More Details on Broadview Thomson Encampment Story

 This from a recent story in the Seattle Times wherein we learn:

- The school district didn’t devote much money to the effort, and the offer from Anything Helps was appealing because of its price tag: The district thought it would only be paying the costs associated with getting people inside. The group’s leader, Mike Mathias, who used to be homeless himself, and his volunteer team were all unpaid. The district ultimately reimbursed him for more than $20,000 for those costs.

- The district did not run a background check or confirm Mathias’ employment history, according to a spokesperson for Seattle Public Schools. Neither did the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, which began working with Mathias on getting housing vouchers to more than a dozen of the homeless people.

- The school district also didn’t run a competitive process to pick the agency it worked with, or provide much, if any, oversight to Mathias.

- No other nonprofits were offering to do this work, certainly not for so little money. The school district said yes.

- A spokesperson for Seattle Public Schools said the contract was with Anything Helps, not Mathias, so they simply confirmed Anything Helps was a registered nonprofit with the state. They didn’t contact any other organizations.

- Public records obtained by The Seattle Times showed that instead of including receipts, invoices from Anything Helps simply listed services the group said it provided, such as “moving expenses and cleaning fees,” and amounts. The school district has asked for all receipts related to the work and Mathias is providing them, he said.

No RFP? Here’s where I have to think Mathias got hired via one of the directors and I suspect it was either Hampson and/or DeWolf and/or Liza Rankin (the school is in her district). Hampson and DeWolf were the sole Board members “demanding” that the City not clear it using a sweep.

About Mathias

- It was a young agency, run entirely by volunteers and headed by someone who was the subject of protection orders filed by two women who alleged stalking and harassment.

They stem from an incident in which he broke into staff workspaces at a North Seattle substance use and mental health clinic where he was receiving treatment and yelled at employees, chased or lunged at his therapist, and threatened to beat up his psychiatrist, according to 12 statements from employees.

- Staff members felt extraordinarily unsafe and “are concerned that his mental health issues, continued substance abuse, his calculating and premeditated behaviors,” the clinic manager wrote, could result in “continued contact, threats, and dangerous behaviors, especially if he feels triggered.” That year and the next year Mathias was also charged with malicious mischief and fourth-degree assault in Bellevue and Redmond, but he completed community service and anger management training and the charges were dismissed

In the End

- The events at Bitter Lake raise questions about resources: If more public money had been devoted to the effort — by the school district or Seattle government — would a larger organization with more internal checks and balances have been hired instead? 

Alison Eisinger, the director of the Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness, blamed former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, rather than the authority or the school district, for what happened.

“While this is terrible, the real questions should be — why was Seattle Public Schools left to figure this out without actual professional, contracted, experienced staff?” Eisinger said.

I absolutely disagree. Hampson and DeWolf alienated the City from the get go. The encampment was on district property. What was the City to do?

- The school district has ended its agreement with Anything Helps and the homelessness authority has handed off the 14 housing vouchers set aside for the nonprofit to a larger outreach organization.

- But no one appears to take responsibility for investigating whether wrongdoing happened. The homelessness authority said an investigation was under the school district’s purview, and the school district said it is up to Anything Helps. But because Anything Helps leadership is basically just Mathias, the nonprofit won’t be investigating.

So where is a single director calling for an investigation? Nope, they will just sweep this under the rug labelled “Silas Potter.”