Columbia city manager De’Carlon Seewood is celebrating his second anniversary on the job. He became city manager in January 2022. Mr. Seewood joined host Fred Parry in-studio Saturday morning on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable” program. Mr. Seewood, who has 28 years of experience in local government, grew up in East St. Louis Illinois, before moving to Kansas City at the age of 12. He graduated from Kansas City’s Rockhurst University, before earning his master’s degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia. He began his career in mid-Missouri’s Osage Beach, before moving to Fulton, Ferguson and Berkeley and then to Columbia. Mr. Seewood and Fred focused on numerous topics during the show, including his hiring of new Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude and the current CPD restructuring. Mr. Seewood tells listeners that the overwhelming majority of citizens he’s heard from who served on interview panels and who attended forums are pleased with Chief Schlude’s hire. Mr. Seewood also addressed January’s brutal cold weather and its impact on Columbia’s homeless population. He says Room at the Inn (RATI) traditionally saw about 70 guests prior to the cold spell and that once temperatures dropped to single digits, they reached capacity of 85. Mr. Seewood says no one was turned away and that anyone who wanted shelter received it. Columbia’s Room at the Inn (RATI) is now in the former VFW Post 280 building on Ashley street. It’s located near the city’s municipal power plant:
Seewood: plans continue for permanent Columbia homeless shelter
Columbia’s city manager believes there are anywhere from 100 to 200 homeless residents in town.
Sheltering the unhoused has been a top priority and challenge for city manager De’Carlon Seewood. He notes Columbia’s Room at the Inn (RATI) has moved into the former VFW Post 280 building on Ashley street. It’s located near the city’s municipal power plant.
“Instead of them moving from church to church, they now have a permanent location. I think when they were at most of the churches, the most people they could take is 30. Now their hope max (maximum) is 65, but I think over through the real cold spell I think they had over 100 people in there,” Seewood says.
Columbia’s city council approved the $865,000 purchase of the building and parking lots in October, and the city is spending another $490,000 on building improvements. The city is using federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.
Mr. Seewood appeared in-studio for the hour Saturday on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri.”
“There’s this goal of building a larger facility. The question is how do we make that work. And so my hope is that through using the Ashley street center we can actually start that template,” says Seewood.
The former VFW Post is a 14,000 square feet building with a seating capacity of 300. The Voluntary Action Center (VAC) hopes to build a larger 100 bed homeless shelter near the former VFW post and city power plant. It would include shower facilities, medical and dental clinics and laundry facilities.
Downtown Columbia’s Wabash station would no longer shelter homeless residents, under proposed budget
Monday (August 15) evening will be your first opportunity to testify about the Columbia city manager’s proposed $506-million proposed budget. De’Carlon Seewood’s budget proposes contracting with a provider to use a location for the homeless other than the Wabash station. “We’re still trying to determine. But we know that we’ll be working with RATI (Room …
Downtown Columbia business owners: end Wabash camping
Columbia’s Downtown Community Improvement District says the Wabash bus station downtown is “not an acceptable place for long-term camping and sheltering,” and they’re calling on the city to end camping and 24-hour access there. District executive director Nickie Davis has written a letter to Mayor Barbara Buffaloe and the city council, on behalf of the …
(AUDIO): Columbia Mayor-Elect Barbara Buffaloe appears on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Columbia”
Columbia Mayor-Elect Barbara Buffaloe says trash is the biggest thing she heard about as she campaigned door-to-door. Ms. Buffaloe was elected on Tuesday. She also wants to see government operate more efficiently, and wants to see a 24-7 shelter. She has called for serving housing needs for people across the income spectrum, so that everyone …