Methamphetamine contamination testing will now be required annually in county-owned housing centers, such as the yet-to-open homeless housing at former hotels, from a 3-2 vote at the County Council last week.
The ordinance’s initiator Councilman Nate Nehring said last week there’s “no doubt they would want this testing” if one’s family lived in these hotels. Nehring’s rule mandates testing every 12 months, including in individual units while they may be occupied.
Nehring, Council Chair Jared Mead and member Sam Low gave the three yes votes; Council members Strom Peterson and Megan Dunn voted no.
Peterson pushed to delay until state health officials release formal guidance on drug contamination safety this summer.
He noted there’s no urgency since nobody’s sheltered in the county properties right now. County officials at the meeting indicated the hotel-to-shelter centers could open next year; it’s been months of delays because they are remediating leftover meth contamination.
“We have time to get this right” on writing the rule, Peterson said last week.
He also noted the ordinance says to go find out if there’s meth, but doesn’t outline what to do if it’s detected. No follow-through could open new legal vulnerabilities upon the county, Peterson said.
The county already planned to test for meth, said Ken Klein, a member of the County Executive’s team. If it’s above threshold, they’d tell health authorities. The county also has money set aside for any needed cleanup, Klein said previously.
Suddenly forcing people to become homeless again because there was meth inside makes them more vulnerable, Dunn said.
Dunn tried to add a stipulation that units be tested only while in-between occupancies, which could be more than a year. Council voted no 2-3.
Like what happened at Clare’s Place, a multi-unit center in Everett built to house formerly homeless people.
Last fall, meth contamination was found in Clare’s Place and health officials condemned it for contamination. Dozens of previously homeless people in the center were temporarily displaced.
The situation at Clare’s Place is being used as a case example in arguments both for and against the testing rule.
The county plans to use the same Housing First model at the two hotels it bought with coronavirus stimulus dollars: a former Days Inn in Everett and a former hotel in Edmonds along Highway 99.
Mead, who had voted in favor of the hotel purchases, last week called annual testing a “common sense policy” that protects people’s health and the county’s investments in the hotels. (Low and Nehring had voted against purchasing the hotels.)
The new meth test rules would exclude county-owned sites for lodging contractors, and excludes the jail. Asbestos and lead can be tested at any time.
Public comments favored the testing rule to keep non-drug-using homeless individuals safe from meth exposure.
