Eri Silva
Long-form articles on the local Seattle area
All coverage published by The Spectator
The Public Keeps its Ground in the Affordable Housing Discussion
Nov 30, 2016
The Seattle City Council voted yes to adding $29 million in affordable housing funding to the 2017-18 Seattle budget on Wednesday. Whether this decision with help move thousands out of tents scattered throughout Seattle, particularly King Street and I-5, is still a question up for debate.
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Back in 2015, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray used his executive power to declare an official state of emergency. The move freed up about seven million in city and state dollars to tackle the city’s homelessness problem. The money has gone to creating around 350 additional beds in existing shelters and increasing outreach visits. It has been a year. And the move has shown very little impact on the number of individuals living without shelter. Community members argue that the use of the money fails to address many of the underlying issues of homlessness—economic disparity, a broken shelter system and a lack of affordable housing.
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This led dozens of community members with posters reading “Build 1,000 homes!” to crowd into the Seattle City Hall meeting on a weekday. This was the final meeting to decide how much additional funding would be put toward next year’s affordable housing programs.
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The “1,000 homes” rally was created in support of the funding initiative put forth by Councilmember Kshama Sawant, the socialist incumbent, and the Affordable Housing Coalition. Their proposal would have added $160 million to the affordable housing fund and was estimated to have created an additional 1,000 affordable homes, hence the slogan. However, community organizing did not stop Sawant’s proposal from being turned down by a vote of 7 to 2.
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Councilmember Lisa Herbold’s winning proposal is estimated to create an additional 200 homes—18 percent of Sawant’s initiative. Rally members held down their posters as the final verdict came with a simple line of yes and no’s.
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As the crowd began their descent out of City Hall, a slight echo was heard from above. Members of the Affordable Housing Coalition stood in a circle and chanted, “We are ready to fight! Housing is a human right!” They clapped, cheered and agreed to meet up on November 21: the day when all of the cumulative changes made to Mayor Ed Murray’s proposed budget would be looked over and solidified.
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“Through Kshama Sawant’s office and more than 70 organizations, we built a phenomenal 1,000 homes coalition,” said Adam Ziemkowski, legislative assistant for Sawant and member of Socialist Alternative. “This debate never would have happened if not for our coalition movement and a victory of $30 million definitely wouldn’t have happened either.”
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Mayor Ed Murray opposed Sawant’s proposal because his budget already allocated $54 million to affordable housing. Councilmembers Tim Burgess and Debra Juarez called Sawant’s plan “fiscally irresponsible.”
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Sawant planned to fund her proposal through housing bonds that would be paid off over the next 30 years. Burgess and Juarez argue that the loans would accumulate interest, creating financial problems for the city in the future. Sawant argues that her plan is not creating any more financial burden than the city was already preparing to take on. The initiative was using a similar financial plan to the, recently suspended, North Precinct Police Station Improvement Project.
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The Precinct Project has been under discussion since 1998, but the design process didn't start until 2012—when it was agreed upon to be economically feasible. Proposed by Councilmember González, the plan had majority support by the council, aside from Sawant and Mike O’Brien, and approval by the Mayor. It was expected to be on the 2017-18 budget until public criticism brought it to a halt two months ago. The capital project was opposed by the King County NAACP, advocacy groups, housing providers and Counsilmember Sawant. The “Block the Bunker” campaign brought forth public demonstrations, community support and media coverage until Mayor Murray agreed to take the project off this year’s budget.
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Few can deny the cramped conditions within the precinct, but the funding debate is about more than space. It is a public argument over the current state of the policing system that begs the question if local police should be getting more training facilities, more artillery storage, a yoga studio, and a skatepark. The project’s budget is now under review but will continue to reserve $15 million from this year’s budget.
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“They seem to have built the coalition for a 1,000 excuses,” Ziemkowski said. “A powerful grassroots movement led by young people of color forced the council—forced the mayor—back on their plans to build a police precinct.”
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The vote between the proposals made by Herbold and Sawant stood as an example of how grassroot movement are forcing the discussion of affordable housing and the homelessness crisis onto local government. The city government’s “very low” income standard makes up 30 to 50 percent of Seattle’s median income. If you are in the “very low” range, an affordable rent for a one-bedroom is $813 per month, including utilities. The average Seattle rent is $1279, excluding utilities.
