Thank you so much for joining the Select Housing Levy Committee meeting.
Today is a discussion solely devoted to a public hearing.
The time is 4.30 p.m.
and I am Teresa Mosqueda.
The date is May 31st, 2023. Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll so we can see who is all here as part of our committee?
Council Member Herbold.
Just want to double check your microphone, Madam Clerk.
Council Member Juarez.
Excused.
Council Member Lewis.
Council Member Nelson.
Excused.
Council Member Morales.
Council Member Peterson.
Present.
Council Member Sawant.
Councilmember Strauss?
Present.
Madam Chair Mosqueda?
Present.
Madam Chair, that is three present.
Thank you very much, Madam Clerk.
And when we see other Councilmembers join us for the public hearing, we will make sure to note that, but do want to make sure to also announce that Council President Juarez has been excused, along with Councilmember Nelson, who let us know earlier today that she could not join the public hearing.
This will be recorded so our colleagues can continue to listen in online and thank you for joining us either virtually or in person here today.
I appreciate that our doors are open for additional circulation and that people have also dialed in to continue to promote our hybrid model as we seek to follow best practices from the public health department and continue to reduce any transmissible illnesses, whether it's COVID or the ongoing flu pandemic.
We have a really exciting opportunity here to hear from members of the community here today.
The housing levy investments are being discussed.
This is the 2023 housing levy legislation that we have in front of the full Seattle City Council via our select housing levy committee meetings.
We have been convening since the beginning of April, and we will devote three months to hearing about the housing levy.
Today is an especially important day, though, because our housing levy legislation was officially introduced yesterday for Seattle City Council.
And this morning, we talked about a series of amendments that we have been working in partnership with the mayor's office, as we have heard from other council colleagues about things that they would like to see included.
enhancements, if you will.
So some of those enhancements that we included in the legislation before introduction made it possible for us to invest more in pre-development costs for affordable housing providers, especially community of color-led organizations or organizations that are intending to serve communities at highest risk of displacement.
We want to make sure that funding is available for pre-development costs.
We included language that enhances the city's ability to develop three and four bedrooms so that we can have more family-sized units and multi-generational housing options.
We've increased the opportunity for additional tracking to make sure that there is regular reporting, at least annual reporting, on the number of available units so that any vacancies can quickly be filled, and that might help us with additional policies in the future to make sure that more people are getting into housing as those units come open.
And we've done additional language in the introduced legislation to support our workforce, the workforce that is serving people in permanent supportive housing and also residential services and non-permanent supportive housing to make sure that there's greater support for the folks who are caring for people inside our housing.
And I see many of the members of the Building and Construction Trades with us here today.
And I want to thank the mayor's office in partnership with labor and community at large, who has been working prior to introduction yesterday to make sure that we build more of these units using strong labor protections and strong union standards so that more people can afford to live in the units that they are building within our city.
Overall, it's about the public's investment, using the public good, public dollar to invest in the public good.
and I'm very proud of what we've been able to accomplish so far in our deliberations that have led us to today where we had a discussion about the introduced legislation with the council's enhancements, a build on the mayor's proposal that was submitted in partnership with the community.
With that, I wanna thank the Mayor's Office, Office of Housing, and the entire team that has made it possible for us to have this levy package in front of us.
We know we need to do more.
This housing levy encourages us to do more.
It recognizes that costs have increased, but our population has also increased.
So we are trying to serve a growing need and a diversity of needs, not just in terms of building those units, but serving the people inside.
And as I was mentioning to our good members of the press here today, Some of our affordable housing providers that are here with us in the room have talked about how many of them are continuing to work within the buildings that they've created, built, and we want to build more of.
But as we look at those buildings, we need to recognize that the needs inside the buildings have changed.
The population needs have only become more complex.
So serving those needs as we build additional units.
and creating not just affordable housing rental options, but first time home ownership options are going to be accomplished in this levy.
So I'm excited we are moving forward.
And as KY Kincaid said, let's move forward.
Let's act in this moment.
I believe that we are responding to the moment with necessity.
We are making sure that we're doing more than the status quo.
We're not going backwards.
and we're pulling in the community who has asked for us not to provide just dollars but to make sure that those dollars can be built, can be put towards building housing in the community lens and to serve not just creating more homes but also serve our broader community as we couple it with child care, small business support and community gathering spaces.
So, thank you all this is a great opportunity for us to hear what you think about the housing levy so far and and our intent to serve individuals, families, seniors, students, artists, and to make sure that there's greater economic stability and sanctuary throughout the city of Seattle.
With that, we do have quite a few folks who are signed up for public comment and we will start with I will read.
three in the room, three online, three in the room and three online just to try to keep it as equitable as possible.
And we will start with the three folks that I see signed up first, James Lovell.
Cliff Clothin, and Ryan Donahue, who will be followed by three folks online, Alex Brennan, Rakita Radhika Nair, and Alyse Kwandahar Day.
So good afternoon, Mr. James Lovell.
Thanks for being the first to testify here today.
And just speak directly into the microphone.
We'll give you all two minutes to speak.
Everybody, we should get through all the folks who are signed up to provide public comment with a full two minutes.
Thank you.
And one second, if any members of the press would like to come behind the curtain, if you will, you are welcome to do so.
And with that, Mr. Lovell, we'll start it over again.
It's a better look on this side.
Anyway, thanks for inviting them back.
Bonjour, everyone.
My name is James Lovell, and I'm enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of Belcourt, North Dakota.
I'm working with the Chief Seattle Club.
We're an urban Native social service and housing organization right around the corner in Pioneer Square that serves our unhoused and chronically homeless American Indian Alaska Native relatives.
