Category: homelessness

City Council, Drugs, Elections, homelessness

John Wilson Drops Out of Race He was On Track to Lose, We Heart Seattle Lashes Out Against Harm Reduction

1. King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson, who was arrested last week outside his former partner Lee Keller’s home for allegedly stalking and harassing her, ended his campaign for King County Executive yesterday, announcing the decision on Facebook.

Every single member of the King County Council, including the two frontrunners in the county executive race, Girmay Zahilay and Claudia Balducci, has called on Wilson to not just drop out of the race but to step down from his current elected position, which he will hold until next year unless there’s a successful recall campaign.

In his Facebook post, Wilson said he was dropping out because “personal matters have drawn attention away from critical issues” in the campaign. “I’m grateful for the support I’ve received and look forward to continuing to serve the residents of King County in my role as Assessor.”

Wilson, who was running as a law-and-order candidate, wasn’t likely to beat either of his better-known and better-funded opponents in the primary, so dropping out of the race with just a few weeks left was a largely symbolic act.

Wilson has been prolific on Facebook both before and after his arrest, posting subtle digs at Keller and writing darkly about enemies who are purportedly trying to take him down. In June, Wilson posted a photo he took with Keller during a brief reconciliation in May. “Shown recently to a member of the news media, the reporter said Ms. Keller looked happy and not at all afraid” in the photo, Wilson wrote. “As you can see from the photograph, Ms. Keller took the picture at 3:15 PM that afternoon.”

Keller has a protection order against Wilson barring him from contacting or coming within 1,000 feet of her. Earlier this week, the Snohomish County Prosecutor declined to immediately file criminal charges against him; a civil case, in which Wilson is seeking the termination of Keller’s protection order, is still moving forward.

2. During a council committee meeting to discuss a proposal from Council President Sara Nelson that would dedicate up to 25 percent of a forthcoming public safety sales tax to addiction treatment, We Heart Seattle founder Andrea Suarez showed up for public comment armed with what she described as “methamphetamine pipes and foil that are handed out” to drug users in Belltown, along with a rubber strip she described as a tourniquet for drug injection. “We have to stop handing out tourniquets and pipes and foil and cookers,” Suarez said.

Handing out safer smoking supplies is a form of harm reduction for drug users, who might otherwise use pipes contaminated with infectious fluids or unknown drugs or sustain burns from thin grocery store aluminum foil, among other risks. Opponents of these measures, like Suarez, say they enable people to keep using drugs.

Suarez, who stood behind Nelson at the press launch for her proposal last week, lashed out at two of the organizations that were about to discuss their work and take questions from the committee. We Heart Seattle is an anti-harm reduction advocacy group that “cleans up” occupied homeless encampments and directs people to abstinence-based treatment programs, including a high-barrier program in Oregon that kicks people out if they relapse.

Zeroing in on Purpose Dignity Action (co-directed by Lisa Daugaard) and the Downtown Emergency Service Center (headed up by Daniel Malone), Suarez said, “I ask my colleagues to stop [distributing smoking supplies] within your low-barrier housing. It’s not working, and I don’t hate the player. I hate the game. I hate that you have a fentanyl smoking shack in the back of your hotel, Lisa.” (The PDA has what amounts to a safe smoking site outside one of its residential buildings). “I respect you, the person, the colleague, but I can’t get behind that.”

“I toured the Canady House at DESC—the carpets are pitch black, rats, rodents, bugs,” Suarez claimed. The Canady House is a 15-year-old permanent supportive housing building that has been the target of regular outrage from right-wing personalities and activist groups like the Discovery Institute.

Daugaard won a MacArthur “genius” grant in 2019 for creating the successful LEAD diversion program, which has been replicated all over the US. DESC provides housing, shelter, and health care to homeless Seattle residents with complex physical and behavioral health care needs that make them effectively ineligible for other types of housing; they’ve won numerous national awards over their many years in Seattle, including several for their low-barrier “wet” housing on Eastlake.

