Spokane leaders push to drop Housing First, align with Trump funding rules
- - Spokane leaders push to drop Housing First, align with Trump funding rules
Tim ClouserAugust 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Julie Garcia, executive director of Jewel's Helping Hands, told The Center Square in October 2024 that this billboard across from Dutch Bros Coffee was one of a few going up around Spokane. ©Courtesy of Sheldon Jackson
(The Center Square) – Conservatives in Spokane are mounting an effort to put pressure on the city to abandon the Housing First model, hoping to save local taxpayers millions of dollars in federal funding.
President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order condemning the Housing First model, while urging grant recipients to prioritize treatment-based programs. Homelessness is one of the, if not the most, pressing issues in the region, with the bulk of federal funding allocated to the city and county.
Spokane County has housing projects of its own, but the Board of County Commissioners tends to go for programs more aligned with the treatment-based approach. The city of Spokane supports respite care and some treatment options as well, but is known for backing low-barrier projects around town.
With millions of dollars at risk amid budget deficits at both jurisdictions, some advocates are stepping in before local taxpayers are left to foot the bill. A city council member, the county sheriff and business leaders are putting together a memorandum of understanding to affirm Trump’s order and pressure Mayor Lisa Brown to follow suit. If all goes as planned, every other city in the county will sign on to it.
“It’s exactly what we need,” Spokane Councilmember Jonathan Bingle said, “Trying to get other cities, other townships, other elected officials around the area to sign a letter saying, ‘Help us be successful.’”
The Center Square contacted Brown’s office for comment, but didn’t get a response before publishing; the two Democrats on the Board of County Commissioners were also unavailable for comment on Friday.
Bingle told The Center Square he came up with the idea, hoping it would catch the White House’s eye.
He already wrote up a draft, but decided to go a different direction after talking to community activist Sheldon Jackson, a real estate developer and commercial property owner in Spokane. Jackson has run an email chain with hundreds tuning in and dozens criticizing the city’s progressive policies for years.
Some pushed back on the language used frequently in the thread, arguing it’s dividing the city; however, business owners, a few service providers and even members of the Spokane City Council have chimed in. Sheriff John Nowels, state lawmakers and other regional heads have also sent their thoughts at times.
Jackson initially planned on spreading the word, but will now help draft the document with others.
Nowels told The Center Square on Thursday that he had spoken with Jackson that morning, after he believed the sheriff was drafting the document. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office recently suffered a loss, so Nowels doesn’t have time to write it up and asked that someone else draft the document.
The sheriff confirmed that the initiative is underway, but couldn’t speak to the content of the draft or what it would entail. He stressed that it should center on helping people address their addictions.
“I know the discussion of the MoU’s existence is in play,” Nowels told The Center Square. “I do not have the capacity for it, so do I know who is exactly in the process of drafting it right now? I do not.”
Jackson told The Center Square on Friday that he’s relying on experts to help him and others involved to draft the regional memorandum. Chud Wendle, executive director of The Hutton Settlement, told The Center Square that his role is helping gather the support of Spokane Valley and other nearby cities.
Spokane Valley City Councilmembers Al Merkel and Jessica Yaeger both brought up Trump’s recent directive during their regular Tuesday night meeting. Merkel said he had attended some community meetings where people talked about it and expressed support for dealing with the crisis in a more hands-on way. Yaeger emphasized a desire to be compliant with the president’s executive order.
“I would suggest that the staff look at if we’re compliant, and what the relationship is, what we have to do or don’t have to do,” Spokane Valley Deputy Mayor Tim Hattenburg said on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Spokane Communications Director Erin Hut told The Center Square that the city could still comply with Trump’s recent executive order with some tweaks to its contracts.
“If our [Continuum of Care] contracts are to match the executive order, we would be compliant for funding,” Hut replied, “but we don’t have draft contracts from [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development], so I can’t really speak to what they’re going to put in the contract.”
HUD Regional Administrator Chris Patterson recently told The Center Square that federal grants would be prioritized for jurisdictions that “to the maximum extent permitted by law prohibit urban camping.”
He described the housing first model as failing American taxpayers who deserve measurable results.
Bingle told The Center Square that U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, may bring up the MoU idea to attendees during a fundraiser on Sunday. When asked if he was reaching out to other nearby cities, Bingle said that he thinks other people are already doing so and that he is “technically on vacation.”
“I’m not entirely sure where we’re at in the whole process, so I don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” Bingle said on Thursday, “but I hope it’s something that, again, signals that what we’re doing in the city of Spokane isn’t working.”
Baumgartner confirmed to The Center Square on Friday that he is in support of the regional MoU idea.
The congressman said he plans to hand out five awards to community members during his campaign event on Sunday, with one going to Jackson for his community activism. Baumgartner said he will highlight Jackson’s ongoing work at the fundraiser while briefly discussing these efforts to draft an MoU.
“We have to do something different,” Bingle said. “If we don’t, Spokane will continue its death spiral.”
If successful, Jackson and others believe the Spokane region would be the first in the nation to put together such an effort.
Source: “AOL Politics”