Native people are just over 1% of the population but over 15% of unsheltered people and 32% of the chronically homeless achieve Seattle club we work with our members to reduce those disproportionate numbers through housing and traditional methods of healing work that is supported by our predominant native staff was lived experiences at the core of creating sacred spaces we care for our members.
Building affordable housing has greatly increased our capacity to serve our community members who are time and time again neglected by conventional systems.
Renewing the Seattle Housing Levy is a crucial step for our community as we continue our progress to house and heal all people.
The Housing Levy legislation is a strong foundation for organizations like ours to continue building more permanent supportive housing.
At Chief Seattle Club, we have opened three buildings with more than 220 units in the last 15 months, and we have another 120 units of permanent supportive housing under construction in North Seattle.
In each of these instances, we have safely filled our buildings with our chronically homeless relatives and have started them on their journeys toward healing.
We have proven that we can do the work if we have the tools.
The housing levy legislation is one of the proven tools that our city has as we continue our fight against our regional housing and homelessness crisis.
The housing levy is more than just a commitment to much-needed brick-and-mortar developments.
It's a commitment to housing our people at scale with the kind of love, safety, compassion, and dedication that will transform our lives.
We thank you and we ask for your support for the Seattle Housing Levy legislation.
Miigwetch.
Thank you very much.
Cliff Clothin followed by Ryan Donoghue.
Hello.
Chair Mosqueda, committee members, I am really honored to be here in front of you and to be able to support the levy that is in front of you today.
My name is Cliff Cawthon.
I am the Advocacy and Policy Manager for Habitat for Humanity at Seattle-King-Cayetas Counties.
And I'm enthusiastically in support of this legislation in front of you today, because I personally know what it means to find a home.
And I know how transformative it can be.
And I see people every single day, share the same kind of relief and share the same kind of happiness that I found when I was able to say to my wife, that we're not going to have to worry about losing a paycheck and worry about seeing an eviction form someday and losing our community and losing everything we love here in the Seattle metro area, and it chokes me up because I remember what it was like when wondering if I cross my landlord, am I going to be able to go down the street.
Enjoy the community that I've come to love this past 10 years that I've lived here in the Seattle area.
And right now, so many people experience that in our community every single day.
In this levy, this levy in front of you is an investment, not just in housing, but it's investment in them being able to live a life without fear.
And particularly this investment in home ownership is an investment in empowerment because as cheesy as it may sound, I and we at Habitat for Humanity, Seattle, King, Kittitas Counties believes that everyone deserves a safe and healthy and affordable and decent place to live.
Please support this levy package.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Does not sound cheesy at all.
Thank you, Ryan.
Ryan will be followed by our first online speaker, which is Alex Brennan.
Good afternoon, Ryan.
Good afternoon.
Hello, my name is Ryan Donahue and I am the Chief Advocacy Officer at Habitat for Humanity, Seattle King and Kittitas Counties.
We at Habitat for Humanity are proud to be here in support of this legislation.
Our vision, as Cliff mentioned, is to build a world where everyone has a safe, decent and affordable place to call home.
And this proposal is an amazing and fantastic step in that direction.
Thanks to tools like the surplus land, the existing housing levy, and the office of housing, Seattle is actually the easiest place in our area for us to be able to build.
I'll say that again.
It is easier for us to build in the city of Seattle because of tools like the Seattle housing levy and I urge you all to support this piece of legislation.
This legislation will help us continue that, but that's not the only reason why we're here in support of this levy.
We're here today because of people like Aurora, a single family homeowner in South Park who is able to have her home in the neighborhood she grew up in because of the Seattle Housing Levy.
We're here for people like Beckley, who's living in a Capitol Hill condo that we helped build today, right now, because of things like the Seattle Housing Levy.
We're here for people like Lachelle Lucas, who's gonna be moving into her home in just a few months because of the Seattle Housing Levy and tools like it.
This tool is critical for us to be able to continue the work that we do and continue providing affordable home ownership options for people.
This legislation will help organizations like us not only build more homes, but it's going to help us build more homeowners too.
Thank you very much, and I strongly urge you to pass this legislation.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Ryan.
Alex, Alex Brennan, followed by Radhika Nair.
Good afternoon, Alex.
Hi, my name is Alex Brennan.
I'm the executive director at FutureWise.
I'm also a resident of District 3. I'm here to express Featurewise's support for the housing levy.
Featurewise works across Washington State and we focus on land use policy and planning.
We don't usually take positions on ballot initiatives, but we have long supported the Seattle housing levy and I'm pleased to reiterate that support for this newest levy proposal.
As our state plans for over a million new people, we need more resources for affordability.
so that everyone can have a healthy, stable home, and that all our neighborhoods welcome people with a range of incomes.
The Seattle Housing Levy is a model for how local governments can invest in that affordability.
And as our housing challenges grow, the levy needs to grow.
This is a chance for Seattle to serve its own needs and be a model for other cities.
As the council puts forward this larger levy, know that the voters and civic institutions of the city will be there to support affordable housing for all our communities.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
And before we go to Radhika, I wanted to note Councilmember Herbold had joined us.
You probably saw her walk by in my opening comments, but just for the record, Councilmember Herbold, our vice chair, is with us.
And did anybody else join us online that I might have missed?
Councilmember Morales is present, Councilmember Lewis is present online, and Councilmember Peterson is present.
And in the room here, we have Councilmembers Strauss, Herbold, and myself.
Okay, let's go ahead, Raquica.
Thanks for the delay.
Good afternoon, Councilmembers.
My name is Veronica Nair, and I'm a co-chair of the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee of the Seattle Planning Commission.
