Before the City Council‘s override vote this morning on a mayorally vetoed RV-related bill, Council President Joy Hollingsworth said she had seen a panhandling mom on a city street and wondered, why don’t the hundreds of millions of dollars the city devotes to homelessness seem to be getting to people like her?
Nobody offered any answers to that question many have asked. But – with District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka changing his vote on the bill in question – originally yes, today no – the mayor’s veto was upheld. Six votes to reaffirm approval of the bill were needed; five were received.
Here’s what was at the heart of this: The council had passed six bills by north-end Councilmember Dan Strauss dealing mostly with vehicle residency among homeless people. One of them would have set up a permit program for RV residents, among other things. That’s the bill the mayor vetoed, issuing this executive order instead, which among other things sets up a task force. Saka decided not to vote against the veto, explaining in a newsletter – and in council chambers today – that he didn’t see supporting the bill and supporting the veto as contradictory.
So the other bills will go into effect, but this part won’t. All involved, meantime, agreed that RV safe lots – of which Seattle currently has zero – are needed; we’re waiting for word on when the first one, GLassyard Commons in southeast West Seattle, will open.