SPOKANE, Wash. — The growing unhoused population in Spokane, as well as possible solutions, continues to be a topic of discussion across the city.
One piece of that puzzle is the future of Spokane's largest shelter.
Last December, Spokane City Council hastily extended a contract with the Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC) just days before its expiration. The nearly $4 million contract ensured the Salvation Army would continue operating the shelter on a month-to-month basis until the end of April.
With just two months left until that deadline, it's still unclear where the city stands on moving forward with the shelter.
The eleventh hour extension came after a summer of controversy; in July, the city put out a request for proposals (RFP) for an operator at TRAC. The process stalled a few months later, when then-Mayor Nadine Woodward's administration paused awarding the contract, citing a lack of funding.
KREM 2 reached out to multiple city leaders to ask specifically when the process would begin again, and was told the administration was still in talks with partners on how that should be done.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown has previously said TRAC is not a best practice, stating the shelter is too large with too many people in one place.
"We're looking at a transition," Brown said. "But what the timeline is for that, I don't know."
City Council president Betsy Wilkerson said the city needs to go to the shelter and evaluate the services being provided.
In December, the shelter dealt with an outbreak of shigella. Brown said TRAC's 300-person capacity makes it nearly impossible to keep up to sanitation standards.
Wilkerson wants more information and transparency, like many of her council colleagues.
"There's so much it still feels like the public doesn't know," Councilmember Paul Dillon said. "And those are things that should show up into a contract."
Councilmembers have long lamented the lack of transparency in TRAC's budget under both the Guardian's Foundation and the Salvation Army. According to Wilkerson, conversations are happening with other providers, but there are a limited number that could handle such a large contract.
KREM 2 reached out to the Salvation Army to ask if they planned to submit an RFP to continue operating TRAC, but was told there are no updates.
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