On behalf of the Commission, I would like to offer the following comments from our recent letter in support of the proposed Seattle housing levy.
The Planning Commission thanks Mayor Harrell for leading with an expanded proposal of $970 million to further affordable housing efforts in Seattle.
While the Mayor's proposal is strong, the Commission recognizes that the need for affordable housing in Seattle is enormous and goes well beyond what the levy as proposed can address.
The commission considers the proposed levy amount as a floor, not a ceiling for the total value of the levy.
Housing levy funds are stewarded by the Office of Housing, have contributed to many inspiring projects.
The buildings these projects create and the communities they house benefit everyone, not just residents who directly receive support.
The proposal has several strong components that the commission hopes are carried into the final levy package by council, including a strong focus on the production of affordable rental and ownership unit, essential increases for operating, maintenance, and services, and the addition of the Workforce Stabilization Fund to improve wages for staff who provide crucial on-site services for permanent supportive and affordable housing residents.
The commission recommends that City Council consider making the following adjustments to the proposed levy and related policy.
Look for ways to reduce development costs driven by city policies and regulations for levy-funded projects.
include language to encourage the creation of affordable family-sized units of at least three bedrooms, expand support for home ownership and wealth generation opportunities for both low-income and middle-income families.
The commission fully supports the renewal of the housing levy and the Office of Housing's continued efforts to responsibly steward the funds.
We encourage the city council to send a robust levy proposal to Seattle borders as a key piece of Seattle's affordable housing strategy.
Excellent.
Thank you very much.
And Alyse, you are up next.
Star six to unmute, please.
Good afternoon, council members.
My name is Alyse Kouhara-Day.
I'm a Rainier Beach homeowner and an architect urging you to renew the Seattle housing levy at $970 million.
When starting a new affordable housing development, my colleagues and I hear directly from the client and community about their vision the time and the heart they've invested so far, and the acute need for affordable homes.
We wrapped this all into an early building design that's submitted with a funding application.
And it's heartbreaking to see community-led projects compete for limited resources, knowing that we need all of the proposed homes to meet our current housing deficit.
This year's housing levy renewal rises to meet the moment, and our neighbors deserve this level of investment and more.
I'm fortunate to be a Seattle homeowner, and I would gladly pay the estimated $383 per year.
For just over $1 per day from each of us, we could provide 3,500 affordable homes for our neighbors.
Please move this housing levy forward.
I appreciate your time.
Thank you so much.
And we're going to come back to the room and start with the Honorable Donald King, followed by David Baker and Karen Lee.
Good evening, Mr. King.
Well, good afternoon.
Chair Mosqueda and members of the committee.
My name is Donald King and I'm president and CEO of the Nehemiah Initiative and a member of the Black Home Initiative.
I'm here today to support the full, the passage of the full package for the 2023 Seattle housing levy.
And with what I would expect to be an expanded levy and a robust levy with the amendments from the mayor's office.
I'd like to talk a little bit about the good news.
We know we are in a housing crisis in Seattle, but we also know that with the help of the affordable housing advocates, with our nonprofit buildings developers, and our legislators, including the Seattle City Council, that we've made progress.
This is now our mission and the Nehemiah Initiative Seattle's mission is to provide homes for those threatened with displacement from central Seattle.
And we'll do that through the utilization of the traditional black church and the properties, the underutilized properties of those churches to build out affordable housing.
So we really urge you to pass this.
We believe this is our latest and our newest social justice mission.
So seize the time, Seattle City Council, get on board with this mission and make sure this is passed and passed with really helpful amendments.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
Excellent.
Thank you very much.
And David Baker followed by Karen Lee.
Thank you members of city council for the opportunity to testify.
My name is David Baker and I'm a real estate development project manager for Homestead Community Land Trust.
Homestead Community Land Trust creates stability, equity, and opportunity by developing land and housing interest, ultimately giving lower income households the opportunity to own a home that is affordable to them and that remains affordable to future owners.
Our work is expanding an equitable economy for housing to create vibrant communities, help repair the harms of housing discrimination, and protect vulnerable communities from displacement.
Of the 245 permanently affordable homes in our trust, 80% have been acquired with city funding, with the vast majority of those funds coming from the levy.
We believe that the levy is a continuation of smart investments in the full continuum of affordable housing, including home ownership.
It significantly boosts investment in home ownership, including more resources for permanently affordable homes, down payment assistance, and support for low income homeowners to remain stably housed.
It triples the funding for homeownership compared to the last levy and helps us realize Seattle's equity goals for putting homeownership within reach of people harmed by discrimination, racial covenants, and redlining.
The levy allowed Homestead to build 10 permanently affordable homes in Seattle's Central District, a neighborhood ravaged by gentrification.
At our Village Gardens Townhomes Project, we were able to welcome back to the Central District, people with ties to the neighborhood and give them an opportunity to own a high quality yet affordable home in a place where they have history and connection.
On behalf of Homestead's staff and stakeholders, I thank you for your vote for this visionary commitment to affordable housing in Seattle.
This will give thousands of people the opportunity to find an affordable home in Seattle, realizing our shared vision for an affordable, equitable, Thank you.
Excellent, thank you very much.
And Karen Lee, welcome.
Good afternoon, Chair Mosqueda and select committee members.
Thank you for hosting this final public hearing on the Seattle Housing Levy.
Just a few moments ago, the Housing Development Consortium held a rally on the city steps as a call to action to move this levy across the finish line.
My name is Karen Lee and as Plymouth Housing's Chief Executive Officer, I stand with affordable housing advocates supporting the proposed $970 million levy.
Plymouth is growing to meet the needs of the community by providing permanent supportive housing to chronically homeless single adults.
