Wenatchee, East Wenatchee restructure joint homeless program

EAST WENATCHEE — Wenatchee and East Wenatchee are restructuring the joint program the two cities use to address homelessness, replacing a seven-member task force with a four-member governing board as the partnership begins looking beyond emergency shelter toward longer-term housing.

The changes to the cities’ 2021 interlocal agreement were presented to the East Wenatchee City Council Sept. 15 and would take effect Jan. 1.

Under the new structure, the Columbia River Homeless Housing Task Force would be replaced by a homeless coordinating board consisting of both cities’ mayors and one councilmember from each city.

The change is tied to Wenatchee’s decision to stop retaining approximately $100,000 annually in document-recording surcharge revenue and instead return the money to the broader county funding pool. Retaining those funds carried state requirements for a homeless housing plan and task force, and returning them allows the cities to replace that structure with one designed specifically to oversee their joint program.

East Wenatchee already directs its approximately $30,000 in recording-surcharge revenue into the broader county system, and that would not change under the agreement.

The cities’ sales tax funding for the joint homeless program also remains in place. Staff described the combined program as having a budget of a little more than $1 million annually.

For East Wenatchee, the governance change would substantially increase its representation, from one seat on a seven-member task force to two seats on the four-member coordinating board.

The shift prompted discussion among East Wenatchee councilmembers about what authority the city would retain in a partnership whose day-to-day administration is handled largely by Wenatchee staff.

Councilmember Christine Johnson focused on ensuring East Wenatchee continued to have an appropriate role in directing the joint program under the new structure.

Councilmember Ken Arnold raised questions about the financial side of the partnership, including how funding flows through the program and how expenditures are overseen as the structure changes.

Staff said East Wenatchee’s contribution would remain unchanged. Wenatchee’s roughly $100,000 in recording-surcharge revenue would leave the two-city program and return to the broader county system, while the principal sales tax revenue supporting the joint effort would continue.

Councilmembers also discussed why the cities operate the program jointly rather than maintaining separate homeless-response systems.

Staff said the arrangement avoids duplicating personnel and services between neighboring cities. Wenatchee employs staff dedicated to homeless response and has much of the area’s existing shelter infrastructure, while East Wenatchee does not maintain a comparable staff or shelter system of its own.

The revised structure would also eliminate the need for the partnership to maintain its own state-required homeless housing plan. Instead, the cities would rely on their comprehensive plans and direction from their elected officials to guide the joint program.

The discussion also looked beyond the governance change to the next phase of the cities’ work on homelessness.

Staff said the program has concentrated heavily on immediate needs such as outreach, diversion and emergency shelter, but the cities are beginning to look further along the housing continuum toward transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.

The new four-member board would provide elected oversight as the joint program moves into that work, while the cities continue using Wenatchee staff for much of its day-to-day administration.

For East Wenatchee councilmembers, the smaller board would give the city a larger formal role in those decisions even as the underlying partnership between the two cities remains intact.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media