During its regular meeting on Tuesday night, the Centralia City Council voted to approve a resolution creating a Homeless Task Force to help address the rising issue of homelessness in the area.
The task force’s goal will be identifying and analyzing existing resources for homeless people to find out if there is an overlap in services. It will also identify areas where the city can utilize its own resources to coordinate services to help homeless people.
Additionally, the task force will review the ordinance language of neighboring governments regarding homelessness and provide recommendations on closing service gaps, reducing service overlap and learning how the city can create facilities for people experiencing homelessness in Centralia.
Council Member Leah Daarud brought up the proposal.
“I brought this forward knowing that many of us recommend that multiple, different perspectives regarding this very sensitive and multi-faceted issue (be brought in), so I’m asking the council tonight to approve this short-term advisory ad hoc committee,” Daarud said.
It was amended following a comment from Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston who suggested the addition of a county government representative on the task force.
The county representative will be required to have verified experience providing services to homeless people or those at risk of homelessness.
Additionally, the task force will be comprised of eight other members: two city council members, one medical professional specializing in addiction and mental health, two members from local nonprofits currently providing outreach services to the homeless, one member from the Recovery Navigator Program, one citizen-at-large from Centralia to be appointed by the mayor and one member with verified experience navigating Centralia’s existing homeless services.
Smith Johnston posed a question regarding if there was any plan should the city fail to create the task force in time.
“We can’t mandate participation for a lot of these folks,” Smith Johnston said.
Daarud responded by stating she had proactively been in communication with potential representatives to make up the committee.
The council voted to approve the resolution and Daarud, along with Council Member Elizabeth Cameron, now have one month to find members for the task force.
Once created, the task force will have six months from the date of its first meeting to produce a final report for the council documenting its findings.
This move comes after Lewis County commissioners recently approved an ordinance banning homeless encampments on county land.
