Title
Finalize Options for Educating the Public around Housing Affordability and Homelessness Issues
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Consider the options. Discussion only; no action requested
Report
Issue:
Whether to consider goals and objectives as the start of shaping a public participation plan to help develop public understanding of the status, need and potential approaches to address affordable housing and homelessness issues in Olympia.
Staff Contact:
Amy Buckler, Senior Planner, Community Planning & Development, 360.570.5847
Presenter(s):
Amy Buckler, Senior Planner, Community Planning & Development
Anna Schlecht, Housing Manager, Community Planning & Development, 360.753.8183
Background and Analysis:
The Ad Hoc Committee is concerned with housing affordability and homelessness in Olympia and the region. Over the past months, the Committee has examined steps other communities have taken; explored housing funding options, regional efforts, and ways to enhance coordination with regional partners; and was briefed on recommendations from Olympia’s Downtown Strategy (DTS).
Next, the Committee will discuss its objective: to consider measures to inform, consult, educate and involve the community in discussions about the impacts and needs related to homelessness and housing affordability. The discussion will begin to frame a public participation plan around this issue.
DTS Recommendations
The DTS recommends the City convene a broad range of stakeholders to develop a homeless response plan leading to a more coordinated approach to homelessness and its impacts to Downtown. The DTS also recommends the City subsequently develop a housing strategy to establish a mixed income residential neighborhood in Downtown (see attached). The two actions are linked by the need to bring about housing options for the most vulnerable citizens in our community. The public participation plan should consider how these two efforts can be staged to inform each other.
Staff was asked to provide options for public engagement. Any public participation effort regarding homelessness and affordable housing will likely be most effective if begun with information to help the public understand the needs and impacts occurring in the community.
Vulnerable Renter Protection Ordinances
Staff was asked to provide options for public engagement around potential vulnerable renter protection ordinances, such as those recently passed by the City of Vancouver. The ordinances increased the number of days required for a landlord to notice tenants of eviction or rent increase. At the time of this report, staff was still researching options and can provide these at the meeting.
The Public Participation Plan
The committee will begin to frame a public participation plan to engage the community about impacts and needs related to homelessness and housing affordability.
A good public participation plan includes the following elements:
• Purpose of public engagement
• Goals/objectives for the process and outcome
• Main messages
• Target audiences/participants
• Level of public participation
• Methods
• Roles and tasks
We will start by discussing the purpose, goals and objectives. We may start to discuss main messages, target audience and level of public participation. Those elements will provide the basis for a subsequent discussion about methods, roles and tasks.
This will be a discussion to begin developing the public participation plan. The following questions will frame the discussion
• What is the overall purpose for this public engagement?
• What are your goals and objectives for the public participation process?
• What outcomes should this process achieve? At this point do you know of any specific decisions that this process should inform?
• What messages and data are important to educate the community about impacts and needs related to homelessness and housing affordability?
• Who are the target audience/participants?
• How might a housing strategy build upon a homelessness response plan?
Spectrum of Public Participation
The attached Spectrum of Public Participation describes 5 levels of participation, from Inform to Empower. An overall public participation effort may use different levels of participation. For example, some aspects of the homeless response planning process may be informative (e.g., helping the community understand the structure, goals and tasks of the Thurston County’s 5 year Plan to Reduce Homelessness.) For other aspects, a higher level of participation may be appropriate (e.g., gathering public input that will be used to help make a decision.) The public participation plan should consider what types of decisions the process might result in, and what information might be needed from the public to help make those decisions.
As staff previously reported to the Ad Hoc Committee, to effectively address the issue of homelessness in Downtown while being inclusive of a wide range of stakeholders, three elements of the issue must be addressed: 1) human needs, 2) public resource needs, and 3) neighborhood impacts. Also, the City’s public participation effort should complement, rather than attempt to duplicate, other regional efforts. Thus, it may be useful to think about what types of decisions related to each of these three elements are within the City’s decision-making authority, thus might involve a higher level of public participation. Alternatively, which aspects of each element are outside the City’s decision making authority, thus might involve a different kind of participation.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
Top priorities for the community identified in the Downtown Strategy include providing a range of housing options for people with a range of incomes and addressing homelessness in Downtown.
Options:
1. Consider options for educating the public around housing affordability and homelessness issues.
2. Do not consider options for educating the public around housing affordability and homelessness issues.
Financial Impact:
Developing the public participation plan is included in the base budget. Implementation may require additional funds.
Attachments:
DTS Recommendations
Spectrum of Public Participation