Our growth would not be possible without the Seattle Housing Levy and the funding that it provides for housing development and supportive services that we provide in the buildings.
You may have seen, heard, or read in the news last week that Plymouth opened Blake House, a new permanent supportive housing building in the First Hill neighborhood.
We partnered with Bellwether Housing to deliver the first affordable high-rise in Seattle that's operated by a nonprofit organization in more than 50 years.
This building creates more than 350 new homes, but is only a step towards addressing Seattle's true needs.
Renewing and growing the levy helps turn those steps towards our goal of ending homelessness into strides.
You may have heard on ko w about Kevin one of Blake house newest residents.
He spent nearly 20 years sleeping outside Stimson mansion in Seattle's.
neighborhood and with just his sleeping bag and his laptop which he would use at a library.
Kevin told KUOW this is the coolest day of my life and he told me that he felt like he hit the lottery.
This levy is about more than housing and it shouldn't be a lottery because housing is a basic human right.
Please support the levy and help us end homelessness.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
The next three speakers online will be Tiernan Martin, Alex Lin, and Gautam Acharya.
Good afternoon, Tiernan.
Good afternoon.
I'm Tiernan Martin.
I serve on the board of SCIPTA, the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority.
And on behalf of our organization, I urge the council to renew the Seattle Housing Levy.
SCIPTA manages around 280 units of affordable housing in the Chinatown ID.
Just this month, we opened a 156-unit family housing apartment building in Yesler Terrace.
Looking ahead, we have a 160-unit building under construction up on North Beacon Hill, as well as a healthy pipeline of projects in development elsewhere in the Chinatown ID.
The Seattle Housing Levy was a foundational tool in bringing our two most recent projects online, and it will be crucial in bringing more family housing to the CID in the future.
Over half the residents of levy-funded housing are people of color.
At Skifta, we house primarily immigrant and refugee families where English is a second or third language.
Our projects are built for the CID community, not only with larger units, but also with ground floor amenities and family-friendly common areas.
As is true across Seattle, the cost of living in the CID continues to rise and families continue to move out.
The housing levy is one crucial piece of the complicated funding puzzle that enables us to build housing in the CID, ensuring that immigrant and refugee families can continue to call this neighborhood home.
On behalf of our organization and the communities we serve, we ask Seattle to come together to renew the housing levy and fund the next generation of community-centered affordable housing.
We can't do what we do without you.
Thanks.
Thank you so much.
Alex, followed by Gwatham.
Good afternoon, Alex.
Good afternoon, honorable members of the Council.
My name is Alex Flynn, and I'm here as a resident of Capitol Hill and as an architectural designer deeply committed to the cause of affordable housing in our city.
I'm here to express my wholehearted support for the renewal of the Seattle Housing Levy.
This critical initiative has been instrumental in shaping the housing landscape of our city, and I believe that its continuation is of utmost importance for the well-being and prosperity of our community.
As a child of immigrants, I witnessed firsthand the transformative power of safe and affordable housing.
My family was able to create stability, find opportunity, and build community because of the availability of quality housing options.
The impact of affordable housing goes far beyond bricks and mortar.
It extends to the very fabric of our society.
Today, I urge each of you to support the renewal of the Seattle Housing Levy.
Together, we can create a Seattle defined by the compassion and equity we extend to all our neighbors through access to safe, affordable, and dignified housing.
Thank you for your time and consideration, for your attention to this issue, and for your dedication to affordable housing.
Thank you so much.
And Gautam.
Good afternoon, Council Members.
My name is Gautam Acharya.
and I am a board member of Seed Seattle.
Seed Seattle is a hyper-local, non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable housing in the Southeast Seattle area.
I've lived in the Seattle area for over 20 years, and I've witnessed firsthand the impact of the housing crisis on our community.
Today, I am here to testify in support of the renewal and substantial increase of the housing levy.
The shortage of affordable homes in Seattle has reached a critical level with over 30,000 homes needed for individuals earning less than 50% of the area median income.
If we fail to address this issue, the crisis will only worsen.
The housing levy has been a cornerstone of Seattle's affordable housing initiatives, successfully creating or preserving over 12,000 affordable homes.
One crucial aspect of the housing levy is its role in advancing racial equity.
People of color disproportionately face homelessness and displacement.
Levy has made significant strides in addressing these disparities, ensuring that over half of all residents in levy-funded homes are people of color.
Housing Levy has given tens of thousands of people from diverse backgrounds a fighting chance to find an affordable home in Seattle.
I urge you to support the renewal of the housing levy.
Lead Seattle and other organizations like ours are working diligently to provide affordable housing options to our community, but the need is greater than ever.
By investing in the housing levy, we can make a tangible difference in the lives of thousands of individuals and families, ensuring they have access to safe, stable, and affordable homes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
OK, great.
We're going to go back to in the room, and we'll hear from Dennis Sills, Miguel Maestas, and we'll hear from Pearl Nelson.
Good evening.
It's now officially 5 PM.
So good evening, Dennis.
Good to see you again.
Good to see you, too.
Chair Mosqueda, Vice Chair Herbold, Council Member Strauss, and other members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment.
My name is Dennis Sills and I work at Plymouth Housing, a permanent supportive housing provider to more than 1,200 chronically homeless single adults.
On behalf of those residents, my colleagues in Plymouth housing we support the levy proposal of 970 million and encourage the city council to move forward.
This levy is not just about dollars and projects, it's about making things better for our neighbors.
It's about people like Paul, who found himself experiencing homelessness years ago.
due to the end of a relationship and several health complications.
Paul was able to find housing at Plymouth Housing to get the care and stability he needed for recovery and remission.
