​Hi Houghton residents

We wanted to let you know that a critical decision about Screening Criteria for La Quinta Permanent Supportive Housing is coming up by March 21. If you have an opinion on this topic, please voice it now!
 
Please email elected representatives BY NEXT WEEK how you would like them to vote on the Screening Criteria for our new neighbors at La Quinta Permanent Supportive Housing. 
citycouncil@kirklandwa.gov, (and/or reach out to city council members individually) City Manager Ktriplett@kirklandwa.gov, Deputy City Manager jlopez@kirklandwa.gov
 
There are two resident screening options being discussed. 
1) Use King County Behavioral Health and Homelessness tracking data bases and screening criteria. Search the Washington State Sex Offenders database to do an individualized assessment for placement. Do no criminal background check.
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2) All of the King County screening AND a national criminal background check. 
 
Adding or excluding #2 is what is being voted on by the city council representatives in the next few days. In the Council meeting, the consideration discussed for Option 2 was that a national criminal background check may work against people of color, therefore should perhaps be excluded. The debate was "does the need for criminal checks trump concerns about profiling". At the end of debate, the Council seemed leaning towards excluding National Background Checks (i.e. choosing Option 1 above). The final decision will be made before March 21.
 
If you have an opinion on this, please write to them as above.
 
Read the exact wording of the options here: Attachment C (King County alone) & D (the additional criteria City of Kirkland could vote to include)
https://www.kirklandwa.gov/files/sharedassets/public/city-council/agenda-documents/2023/march-7-2023/9b_business.pdf
 
WATCH the discussion on La Quinta supportive housing screening options and city council questions to King County here: March 7th city council meeting. Topic starts at 2hrs 33mins. or scroll in the index to Section 9 b. 
https://kirkland.granicus.com/player/clip/4744?view_id=54&redirect=true&h=5482ee74b09b12b5b291b9f76c6ae044

Thank you
 
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

The notes from our January 10, 2023 virtual meeting are attached below. 

In addition to the meeting notes, we want to direct you to additional materials on our website - houghtonlives.com.

• CHNA's written testimony for the public hearing on the Permanent Supportive Housing project at the former La Quinta Inn and responses from City Councilmembers can be found under a separate heading below. The letter from Eastside Prep School to the City is also included. CHNA Letter and Council Responses. 
  
  
• We also have posted information related to Carillon Woods Park and an Opportunity with the Green Kirkland Partnership. This information can be found in a separate posting. 

One additional item - on January 19, the City posted information related to the arrest of individuals in connection with the burglary and shots fired at a residence in Central Houghton last October. 

As always, please let us know if you have any questions, comments, or ideas for future meeting topics. We are also looking for members interested in getting more involved in CHNA's effort to build an informed and engaged membership to enhance our community.

Larry Toedtli, president
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

The following was submitted to the Kirland City Council and Deputy City Manager Jim Lopez on January 17 as input to the public hearing on the Permanent Supportive Housing Agreement. Claudia Balducci, our representative on the King County Council, and the King County's Executive office were copied on the email.

We wanted to share some additional materials related to the Permanent Supportive Housing Agreement (PSHA). They address some of the questions in our DRAFT letter for the January 17 Public Hearing that we sent out last Saturday. The materials come from Jim Lopez at the City and one of our members, Rex Rempel. These are provided below and in the attachments.
 
 
Materials from Rex Rempel 
 
Rex Rempel provided us with a document summarizing Permanent Supportive Housing Outcomes based on extensive studies that he provides links to.
 
Materials from Jim Lopez 
As a follow-up to our December 6 Special Meeting, I have been coordinating with Jim Lopez on topics that we discussed.
 
Over the past couple of days, Jim provided us with several documents and links to studies.  (see attachments)
 

• The attached png file is a list of pre-qualified housing operators and support service partners for East County.

 

• Case studies and further research provided by the County regarding the efficacy of permanent supportive housing can be found here:

·         Summary of University of Washington report on de-intensified shelters: https://kcrha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Impact-of-Hotels-as-ES-Study_Full-Report_Final-11302020.pdf

·         Full report on de-intensified shelters: https://regionalhomelesssystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Impact-of-Hotels-as-ES-Study_Full-Report_Final-11302020.pdf
·         Here is a brief summary of the 1811 Eastlake research and project. I am trying to find you the full report. 1811 one pager-revised2010 (desc.org)
·         Here are some additional data points from Plymouth Housing Group about the cost savings that result from providing permanent supportive housing: Why Housing First? - Plymouth Housing
·         Corporation for Supportive Housing is a national expert on this issue and has more information on their website: https://www.csh.org/category/research-and-evaluation/
 
 

• Below is a list of the County’s Health through Housing facilities, more data on each facility is available on the County’s website: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/community-human-services/initiatives/health-through-housing.aspx
  • Auburn: Former Clarion Inn
  • Federal Way: Former Extended Stay America
  • Kirkland: La Quinta Inn
  • North Seattle: Former Extended Stay America
  • North Seattle: Former Holiday Inn Express
  • Pioneer Square: Canton Lofts
  • Queen Anne: Inn at Queen Anne
  • Redmond: Former Silver Cloud Hotel
  • Renton: Extended Stay America Hotel
  • Seattle: Argyle

 

• Attached sample Good Neighbor Agreement, Code of Conduct and Guest Policy for your review. These are provided as examples only.
  
