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Spokesman-Review
City negotiating lease for new shelter
State of Black America is grim, reports National Urban League
3 overnight shelters opening around Portland due to snow
KREM
The Center Square
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Spokesman-Review
City negotiating lease for new shelter
By Greg Mason
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
The city of Spokane has identified a building in east Spokane as the prospective location for a new overnight homeless shelter.
Officials are negotiating a deal to lease the building at 4320 E. Trent Ave., the city announced Tuesday. The property owner is developer Larry Stone, listed as Lawrence B. Stone Properties #4320 LLC., according to Spokane County property records.
Stone did not respond to a request for comment. Mayor Nadine Woodward said Tuesday the city is in the process of negotiating a multiyear lease, which would require approval from the Spokane City Council. The shelter’s opening date is dependent upon reaching the lease agreement and completing tenant improvements.
“It meets all the requirements that we had listed as far as being out of downtown away from residential neighborhoods, schools, day cares,” she said.
Mayor Nadine Woodward announced Tuesday that the city is negotiating a lease to open a homeless shelter at 4320 E. Trent Ave.
COLIN MULVANY/ THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Woodward estimated she and city staff exhausted a list of around 100 other possibilities.
The size – more than 33,000 square feet of indoor space – and location, outside of downtown and close to a bus stop, made the building an ideal candidate, she said. “It is critical that operation of the shelter is based on mutual respect for guests, providers, neighbors, and businesses,” Councilman Michael Cathcart, who represents that area of Spokane, said in a statement. “Partnership is how we deliver the best outcomes for everyone.”
Councilman Jonathan Bingle, who also represents east Spokane, added, “Communication will be integral to successful operation of this new shelter. This location is a great opportunity to meet everyone’s needs.” Previous attempts to locate a temporary shelter in other parts of Spokane received pushback fierce enough for the city to abandon those efforts.
In choosing the East Trent Avenue building, Woodward said the administration was informed not only by the preferences of local providers, but also by the experience of running a temporary warming shelter inside the Spokane Convention Center this past winter.
Damage to the floors, bathrooms and other parts of the facility amounted to just over $100,000 in the two weeks the Convention Center shelter was operational, Woodward said. With the new shelter, the mayor said the administration sought a building that’s easily cleanable, with harder surfaces and flexible space to house men, women and couples separately as needed.
“It just checked all the boxes,” Woodward said. “I think, as far as impact to the area, that this is a great option because there will be the least amount of impact that we have experienced when we have tried to locate shelters elsewhere in the city.”
The building, which was built in 1956, is in an area that’s zoned heavy industrial. Neighboring businesses include Oak Harbor Freight on North Havana Street, Modern Machinery next door and the Black Sheep Coffee Co. lingerie coffee shop across the street.
Oak Harbor Terminal Manager Branon Smith said Oak Harbor was “tipped off” last week about the shelter going in at that East Trent Avenue location. Smith then said he emailed the mayor, receiving a quick response about setting up a meeting to discuss it.
Smith said he and a group of other area business owners and managers met Thursday with City Administrator Johnnie Perkins, who reportedly explained what the city is hoping to do with the shelter. The city is offering to help with any additional fencing or security measures, such as cameras, Smith said.
Smith got the impression that the shelter was “a done deal.”
“What we explained to him was this is already a high-crime area. All the businesses around here have been broken into,” he said. “We’re sympathetic to the homeless and the homeless problem, but we don’t feel this is a good location to put it in.”
Modern Machinery General Manager Ken McGuire said he heard about the city’s plan from Smith and reached out to the mayor’s office himself for more information. He also met with Perkins on Thursday, he said, though apparently separate from the city administrator’s stop at Oak Harbor.
Similarly, McGuire said he was told the homeless shelter would have a metal detector and consistent police presence, while the city is also willing put up some sort of wall or barrier between Modern Machinery and the property. McGuire said he’d want a concrete wall at least 8 feet high with barbed wire across the top and new security cameras for Modern Machinery.
Even then, McGuire said he’d have concerns, citing the “millions of dollars in parts” on Modern Machinery’s premises and the safety of his employees.
“All of this steel we have could be at Pacific Steel in 20 minutes and somebody’s got enough cash to get more drugs. I said that’s exactly what’s going to happen,” McGuire said. “I understand there’s a homeless problem. I’m not trying to be crass about it, but I don’t think a lot of these people want to be fixed. They want their freedom to do what they want.
