Inside/Out: Council Edition.

The first topic of discussion focused on COVID-19 vaccinations in District 1, which includes West Seattle to South Park, and is represented by Herbold. According to Herbold, West Seattle in King County has a particularly low vaccination rate, which is a concern for the elderly population who reside in that zip code. 

"County-wide, 82% of folks 75 and older have received a first shot. But in one zip code in particular in West Seattle, 98126, only 54% of seniors 75 and older have received their first shot. So it's been really, really important between the equity issues associated with different demographics of people having access to vaccine and the fact that folks who live on the peninsula were very isolated in getting off the peninsula," Herbold said in the interview.

Lisa Herbold, City Coucil | Seattle.gov

Lewis discussed how the city plans to appropriate a $12 million proposal for hotel rooms, tiny home villages and shelter enhancements to help those experiencing homeless as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This proposal has been cause for a lot of debate within the Council, despite that the appropriations would be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"What we really did as a council is hunker down with FEMA themselves through the leadership of Council President Gonzalez and convening that meeting to really learn what circumstances can we seek reimbursement for," Lewis said on the program. "Generally the way it works is the city has to spend the money upfront, and then we can apply for reimbursement... We also need to make sure that we're spending it on reimbursable expenses that are 100% reimbursable. That generally means catering to the needs of folks who are 65 and older and/or have comorbidities that make them particularly vulnerable to COVID."

Lewis said that because many of the homeless fall into these categories, that makes it possible for the money to be spent on the homeless community. Lewis said that the city tracks the metrics of data for the homeless population, and there has been in increase in homelessness in the city because of COVID-19. But solutions are available with the use of the reimbursable funds. 

"Hundreds of homeless people in Seattle that fall into those categories. It is possible there are thousands who have those conditions and comorbidities... We're not being terribly prescriptive. We're giving some leeway to the mayor's office to interpret what assets they want to stand up. This money could be used for tiny houses, this money could be used for hotels, this money could be used for enhanced shelters, as long as it meets the requirements that have been laid down for reimbursement," Lewis said during the interview. 

Herbold said that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's regulations on non-congregate shelters has caused more of the homeless population to have to live in "encampments," and the funding may help fix some of this as an overall issue. 

"We in the city of Seattle are, by ordinance, we have directed the human services department to do results-based contracting, so that is why we collect this data. That is why it's accessibly available with transparency to the public, so folks can both see the measurements and the results of those measurements. As Council Member Lewis says, the issue is not that our social service providers are not doing a good job. The issue is that we do not have enough options for folks to go to. I have great hope a hoteling strategy that can both present some options for people in the near term, but that our hoteling strategy can evolve into a pipeline to permanent housing as well," Herbold said on the program. 

According to Herbold, part of what the city hopes will help the homelessness issue is the mayor's recent extension of a hold on evictions until the end of June. Other issues that both council members touched on included public safety, police spending, public funding and city spending.