Community Development Block Grants

The Seattle Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program was established to provide continuous federal support for urban renewal projects in Seattle’s "blighted" neighborhoods following the termination of the Model Cities Program in 1974.

The Model Cities program was rolled out by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in response to increasing urban poverty, infrastructure degradation, and uneven opportunities through the 1960s. After a century of government-sponsored racial discrimination and segregation, the Civil Rights Movement spurred federal funding projects aimed primarily at low-income nonwhite neighborhoods. The Model Cities program intended to ameliorate economic underdevelopment in specific urban neighborhoods by providing grant funding for community-based economic and infrastructure initiatives.

In 1968, HUD identified the Central Area, Pioneer Square, and International District neighborhoods as eligible for urban renewal funding, making Seattle the first city in the country to receive Model Cities federal grants. In 1971, North Seattle, Southeast Seattle, and Southwest Seattle neighborhoods were also identified as eligible for federal support. Despite the development of 200 mixed-income housing units, the success of the program was ultimately complicated by widespread community displacement in the Central Area - in particular, the failure of the city to redevelop 500 lost units of low-income housing.

The Model Cities program was terminated in 1974 after six years and replaced by the Housing and Community Development Act, which established the CDBG program to continue distributing federal funding for local urban development projects. CDBG funding continued for the next four decades until it was dissolved in 2017 in favor of a new direct fund model. 

Housing, Recreation, and Human Services Committee Meeting 

On September 19, 1985, the Housing, Recreation, and Human Services Committee of the Seattle City Council held a public hearing to discuss the allocation of CDBG funding for the remainder of 1985, as well as 1986. A total of 87 representatives from 47 local organizations requested block grant funding for  community development projects, most located in the Central Area, Southeast Seattle, the International District, and North Seattle neighborhoods.

At the meeting, requests included funding for low-income community health clinics, language interpretation and learning services for East Asian and Indochinese immigrants, employment training and placement, transitional services for unhoused and drug-dependent populations, affordable housing development, youth centers, and services for seniors and disabled residents. Despite a $3 million reduction in available federal block grant funds relative to 1984, most organizations noted increased financial need due to rent inflation, federal funding cuts under the Reagan administration, and growing client bases.

Testimony

DeCharlene Williams – Central Area Chamber of Commerce (listen to audio)
Hello, how are you? My name is DeCharlene Williams, president of the Central Area Chamber of Commerce. Two years ago, in 1983, I was told by Mayor Charles Royer that a Central Area Chamber of Commerce was needed, it was very impossible to do. I did it. I put together a Central Area Chamber of Commerce with a group of wonderful, honest people.

I was, at that time also, I was promised help, which we have not got in two years - no help from the City. Boeing Aircraft have supplied us with furniture for the place and I have given free office space, but we still have not got any help whatsoever from the City. We applied for a joint venture youth program with the Department of Human Resources, which is a very positive program proposal that would help clean up our area for the small businessman.

1984, I did a survey in the area on crime, and I brought these papers to give you. I went all down to Madison Park and got all those businesses to sign with me. We have a high crime problem in our area, and we need help and support. This youth program is the answer to our prayer. My problem is, I cannot understand why we did not get this proposal fast.

I'm angry. Angry right now. And I'm angry because I'm feeling fearful. Fearful because I don't know what the City has planned for the Central Area, and this is why I'm here. I want you to tell me, what are your plans for the Central Area? You have done nothing to help us. Now you say the crime is a problem and the people out there don't want to clean it up.

We want to clean up our area. And what can we do? What steps will we take to clean up our area? We want a youth program going. That's what we want. That's the first step - jobs for our children in the area. And that's why we're here today, to see what is the problem, and why we cannot get some help.

The Central Area Chamber of Commerce has been in existence for two years, and in the two years we have managed to help CAMP when they had burnouts last year, we supplied them with $5,500 worth of clothing. Also, the Black prisoners needed uniforms for the baseball teams, we did that. Again, they requested for Black magazines. We gave them $3,000 worth of magazines.