Paul told us, quote, I was actually able to think about what I was going to do next and going to be able to do next.
I didn't have to be out in the rain all night.
I was inside with other people, end quote.
This proposal lifts all areas and levy programs to meet the diverse challenges in our city.
We support additional operating and maintenance funding for staff who provide human services for those residents like Paul every day.
This proposal can change that and help us lift up frontline workers and provide truly competitive wages.
permanent supportive housing operating funding sources.
We're grateful for the city and that they're considering stepping up to help for the human services sector.
This proposal coupled with jumpstart and additionally, the strong amendments that have been offered will help us move closer towards providing dignity for supportive housing, workers and residents.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment.
This productive process has resulted in a strong proposal that
Excellent.
Thank you very much.
And Miguel, welcome.
Thank you.
Buenas tardes, good afternoon, Chair Mosqueda, Vice Chair Herbold, council members.
My name is Miguel Maestas.
On behalf of El Centro de la Raza, the Center for People of All Races, we stand in support of the Seattle Housing Levy.
We know the housing levy has been a cornerstone of funding affordable housing and has been supported by Seattle voters for decades.
And perhaps at no time in our history, as is the levy more needed.
We must continue the work done by so many to ensure that affordable housing is a part of the future of Seattle.
We must increase our efforts to address the affordable housing crisis that continues to be exacerbated by rising costs and gentrification of our neighborhoods.
The over 3,000 affordable homes that the levy will create will help keep our city diverse and prevent homelessness, and will also allow thousands who work in our city many inessential jobs to afford to live here.
So many people that work in our city are stressed by spending more time and more money to get to work.
If you work in Seattle, you should be able to afford to live in Seattle.
The levy is also critical in advancing racial equity.
We know that people of color disproportionately experience homelessness and displacement.
It supports community-based organizations serving communities of color to develop housing and be part of addressing the affordable housing crisis for our communities.
It supports building assets for our communities for generations to come.
The home ownership aspect of the levy helps build generational wealth and addresses the wealth gap.
Affordable housing is a cornerstone for our most vulnerable people and is critical to improving physical and mental health and employment and economic opportunity.
And equally important, it provides hope that lower income and working families and their children do have a future in Seattle.
We urge you to support the Seattle Housing Levy.
Mil gracias.
Mil gracias, thank you.
Okay, Pearl Nelson, welcome.
Pearl will be followed by Emily Thompson, Erica Ward, and James Mikelin.
Good evening, Pearl.
Good evening.
My name is Pearl Nelson.
I want to thank the city council.
I work at Homesite.
I'm an assistant project manager for real estate development.
I'm on the board for Homestead Community Land Trust.
I'm also on the board for SEED.
I'm a son of the South End.
I'm from Skyway.
Went to Rainier Beach, South Shore, Campbell Hill Elementary.
I know the importance of home ownership just because I grew up in a family of renters and I had a grandparents that lived in the Central.
That's sold.
I know the importance of home ownership because I'm a realtor, I was, but finding homes for people in this area was hard.
We worked hard at it, but we did it.
Programs like this, this levy, allows people to be able, and programs and organizations, to be able to continue to do this work that's so important.
So I encourage you to pass this levy, and I know the people in November, we'll vote to get this over the line.
So thank you.
Excellent.
Thank you very much.
We're going to go to Emily, Emily Thompson, star six to unmute.
Good afternoon, council members.
I'm Emily Thompson, a partner at GMD Development, an affordable housing developer based here in Seattle, and I'm a proud resident of the city of Seattle.
As a member of the technical advisory committee for the housing levy, Today, I'm here to testify in support of the housing levy at $970 million to further affordable housing in Seattle.
The Seattle Housing Levy is a foundational tool for affordable housing.
It's critical to the work of the Seattle Office of Housing and to leveraging the resources of the state and the federal government to come to bear to create affordable housing that will house members of our community.
Without the investments of the levy, we cannot leverage those key resources.
We currently have a shortage of over 30,000 homes affordable to less than 50% of the area median income.
That shortage will only grow, and we need to continue to think big and be bold with our levy.
As a private mission-based affordable housing developer, I can attest to the growing cost and growing difficulty to develop affordable housing in our community.
While the cost of the levy has grown, it simply reflects the reality of the moment.
Today, I urge you to please move this housing levy forward at $970 million so that all stakeholders can continue their hard work and shared vision of housing Seattle's most vulnerable population.
Thank you for your time and dedication to affordable housing in our city.
Thank you so much.
And Erika Ward followed by James Mikelin.
Hello.
Hello my name is Erika Ward.
I grew up in Rainier Beach and I moved away from college.
I chose not to return to Seattle because I didn't feel like it would be an affordable place that I could build my life as a young adult.
After years away, I have returned because I love Seattle.
I love my community here.
But the truth is, so many of my working class family members are struggling here.
We are losing hope that the decades of sacrifice and sweat equity our families have poured into Seattle, generation after generation, will actually pay off.
I'm urging city council to increase investment in the community land trust model specifically.
We need to build the capacity for more BIPOC-led community organizations to develop community land trusts.
And we need government and philanthropy to work together to increase funding available for community land trusts.
People do not want to work every day just to be renters.
I understand that we have to pour more funding into rental affordability.
It's critical as well.
But we cannot forget that people actually want opportunities to buy as well.
And I believe that the community land trust model creates those opportunities.
So I urge to increase the investment and home ownership options, including the community land trust model.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
And James Mikelin will be followed by Gordon McKendry Jr. and Paul Hitchens.
Good afternoon, James.
Hi, my name is James Mikelin.
