The Seattle Renters Fee (SRC) accused Mayor Bruce Harrell and the Seattle Metropolis Council of “ongoing neglect” that not solely “hampers” the fee’s work however “insults” the communities they purpose to serve. For eight months, Harrell has didn’t launch $50,000 in funds to convene a brand new tenant workgroup, and the Housing and Human Companies Committee has didn’t appoint members to the fee, in keeping with two public letters from SCR. The mayor and the council haven’t responded to their letters.
SRC Co-chair Lydia Felty mentioned officers want to speak any good cause for the delays, or else they depart renters to surprise why the Metropolis would disempower tenant advocacy in Metropolis Corridor whereas the council eyes rollbacks to renter protections.
The SRC supplies data, recommendation, and counsel to varied Metropolis departments, screens the enforcement and effectiveness of tenant legal guidelines, and advances coverage proposals.
“It is actually onerous to really feel like the town council or the mayor view our fee as something greater than performative,” Felty mentioned in a cellphone interview. “They’ll present us off in idea however deprive us of our wants and make us powerless to truly advocate for renters. Renters deserve a powerful voice in Metropolis Corridor now greater than ever.”
Harrell and Human Companies Committee Chair Cathy Moore didn’t reply to my request for remark.
Spare Some Change, Sir?
The SRC despatched the Mayor a letter on June 5 to precise their “frustration and issues” concerning the delays to a brand new tenant workgroup promised throughout price range negotiations final fall. He has not responded, in keeping with SRC.
Final 12 months, Council Member Tammy Morales and former Council Member Teresa Mosqueda handed an modification to allocate $50,000 to the Seattle Division of Development & Inspections (SDCI) to convene a workgroup that might assist set up a brand new workplace devoted to imposing present tenant legal guidelines and establishing new ones, in keeping with the textual content of the modification. The workgroup would encompass three renters appointed by the SRC, two eviction protection attorneys, and two tenant organizers.
In line with the SRC letter, the fee began the method of appointing the three renters to the workgroup in February, however the fee’s Division of Neighborhoods (DON) liaison advised them to pause the appointment course of till they “get a greenlight from the Mayor’s Workplace or Metropolis Price range Workplace” (CBO). That greenlight by no means got here. The dearth of motion, the fee wrote in June, is unacceptable.
“As unpaid volunteers dedicated to serving one of the best pursuits of Seattle renters, we refuse to just accept a mere symbolic position as a fee in identify solely, devoid of the facility to impact actual change,” SRC wrote. “This delay has not solely impeded our skill to meet our obligations, it’s a disregard for the democratic course of.”
The Metropolis seems to be tightening its purse strings in anticipation of a troublesome spherical of price range negotiations the place the mayor and the council should eradicate a quarter-billion-dollar price range shortfall. Felty mentioned no Metropolis official has raised the deficit as a cause to delay the $50,000, however advocates have accused Harrell and the council of skimming off packages, significantly these supported by progressives, to stability their price range with out imposing new taxes on the company pursuits that bankrolled their campaigns.
The Mayor’s Workplace, CBO, SDCI and DON didn’t reply to my request for remark.
Choose Up the Tempo, Moore
In an August 5 letter, SRC demanded instant motion from Council Member Cathy Moore’s Housing and Human Companies Committee to deal with the “long-overdue” appointments to their fee. Moore has not responded to the letter, in keeping with SRC.
SRC is meant to have 15 members, however proper now they solely have 5. They’ve authorized 5 extra members however want Moore to place the appointments on her committee agenda.
With simply 5 members, the SRC has a quorum of three, so if three members discuss to one another with out calling an official assembly with 24 hours discover, they may very well be in violation of the Open Public Conferences Act. That hinders the fee’s skill to are inclined to its duties.
Moore appears extra pleasant with landlords, as she invited them to air their grievances in a committee assembly final month. And, to not be petty, however the committee used to have “Renter’s Rights” within the title earlier than the brand new council took over.
Landlord whine sesh in Metropolis Corridor tomorrow at 930 btw pic.twitter.com/voyMrbOy3N
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) July 9, 2024
SRC additionally expressed concern that the delayed appointments have excluded Black folks from the fee. SRC emphasised the significance of listening to the attitude from Black commissioners given Seattle’s historical past of redlining, gentrification, and displacement of traditionally Black neighborhoods.
“The Council’s lack of engagement reveals a misguided view that the SRC is a formality that may be ignored, quite than a beneficial collaborator in addressing these essential points for our neighborhood,” SRC wrote. “This dismissive stance is detrimental to the efficient governance of our metropolis.”
If the Metropolis doesn’t reply to SRC, Felty mentioned the fee will get “louder and more durable to disregard.”