We've done this. We're doing our job - our businesspeople, our community. We want to know what, what is the plan? What does the City plan to do? How do they plan to help the Central Area? And how can the Central Area serve the area? That's one question I wish you would answer for us. And I have papers here too, from the, all the other - excuse me, I have a cold - areas down the hill from us, Madison Park, you've helped all of those people down there in the valley, and I want to know, what do you plan to do for the Central Area?

You know, that's the problem. That's the hang up is on you, and you have letters from all the made copies of the proposal. And here's some more letters, and I'm not going to get off your back until we get some results. And that's the way I'm playing it. I am really angry, I really am. I'm not mad yet, but just angry. I want some help. Okay, now I'm going to get going.

Dave Bayshore – Seattle Indian Center (listen to audio)
Thank you, Chair Smith and councilmembers, I appreciate it. I also want to thank you for your past support for the Seattle Indian Center community development block grant hot meal program and for our part of survival services and also survival services in general. But today - and I hope you continue doing that - but today I'm asking for, immediately, $4,000.

And I refer to page 11, PS 72. It's a day labor project. The mission of the Seattle Indian Center, even though we do give away food and shelter and so on, is to enable people to become self-reliant and self-sufficient. One thing that bothers me is as we provide food and shelter, there are a lot of people who are not ready, willing, and able to sustain full time, permanent employment, and we don't really have a place for them to get that kind of work.

Not everybody gets sent out at the Millionair Club. Not everybody gets sent out at other kinds of temporary employment services. There is a big gap in this city in this particular area. It is time that we move past just the food and shelter survival services and got into some programs that would alleviate some of these needs by providing the means for which people can pay some of their own way.

There is great opportunity for this program. We do not have enough money at the Indian Center to have a full budget. We requested only $16,000. We've worked and raised some money; the mayor has recommended $12,000. Why not the other four? You know, you figure it out. I really need this $4,000. I wouldn't be spending your time and my time at this late hour for that small amount of money if I didn't need it.

There's all sorts of opportunities to work in concert with the business community, to pick up some of Belltown’s trash, as the gentleman alluded to earlier. Not only can we create some public partnerships and jobs, but also the private sector, the business community, has some labor needs that they'd be happy to have such a program.

We've already talked to people in the unions; they're receptive to the idea. But I need to hire two full time, permanent staff people to develop this new project. I can't really do that for the length of period of time I need to even test the feasibility without the $4,000 extra. We have been trying to raise other money, and we have, as I said, we've been successful enough that I’ve identified and hired a couple Indian people with experience in employment.

So I just hope that, you know, you can agree with me. I'd be happy to talk to anybody, I'll get you some information in writing on it. And I know Councilmember Williams, you’re particularly addressing this issue, so I'll get some information to you too. Also, regarding Common Ground, as Steve Clagett alluded to, we have been working with them to develop a group home for developmentally disabled people, Indian and non-Indian, and, I've been very happy with their housing consultant services.

One thing about the additional money that we get to our employment program - this will also enable us, we've been using Indian money, this will enable us to serve non-Indians as well, which we've done traditionally in some of our other programs that you provide funding for. But it bothers me that, you know, people get out of the shelters at the crack of dawn and there's nowhere for them to go.

We're not providing daytime activities for people. We don't have the drop-in centers we need. It seems to me that it's a logical step in the evolution of services in this town, and a way to get ourselves start reducing the need for some of the survival services, by giving people the chance to work. So, thank you very much.

Gina Lubeck – Southeast Seattle Community Organization (listen to audio)
My name is Gina Lubeck and I'm a member of the Southeast Seattle Community Organization. And in the review of the allocations, it appears that the whole recommended allocation has been reduced by $11,675 from the preliminary recommendations to the final recommendations. We think that this is very confusing and should be changed. We don't understand this, and we feel that neighborhood boards can help people understand these changes. And we have been working for neighborhood boards and changes in the whole community development block grant process for over three years.

As I think all the council are familiar, and know, SESCO receives no community development block grants, has never applied for any. We're mainly concerned about the process, and as people are coming asking for additional funds, we have some very good ideas where these funds might be available right now. 36% of block grant money is still going to City departments.