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“The way that we develop our budget, as a city, is a direct reflection of our values,” said Amy Robinson, a volunteer director for Housing Now. “You can’t address someone’s needs for unemployment, food or other things until they have a stable place to live.”
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Robinson is a Presbyterian minister. She says her interest in affordable housing stems from her belief in holistic and healthy communities. When Sawant stood during the meeting, she thanked the organizations that backed her legislation—three dozen of them being faith congregations.
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“You can’t just throw money at the problem. You also can’t not throw money at the problem,” said Alex Broner, director of Welcome Communities Washington and member of Housing Now. “We can always do more. So really bringing cutting-edge building techniques, really aggressively bidding these things out, really opening up the zoning code to allow housing to be built more cheaply, all these things can get us more bang for our buck when it comes to housing dollars.”
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In order for Seattle to keep up with its growing population, it is estimated that 70,000 new units must be built within the next 20 years. Out of these, 28,000 need to be affordable housing for residents making 80 percent or less of the area’s median income. On Monday, Nov. 21, the Seattle City Council passed the city’s 2017-18 budget package, with all of the previously agreed upon changes, at a vote of 8 to 1. Only Councilmember Sawant was opposed.
Magnolia Joins the Affordable Housing Conversation
Jan 17, 2018
The Magnolia United Church of Christ was filled with restless chatter and loud applause last Tuesday night. This would seem quite unusual for a normal church proceeding but, on that day, community members came together for a public hearing about the recently revived affordable housing proposal for the former Fort Lawton land plot in Magnolia.
As people signed up to speak throughout the night, many supported the action while only a handful voiced thoughts opposing the standing proposal. The speakers for the event came from organizations such as Seattle Tech for Housing, Real Change, and the King County Coalition on Homelessness. Some speakers shared their stories, narrating times of struggle from when they had experienced homelessness, emphasizing the importance of affordable housing. Many activists also arrived early and could be seen wearing gleaming buttons and holding signs saying, “Housing for all”.
The new proposal is hoping to add a mix of housing options, such as apartments for homeless seniors that would include supportive services for them. Rentals available for families that are making 60 percent of area median income. The city is working on creating affordable homeownership opportunities as well. All together, the new housing options and a park would add up to 238 apartments, townhouses, and row houses with about 600 total residents.
The 34 acres of land being discussed has become a desolate site since the closure of Fort Lawton seven years ago. About a decade ago, the Fort Lawton affordable housing plan was proposed to the public for the first time. Within those 10 years, residents of Magnolia battled over the proposal for mixed- income housing. Many advocated for a park with no housing, while others pushed for a park and market-rate housing. Some even preferred for nothing to happen to the area.
This isn’t the first time the question of whether neighborhood residents in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Seattle will agree to add low-income housing. A discussion two years ago brought the same question to light about the same plot of land; only it ended with a lawsuit. The Court of Appeals stated that construction could not start until the city performed further environmental reviews of the terrain.
Many people saw the lawsuit and the appeal as a way to delay construction. And it did, two years to be exact. With that time come and gone, the review has been performed and proposals to create affordable housing is back on the floor.
During this meeting though, many of those same voices who voiced opposition to the first proposal presented two years ago sat in the audience instead of going up to speak. “How can you go up to speak when the majority of the people here would mark you as a horrible person if you spoke your opinion? It’s uncomfortable.” Said a Magnolia resident. “They are here to give their rhetoric but they are not asking the questions that matter.” Opponents raised concerns about the inefficient bus system that many of these new residents would have to take. “Bus routes are infrequent and there are very few.” Said one woman who chose to speak.
Other logistics that have many residents worried is the lack of space in Magnolia schools and how the closest schools available are private institutions that have a heavy tuition fee. Grocery shopping is another element of concern. The closest grocery store is the Metropolitan Market which sells upscale, expensive produce and products. Other opponents worry about the rise in traffic. Others stated that they were against the action because they did not want the possibility of crime rising.
No conversation was present between the two fractions to discuss these concerns. “I came here to form an opinion, but no real evidence is being given.” Said another bystander who did not want to be identified.
Many residents of Magnolia support the measure. However, during the public hearing, many could be heard commenting on the fact that very few residents of the area had not risen to speak. They felt as if the people who were most effective and involved were not being heard.
“I did hear a lot of people’s opinions and I agreed with everything they said but not many had a real connection with the area,” said Kristina Croonquist, a Magnolia resident. “It’s really important to discuss how we are going to make these people feel like they have a home, not just a place to live.”