Search begins for new leader for downsized King County Regional Homelessness Authority

Already on the shakiest of ground as Seattle and surrounding cities pull back funding plans, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority needs a new leader to oversee its downsized future.

The authority has announced CEO Kelly Kinnison submitted her resignation. Hired in 2024 as the authority’s fifth leader, in the KCRHA announcement, Kinnison said that she was brought on to “assess and rebuild a young organization that had significant challenges,” citing pride in “surfacing structural issues in our finance department.”

Her resignation, the announcement reads, follows a “forensic evaluation that identified historical deficiencies in the agency’s internal controls and financial systems.”

CHS reported here on the details of the deficiencies as the authority’s shortfalls built over years to a $16.7 million hole. Under shifting priorities and funding and tied up in bureaucracy and process, service providers spent far less grant money than budgeted, which cut the administrative fees KCRHA was set to earn.

KCRHA also spent $3.3 million beyond its funding caps on Salesforce, temporary staff, and legal fees, and racked up $2.4 million in interest by running overdraft balances in the King County Investment Pool, a county treasury structure that manages operating funds and provides liquidity for regional public agencies.

In 2027, KCRHA will transfer local contract administration back to Seattle and King County, refocusing the agency on a smaller portfolio of state and federal responsibilities.

The downsizing of the authority began this summer as officials were forced to restructure the KCRHA after the audit was revealed.

The KCHRA’s budget was proposed as $205 million in 2026 with about 60% coming from Seattle and the rest from the county and state and federal pass-through grants.

According to the announcement, Kinnison offered her resignation in recognition of these pending changes to the agency’s mission and scope.

Governing Board co-chair County Executive Girmay Zahilay thanked Kinnison for leading regional coordination “amid a shifting federal landscape and structural issues within the authority” while Mayor Katie Wilson focused on her office’s responsibility to Seattle residents to address financial challenges. The leaders say they plan to recommend interim leadership to the board soon.

Others are calling for the plug to be pulled. King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski and Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera have made repeated calls for the authority’s full dissolution.

The authority was formed as officials pledged the new effort would consolidate efforts to address the homelessness crisis at a broader, more regional level. At one point growing to a $250 million a year effort, KCRHA was officially established in late 2019 through an Interlocal Agreement between the county and the City of Seattle under then-Mayor Jenny Durkan and then-King County Executive Dow Constantine.

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