The push to regionalize Spokane's homeless services and unite local jurisdictions under a single entity, generally, has broad interest.
But in recent months, details about the authority's operations — like who is in charge, where the money comes from, and how it would impact the people already doing homeless services work — have proved increasingly thorny.
When they presented the idea in June, the volunteer former Spokane city staffers leading the regional efforts pushed to launch the authority by the end of the year. Mayor Nadine Woodward was in support and signed an executive order pledging to share city staff and data with other local jurisdictions to help move things along.
But in late August, Spokane City Council members passed a resolution calling for a slowdown on the "unrealistic" timeline for the authority, citing a lack of clarity on funding, mission creep, proposed board structure and other concerns.
The resolution also voiced concern about how the mayor's order would impact the city's Community Housing and Human Services department, which has spent recent years trying to rebuild itself after an exodus of employees in 2021 left the department on the verge of collapse.
The CHHS department isn't equipped to share data and staff because it is "understaffed and confronted with numerous existing challenges," the resolution said.
Those hesitations were echoed by the Spokane Managerial and Professional Association, a union representing nearly 350 city employees, which filed a letter of grievance in August over the mayor's executive order.
The department's challenges have since grown. Early this month, Daniel Ramos, a senior data analyst with the department, left CHHS for a job at the King County Regional Homeless Authority. One week later, on Sept. 7, Jenn Cerecedes, the director of the department who was hired amid the turmoil in 2021, abruptly resigned.
An Aug. 24 letter from the CHHS board had described Cercedes as "highly competent" and working to turn around the "numerous challenges she inherited upon taking the job."
Cerecedes didn't respond to a request for comment, but Brian Coddington, the mayor's spokesperson, says Cerecedes left to accept a job with another organization based out of state. Ramos says he left because the King County offer gave him a chance to continue his work and make an impact at a larger scale.
Regardless of the reasons, the departures have some council members nervous about the future of the department.
"It has had so much turnover, and I thought we were finally getting our feet under us," says Council President Lori Kinnear.
The CHHS board's letter outlined a number of other concerns about the authority, including hesitation over a guiding principle in the draft proposal that said "detention remains a necessary accountability tool." The line has proved especially troublesome for many service providers and advocates.
At a Spokane Homeless Coalition meeting last week, Gavin Cooley, a former city finance officer who has been leading regional efforts, told gathered service providers that the line about detention is being cut, along with all the other guiding principles.
"What we recognize is that by putting any principles out there at all, we got ahead of ourselves," Cooley said.
Cooley also said they are considering lowering the number of board seats for elected officials from five to four, and adding a board seat for a tribal representative. That detail was met with applause. ♦