Agencies lobby for Olympia's sparse federal funds

The Olympia City Council said no to spending federal dollars on the Thurston County Tenants Union, an agency that offers rental assistance. But it is poised to vote Tuesday to spend $350,000 in federal dollars to improve the streetscape of Legion Way.

The City Council has changed the way it spends money from the Community Development Block Grant, a federal social-services grant.

The council has not reduced funding for social-service agencies as a whole, but it's being more selective about which ones it funds, and it's using the federal money for more general projects, such as the Legion Way improvements.

The process has created some winners and some losers. One loser is the tenants union, which has gotten nearly its entire budget from the grant since 2001, said Pat Tassoni, project coordinator. The tenants union received $18,000 per year or more since 2005.

"It has been the backbone of this organization since 2001 and without that it's not clear whether the organization is going to be able to continue in its limited capacity, as it is," Tassoni said.

Tassoni said the organization has contact with about 1,000 people per year, and offers in-depth case management to about 200 of those. He said he tells people about their rights under the landlord-tenant law, advises them when landlords break the law and offers emergency eviction assistance.

"Landlords especially prey on the low income and the vulnerable and exploit them," he said. "We try to keep people in their housing."

Councilman Jeff Kingsbury, chairman of the council's General Government Committee that sorted through the grant process, defended the decision not to fund the tenant's union. He said though the organization serves people countywide, Olympia is providing nearly all its funding, and it appears the organization isn't looking elsewhere for money.

City Community Services Manager Steve Friddle, who helps oversee the federal fund, said it's about changing priorities. Friddle said city leaders don't want to provide the sole support for agencies that apply to them for funding.

The amount that Olympia gets from the federal government varies each year. This year the city has budgeted $686,749. Fifteen percent of that can be spent on social service agencies, and the city leaders are still spending the full amount possible on social services.

But Olympia's procedures needed to change, said Councilman Jeff Kingsbury, chairman of the General Government Committee, which oversees requests for the federal funding.

Before, there was no accounting on how social services agencies were spending their funding. Organizations didn't have to submit formal proposals, and the same agencies continued to get funding.

"So then we started asking some tough questions which were along the lines of … how do we track accountability?" he said. "Well, we didn't. There was no expectation other than you're doing good work, go and continue."

This year, agencies had to submit proposals and give performance measures. The tenants union didn't make the cut.

Others agencies that were funded last year but not this year were Partners in Prevention Education and Drexel House. Spending on housing rehabilitation shifted from $285,000 last year to $61,749 this year. Funding for home ownership assistance dropped from $35,000 last year to zero this year.

But city leaders also added funding — $20,000 for Safeplace, a domestic violence shelter; and $20,000 for the Family Support Center, a shelter and housing referral agency.

Tassoni said his yearly allotment of $18,000 or so was a bargain for the people he serves, and now he's going to be out of a job. Most of it went toward his salary. He has one part-time employee who is paid through another program. Aside from the city money, Tassoni gets $3,000 from the Archdiocese of Seattle.

Kingsbury said city staff are working to help get the tenants union funding elsewhere. But Tassoni said the block grant funding dries up in August.

"I just can't afford to be a volunteer full-time," he said.

Matt Batcheldor covers the city of Olympia for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-704-6869 or mbatcheldor@theolympian.com.