Strauss asks for $3.5 million for a 90-spot RV safe lot. Nine days after the vote, his RV bills still haven't gone to the mayor

When the City Council passed Budget Chair Dan Strauss's RV permit package on Oct. 20, Mayor Katie Wilson's office said the Council "will need to appropriate additional resources" during the budget to pay for it, KUOW reported. Thursday's budget packets show the first big piece of that money.

For people living in vehicles, and for neighborhoods where RVs park, the safe lot is where the program's promise of a legal place to go would come from. Under the package, RVs without a city permit could park on public streets for only two hours starting April 30, 2027.

This is a follow-up to our Oct. 24 story, The mayor hasn't decided on the RV package.

The proposal

HSD-052-A, from Strauss with Eddie Lin and Robert Kettle, would add $3.5 million from the General Fund in 2027 and about $3.6 million in 2028 to the Human Services Department for a new safe lot for RVs and other vehicles, according to Central Staff's Human Services packet for the Oct. 29 Select Budget Committee meeting.

• The lot would have about 90 spots.
• The 2027 money covers one-time startup costs and part of a year of operations; 2028 pays for a full year.
• A proviso would bar spending the 2027 money on anything else.

It is the third-largest item in Thursday's packets, after two $8 million human services proposals, by our count of the day's proposals.

How it fits with Glassyard Commons

Seattle has no designated RV safe lot today, KOMO reported before the vote. The city's next one, Glassyard Commons, operated with the Low Income Housing Institute, is expected to open in mid-November with parking for 72 RVs and 20 tiny houses, according to KOMO. Strauss's proposal would be in addition to that site.

The package itself already moves $5 million in existing money toward outreach, safe lots, storage and housing pathways through CB 121282.

What our records add

The bills have still not been sent to the mayor. As of Thursday morning, the City Clerk's legislative history for the permit bill, CB 121283, and the funding bill, CB 121282, lists the Oct. 20 Council vote as the latest action. Neither shows a "submitted for Mayor's signature" step, nine days after passage. By comparison, the algorithmic pricing ordinance passed Sept. 22 and was submitted to the mayor two days later, as we reported on Oct. 24.

The six-vote margins. The permit bill and the funding bill each passed 6-3. On the permit bill, Lin, Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster voted no. On the funding bill, Maritza Rivera, Rinck and Foster voted no. Lin, who voted against the permit program, is a co-sponsor of the safe lot money. Our bill-by-bill tally has the full roll calls.

Related Human Services items. Strauss also filed HSD-019-A, which would restore position authority, though not funding, for two Unified Care Team staff jobs the mayor's budget cuts. The executive says those positions are not needed to keep current service levels, according to the packet. We covered the encampment team in an earlier story.

What's been said

Strauss has said people living in vehicles "have been forgotten on our streets," in the Council's announcement of the package. The mayor's office has said Wilson is supportive in principle of new safe lots, storage and outreach, but has concerns about the details of the permit program, PubliCola reported.

What's next

• Thursday, Oct. 29: Strauss presents HSD-052-A (agenda item). No votes are taken.
• Nov. 4: Strauss's own balancing package will show whether the safe lot money is in. Nov. 5: public hearing (meeting page).
• Once the bills reach the mayor, she can sign them or veto them.