Homelessness Planning Council votes to send executive committee's downsizing recommendation to general membership with lived-experience requirement

The Homelessness Planning Council on a voice vote approved sending the executive committee's recommendation to downsize the council to the general membership, and members added a requirement that at least four voting seats be held by people with lived experience of homelessness.

The vote followed public comment, a presentation of process questions, and more than an hour of discussion about attendance, governance and how any downsizing would be implemented. Council members repeatedly said they wanted clearer rules on how seats would be reduced and whether the ordinance or the council's governance charter must be changed before a membership vote.

Why it matters: The council was created by Metro ordinance and serves as the local body that guides continuum-of-care strategy and coordination. Council members said attendance problems and the size of the body have hampered decision-making; opponents urged caution to preserve representation of people with lived experience.

Public comment and opening discussion Steve Reiter, a public commenter, questioned whether the action was properly before the council and raised an ethics concern about Metro Legal's role, saying, "Metro Legal represents office of homeless services. It does not represent this body," and asking that Metro Legal clarify its client. Howard Allen, another speaker from the public, urged against downsizing and said the council should include people who have lived experience.

Members and staff clarified process. A member of Metro Legal told the council that "this homelessness planning council was created by an ordinance of the metro government, and so the Metropolitan Legal Department is an adviser to this body," and explained Metro Legal's advising relationship to the council.

Debate among council members Members raised three recurring concerns: (1) Which legal steps are required to change the council's size (ordinance versus governance charter); (2) how any reduction would be implemented given upcoming elections and natural attrition; and (3) maintaining representation for people with lived experience.

Governance-charter committee member Shanley said the governance charter, which the general membership can amend, is the original document that outlines the council's size and composition and that the ordinance language had been pulled from that charter. Liz Mallard, chair of the nominating committee, said the committee has been discussing attrition and planned approaches to nominations so reductions could occur through natural attrition in some seats.

Motion and outcome After procedural motions and a failed attempt to defer the item, a motion to approve the executive committee's downsizing recommendation, amended on the floor to require at least four voting members with lived experience, passed and will be forwarded to the continuum-of-care general membership for a vote and any required charter or ordinance steps. One member abstained in the final count.

What the council decided not to do today Council members emphasized that the action approved today is to forward the recommendation to the general membership, not to unilaterally change membership or amend the ordinance. Multiple members requested clearer implementation details before any final changes are adopted by the general membership or Metro Council.

Next steps The recommendation will go to the Homelessness Planning Council general membership for consideration and a vote. Governance and nominating committees were identified as the groups responsible for drafting implementation details (how seats would change, how attrition would be handled and how the lived-experience requirement would be enforced) before the general membership vote.

Ending note Members said they want the process completed in a way that preserves community trust and a functional council; several asked that the governance charter be coordinated with any ordinance changes before final approval by the general membership.