During the presentation, Daugaard brought up the fact that the legislation says “up to” 25 percent of the proposed 0.1-cent sales tax increase could go to treatment. If the legislation was tweaked to say “at least,” Daugaard said, that would set a floor, rather than a ceiling. Nelson later said she heard a similar idea on a recent episode Seattle Nice, where both Sandeep and I agreed that it would be great to see 100 percent of the public safety sales tax go to behavioral health care.

City Council, homelessness, Women

The More We Love Launches Six-Month “High Accountability” Out-of-Town Shelter for Commercially Exploited Women
The More We Love founder Kristine Moreland at a panel hosted by former city councilmember Cathy Moore’s committee last month.

By Erica C. Barnett

The More We Love, a group that began as a private homeless encampment sweep contractor, just finalized its contract with the city to provide 10 shelter beds for the rest of the year, at a cost of around $600,000, to women seeking to leave the sex trade on Aurora Ave. N. The organization already operates a 20-bed shelter for sexually exploited women and their children in Renton, and plans to add 10 new “non-congregate” shelter spots, which appear to consist of rooms at a hotel that also serves the general public.

During a Seattle City council meeting last month, the group’s founder, Kristine Moreland, brought several of her clients to provide sometimes graphic testimony about their experiences as victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Stories like theirs appear to have swayed former (as of today) city councilmember Cathy Moore to direct up to $1 million in city funding to the group earlier this year, forestalling a competitive bidding process that was already underway.

The contract contains a number of provisions and deliverables that are unusual for a city human services contract.

For example, it says The More We Love’s program is “intentionally low barrier to enter and has high accountability to stay.” What this means, according to the contract, is that women with substance use disorders “are asked to commit to a pathway towards recovery to stay in the shelter unit” after what the contract calls a 72-hour “recharge” phase. The maximum stay is 30 days.

“TMWL’s pathway to recovery is connecting the survivor to the appropriate detox/treatment facility, supporting them in the programming that will best fit their needs, and supporting with after care such as TMWL’s recovery housing units,” the contract says. “If survivors are not able to commit to the program, TMWL will work with them to find next steps after exiting the emergency shelter.”

 

Requiring commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) survivors to commit to sobriety as a condition of shelter for themselves and their children is not considered a best practice by experts on gender-based violence. “This approach has already been asked and answered as not effective to the realities of substance use and healing from long term trauma,” Amarinthia Torres, the co-director of the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence, said.

The city’s contract with the only other organization it funds to provide shelter beds to women leaving sex work, Real Escape from the Sex Trade, describes REST’s program as low-barrier and does not include any “accountability” requirements for participants.

Peter Anderson, The More We Love’s chief operating officer, told PubliCola the term “high accountability” means that “we walk alongside women to support their goals, address behaviors that jeopardize their safety or the safety of others, and create environments conducive to recovery and transformation. No woman is ever ‘kicked out’ for relapse. We meet each individual where they are, while ensuring that program safety standards are upheld for all participants.”

The contract goals include 180 referrals to The More We Love’s shelter and 105 successful enrollments over six months, which works out to 30 referrals and 17 placements in The More We Love’s 10 new beds every month—a swift turnover rate, even with the 30-day maximum stay.

A third and final goal is for all 105 of those women to “report increased safety, agency, dignity, belonging.” It’s unclear whether or how the city plans to verify that The More We Love has achieved this vague program goal.

In the contract, The More We Love says the group’s “ability to merge the public and private sectors to meet the full scope of need makes its program unique. TMWL works closely with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and regional service partners, like Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS), to receive referrals to the emergency shelter, while leveraging a strong network of community volunteers and faith-based supporters to provide relational care beyond what most programs can offer.”

A representative from OPS said that contrary to what the contract implies, the group has no formal partnership with The More We Love, although they have occasionally referred women to their shelter on a one-off, strictly “informal” basis.

It’s unclear how The More We Love recruits its “community volunteers and faith-based supporters” or how these individuals are trained to provide “relational care.” The city requires all volunteers for contractors that work with CSE survivors to complete 20 hours of training prior to volunteering.

The six-month contract includes $23,000 in “automotive” expenses, on top of $5,782 for “client transportation.” Asked if The More We Love is using the $23,000 to buy a car, Anderson said, “The automotive budget line covers transportation-related expenses, which may include maintenance, mileage reimbursements, other transportation arrangements, or the acquisition of an additional program vehicle to safely transport women and their children to critical appointments and services.”