“They have to put them somewhere,” he added, “but there’s got to be a spot that has less impact on businesses.”
Once used by Berg Manufacturing Inc., the structure is essentially a large, vacant warehouse, said Council President Breean Beggs, who toured the facility, as did other city councilmembers.
Speaking to the concerns of neighboring businesses, Beggs said city leaders, “committed to making sure there’s adequate police and security,” plan to be careful in choosing the facility’s operator.
“I understand why people would be nervous of the unknown,” Beggs said, “but I think for the overall community, people sleeping in a safe place with services and active management is going to be a far better situation than the current status quo, which is no services for these people and no management.”
The City Council will consider legislation Monday that, if approved, will create an interim zoning rule to allow indoor emergency shelters to operate within heavy industrial zones. The ordinance would remain in effect for at least six months.
Stone’s company bought the property in March for $3.5 million.
The request for proposals indicated the shelter will provide daytime services, including bathrooms, showers, electronics charging, meals and connections for services, such as those addressing mental health, addiction, job training and more.
The city’s Community Health and Human Services division issued a request for proposals last month to solicit organizations that could provide those services out of the building.
A subcommittee of Spokane’s Continuum of Care Board still is reviewing the three submitted proposals. Given the ongoing review, the proposals are not public at this time, said city spokesperson Brian Coddington.
From here, the subcommittee will make a recommendation to the full Continuum of Care Board, which will eventually reach Community Health and Human Services, Coddington said. With this recommendation in mind, the mayor picks the proposal to forward to the City Council for approval.
Woodward claimed she has not yet reviewed the specific proposals, including one submitted by homeless service provider Jewels Helping Hands. The organization pitched the idea of pallet shelters – housing akin to tiny homes – in contrast to one large shelter.
Jewels is operating the homeless encampment along East Second Avenue known as Camp Hope, which – as of late last month – had grown to more than 300 people on property owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation.
“Typically when we go through this process, we don’t have a provider that tries to advocate for their proposal outside of the process, which is what is happening right now,” Woodward said of the media coverage on the Jewels proposal.
Asked about the Jewels proposal, Woodward and Coddington pointed to the wording in the city’s request for proposals. The document, referencing a “facility,” sought proposals for the operation of “a regional flex capacity shelter” at a location with approximately 32,500 square feet.
“The (request for proposals) was for a building. It was for the warehouse,” she said. “It wasn’t for other creative ideas. I mean, those can happen. Those can be discussed, but for this purpose, the (request for proposals) was for the facility that we are going to lease.”
Greg Mason can be reached at (509) 459-5047 or gregm@spokesman.com.
State of Black America is grim, reports National Urban League
By Michael Warren
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA – The National Urban League released its annual report Tuesday on the State of Black America, and its findings are grim. This year’s Equality Index shows Black people get only 73.9% of the American pie white people enjoy.
While Black people have made economic and health gains, they’ve slipped further behind white people in education, social justice and civic engagement since the index was launched in 2005. A compendium of average outcomes by race in many aspects of life, it shows how hard it is for people of color to overcome systemic racism, the civil rights organization says.
“These numbers change so little and so slowly. What it tells me is that this institutional disparity based on race seems to be built into American society,” National Urban League President Marc Morial said in an interview.
The index shows not only that the median household income for Black people, at $43,862, is 37% less than that of white people, at $69,823. Black people also are less likely to benefit from home ownership, the engine of generational wealth in America. Census data shows Black couples are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be denied a mortgage or a home improvement loan, which leads to just 59% of the median home equity white households have, and just 13% of their wealth.
“In that area of wealth, we’ve seen almost no change, none, since the civil rights days,” Morial said. “The wealth disparity has gotten wider.”
Among dozens of health measures, one stands out: Life expectancy has declined slightly for African Americans, so a Black child born today can expect to live to 74.7, four years less than a white baby. And lifelong inequities loom: Black women are 59% more likely to die as a result of bearing a child.
Overdoses afflict the races about equally. Among people 15-24, white people are more than twice as likely to kill themselves, while Black men are nine times more likely to die by homicide.