  
• File addressing CHNA Questions from December 6 meeting
  
  

Happy New Year!!!
 
The agenda for our Tuesday, January 10, 2023, regular meeting is attached below. The meeting will be held virtually on the Zoom platform. The meeting will start at 7:00 PM. 
 
At this time, we are planning to continue to meet virtually until the Fire Station 22 remodel is complete (scheduled for summer 2023).
 
The Zoom link and information for tour meeting is:
 
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87354175751?pwd=MDNtdCtQT0YwSEhMYTRKNk9NcE1UUT09 
Meeting ID: 873 5417 5751 Passcode: 921366
One tap mobile +12532158782,,87354175751#,,,,*921366# US (Tacoma) 
 
Our meeting will include discussion on several current or upcoming topics including:

• Former La Quinta Inn Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) project January 17 Public Hearing  - web page
  
  As part of the discussion on the former La Quinta Inn PSH project, later this week we will be sending out a DRAFT letter to the City Council from CHNA for review and discussion at the meeting. We will need to decide whether we want to submit it for the January 17 public hearing and, if so, what changes should be made to it before it is submitted.  
  
  
• The Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station Environmental Review Scoping January 11 Open House - web page
• The Houghton Village (Old PCC) Site Redevelopment (no web page currently available)
• Parks 2023 Ballot Measure Initiative - web page 
• City of Kirkland 2044 Comprehensive Plan Update, January 11 Visioning Event - web page

 
We also will be having an open discussion on what the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association should focus on moving forward to best serve and represent our neighborhood. 
 
We hope to see you virtually on Tuesday January 10 to share your thoughts and get updated on these and other topics.
 
Please contact us at centralhoughton@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, ideas for future meeting topics, or want to help lead the organization.
 
Larry Toedtli, president
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

We have an update for the Permanent Supportive Housing project.
 
At its December 13 meeting, the Kirkland City Council decided to change the Public Hearing on the Permanent Supportive Housing Agreements (at the former La Quinta Inn) to Tuesday January 17. Staff is also looking to see if the packet for the hearing can be made available earlier than the afternoon of Friday January 13. 
 
They also have updated the Health Through Housing web page to include the City's presentation slides from our December 6 meeting and direct links to the November 15 City Council packet and video of the meeting.  The November 15 meeting packet includes the Draft Agreements for the project. While some changes may be made, the November 15 materials will be the baseline for the January 17 Public Hearing. 
 
These changes came about based on our discussion on December 6 and some follow up contacts with staff and City Council members. I really appreciate the City making these changes to provide more opportunities for people to participate in the hearing.
 
Please let me know if you have any questions/comments.
 
Larry Toedtli, president
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

The notes from our December 6, 2022 Special Meeting related to planned permanent supportive housing at the former La Quinta Inn site are attached.
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The City's presentation packet is also attached for your reference.

The meeting notes include links to materials that were discussed. The notes also provide several options for people that want to make comments on the draft project agreements. 

At this time, the City schedule calls for a Public Hearing on the agreements on January 3, 2023; possible City Council action is scheduled for their January 17 meeting.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Larry Toedtli, president
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

Central Houghton and Lakeview Neighbors:
 
The City of Kirkland is developing a draft Permanent Supportive Housing Agreement (PSHA) between the City of Kirkland and King County and a draft Services Agreement (SA) between the County and the future operator of the designated permanent supporting housing facility at the former La Quinta Inn in Kirkland. The working draft PSHA and working draft SA were presented to the City Council at its November 15 meeting (see below links).
 
The Central Houghton Neighborhood Association is holding a Special Meeting on December 6 to allow our neighborhoods to learn more about these draft agreements. The meeting also will provide a forum for residents and businesses in the Central Houghton and Lakeview Neighborhoods to ask questions and make suggestions to address specific concerns about the facility that can be addressed in these agreements. 
 
The meeting information is:
What :   La Quinta Draft Permanent Supportive Housing Agreement and Service Agreement
When : Tuesday, December 6 (6:00 to 7:30 PM) 
Where: Kirkland City Hall City Council Chambers - 123 - 5th Avenue; Kirkland, WA
 
Jim Lopez, Deputy City Manager will give a presentation on the current draft agreements which will address some of the community concerns and questions that have been previously noted. We will allow time for community comments and questions focused on the agreements. Our comments and questions can then be considered by City staff and City Council for incorporation into the draft agreements before they are presented at a Public Hearing (tentatively scheduled for January 3, 2023). 
 
In preparing for the meeting, I strongly encourage everyone to review the November 15 City Council packet and watch the City Council Study Session presentation and discussion. The November 15 Council packet can be found here - November 15 Council Packet and the Study Session video can be accessed here - November 15 Study Session.
 
Please forward to your neighborhood lists.
 
Thank you
 
Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association.