Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced Wednesday her plan to add 1,000 new shelter beds by the end of the year, but things are seemingly falling apart as a top advisor jumps ship.
The same morning as Wilson’s announcement to rapidly expand shelter space her senior advisor on homelessness, Jon Grant, resigned, according to the Seattle Times. It’s unclear why Grant resigned, but his departure follows other staff shakeups.
Just weeks before Grant’s resignation Wilson replaced her chief of staff Kate Brunette Kruezer. City hall veteran Esther Handy was appointed to fill her spot, the outlet reported.
The staff changes come after the Seattle City Council was concerned about how Wilson’s administration was presenting themselves. City council and mayoral staffers disagreements led to the changes in leadership, the Seattle Times reported.
The ambitious housing plan is ruffling feathers within the city. Alan Bridgman, president of Northwest Custom Interiors, said the industrial area is already struggling with crime. “What happens if this tiny house community and RV lot doesn’t work out, and if it becomes really dangerous for the surrounding community,” Bridgman said, according to Fox 13.
Similar housing programs in San Franciso have showcased the effect homelessness programs can have on communities after old hotels became a hotspot for crime, violence, and overdoses.
Seattle declared a state of emergency on homelessness in 2015 and Wilson says the city has waited too long to respond with urgency, according to Fox 13. During Wilson’s Wednesday speech, she stated, “We have twice as many homeless people in Seattle as we do shelter beds,” the outlet reported.
“We can’t keep moving people from place to place, and calling that progress,” Wilson, self-described socialist said, according to the outlet.
Wilson said she has already signed legislation to speed up the development process for shelters by five months to a year, according to Fox 13.
“The single most important thing we can do to address our city’s homelessness crisis is to rapidly expand emergency housing and shelter with supportive services,” the outlet reported.
Her proposal also includes increasing some sites’ capacity by adding up to 150 beds, depending on the location.
Others worry that increasing shelter capacity will not help address homelessness because Seattle has a “service-resistant population,” according to Andrea Suarez, founder of the nonprofit We Heart Seattle. These individuals are ones who have previously been offered help but denied services.
“My other concerns for the mayor are where, where is it that 100 or 200 or 250 people from multiple disabilities, multiple vulnerabilities, all live together, and it’s nothing short of chaotic,” Suarez said, according to Fox 13
Wilson has been compared to Socialist Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Both have supported several socialist policies. Their leadership may encourage other radical leftists to run for future elections.
Mayor Katie Wilson’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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