That's $4,714,642 in a year that cutbacks are made - we think that this is a very significant place to make cutbacks. This year, $3,578,116 worth of projects were funded out of the mayor's budget. And we really applaud this, we think it's a good step in the right direction. However, if one tried to track those projects with, asterisk, double asterisks, triple asterisks, quadruple asterisks, one is completely confused about where the money is coming from and where it's going.

We, our proposal this evening is that all City staff be paid out of the mayor's budget, simplifying how we could look at block grants, how we could monitor and see how block grant money is being spent. Asking people, begging up here in this humiliating process for $4,000 when - well, I won't go to that, but this, the process is what, we have a commitment from, I know Jim Street and Norm Rice have given us a definite commitment that the significant changes will be made in this process.

We, when we called on the phone it was seven; we were told that we would speak at 7:55. That was the time we were given. And when we come, we find that our time has been changed. And that, that seems like a lack of courtesy to the, to the people who have taken the time to come down here this evening-  insulting more. I just want to say if, if the city staff would be paid out of - uh, sorry, we've got one more person - anyway, that would save - this is another significant figure - City staff salaries come to, are programmed $1,136,526.

Gary Owens – Rainier Vista Community Health Clinic (listen to audio)
Members of the council, my name is Gary Owens. I'm a board director at the Rainier Vista Community Health Clinic, where I serve as the chairperson of the new clinic committee. I'm also chairing the new Clinic Project Task Force for SESCO. For the past two years, Rainier Vista Community Health Clinic, a private nonprofit agency, and Columbia Health Center, a Seattle-King County Health Department service center, have been diligently working on a plan to co-locate the two clinics in one site.

Unlike a merger, which is a consolidation process, co-location would maintain the separate identity of each clinic, while providing a comprehensive health care system ranging from pediatric dentistry to Southeast Asian refugee screening. The co-located clinic would provide, in addition to comprehensive care, adequate space including growth area, opportunities for efficiencies through the sharing of onsite resources such as X-ray, lab, waiting areas, etc., and a greater accessibility to a wider strata of the community and cooperative versus community - excuse me, competitive fund seeking.

In 1985, Rainier Vista Clinic submitted a $380,000 block grant application that would allow the clinic to become an equity partner in the new clinic project. What do I mean by equity partner? It was anticipated that the new clinic facility would be built on land acquired by Rainier Vista using block grant monies. Rainier Vista would thereby hold an equity interest in the facility based on their ownership of land.

The executive recommendations for this project are on page four, line PD 34 of the final recommendations document. Presently, the mayor is recommending to use $980,000 accumulated reserve fund monies for the new clinic project: $380,000 to Rainier Vista and $600,000 to Columbia Health Center. The money is necessary to make the project feasible. It is because of that necessity that we are asking you to support the mayor's recommendations for funding this project.

It is our understanding that the mayor will formally outline his wishes in this project during his budget address next week. However, we do have one key concern. Accumulated reserve fund moneys cannot provide equity participation for Rainier Vista. Equity participation for Rainier Vista is the key to be able to provide long term, viable health care for low- and no-income persons in Southeast Seattle.

We would like you to consider allocating future block grant funds in 1987 that would establish Rainier Vista as an equity partner. We are working hard to identify various private and public resources to accommodate that purpose and would appreciate any assistance the council may want to render. We would like the council also to know that this project has considerable support and expectation from the community in Southeast Seattle.

We have received public support from the city executive, various members of the council, state and federal legislators, and various City departments, including DAS and the Health Department. Finally, both clinics are operating at capacity in the building, in buildings that prohibit modification and expansion. The clinics are too small, the structures too inefficient, and grossly overcrowded. The demand for care is increasing.

Both clinics are booked 1 to 2 weeks in advance, and people are showing up at our doors with more serious illnesses. We are - we hope that all the members of the city council will vote affirmatively and join us at the chosen site when the first scoop of dirt is dug in the name of the new clinic. We are also, we also would like to support the SESCO Community Block Grant Citizen Participation Plan. Thank you.

Listen to the entire event in Digital Collections. Citation: Human Rights Commission Public Hearing, September 19, 1985. Event ID 13429, Seattle City Council Legislative Department Audio Recordings, 4601-03.

Resources

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