Resident urges housing and treatment over jail; council highlights outreach, resource navigator concept

At the Richland City Council meeting on March 18, 2025, resident Brian Peak urged the council to pursue affordable housing and treatment options for people experiencing homelessness instead of expanding jail capacity. Peak told the council many people who are unhoused decline services when the options offered amount to incarceration or unsafe group settings.

"Simply because something may only improve the lives and well-being of a community a little bit does not mean we should instead opt for a solution in which we haul off people without a home who have drug and or alcohol addictions to jail, wipe our hands, and say job well done," Brian Peak, a Richland resident, told the council.

Peak said rent increases have made housing unaffordable for some local families and argued that offering treatment and housing, even if it helps only a portion of the unhoused population, is preferable to punitive measures. "Will every unhoused individual utilize these resources? No. Will some? Yes. And that's good enough for my family and I," he said.

Council members responded in later reports and comments. Councilmember Meyer noted differences between offers of help that people accept and offers they view as punitive and said the city is considering outreach improvements. "The concept of a resource navigator was described," Meyer said. "The resource navigator's job is to make sure that jail or a group home or whatever aren't the only options. The goal should be to fix the problems, not to sweep them out of sight." Meyer said the city also heard from fire services about outreach work and that navigators could improve engagement with people who are unhoused or at risk.

Mayor Pro Tem Kent also reflected on lived experience and said approach matters when offering services. He said one-size-fits-all responses do not work and urged empathy in local solutions.

No formal action or new funding was adopted during the meeting; comments and the council's remarks were recorded as part of the regular meeting. Councilmembers and staff referenced ongoing planning and outreach work, and the city manager highlighted resource partnerships and recent presentations from fire services in the meeting's reports and comments.