Seattle Mayor Wilson must make decision on homeless agency amid financial mismanagement

(The Center Square) - The spotlight is on Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who must submit an initial review in just 13 days that will be a key determining factor on the future of the King County Regional Homeless Authority.

The Seattle City Council unanimously voted on a resolution Tuesday afternoon that requires Wilson to report by June 15 on the troubled authority’s corrective action plan.

Then, by Aug. 1, the mayor must decide on the long-term future and the city's continuation in the KCRHA, including whether to dissolve the commission.

Wilson had said that all options were on the table after a highly critical forensic audit of the authority in April, which found that the group couldn’t account for millions of dollars due to poor financial oversight.

Seattle contributes 60% of the authority’s $200 million budget.

But the mayor has been silent on which way she will go since a May 22 corrective report by the regional authority, which maintains the group is fixing its financial reporting.

“The Mayor is prepared to respond to the deadlines set by City Council, including the initial deadline of June 15 to respond to the corrective action plan," said Wilson spokeswoman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee in an email to The Center Square on Tuesday.

City Councilwoman Alexis Mercedes Rinik, the sponsor of the resolution setting a deadline for Wilson, said urgent action is needed to determine the future of the King County Regional Homeless Authority.

“The findings of the forensic evaluation are serious and require immediate accountability, and this proposed resolution is a swift but thoughtful measure that starts marching that pathway forward for the agency and addresses these findings," she said.

Rinik is the chair of the city council’s Human Services, Labor & Economic Development Committee, which had previously passed the resolution last month.

She is also a member of the King County Regional Homeless Authority.

Regardless of Wilson's decision on the future of the homeless authority, the city council would also have the direct power to disband it.

Councilwoman Maritza Rivera voted on Tuesday to move forward with setting a deadline for Wilson to decide, but she is also sponsoring her own resolution calling for the homeless authority to be disbanded.

“I feel really strongly that the time has come to commit to a different strategy and move away from a regional authority because we can’t keep throwing good money after bad,” she said.

If a decision were made to abolish the authority, it would take a year to disband it under the authority's bylaws.

It would also mean that Seattle would have to run its own homeless programs, and that Wilson and her administration would be directly responsible for efforts to reduce the homeless problem and their outcomes.

The Metropolitan King County Council also has the power to abolish the authority, as does King County Executive Girmay Zahilay.

But Zahilay has been more measured than Wilson in his comments on the critical audit, making Wilson a key player in the authority's ultimate fate.

The homeless authority was founded in 2019 and has been the subject of prior audits that have also found financial mismanagement. It has been through five CEOs in just seven years.