Sustainability & Renters' Rights Committee 6223

and Renters' Rights Committee.

Today is Friday, June 2nd, 2023, and the time is 9.34 a.m.

I am the chair of the committee, Council Member Chema Sawant.

Would the clerk, Ted Verdone, from my office please call the roll?

Council Member Sawant?

Present.

Council Member Nelson?

Council Member Morales?

Here.

Council Member, oh, yeah, Council Member Juarez?

Council Member Nelson, I mean, Council Member Lewis?

Present.

Three present.

Thank you, Council Members Lewis and Morales.

Council Members Juarez and Nelson have notified my office that they would be unavailable today and are excused.

Today's committee has a short agenda.

We will discuss and vote on the confirmation of two appointments, the Seattle Renters Commission, Kate Rubin and Julissa Sanchez.

Before hearing from them, we have public comment.

Ted, do we have anybody signed up for public comment?

There are two remote speakers.

Okay, so the remote speakers will be called up soon, and the speakers will have two minutes each.

Ted will read out the names of the speakers.

So for both the speakers, when the name is called out, please follow the prompt to unmute yourself and hit star six in order to do that, and then begin speaking.

Ted, go ahead.

Howard Gale, followed by Angie Gerald.

Good morning, Howard Gale.

Howard Gale, a District 7 renter, speaking about Seattle's increasing evictions without just cause.

Last month, after 18 years in an affordable apartment, I got my 20-day notice to terminate.

Like hundreds of Seattleites over the last year, I am facing an eviction without genuine just cause, as landlords have found a way, with the full cooperation of SDCI, to nullify recent Seattle laws limiting rental increases in evictions.

who unjustly evict folks, landlords only need claim they are doing simple renovations that supposedly require a tenant to vacate for more than three days.

Cadence Realty has done this in my building, thereby unjustly evicting 48 families.

Over this last year, landlords like Cadence Realty that famously displaced Section 8 tenants from the Chateau and Capitol Hill have unjustly evicted hundreds of people in order to raise rents 70 to 100% without having to provide the fixed 180-day notice and avoiding almost all tenant relocation assistance.

What relocation assistance is provided is half paid for by taxpayers, thereby forcing taxpayers to pay for the landlord's ability to displace tenants and increase the value of their property.

Taxpayers are forced to pay to increase the value of a landlord's property.

This is a flagrant abuse of city code and goals, converting 48 affordable units into being unaffordable.

Cadence and others have adopted this strategy in dozens of buildings all across the city over the last year with SDCR rubber stamping permits and ignoring the harm caused to tenants and ultimately to everyone in Seattle.

I spoke directly to Council Member Lewis about this last October, who, despite recognizing this is a growing problem, refuses to return my calls or take any action.

I have also contacted other council members and gotten no response.

How can the council's fight against homelessness be seen as anything other than performative?

You ignore a simple fix, a simple fix to prevent the city itself from actively reducing affordable housing and increasing displacement and homelessness.

Angie Gerald.

Good morning.

My name is Angie and I'm a small landlord in Ballard.

I have a comment on this morning's appointee for the renters commission.

And I also wanted to ask that city council uphold more ethical leadership and how you talk about members of the public who give testimony to council.

The chair of this committee has repeatedly name checked one small landlord who participated in a March round table at the economic development committee.

Council members to want referred to this woman as a liar on multiple occasions because she and others, including me, quoted a statistic from a 2018 city auditor's report and it turns out that a UW researcher had an error in the report unknown to us.

The overall report is a very helpful one and it's unethical to publicly lambast us as liars instead of just correcting the record.

Why is the rest of council allowing this to happen.

As private citizens who offer rental housing at a small scale to other Seattleites we are used to being disparaged in this committee called corporate fig leaves and other dismissive terms without ever having a chance to participate.

Dozens of committee meetings have been canceled, so it's not like there isn't time available to include housing providers.

Lastly, I ask that you pay close attention to who is being appointed to the Renters Commission, as you are considering someone who has offered official commentary at your table on multiple occasions, speaking disparagingly of an immigrant landlord couple and of small landlords at large, stating without evidence that we don't understand the laws and that we are misrepresenting real life issues that are damaging the rental housing environment in Seattle.

Is this going to contribute to better outcomes for renters?

There's an article in Seattle Times today about small landlording in Seattle, and one offers the now common refrain, don't do it.

The article notes the severe loss of small rental units.

This is at the same time council is supporting a massive new housing levy to create just 3,100 affordable homes.

Please think about the leadership you are providing on these issues.

Decisions large and small are adding up in damaging ways.

Thank you.

That is the final speaker for public comment.

Okay, thank you, Ted.

We will now close public comment.

and begin agenda items one and two.

I will read both items into the record, and then we will begin the discussion.

Appointment 02576, appointment of Kate Rubin as member of Seattle Renters Commission for a term to February 28, 2025, and appointment 02577, appointment of Julissa Sanchez as member of Seattle Renters Commission for a term to February 28, 2025. Kate Rubin is the executive director of B Seattle.

She has consistently advocated for renters rights and has testified several times to this committee as part of the panel discussions.

Most recently, Kate joined us as part of the community panel advocating for capping late fees for overdue rent at $10 a month.

And I'm glad to share as many know already that we were able to win despite attempts by several council members to water down that proposal.