In comparison, REST’s contract for 2025 includes transportation costs of $786.

The More We Love’s six-month contract also includes $272,000 for salaries and benefits, along with $10,000 for “consultant services.” Client assistance—flexible funds that can be used to help women and their children with expenses, including rent assistance, clothing, job training, child care, and anything else that helps promote self-determination—amounts to $20,000 over the life of the contract. “24/7 onsite security” will cost another $34,000.

City Council, Elections, homelessness, King County, Mayor Harrell, Taxes

This Week on PubliCola: July 5, 2025

King County assessor jailed, new public safety sales tax could pay for treatment, and a longtime youth homelessness provider is in tumult.

By Erica C. Barnett

Monday, June 30

Head of Downtown Business Group Lobbied for Digital Kiosk Company; Education Levy Will Help Backfill City’s Budget Deficit

Sung Yang, the board president for the Downtown Seattle Association, is also a registered lobbyist for IKE Smart City, the company that just brokered a deal to install digital ad kiosks that will benefit the DSA financially throughout downtown Seattle. And: The city’s families and education levy is supposed to fund preschool and other additive education improvements, but this year’s will also fund programs previously paid for out of the city’s general fund.

Seattle Nice: What’s Behind the Proposed New Business Tax?

On this week’s podcast, Sandeep and I discuss the proposed ballot measure to increase business and occupation taxes for the highest-grossing businesses—why it’s happening, why it’s happening now, and what it could mean for this year’s elections.

Tuesday, July 1

Local Public Safety Sales Tax Increase Could Include Some Treatment Funding (In Addition to Cops)

City Council President Sara Nelson, anticipating Mayor Bruce Harrell’s introduction of a 0.1-cent sales tax increase for public safety, is proposing that up to 25 percent of the new tax go to addiction treatment; precisely what kind of treatment the tax would fund remains up in the air.

Thursday, July 3

County Assessor Wilson Jailed on Allegations of Stalking, Violating Protection Order

After PubliCola broke the news that county assessor and King County executive candidate John Arthur Wilson had been jailed for stalking his ex-partner, Lee Keller, at her home, we updated this post to include details from Wilson’s bail hearing at the downtown jail, at which Keller spoke about her fear that Wilson would continue to violate her no-contact order against him.

Campaign Fizz: Mallahan Says He Voted GOP in Hopes of Hurting Trump, Sawant Proposes “Battering Ram” Free Health Care Initiative

Accused of voting Republican by the Harrell campaign, mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan first said the accusation was false, then recalled that, actually, he did vote for Tulsi Gabbard in the 2024 primary. And former councilmember (and current Congressional candidate) Kshama Sawant registered a campaign for a local health care initiative her political party has described as a “battering ram” to push nationwide universal Medicaid.

Amid a Long-Brewing Financial Crisis, Homeless Service Provider YouthCare Shuts Down Services, Fires Executive Director

YouthCare, the 50-year-old nonprofit dedicated to ending youth homelessness, has taken drastic actions in recent months to address a financial crisis—laying off a quarter of its staff and closing or consolidating standalone shelter and housing programs. Former staff critical of the agency worry that Youthcare is focusing too much on a future workforce-training hub, the Constellation Center, and not enough on its core mission.

 

homelessness

Amid a Long-Brewing Financial Crisis, Homeless Service Provider YouthCare Shuts Down Services, Fires Executive Director
Rendering of YouthCare’s planned Constellation Center, a workforce training and service hub that’s supposed to open alongside a new Community Roots-owned apartment building in 2027

By Erica C. Barnett

Youthcare, Seattle’s largest housing and shelter provider for youth and young people experiencing homelessness, has shut down programs, laid off at least a quarter of its staff, and redirected resources from housing and shelter to address a budget crisis that has been building for many months. In recent weeks, the agency has announced plans to shutter a shelter for homeless refugee children, shut down a free GED program, and scale back services at a transitional housing program for LGBTQ+ youth.