I'm a homeowner in District 1, born in Tacoma, raised in Seattle.
I'm 73 years old.
I've been hearing all these people, they're all representing different organizations and whatever's going on here.
But you know what?
When I fully retire this fall, will I be able to afford to live in Seattle and pay my taxes?
That's the key here.
The housing levy, you can add more money.
What is it?
Average of $380 more to my tax bill already.
Think about your ill-fated head tax to Amazon and the business community in Seattle.
Amazon's moving out of Seattle.
They're building six buildings in Bellevue.
They're moving 15,000 employees from Seattle to Bellevue this fall.
Another 25,000 in the next two or three years.
They're letting go of all the leases they have right now.
So just think about that.
That's all I'm going to say about that.
But as homeowners, senior citizens, we live here too.
Can I swear to live here in the next 10 years?
That's the point.
Thank you.
Excellent, thank you so much.
Okay, coming back to Mr. Gordon McHenry Jr.
Thank you for waiting and good to see you again.
It's great to see all of you.
Council Chair Mosqueda and members of the City Council, I'm Gordon McHenry Jr.
I'm President and CEO of United Way of King County.
At United Way, we work for a racially just community where people have homes, students graduate, and families are financially stable.
I had the privilege of serving on the Technical Advisory Committee for this housing levy renewal as I did several years ago.
So I'm quite familiar with the housing levy and we at United Way enthusiastically and without reservation support the levy as submitted and are seeking the council to approve it and improve it enthusiastically so the voters see the strong support from our public elected leaders as well as us in the community.
United Way, we've been working really hard around housing stability and we've increased our work around eviction prevention and rental assistance.
But we know that we cannot be successful unless we have more affordable housing that is accessible, it's supported, and for the folks who need it and need supportive services that they have the support that they need and want.
We also recognize that there's so much inequity and housing instability and homelessness, and this is an opportunity for the city to once again.
take a really bold and critical step in addressing significant identity-based inequities that exist here in the city of Seattle.
And so we are very much excited by the elements of this levy renewal, the flexibility that Chair Mosqueda reviewed at the beginning of this, including, for the first time, money that can be utilized for first-time home ownership.
I am a core member of the Black Homeowners Initiative, and so excited to see that even as we at United Way are keeping people housed, more people have affordable housing, and more people of our communities of color actually have the ability and are successful in owning a home for the first time in their lives.
Thank you very much for your courage and your leadership.
Thank you.
And thanks for all of your work to make it possible and to implement all the great work that United Way does.
I'm going to turn it over to Paul Hitchens, followed by Matt Curville.
Hello.
Good to see you again, Paul.
Hello.
Good evening, good afternoon, council members.
My name is Paul Hutchins.
I am one of 22,000 Pacific Northwest Carpenters Union members, all the way from Alaska to Oregon, as well as Western Washington.
I speak in favor of this levy.
Since 1986, the Seattle levy has been a foundation for construction of affordable housing.
Another great opportunity with the construction of affordable housing is utilization of apprenticeships.
In 1997 and 26 years is when I joined the Carpenters Union with a wife and two kids straight out of the United States Army.
If it wasn't for the ability to earn while I learn within the apprenticeship program, I would not be where I am today with a successful career.
The great thing about this levy is we talked earlier in the rally about the community workforce agreements.
With those would be the ability to do apprenticeship utilizations as well as having people that can work where they live.
I really implore you that we get this passed.
I know the renewal comes up soon.
I look forward to your yes vote and I look forward to you supporting this levy.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you so much.
And the next speaker is Matt Curveville.
Do I have that right?
Nope, here he comes.
He's coming in from the hallway.
And wanted to just use a quick public service announcement.
The next two speakers would be Sophia Somm.
And then Joraira Idris is listed to speak, but Idris, if you can hear me, you are listed as not present.
So the time to call in is now.
Thanks for being here and welcome to the podium, Matt.
Oh, just a little closer to the microphone.
Thank you.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak and address you guys.
In my 15 years working in the construction industry, I've come across countless workers in the field who have told me their story of moving from Seattle to a suburb of Seattle because of cost and housing selection and affordability.
So I really want to say thank you for taking on this.
There's going to be so many of my members that are really appreciative and want to reestablish themselves in the heart of the downtown area.
And for our new members, you know, it's really going to give them a pathway to economic success.
A lot of people that come into unions that they're looking for a way to make ends meet.
And then coupled with what this housing levy is going to accomplish, if these people get access to this type of program with a middle class income, they're going to do tremendously well.
So I support this and thank you for what you guys are doing.
Thank you so much.
Really appreciate it.
Okay, excellent.
Let's go to Sophia Psalm.
And then if Joe Rayra Idris is able to join us, we will come to you as well.
Sophia, good evening.
Good afternoon.
My name is Sophia Psalm, and I'm a resident services coordinator at Mount Baker Housing Association.
And I'm here to express the support of the renewal of the Seattle Housing Levy.
I serve Mount Baker Village residents, and majority of our population are multi-generational Southeast Asian.
People need the stability of housing first before they can successfully engage in other supportive services.
Our longest staying residents have been living here since 1980s and after leaving war-torn countries.
And for many here, affordable housing is all they know, have lived in, and can afford.
The housing levy complements other investments in paper health, job training, and outreach services to effectively support our vulnerable neighbors.
And we've seen residents' way of life prosper due to having their homes stable.
They're able to focus on food security, obtaining meals from nearby organizations like Aid and Counseling Referral Services Food Bank.
They're able to make time to join community discussions and civic engagement, and they're able to get stable home care provided by their caregivers and more.
These are just a few ways that stability and housing has helped our residents focus on other aspects of their life.