The index uses U.S. Justice Department statistics to chart social justice differences, noting Black people have been more than twice as likely as white people to experience threats or uses of force during police encounters.
Measuring civic engagement, the index cites 2020 census data showing white people are about 5% more likely to be registered and to actually vote than Black people.
3 overnight shelters opening around Portland due to snow
Associated Press
PORTLAND – Multnomah County in partnership with the City of Portland is opening three shelters Tuesday night because of wintery weather.
Portland officials said the shelters will be open from 8p.m. Tuesday to 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The shelters are at the Salvation Army located at 5325 N. Williams Ave., the Sunrise Center located at 18901 E. Burnside St. and Imago Dei at 1302 SE Ankeny St.
Adults, children, couples and pets are all welcome.
People can call 211 to find shelter or transportation in the area.
TriMet also announced on Twitter that from 6 p.m. on Tuesday to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the agency won’t turn away anyone traveling to or from a warming shelter who is unable to pay.
The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement in the Portland region, saying there was a change that light snow could accumulate into Wednesday morning.
Portland received the first measurable snowfall in April in recorded history on Monday, which caused school closures, downed trees and power outages. The National Weather Service said one inch of snow fell at Portland International Airport.
Portland received 0.3 inch of snow Tuesday, which set a new record for latest measurable snowfall in the season, the weather agency said.
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KREM
Capitol Hill Could Be the 'Epicenter' of Another COVID Outbreak
SPOKANE, Wash. — A new homeless shelter could be coming to an industrial area of East Spokane.
Today, Mayor Nadine Woodward announced the city is negotiating a lease on a 33,000 square foot building.
Mayor Woodward says the city has spent months looking at nearly 100 locations, but she said the building on Trent checks all the boxes. Now, she hopes city council members will agree.
The building on East Trent was once home to Berg Industries, a company that manufactures tents and shelters for the U.S. Military. The building may soon become a large shelter itself, housing hundreds of men and women in need.
"There is never a perfect location," Mayor Woodward said. "There are always people who will have concerns and there will always be some pushback, but I think this location really meets the needs that we're trying to address."
Mayor Woodward says the location checks all the boxes she wants. It's on a bus route, and not near residential neighborhoods, schools or daycares.
"And so we are now negotiating the lease on this property. And part of that process includes involving the council," Mayor Woodward said.
Woodward says the city has been in touch with businesses in the area. Some have concerns.
"We're going to make sure that their employees are safe, and their assets are protected," Mayor Woodward said. "And we'll have security on site. Police patrols will have a hotline they can call if they ever have a concern or a problem."
City Council members were recently given a tour of the site, including Michael Cathcart.
"There's no great place to put a shelter and I certainly don't love the fact that it's another shelter in my district," Cathcart said. "I think the site does work."
The city is planning to offer a handful of services on site, including mental health, addiction and job training.
"Another benefit of having this additional capacity is it's going to give the city the ability to enforce some of the laws that are on the books right now and so when there is some of that illegal camping and stuff going on... the city will now have the ability to enforce some of that stuff and direct those folks to the new shelter sites," Cathcart said.
Many of the people camping off I-90 and Freya say they need their own space and don't want to sleep in a shelter with hundreds of other people.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Police have been monitoring the increase in incident calls around the growing Camp Hope, located off of I-90 and Freya, since December.
In just four months, SPD recorded 854 incidents within a quarter mile of the East Central homeless camp. This is a 58.4% increase in the number of incidents since 2021.
Residents in the neighborhood have mixed feelings about the growing camp. Some said they don't mind the residents, as long as they keep to themselves. Other neighbors said they feel threatened living in their home.
Tyrone Allen said he would rather his grandkids play inside.
"I would rather buy them a whole bunch of toys at Walmart to keep them inside," Allen said. "I would never let them play outside."
Allen has a Ring video doorbell on his front door. He said he thinks it helps when warding off late-night intruders or thieves.
"They see my camera and I think it turns them away," Allen said. "My neighbors though they've had people bang on their doors and steal their stuff. One of them had $5,000 worth of tools stolen from them."
He said he finds it hard to believe how people can be so unafraid to commit crimes.
The camp sits on state-owned land, which means the city can't just move people out.
But that doesn't mean East Central isn't calling on the city to figure out a solution.
