The County Council is still weighing a proposal to require annual drug contamination testing at county-owned housing shelters and facilities.
But it first wants to hear what a state-level workgroup has to say on decontamination issues.
The County Council voted last week to postpone on deciding until its May 1 council meeting after the workgroup releases its report. The public record remains open for comments.
The initial proposal was introduced by Councilman Nate Nehring. He put it forward after contamination at other sheltering efforts made headlines. The recent multi-month closure of Clare’s Place in Everett due to fentanyl and meth contamination has become a poster child.
Nehring said if there’s contamination found, the ordinance is deliberately silent on whether someone can continue living there. Health authorities would make those decisions, he said.
State human health laws require sealing off and decontaminating a space if it exceeds the thresholds.
The possibility of finding contamination while a room is occupied, though, gives some council members pause.
Councilwoman Megan Dunn sponsored an amendment to test room units only when they are unoccupied. She wants to avoid a scenario where a contaminated room causes a homeless shelter resident to be displaced. It could result in putting them back on the streets,
and they’d face worse outcomes because of that, Dunn said. She asked about alternative placement plans if this happens.
Councilman Strom Peterson, also uneasy about the proposal, said the science is not clear if surface contamination poses a true health risk. The same questions are happening in conversations about when fentanyl residue is found inside public buses, Peterson mentioned.
Council Chair Jared Mead said last month he’s supportive of the ordinance.
“We should be testing these units,” Mead said March 20, because it only gathers information on the state of units, with the mindset of preventative maintenance. Knowing where there is contamination is financially wise and it gives safety for staff in the facilities, Mead said.
County jail cells would be excluded from the testing rule.
The ordinance focuses squarely on the county’s two hotels it bought with plans to shelter people, which were the former Days Inn on Everett Mall Way and former America’s Best in Everett. The county bought them with federal coronavirus relief dollars in 2022. They aren’t open as they are undergoing contamination remediation from when the county bought them.
The county plans to shelter people in them with the Housing First model.
The few people who gave public comments favor the drug testing ordinance.
Their criticisms primarily oppose the Housing First model.
Housing First emphasizes sheltering people first to stabilize them, including if they have substance abuse issues.
Some criticize the model lets people use drugs in the rooms, which places people who don’t use drugs at risk of drug exposure.
“At the very least you can provide some surety that these rooms are safe for habitation,” Mukilteo resident Donna Vago wrote in support of the ordinance.
Another Mukiltean called on council to scrap the Housing First model altogether.
The county spent millions to buy the hotels and decontaminate them, Sharon Damoff told the council. By allowing the Housing First model, she thinks these will undoubtedly become contaminated again.
