By Liz Steen 

Interim Seattle Police Chief Andre Sayles was awarded full responsibility for enforcing Seattle’s new RV policy requiring unpermitted vehicles wider than 80 inches to move every two hours or face towing, but he was given zero new staff or other budget at the Seattle City Council Public Safety Council meeting Tuesday morning.

Instead, the Committee's draft legislation appropriates $2 million in funding from the Human Services Department for “outreach.” No RV parks are open and no one is currently receiving services, the council heard.

As the new chief, Sayles will be responsible for staffing decisions and other costs associated with implementing the new policy. RV owners must enroll in a one-time-only permit program for vehicle owners or face towing and fines for vehicles parked longer than two hours, under a six-part proposal that will be introduced to the City Council in more detail August 18 and “likely” voted on September 22.

Police and Parks Department staff will enforce the towing, together with parking enforcement personnel for any public parks impacted, according to Council Member Rob Saka.

The long-term parking ban applies to vehicles wider than 80 inches, which is the width of a large pickup truck. Cars that have been modified for long-term residency could also fall under the policy.

The city had previously planned to establish RV parks for residents to receive services including sanitation, water, and access to healthcare. It’s unclear if residents who fail to qualify for the one-time-only permit will be allowed in the RV parks, which the City spent about $12 million to build earlier this year. No RV parks are open and no one is receiving services yet, the council heard.

A for sale sign was posted today outside the Glassyard Commons, a $3.3 million park located in West Seattle at 2700 2nd Ave SW that the city finished in June. Staffers reached for comment had not heard that the lot could be for sale.

It’s unclear if the city will be allowed to collect fees for the vehicles that are towed or impounded. The city previously lost a significant lawsuit connected to towing vehicles that were used as housing.

The Washington Supreme Court ruled that the city cannot impose fines and costs on a person who is unable to pay, and extended “homestead” protections to cars that are being used for housing.

The council members did not discuss the potential cost of impounding the RVs, but the council’s agenda packet included a draft order allowing the city’s Director of Finance to execute leases up to about $2.6 million without council approval for RV parks or “other purposes that serve the public good, such as storage.”

The lease “flexibility” was previously approved in March; the updated clause from this morning adds RV parks to the lease authority. No council members asked follow up questions about the funding or discussed the lease provisions. Staffer Calvin Chow explained the Council would move $2 million from the Human Services Department budget to “Allow the funding to be spent on outreach,” to people who could be served by the city’s planned RV parks, although he was careful to say, “that money could be spent on any type of outreach or program to serve any type of vehicle resident not just recreational vehicle residents.”

Another $5 million “is available” for homeless services overall from last year’s budget, and an additional $260,000 will go to “IT and staffing costs” for the RV Parks. The council did not discuss the funding. Council members heard about 15 minutes of testimony on the new RV policy, and another 30 minutes of testimony on the King County Jail Medical Deferral data, where staffers report that patients sent to the hospital instead of jail have often been released due to staffing shortages.

The same person was picked up on the same warrant five times, and this is not unusual, the council heard. Booking times for individuals who need medical care often extends to 14 or even 16 hours, again due to staffing shortages. Council members did not have follow up questions, but Daniel Strauss of the King County Council gave a short presentation on the city/county partnership and said the groups are eager to have a conversation.

Most of the Council Member’s conversation Tuesday was taken up with discussion of the Bite of Seattle press conference the night of the shooting. Chief Sayles answered sharply worded questions about the press conference and discussed protocols for distributing public safety information for more than an hour.

Four television cameras had been tipped off to cover the new police chief’s briefing. The cameras packed up and left before discussion of the other agenda items including the RV parks, the understaffing at the jail medical deferral program creating 14-hour delays booking and catch-and-release arrests, or the funding details.

After the cameras left, Council members moved in and out of the council room as staff briefed a mostly empty council chamber until the meeting closed at noon.

The city’s new lease agreement for parking, presumably connected to the expectation that more cars will be towed and need storage, is available here: https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15753031&GUID=754B03D1-BD44-4137-A9EB-D4D712DFBB65

The city’s new one-time-only vehicle residency permitting program draft is available here: https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15753036&GUID=0C36E367-04EB-4E59-8A54-32AA98AA8D02 The city’s $2 million funding for “support of service providers engaged in outreach to persons living in vehicles,” and to “help vehicle residents meet code requirements” is available here: https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15753036&GUID=0C36E367-04EB-4E59-8A54-32AA98AA8D02

There did not appear to be a public packet available for the presentation titled, “King County Jail Medical Deferral Data and Impacts on Harborview and Seattle City Police Department. “