Thank you for your time and dedication, Council Members.
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
The person with the last name address.
We're going to go back to in the room and if you do join us remotely, we will come back to you.
Make sure to do that before we wrap up.
The next 3 speakers are Seamus.
And Gillian, Luis Guzman and Nicole Grant.
Good evening Seamus.
You are welcome to come on up.
Good evening council members.
My name is Seamus Anglin.
I'm an IBEW electrician.
I've lived in Washington state my whole life.
I was born in Tacoma to a union family for Boeing.
And when I was 18, I was homeless.
And it was only by reaching out to my communities and my friends that I was able to get into an apartment and be successful.
I consider myself extremely lucky.
I was young and able-bodied and I didn't have any other challenges in front of me.
I am not the people, like that's unusual.
I work in downtown.
I walk by people in homeless camps every day.
Oftentimes they come to our construction site where they can get amenities like a bathroom and water.
These are things that should be available to every single person in the city today, right now, this moment.
And the reason I'm here today is because the union gave me a path forward and community workforce agreements will give so many people in these unions a path forward, not only just the people in the unions, but the people in their communities.
And people invest in communities that they live in because they can see the immediate results of their investment.
They go to work every day and they say, hey, I built that building.
I turned those lights on.
Look at how many people are warm and can see because I chose to invest back into the community that I'm living in.
This levy is a way for people to do that community workforce is a way for people to do that.
There are apprentices that I work with now that live in the peninsula and work here every day they don't make very much money.
And they do it because this is where the work is, if we can make houses for them to live here.
It's only going to move the city forward and the city is their community, some of for some of them, the only community they have is the city.
And it's incredible to see that the city is now reaching back out to them.
So I fully support this levy.
I'm a homeowner in Renton and I would happily pay the money.
I know many of my coworkers would as well.
So I speak in favor of this and I hope you guys pass it.
Thank you so much Seamus, appreciate it.
Luis Guzman, welcome Luis.
Hello, my name is Luis Guzman.
My initiation date for the IBW was 10-1-2014.
I'm a second generation.
My brother joined the same day as I did.
We are both lifers.
Ever since I've been born, my brother was born, my dad's been in IBW before he got deported.
This paved the way for me to move away from drugs.
I am responsible for the largest fine levied against an electrical contractor in the state of Washington.
In 2015, I worked for a contractor named Unity Electric.
They are specialized in units, as you can tell, Unity.
They were extremely out of ratio.
It was 25 apprentices to five journeymen.
They paid a fairly large fine.
And as far as I could tell, they just moved their admins from one person's name to the other.
And this is how they cut costs and cut corners.
Passing this with the backing of the CWA and our union, we have 6,000 workers plus 540 of them are ready to go to work today.
I urge you guys to pass this.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate your testimony.
And as we've talked about, unfortunately, when it comes to wage theft and misclassification, it often becomes part of the cost of doing business and it's pervasive.
So thank you for that example.
Hello, Nicole Grant, welcome.
Thank you, council members, Nicole Grant.
I'm a member of IBEW Local 46. And when you have three union electricians testify for something in a row, you know it's a good idea.
We're all here to support the Seattle Housing Levy.
A motto of our union is housing first.
We believe that everybody needs to have safe, affordable housing as the foundation of their lives.
But we have another motto.
called union power, because a union can be equally transforming in a person's life, and it definitely has been in mine.
We're very excited about the way that the policy for this levy was negotiated, that so many people came together to make sure that It would take care of people who need housing, people who work in permanent supportive housing, and people who build housing.
And the opportunity to have a community workforce agreement really for the first time in a large scale way in this market is very exciting.
I can say that one of the ways access to a union makes construction different is it creates access for women.
Like nationwide, the construction industry is only 2% women.
But when you have access to a union, those numbers go up exponentially.
So this is really an incredible opportunity to renew a levy and get to the next level supporting new communities.
Thanks.
Thank you very much, Nicole Grant.
appreciate all of the excitement from the Union electricians.
The next three speakers are maybe Bethany Chiem, Jesse Simpson, and Alex Guerlitz.
Sorry for pronunciation on those.
Welcome.
It's all right I have bad head running, sorry.
I'll call some members.
My name is been tied to.
And I work for my bigger Housing Association, and we're nonprofit housing developer booted in a South and we serve predominantly by park refugee and immigrant community members.
And we just opened our first building on McClellan and 29th between 29th and MLK first building from the ground up 203 units.
I work specifically in resident services.
providing resource linkage and creating culturally competent programming that includes a lot of the things y'all mentioned and a lot of folks back here mentioned on food access rental assistance, seven engagement cultural programming and more really really really excited about the fact that the levy also has non PSH funding.
We talk about it a lot in the HTC space.
HTC holds a resident affinity group space and we talked a lot about burnout.
And for the fact that we resident service across the board is really, really, really underfunded so really excited about that part of the levy.
As an organization we have a development pipeline of about four projects all in the south end from Mount Baker to Rainier Beach.
Again, projects that can be impacted immensely by the housing levy.
And lastly, I'm also a child of the south end from a huge portion of my childhood I live in the old Holly Park that gave space for myself and my family to have good footing until we could move out and purchase a home in South Park, where I met.
Most of my friends who are still my best friends to today, they live in park-like homes.
Their families did the same thing, came to South Park because South Park had the least, the cheapest homes.
And so I know firsthand the impact of having affordable homes.
Thank you.
Excellent.
Thank you.
And I'm going to correct myself on your name, Boontay Chatham.
Better?
OK, thank you.
I'll keep working on it.
Thank you for that.
And welcome up to the podium, Jesse Simpson.
Hello.