On Thursday, YouthCare’s board chair, Becka Johnson-Poppe, announced the resignation of YouthCare’s embattled leader, Degale Cooper.
“We recognize that this is a time of uncertainty, and we want to acknowledge the concerns many of you have raised–particularly around our financial picture,” the email to staff said. “The Board is fully engaged and committed to securing YouthCare’s financial health and long-term sustainability. We are actively developing a plan to stabilize our operations and align our programs with the evolving needs of youth in our region.”

For months, current and former Youthcare staff have been raising concerns about how Cooper has managed Youthcare’s finances, programming, and staff.

They say the organization, founded more than 50 years ago with a mission to end youth homelessness, has largely abandoned that mission to focus single-mindedly on a workforce training and education hub on Capitol Hill called the Constellation Center, which is supposed to open in 2027 along with a planned new Community Roots Housing affordable housing project that will include 15 beds for formerly homeless youth.

Staff began publicly calling for Cooper’s resignation last month. In early June, about three-quarters of of Youthcare’s remaining staff signed a petition calling for Cooper’s ouster. The petition also demanded that Youthcare “provide accurate and transparent information about the agency’s financial solvency, with a coherent explanation of how we’ve come to our current state.”

“Having recently undergone layoffs to establish long-term financial stability, we yet again find ourselves in financial crisis,” the petition read.

Former staffers said YouthCare has been plagued with financial issues for years. In December 2023, an audit found “significant deficiencies” in Youthcare’s internal financial controls, meaning that their internal financial checks and balances do “not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct, [financial] misstatements on a timely basis.”

The issues with financial compliance have been compounded, according to former finance staffers, by the fact that the agency has struggled to retain high-level finance staff, including a chief financial officer, for more than a few months at a time, and fired at least one staffer who raised whistleblower concerns about Youthcare’s financial practices.

In recent months, dozens of staffers have received layoff notices, and several executive-level staff have quit or been fired, leaving only Cooper and Chief People and Culture Officer William Wiggins at the top of the agency’s org chart.

The cuts to services and housing come one year after Youthcare announced it was closing down two transitional housing programs for youth along with its youth shelters in the University District and South Seattle. Then, as now, YouthCare said it was “consolidating services” to secure the nonprofit’s financial future.

YouthCare’s cost-saving measures have impacted workers’ ability to do their jobs, former staffers say.

Earlier this year, for example, employees’ cell phones were cut off, reportedly because Youthcare hadn’t paid their cell phone provider. Then, on a Friday afternoon a couple of months ago, YouthCare abruptly shut off the credit cards frontline staffers used to pay for their clients’ basic needs, leaving them unable to pay expenses that typically amounted to somewhere between $30,000 and $60,000 a month.

“They just got cut off with no explanation, and the staff were left to tell the people they worked with, ‘Sorry, I just can’t get that for you,” Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) 8 representative Phoebe Feldsher said. “It created a lot of hardship for the clients and staff.”

Other staffers say Youthcare fell behind on the rent payments that keep many clients in affordable housing, holding on to rent checks instead of paying them promptly. “People are going to get evicted,” Feldsher said.

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PubliCola sent a list of questions to Cooper on Monday morning. She referred us to a consultant at the Fearey Group, a crisis communications and public relations firm, which provided responses from the board on Thursday afternoon.

In an email, the board said they were aware of the disruption to staffers’ cell phone services but did not know whether it was intentional or due to nonpayment. They attributed the credit card freeze to concern over how much staffers were charging on their cards and whether they were accounting for it appropriately.

“At this point we are not aware, or have received any evidence, that clients have gone without payment for rent and other essential needs. We do believe the restrictions in the use of credit cards probably affected how client assistance was provided,” the board wrote.

After the union representing Youthcare staff, OPEIU 8, published the petition calling for Cooper’s resignation in June, Youthcare set up a virtual town hall to discuss employee concerns. But when staffers displayed Zoom backgrounds that read “Save Youthcare, Fire Degale,” Youthcare management ended the meeting early, reportedly after muting some staffers who were trying to speak out about their concerns; a second town hall was scheduled, then canceled, and former staffers say they were left in the dark.

