Seattle homelessness council co-chair ousted after backing convicted pedophile’s nomination

On Friday, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) elected a new Continuum of Care (CoC) committee, which removed former co-chair Shanee Colston.

After the video went viral, Colston was asked to resign but refused.

In the video, fellow board member Kristina Sawyckyj, a former Marine who is wheelchair-bound after being raped in the service, spoke in opposition to the nomination of repeat sex offender Thomas Whitaker. Colston erupted, then defended Whitaker, and berated Sawyckyj for opposing him.

Following the public outcry and resignation request, Colston did not run for re-election.

KCRHA interim CEO Helen Howell said in a statement, “Given the behavior at a recent public committee meeting by one of the CoC Board’s Co-Chairs, and the political and media upheaval that rightfully followed, we feel that new leadership and culture is vital to refocusing the CoC Board on fulfillment of its primary functions.”

According to KOMO News, Howell said at Friday’s meeting that ousted Colston, “I appreciate your commitment to ensuring our Continuum of Care is working together to achieve our goal of making homelessness rare and brief, it is more important than ever that KCRHA and the CoC board work together to maximize federal funding to our region.”

KCRHA also stated that it changed the CoC's charter to include more accountability to KCRHA's boards and membership requirements but many remain skeptical that will actually happen.

King County councilmember Reagan Dunn told the outlet regarding KCRHA's leadership, "The way it’s structured, it’s destined to fail. I desperately want that organization to succeed, but right now the writing seems to be on the wall that it’s in decline and it’s going to take more than window dressings to make it work effectively."

Previously, KCRHA did not respond to inquiries from The Post Millennial when asked what the qualifications were for nominees or board members.

The CEO of the KCRHA Marc Dones resigned from his $247,000 a-year position shortly after the video went viral citing “burnout” in the wake of multiple other incidents which called into question his effectiveness and competency.

Many also questioned his staff earning six-figure salaries and spending massive amounts of taxpayer money while accomplishing very little as other bills to homeless service providers went unpaid.