"Our neighborhood is one of the poorest in the city," East Central neighborhood chair Randy McGlenn said. "A lot of our neighbors feel like we’ve become the dumping ground for disabled people. A lot of people feel like if people are going to be brought here, the city needs to step up and match those people with services and especially public safety."
McGlenn said more residents in the neighborhood complain about porch theft and breaking into cars.
Todd Browning said he's been a victim of porch thieves. He said there have been times when him and his wife watched people steal things from them and then followed them back to the camp.
As someone trying to sell his East Central residence, he said the camp is a reason potential buyers turn away.
“You’re driving into Spokane, Washington, and what do you see? That’s what you see. Does that represent Spokane? I don’t think so,” Browning said.
Browning's wife, Alycia Everett, works as a nurse and said he's scared of her leaving the house during the dark hours of the early morning or night.
Everett said one of her biggest concerns is how close the camp is to Libby Center around children. Her husband said he's noticed needles while walking past the center.
Browning said he has been in constant communication with local law enforcement and continues to report crimes committed against his home.
According to SPD, the 854 incidents reported so far this year have been a mix between calls for medics or police services. The area scope does include nearby businesses and gas stations around 200 S Ray so it is possible incidents are not all linked to the Camp Hope site.
SPD has also recorded data when officers were on site to see if there was any noticeable trend in crime rates. According to a presentation from the department, there was not a decrease in the number of incidents during the time officers spent near the camp.
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The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The majority of Washington residents are priced out of purchasing a new home, according to the math done by one of the largest home building organizations in America.
The Tumwater-based Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), which represents 800 members, calculates that households need $130,409 of income to qualify for a mortgage. Given Washington’s median household income is $73,775, that translates into 76% of households in the Evergreen State not being able to afford a median-priced new home.
“When we look at the housing affordability crisis in our state and nation, it’s easy to point to recent factors like supply chain disruptions or lumber prices,” BIAW President Joseph Irons said in a press release. “But the sad truth is there simply aren’t enough new homes available for people to purchase. That, coupled with decades of increasing layers of regulation and zoning restrictions, has slowly and steadily created the crisis we’re in today.”
Joseph’s contention is backed up by Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based think tank championing long-term solutions to the region’s challenges.
“Washington’s statewide tsunami of home price escalation demonstrates how housing shortages spill across city boundaries,” wrote Dan Bertolet, the organization’s director of housing and urbanism, in a September 2021 article. “And it follows that the solution hinges on enacting statewide standards to boost the production of homes.”
He went on to note, “The critical target for state-level action is to loosen the stranglehold of local zoning laws that ban anything but detached houses with big yards and driveways on roughly three quarters of the state’s residential land. These exclusionary rules kill affordability in two ways: they mandate the most expensive kind of home, and they severely constrict the number of homes in places where people want to live.”
During this year’s legislative session that concluded March 10, the BIAW worked against what it characterized as anti-housing legislation, helping to block four out of five such bills: House Bill 1770 that would have changed net-zero energy codes, House Bill 1117 that would have implemented a net ecological gain standard in land use, House Bill 1099 that would have added climate change considerations to the Growth Management Act (GMA), and House Bill 1837 that would have required more on-the-job ergonomics rules.
“Every $1,000 increase in the cost of building a new home now prices more than 2,182 people out of the market in Washington,” Joseph said. “We’re grateful to those who stood with us, both Republicans and Democrats, to make home ownership a priority.”
A fifth piece of legislation, Senate Bill 5042, was touted by proponents as closing a loophole within the GMA that allowed for growth in rural landscapes creating urban sprawl. It passed the Legislature this year.
The BIAW said the law, first proposed as a bill 14 years ago, will increase land uncertainty for builders.
On the other hand, the BIAW approved of the Legislature passing Senate Bill 5818 that makes minor adjustments to the State Environmental Policy Act, a move the organization says will save builders time and money.
The BIAW was disappointed legislation streamlining local permit process reviews, Senate Bill 5964, did not pass during this year’s legislative session.
The home ownership rate in Washington is 63.4%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The BIAW is wants to see that figure increase.
“The Building Industry Association of Washington looks forward to continuing to work with state lawmakers as well as local government leaders to provide guidance to address these problems,” Irons said. “We believe everyone deserves to be able to achieve the American dream of owning a home.”