“The decision was made in May or June to start consolidating our sites because we were not utilizing our financial planning in a way that would have sustained any of our operations for quite some time,” one former staffer said. “When I was there, it was always, ‘How are we going to get another $20,000 in here to meet payroll?'”

Shortly after the petition went online, non-unionized staffers, including program managers, signed an open letter addressed to YouthCare’s board, expressing dismay about the program closures and a lack of confidence in Cooper, who replaced Melinda Giovengo as CEO in 2022.

“Instead of taking responsibility, Degale Cooper and others have placed the blame on front-line staff for procedural errors, such as coding receipts, despite the fact that we have been operating without current or accurate financial information for months,” the staffers wrote. “This is not leadership. This is mismanagement. And it is our staff and clients who are paying the price.”

In a June 15 email to staff, Cooper said the open letter did not represent the views of YouthCare “leadership” and contained “multiple inaccuracies, distorted facts, and harmful speculation, and it was not shared in the spirit of care, collaboration, or truth.” Cooper then promised to answer any questions staff might have about “what is changing, why, and what it means” at the upcoming virtual town hall.

“We recognize that moments of change are hard. They raise real questions and emotions,” Cooper wrote. “As the CEO, I want to make sure your questions are answered by those accountable for this organization, not by anonymous sources or rumors.”

Multiple people who attended that town hall said the meeting left them with more questions than answers about how Youthcare planned to address its financial crisis. Among other questions, they wanted to know why Youthcare was shutting down programs, whether the agency planned to cut more of their jobs, and whether Youthcare had a plan for the future.

“They kept muting participants,” one former staffer said. “And [staffers] were like, ‘hey, if you’re going to call a town hall and then mute us, it doesn’t serve any purpose.'”

The programs that are slated for closure, reductions, or consolidation into other YouthCare programs include:

Continue reading “Amid a Long-Brewing Financial Crisis, Homeless Service Provider YouthCare Shuts Down Services, Fires Executive Director” →

Business, City Council, homelessness, Mayor Harrell, Taxes

This Week on PubliCola: June 28, 2025
An IKE kiosk in Atlanta

State contracts go unpaid, the homelessness authority considers cuts, council approves digital sidewalk billboards, and more.

By Erica C. Barnett

Monday, June 23

Dozens of Digital Literacy Groups Funded Through a Statewide Grant Haven’t Been Paid Since January. The State Says It Isn’t to Blame.

We began the week with an in-depth feature about a statewide digital equity program, started during the pandemic to provide laptops and training in marginalized communities, that has not been able to pay its contractors for six months. The result: Small nonprofits, including some with just one or two employees, have been forced to shut down programs that help people exiting prison, non-English speakers, and folks living in isolated rural communities access the internet and learn digital skills.

Tuesday, June 24

Seattle Nice: Is It Time to Admit the King County Regional Homelessness Authority Is a Bust?

On this week’s podcast, we discussed the past, present, and future of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, an agency established with the lofty goal of rebuilding the region’s homelessness system from the ground up. It hasn’t panned out that way.

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Wednesday, June 25

Towering Vertical Billboards Coming Soon to a Sidewalk Near You

The Seattle City Council approved a 30-year agreement to allow IKE Smart City, a Columbus, Ohio-based advertising company, to install 30 digital billboards, each 8’4” tall, on sidewalks throughout downtown Seattle, plus another 50 in other business districts across the city in the future. The Downtown Seattle Association, a private business group, will receive the profits from ad sales.

Thursday, June 26

Proposed Business Tax Increase Would Raise $90 Million a Year While Exempting Most Small Businesses

City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed a ballot measure that would increase the city’s business and occupation (B&O) tax rates while exempting gross revenues under $2 million, producing an estimated $90 million a year in new revenue to pay for housing stability, homeless services, food security, and small business sustainability.

Council Can’t Wait to Vote “Hell Yes” on Bills Cracking Down on Graffiti and “Nuisance” Bars and Clubs

The city council took up two bills designed to crack down on what Councilmember Bob Kettle calls the “permissive environment” in Seattle. One would empower the City Attorney to fine graffiti taggers and those who “encourage” them at a rate of $1,000 per tag. The second would give the city authority to penalize and shut down businesses because of crimes their patrons commit in “proximity” to their property, including misdemeanors like using drugs or drinking in public.