Hi Council Members, thanks for the opportunity to testify today.
I'm Jesse Simpson, Government Relations and Policy Manager for the Housing Development Consortium.
We represent all of the major non-profit affordable housing developers working in Seattle King County, as well as the associated firms building the affordable housing the city and region desperately need.
I'm here today to testify in strong support of the proposed renewal of the Seattle Housing Levy at $970 million, and would like to commend the Council for your work to fine-tune this legislation with thoughtful amendments that have been incorporated into the resolution.
For nearly 40 years, the Seattle Housing Levy has been foundational for affordable housing in our city.
It's a proven, effective solution with a consistent record of voter support.
16,000 families and individuals live in levy-funded homes.
These are essential workers and members of our community who could not otherwise afford to stably live in quality homes in Seattle.
This levy renewal will build on this legacy.
It will create affordable homes, keep families in their homes, and move people experiencing homelessness into permanent supportive housing.
Renewal of this levy will build or preserve over 3,500 affordable homes for the people and family who need them most, while stabilizing housing for 4,500 people facing eviction and homelessness.
who invest in the workers who turn buildings into homes and ensure supportive services are available to those who need them.
By investing in affordable homes of all types and all sizes, the levy will stabilize housing for thousands of people for generations to come.
I urge you to pass this ambitious levy renewal, and thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Thank you so much, Jesse.
And Alex will come up as well, if you could help me pronounce.
Is Alex here?
Okay.
Alex, we will come back to you if you are still in the room.
We'll come back.
And after that is Patience Malaba, followed by Anquida Adams.
Patience?
Welcome.
And thank you.
You served on the Technical Advisory Committee as well, correct?
Absolutely did.
Absolutely.
Thanks for being a leader on that board.
Good evening, Council Chair Mosqueda and select committee members.
I first want to thank you for the great work you are doing in shepherding this proposal and moving it to the finish line.
As a technical advisory committee member, we did judicious work in assessing this proposal and getting to the strong place it is.
And we're deeply appreciative of the intentional amendments that you've put forward, how thoughtful they are, and how collaborative you've been in developing them.
As the Housing Development Consortium, we believe that housing is a human right, and it is truly a foundation on which our community can thrive.
And yet we know, as the city of Seattle right now, our residents are facing an unprecedented challenge in finding housing and keeping housing that they can afford.
And in all of that, we can find paralysis in the challenge as exacerbated as it's been.
But we know what works.
What works is housing.
And this housing levy proposal gets us to a place where we are making a generational investment.
It's a generational investment in homes that we desperately need.
It is a generational investment in home ownership to close the persistent wealth gap, which is work as the Black Home Initiative, partners that we've been working on.
It's also an investment in the people who are working in buildings as staff, turning those buildings into actual homes.
So we're grateful for the work you're doing.
And thank you for your leadership.
I thank you for going big so people can go home.
And this is what the housing lobby will be doing.
Thank you so much.
Okay, the last person to speak, please come on up here.
Good to see you again.
And then if there's anybody else who wants to speak that didn't get a chance to sign up, we'll come back to you too.
Good evening, members.
This is a last minute thing that I was doing to come up here and just to speak to you guys.
My name is Ingrid Adams, as you already know.
I am a community member.
I'm a business owner of a LA consultant firm and also LA World Foundation.
We serve individuals in redesigning their life because of their brief life experiences.
We're supporting this actual housing levy in hopes to influence you guys not to just vote for it and to make it into place, but also think about different ways of reimagining the actual projects that are being created within this space of doing the levy.
For me, I'm here because I know that we can do better.
And I know that you guys are doing the best that you can, but there's a lot of spaces that we can do better in when it comes to actually partnering with agencies that will be helpful and that are new.
Most of the time, most, you guys connect or with, let me slow it down.
Because I have so many thoughts and I have so many ideas, I have to slow it down.
And just so you know, I am dyslexic and I have dysgraphia and so I have to literally, I have so many thoughts and so many ideas that are coming to my head.
But what I'm trying to say is that I'm hoping that you all will bring into play so that you create new agencies that you work with, other than the ones that you're working with now, that we're able to actually work together and have newer ideas around the housing situation that we have right now.
Sorry, I released my time, thank you.
Great and appreciate that.
And that's very, very poetic to end on that note.
It does give me a chance to talk about some of the amendments that we discussed this morning, one of which being the pre-development costs, which will help new organizations who are newer to this work or who want to enter into the work of building affordable housing, especially for communities at highest risk of displacement.
Our BIPOC community largely to be able to have access to those pre-development costs.
So those are just some of the amendments that we included this morning.
A handful of those were discussed in our morning council committee meeting and the full list of about a dozen or so amendments that we included is in the central staff memo.
And we will be here a week from now on June 7th to consider additional amendments or to adopt the substitute bill as we discussed this morning, colleagues.
That does take us to the end of public comment.
It's a great way for us to tee up what's to come in terms of amendments and the next steps here.
Is there anything else for the good of the order, colleagues?
Seeing and hearing none, I want to thank everybody who's joined us.
In addition to our clerk, thank you, Freddy de Cuevas, for being here with us all day from this morning to now, and our clerks, Jody and Amelia, from the tech team, Eric, Sun, and Ian, who also helped with the press conference outside earlier.
Seattle Channel, who is also there as well, and our comms team, Joseph, Jesse, and Dana, who were part of that effort as well for our press conference, but importantly helped us run the efforts to create public awareness about these public hearings.
Thank you so much for all that work.
Colleagues, that gets us to the end of the day.
If there's no further questions and no objection, today's meeting will be adjourned.
Hearing no questions, we are adjourned.
Thank you all.
Recording stopped.