Olympia reports Percival Canyon encampment closure; officials say housing offered only to people on by-name list

The city of Olympia reported Oct. 22 that the Percival Canyon encampment closure is complete and that city staff used state Department of Commerce funding and a by-name list to prioritize housing offers.

"We were able to house all the individuals that we could find on the by name list," Susan McLaughlin, Olympia’s community planning and economic development director, told the Thurston County Regional Housing Council. McLaughlin said the closure and housing offers were part of a 16-month effort coordinated with regional partners and funded in part by the Washington State Department of Commerce.

McLaughlin said the city extended the encampment-closure timeline by one week to accommodate Americans with Disabilities Act requests and worked with Northwest Justice and OLE MAP to field reasonable-accommodation requests. She said cleanup work was ongoing with Washington State Department of Transportation crews completing work under a bridge.

County staff and council members raised questions about discrepancies between the city’s reported counts and those observed by county outreach staff. County Manager Leonard and others said some people appeared at the site after the by-name list had been closed; Olympia staff said the city’s protocol is to offer housing to those on the closed by-name list and that, once the list is closed, the city lacks the resources to offer housing to people who arrive afterward.

Kim Condrat, who said her team took over outreach in July after an OLIMAP contract ended, told the council the city followed the by-name-list protocol and conducted frequent outreach to place people. McLaughlin said the city would shift attention to a larger encampment known locally as "the jungle" and said the city is developing a work plan but will need regional partners to participate.

Council members pressed for timely coordination and for inclusion of shelter and housing capacity planning in future work. Meg Martin, chair of the Affordable Housing Advisory Board, asked whether the work plan for the jungle will include additions to housing and shelter capacity; McLaughlin said the city is committed to a "housing-first" strategy but that limited funding and shrinking federal and state resources mean the timeline and approach may require multiple alternatives.

McLaughlin and city staff invited the Regional Housing Council to participate in development of a work plan for the jungle and to reconvene partners once the city has a draft plan.

The council also discussed the mechanics of the by-name list and outreach: Olympia staff said the by-name list used for the Percival closure had been finalized before the city took over outreach in July, that staff placed everyone they could who were on that list, and that people who came after the list closed were not eligible under the Commerce-funded program protocols.