 

City Council, Health, homelessness, housing, King County, Mayor Harrell

This Week on PubliCola: June 21, 2025

It was a packed week of news and PubliCola exclusives, including the latest from City Hall, King County, and the regional homelessness authority.

By Erica C. Barnett 
Monday, June 16

After Tumultuous Relocation, Tent City 4 Contemplates Its Next Move

Tent City 4, the authorized encampment whose long-planned move within Lake City was hampered at the last minute by objections from City Councilmember Cathy Moore, can stay for six months. Although Moore and Mayor Bruce Harrell expressed surprise that Tent City 4 planned to stay in Lake City, emails show their offices were working to make the move happen as far back as February.

Seattle Nice: Assessing the Assessor, Moore Faces the Urbanists, and Seattle Hates Nightlife

PubliCola co-founder Josh Feit was our guest on this week’s podcast, where we discussed the King County assessor’s latest attacks on the woman he’s accused of stalking, Cathy Moore’s losing battles against a growing urbanist movement, and the historical context for Bruce Harrell’s latest efforts to crack down on nightlife in the guise of protecting public safety.

Tuesday, June 17

Investigation Suggests Seattle Firefighters Forged Vaccine Cards to Get Out of Citywide Vaccine Mandate

In this PubliCola exclusive, we reported on an outside investigation that found it likely that Seattle Fire Department employees, including senior officials, bought and sold blank CDC vaccine cards and fraudulently presented them as proof they had been vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to get around the city’s vaccine mandate. One high-ranking fire official involved in the alleged vaccine card trade referred to himself as “the Harriet Tubman of SFD,” a reference to the Underground Railroad.

Wednesday, June 18

Council Taps Brakes on RealPage Ban, Delaying One Week to Address Building Owner Concerns

The city council tapped the brakes on Cathy Moore’s fast-tracked legislation to ban property management companies from using algorithmic tools like RealPage to set rent prices, pushing a vote on the bill back one week. Moore, who is leaving the council on July 7, objected to the brief delay, saying there had already been plenty of process—an ironic position for someone who has consistently called for more public input into legislation that would allow more housing in Seattle.

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Saka: People Who Support Keeping “Curby” Are Anti-Immigrant, Radical “Defund the Police” Carpetbaggers

In a bizarre, emoji-filled email rant, City Councilmember Rob Saka accused people who opposed his efforts to remove a road divider that prevented illegal left turns into the preschool his kids attended of being racist, pro-“defund the police” car haters and “White Saviors” who don’t even live in his district and only pretend to support immigrants and refugees, just like Trump does … among many other spaghetti-at-the-wall complaints.

Afternoon Fizz: Reagan Dunn Joins Chorus Calling for Resignation of Assessor Accused of Stalking; Advocates Appeal Ruling Upholding Burien’s Sleeping Ban

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn, who was absent from last week’s 8-0 vote demanding the resignation of Assessor Wilson, made a point this week of saying he thinks Wilson should resign. On Facebook, Wilson weaponized a photo of himself and the woman who has a restraining order against him, noting that she is smiling and does not look scared of him in the picture.

Also: The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness has appealed a ruling upholding the city of Burien’s complete ban on sleeping outdoors.

Thursday, June 19

NPR Piece Criticizing South Park Development for Tree Removal Omitted Key Facts

A story from local station KNKX, distributed nationally by NPR, contrasted two housing projects in Seattle—one that saved existing trees, and one that removed them. What the reporter failed to mention was that their example of a bad, treeless project is an affordable-housing development by Habitat for Humanity—and that Habitat is planting 26 new trees to replace the 10 that are being removed to build 22 new affordable homes, more than doubling the number of trees on site.

Homelessness Agency Says They’ll Cut 22 Jobs if City and County Don’t Increase Administrative Funding

The King County Homelessness Authority presented potential budget cuts that could reduce homeless services this week, along with a warning that without another $4.7 million to pay for administrative expenses, the agency may have to cut 22 jobs—about a fifth of its staff.