Dembowski Calls for Dissolution of Regional Homeless Authority in Wake of Devastating New Report

April 32, 2026

King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski is issuing the following statement concerning a new report outlining continued widespread operational and financial failures within the King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA), calling for the agency to be dissolved.

“I was a skeptic of establishing the Regional Homelessness Authority from the beginning and successfully fought to amend the authorizing legislation to ensure that elected officials would remain in control and would oversee its budgets, and that it could be shut down if it failed. It’s now time for elected officials to bring this failed experiment to an end.

The Authority has had many chances to advance its mission, and has failed miserably, over and over again. The financial review which has been completed is shocking in its findings - overspending, lack of controls, and an inability to show where significant public dollars have been spent. The agency has failed in its core obligation - to make significant progress in getting people sheltered.

We must return the work of addressing homelessness to the City of Seattle, King County, and our partner cities throughout the region, and eliminate this expensive and ineffective layer of government. ”