Gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert releases plan addressing homelessness

Jun. 26—WENATCHEE — Washington gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert said he has a plan to address homelessness in the state.

“It has been nearly 10 years since Seattle and King County declared a state of emergency over the homelessness crisis, and since then the problem has not only gotten worse in the Puget Sound area but across the state,” Reichert said in the press release. “We continue to use the same failed approaches and instead of solving homelessness, we have created hopelessness. It is time for action and my blueprint to tackle this crisis will bring more accountability to how taxpayers’ money is spent to identify what is and is not working and ensure we spend wisely on programs that get people off the streets and into housing.”

The former U.S. Representative announced his “9-1-1 Blueprint on Homelessness” in a press release June 11. He also listed nine steps he would take if elected governor. Those were:

• “Appoint the state’s first director for the homeless.
• Increase efforts to arrest the 2-3% of homeless committing serious felonies.
• Redirect 30% of state funding to housing-linked treatment programs.
• Audit all state-funded programs and eliminate ineffective ones.
• Implement a database management system with accessible real-time data to establish transparency and accountability.
• Advocate for a federally-funded pilot program in Seattle and Spokane integrating housing, treatment, and informed trauma care.
• Mobilize other states to advocate for federal funding that covers housing, treatment, and informed trauma care.
• Eliminate “safe injection” sites in Washington state.
• Promote and expand results-driven public/private partnerships.”

“We need a holistic community approach that doesn’t solely rely on government funds,” Reichert wrote in an email to The Wenatchee World. “Many private corporations have already put millions of dollars into helping our homeless crisis, but the results have been abysmal. We have private corporations with the desire and the means to help and we should incorporate their voices — we need all hands on deck to tackle this homeless crisis.”

Reichert added the first state director of homelessness would “lead the critical work that’s currently missing,” such as vetting the organizations involved in homelessness efforts using state money and reallocating funding based on results.

“The position will assess the spaces that need to be added for detox and mental health and work in collaboration with other departments, such as the Department of Health,” Reichert wrote. “We need to start working in collaboration with other states to learn more about programs that are actually working.”

On increasing arrests of homeless people committing serious felonies, Reichert said those crimes prompting arrest included drug trafficking, armed robberies, rape and murder. And, that those who commit those felonies needed to be held responsible.

Regarding where 30% of state funding would be redirected, he wrote, “We have the opportunity to change the face of homelessness forever. In the last week, we learned from the State Auditor about $1.17 billion in Federal COVID Relief Aid is missing or has not been properly accounted for across Washington state agencies. It’s not a resource problem — we need to start having accountability for our tax dollars. I have met with major corporations and they are eager to help financially with our homeless crisis, especially in a results-driven effort.”

In his step to eliminate safe injection sites, Reichert responded on whether he was worried about a bloodborne disease epidemic.

“The problem, as I understand it, is that proper harm reduction is not being used as intended,” he wrote. “The current open-air drug use is worrisome, and that’s why we have to address it with recovery, detox, and mental health resources versus the harm reduction model. I have no intention of eliminating needle exchange programs.”