"We are coping with a private organization's decision to consolidate its line of business," Councilwoman Julie Anderson said near the end of last night's council meeting.

Anderson and other council members felt the need to respond to folks who testified during the Citizen's Forum about the fate of Tacoma's homeless population.

Last week, the board of directors of the Martin Luther King Housing Development Association voted to get out of the business of running the men's and women's overnight shelters on Tacoma Avenue.

Council members observed that several citizen's who spoke at the council meeting seemed to be testifying under the false impression that the homeless shelter was closing, and that the city had made the decision to shut it down.

Councilman Mike Lonergan said the source of confusion may be a piece of paper circulated at the shelter indicating it was closing June 1. "It's absolutely false," Lonergan said. "Whoever is putting out that information, it's very sad," he added.

Earlier in the day, John Briehl, Tacoma's director of Human Rights and Human Services, gave council members on update on the city's efforts to find a new operator for the shelter. Briehl also attempted to set the record straight on a couple of issues, one of them being something I reported. From Briehl's e-mail yesterday to council members:

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In the article I wrote for Tuesday's paper, I noted that MLKHDA likely would not receive funding from two grant applications totaling about $135,000. That's correct as far as it goes, but Briehl wanted council members to note that the net loss to the shelter was not that large.

The city is currently administering a $71,000 contract that runs through 2008, Briehl noted, and $5,400 in additional funds have been recommended for the period from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.

Despite the fact that MLKHDA applied for $82,574, last year MLKHDA only received $31,100 from this City CDBG source. So the net reduction in recommended funding in the next grant period is $31,100.

An additional $52,440 was requested by MLKHDA from CDBG to offer extended shelter hour during the winter months. The HSC did not recommend funding this either. However, this money ($43,240 this last winter) has traditionally come from the Council's Community Services Contingency Fund and could so again if the Council desires.

I would note that one reason Flannigan said he was angry about the apparent grant failures was that city officials expressly told his organization to not make it a habit to request emergency money for extended shelter hours from the council's contingency funds.

Briehl also reminded council members that the city had not "cut off" funding for the shelter. That comment was a response to an e-mail from David Alger and Diane Powers at Associated Ministries, which said the organization is working "closely" with MLKHDA and "other major nonprofits" in hopes of finding a solution.

It would be very helpful if the city council were not to act to cut off funding to this shelter at this time. It is an essential piece of the complex web of services needed for the homeless.

Alger and a small group of "key providers" was expected to meet today to talk about the issue, the e-mail said.

On Friday, officials from the city, Pierce County and state of Washington plan to meet to talk about the building that houses the shelter. All of the agencies have a stake in the building because of loans made over the years for its purchase or improvements, Briehl said.