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Seattle Nice
It’s getting harder and harder to talk about politics, especially if you disagree. Well, screw that. Seattle Nice aims to be the most opinionated and smartest analysis of what’s really happening in Seattle politics available in any medium. Each episode dives into contentious and sometimes ridiculous topics, exploring perspectives from across Seattle's political spectrum, from city council brawls to the ways the national political conversation filters through our unique political process. Even if you’re not from Seattle, you need to listen to Seattle Nice. Because it’s coming for you. Unlike the sun, politics rises in the West and sets in the East.
Seattle Nice
Is It Time to Admit the King County Regional Homelessness Authority Is a Bust?
The King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) launched in 2020 with great fanfare. But now, with up to to a fifth of its staff facing layoffs due to budget shortfalls, it may be facing a slow death by a thousand cuts.
In this week’s episode, with David still gallivanting in parts unknown, Erica and Sandeep take a hard look at the current state of KCRHA, and ask a pointed question: What purpose, exactly, does this diminished and largely neutered agency serve?
As Erica reported on PubliCola this week, KCRHA's budget proposal could lead to a 21 percent cut to its administrative budget (resulting in 22 job cuts) along with an across-the-board cut to homelessness services. KCRHA clearly hopes to persuade the city to increase its funding to stave off those cuts, though the initial response from city officials has been noncommittal at best.
Budgetary wrangling aside, this back-and-forth is exposing the agency’s flaws, including its clunky (and costly) reimbursement procedures, internal morale issues and power struggles, and the KCRHA's lack of independent taxing authority, which leaves the authority dependent on the largesse of elected officials at the city and county. With the city clawing back control of outreach and homelessness prevention efforts—and the agency no longer even pretending to operate independently—we discuss whether the only function KCRHA provides is to insulate local politicians from public scrutiny of their decisions on homelessness policy, strategy, and funding.
Our editor is Quinn Waller.
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