Parent group sues Kirkland and King County over supportive housing

A group of Eastside parents called Keep Kids Safe is suing the city of Kirkland and King County over a plan to convert an old hotel into permanent supportive housing. The parents claim the city and county did not discuss the plan with the public before purchasing the property.

The lawsuit filed last week in Snohomish County Superior Court claims King County did not notify Kirkland residents before purchasing the La Quinta Inn & Suites as part of the county’s Health Through Housing initiative. The Kirkland location is the 10th motel purchased by the county to provide supportive housing to people who have experienced homelessness.

“In Washington state you're not allowed to make decisions entirely behind closed doors and I think that's exactly what happened here,” said Mark Lamb, an attorney representing Keep Kids Safe.

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In the lawsuit, Lamb claims the city and county “met in secret” for over a year before the motel purchase was announced on March 3.

Some people in Kirkland, however, were aware of the plan before then. SafeEastside, an online advocacy group that opposed the purchase, held two protests in Kirkland on Feb. 19 and March 1.

The Kirkland City Council sent a letter of support to the county in January.

Kirkland City Manager Kurt Triplett released a message online addressing peoples’ concerns on Feb. 1.

Kirkland Mayor Penny Sweet made a statement to the City Council on Feb. 15 that said the city’s “support of La Quinta requires extensive community engagement and that legitimate concerns when identified are addressed.”

Still, Lamb maintains that his clients were left out of the conversation.

While the lawsuit is focused on Kirkland’s and King County’s lack of transparency, parents involved have also expressed concerns on social media about the motel being near a daycare and Eastside Preparatory School.

“We are absolutely supportive of finding solutions for the homeless crisis but feel the risks of locating so close to all of these schools and a daycare need to be carefully considered in an open public process by both King County and the city of Kirkland prior to approval," parent Susie Kupferman said in a press release from Keep Kids Safe. "That did not happen.”

Lamb said other hotels in the city of Kirkland probably would have been better locations for supportive housing.

In response, housing advocates argue that Eastside suburbs like Kirkland currently don’t offer nearly enough services or housing options for the tens of thousands of people in King County estimated to be experiencing homelessness.

“Our shelters are full,” said Alison Eisinger, executive director of the Seattle/ King County Coalition on Homelessness. “We are working to increase by hundreds of units of housing a year and what we really need is thousands of units per year.”

Eisinger said, while homelessness may not be as visible in Kirkland compared to large tent encampments in Seattle, there is indeed a great need for people seeking housing on the Eastside.

“If we don’t seize the opportunity to help people have homes, they will be next to the schools and the day care centers, and the transit centers, and in the parks, and next to the grocery store, and in the green spaces,” she said.

The La Quinta building would provide 121 units to people who are experiencing or at risk of chronic homelessness. The site would offer 24/7 staffing with case managers and access to behavioral health services. A service provider that would manage the site is still being determined. The Kirkland purchase is the latest in the county’s plan to open 1,600 emergency housing and permanent supportive housing units this year.

During a speech about expanding homeless services in February, King County Executive Dow Constantine said the problem of homelessness in cities outside of Seattle is often harder to see, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

“You won’t see a lot of people on the streets but if you go just off into the woods adjacent to the cities there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people experiencing homelessness," Constantine said. "Many of those folks from those very places; they haven’t gone far from home.”

Eisinger predicted the Health Through Housing residents would have a positive impact on Kirkland.

“Having a stable group of people living somewhere and being able to participate in the life of the community might actually cause greater safety than having a transient population coming and going, as is a hotel,” she said.

Mark Lamb said he and Keep Kids Safe are still waiting on a response to the lawsuit.

The city of Kirkland and King County will host a town hall meeting about the project on May 9 at 5:30 p.m.