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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With David away for a second consecutive week, Erica and Sandeep seek out the inimitable Josh Feit, news editor of the Stranger back in the olden (golden) days, to buffer their conversation with convoluted references to 50-year-old Joni Mitchell records.

We start with the increasingly off-putting saga of King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson, who remains defiant in the face of a unanimous vote by the King County Council (minus the absent Reagan Dunn) urging him to resign over allegations he stalked his ex-partner during their breakup from hell. We ask: Why did the resignation calls take so long, and are we headed for a messy recall? (Hours after we taped this episode on the morning of Friday, June 13, a judge denied Wilson’s legal motion seeking the dismissal of his ex-partner's protection order against him .)

Next up, Josh keys off the announced resignation of Councilmember Cathy Moore to argue that what Moore and her supporters and backers decry as incivility in Council chambers is really just sour grapes about the rising voice of an emerging urbanist majority. But are the urbanists so ascendant, give the status quo nature of the comp plan currently under debate?

Finally, we dig into the implications of Erica’s reporting that the mayor is seeking to expand the city’s powers to shutter “nuisance properties.” Is a crackdown on clubs warranted by recent incidents of gun violence that have occurred outside nightclubs and hookah lounges? Or is this just the latest iteration of a long, pinch-faced tradition in Seattle municipal politics of finger-wagging at—and passing laws to curtail—the city’s nightlife?

Better listen in before a Big Yellow Taxi comes to take Josh and Sandeep away!

Our editor is Quinn Waller.

Have a question or comment? Send us an email at realseattlenice@gmail.com.

Send us a text! Note that we can only respond directly to emails realseattlenice@gmail.com

HEARTH Protection: Do not let fear make your world smaller.

Thanks to Uncle Ike's pot shop for sponsoring this week's episode! If you want to advertise please contact us at realseattlenice@gmail.com

Support the show

Your support on Patreon helps pay for editing, production, live events and the unique, hard-hitting local journalism and commentary you hear weekly on Seattle Nice.

After less than 18 months in office, Councilmember Cathy Moore, representing District 5 (North Seattle), announced she will be resigning her position effective July 7. Swinging into immediate action, Erica and Sandeep (David is away, gamboling and gallivanting in distant parts) weigh in on this emergency episode of the podcast with their red hot takes on this surprise bombshell announcement.

While Moore ascribes her decision to step down to personal and medical reasons, speculation is rampant that Moore's dissatisfaction with the job and unhappiness with the harsh criticism the Council sometimes faces also played a central role in her decision. Rest assured, we fully indulge this speculation, while offering our takes on Moore's legacy and assessing where she sat on the Council's ideological spectrum. Given the timing of Moore's decision, her seat will not be up for election until 2026, so we close with what early names we're hearing bruited about for who the Council might appoint to replace Moore until then.

Our editor is Quinn Waller.

Thanks to Uncle Ike's pot shop for sponsoring this week's episode! If you want to advertise please contact us at realseattlenice@gmail.com

Send us a text! Note that we can only respond directly to emails realseattlenice@gmail.com

HEARTH Protection: Do not let fear make your world smaller.

Support the show

Your support on Patreon helps pay for editing, production, live events and the unique, hard-hitting local journalism and commentary you hear weekly on Seattle Nice.

Send us a text! Note that we can only respond directly to emails realseattlenice@gmail.com

HEARTH Protection: Do not let fear make your world smaller.

Support the show

Your support on Patreon helps pay for editing, production, live events and the unique, hard-hitting local journalism and commentary you hear weekly on Seattle Nice.