News from former Councilmember Randy Corman, your Renton City Hall insider. (All views expressed in journal entries are Randy Corman's personal views, and not the official position of the City of Renton or other city employees. Views expressed in reader comments are those of the commenter)

Posts in category Housing and Homelessness

King County Regional Homelessness Authority, in time of turbulence, presents to Renton City Council

Jun21
2023 Written by Randy Corman

The City of Renton has been a regional leader in affordable housing for decades, and I’ve covered the topic many times (here is the latest entry).  KCRHA is a county-wide organization that is intended to oversee the County’s homelessness response.

The King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) gave a presentation to Renton City Council last week, after a turbulent month that saw their CEO resign and a call by King County Council Member Reagan Dunn that their organization be disbanded.  This was a few months after they published a draft 5-year plan with a staggering price tag of $25 billion over five years for temporary housing, with still more tens-of-billions of dollars needed for permanent housing.  While they later walked this plan back, confidence in the organization was widely shaken.

Their 30-pages of written materials are available here, and video of their 42-minute presentation to Renton Council can be viewed here.

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Almost a fourth of Renton’s hotel rooms no longer available for travelers, compared to just 4% countywide

Apr29
2023 Written by Randy Corman

Renton is building hundreds of affordable units as part of this Solera project in the Highlands

Renton Housing Authority is building Sunset Gardens,  76 units for homeless veterans, seniors, and other people in need.  (This picture and the one above both taken today)

 

Renton has worked hard for decades to reduce homelessness and has delivered results that can’t be beat by any other city.  Yet too many Seattle-based policy makers have falsely accused Renton of not doing a fair share. Lately, these policy makers have been trying to divert money from Renton Housing Authority, and they’re taking more of Renton’s hotels to house Seattle residents instead of using Seattle hotels. They’ve now taken almost 1/4 of Renton’s hotel rooms out of commission, hurting Renton’s commerce, reducing options for visitors, reducing options for Renton’s own unsheltered residents, and reducing lodging tax which Renton needs for marketing. On average other King County cities have given just 1/25 of their hotel rooms.

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About the author

Hi, I’m Randy Corman. Welcome to my blog!  I served on Renton City Council for 28 years, 1994-2021, with six years as Renton Council President.  I’m also a mechanical engineer and manager, and worked for the Boeing Company for 33 years, from 1984- 2017.  My wife and I have five kids and five grandkids, and we all live in Renton.  I’ve kept this blog for 17 years, and get thousands of readers each month. Please share your feedback, ideas, and opinions in the comments.

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