Julissa Sanchez worked in the past as a community organizer for the Tenants Union of Washington State and helped renters find solutions to their housing issues and fight for their rights.

Julissa has also advocated alongside us for multiple renters' rights laws, both at the city level and at the state level.

Thank you both for being willing to serve on the Seattle Renters Commission.

I'll ask each of you to introduce yourselves and say a little about why you're excited to be a member of the Renters Commission and what you hope to accomplish there.

Then we can have a discussion if there are any questions from council members.

Go ahead, Kate and Julissa.

Good morning.

Thank you for appointing me to this committee I'm really excited to stand up for renters and be able to communicate our needs.

In addition to being the executive director of the Seattle I've been in a renter in Seattle for over 10 years, and I keep seeing a lot of negative things said about renters.

And also this false narrative from landlords that the laws are enforced when it harms them.

And yet somehow they're not enforced when they want to evict their tenants.

There was an article this morning that kind of came out saying that same thing in Como.

So I look forward to working with my fellow renters and making sure that we have rights and our advocates and get to stay in the city as, as people are being rapidly displaced.

Good morning, City Council and everyone who is here.

I was a community organizer and tenants rights educator at the Tenants Union for five years.

And in those five years, when we talk about equity and when we talk about housing justice and social justice as a whole, sometimes we forget about language justice and what that means and equity.

One of my highlights at the Tenants Union was establishing the language justice program and in especially with COVID going around and Tenants being intimidated by 20 day notices or notices to vacate when it's in English and they don't know what the implications are or what their rights are.

It was a total highlight to be able to support them in not becoming homeless, in not being displaced because they knew their rights.

It was also a highlight to see tenants get their deposit back and fight against landlords who were trying to take more than the deposit, more than needed because of the language barrier.

Also, it was such an honor to help a community in Beery and past just cause, which then helped past just cause in the state of Washington.

That was also a highlight of my career.

And frankly, I do miss working at the Tenants Union and for housing justice, and it would be an honor to work here at the Renters Rights Commission.

Thank you.

Thank you both, Kate and Julissa, for sharing those Thoughts and in fact, I should mention also that and as I've done before in committee that the renters commission has been a very important part of.

pushing for substantive legislation on renters rights, specifically the winter evictions ban that we were able to win a few years ago from my office and with renters and working people fighting alongside us, including unions.

That proposal initially and the push initially came from the renters commission.

So I think that there's a lot of evidence that The members of the Renters Commission are playing a vital role in pushing for renters rights.

Can I ask you both to weigh in on the need for rent control?

When we say rent control, we're really just talking about rent stabilization.

Renters deserve the same level of stability that homeowners get in being able to predict what their costs are going to be and plan out their lives, know when to have children, when they can make a career move.

These are really simple things.

And so rent control or rent stabilization just gives renters stability and that's the most important part so obviously I am so in support of it and it's so desperately needed.

Otherwise it's just too easy to get displaced.

I do want to apologize as I did go drop off my son and I thought I would be back by the time that this started.

So I am parking my car as we speak and this is why I am a little bit delayed in my response.

Let me turn on.

Rent control and rent, as Kate has said, rent stabilization, it gives the tenants the control over their lives and autonomy over their lives and it gives them sound a sound mind as they are not going to be displaced over a rental increase when wages are not being increased when a lot of our immigrant refugee undocumented communities that have in the pandemic worked all of our essential jobs and then got rental increases during the pandemic after the moratorium was lifted.

And then they found themselves having to move when they provide and their humanity is way more than what they provide to our society.

But when they provide jobs that make our country go in the background.

And then for them to be displaced from their homes, for them to not be able to make ends meet because of a rental increase.

The horrors that I have heard in the last five years that I've worked at Tenants Union from all people that, single moms that have received a $500 rental increase when their children are sick, when things are going on at home, when they have disabled children, and they don't have the support that they need in order to provide for the children and then also add on a rental increase.

As we have spoken with many people who are living in homelessness, rental increases are one of the main reasons why they become homeless.

And on top of that, we have people who are experiencing homelessness who do have jobs, you know, and can't get into an apartment because of the rental prices.

Thank you.

Thank you both.

Yeah, I think you both made really important points.

As you said, Julissa, so many vulnerable workers in vulnerable positions were deemed essential workers during the pandemic.

but really haven't been given the kind of protections that they deserve and really all workers deserve.

And as you noted, COVID era protections are now pretty much gone.

We now have also the distinct outcome that's very likely to happen on student debt in following the debt ceiling agreement by the Democrats and Republicans.

And I really appreciate both of you Highlighting one, the connection between rent increases and homelessness, which is a statistically documented connection where we know nationally studies have shown that $100 increase on average, $100 increase in rent results in 15% increase in likelihood of becoming homeless, which is a really remarkable connection and shouldn't be surprising.

This should be evident just from real life.

You shouldn't need a study to tell you that, but it is important that we have statistical analysis as well.

As both of you noted, rent control or rent stabilization is a basic requirement because it gives the basic stability that most of our working families need.

With a city that is majority renters, I think this is, as you said correctly, this is a basic need.

I look forward to if the appointments go through, which I assume they will after the vote in the city council, I really look forward to having your help and the help of the entire renters commission, to push for the rent control legislation that thousands of renters, tens of thousands of renters have said that they would really think is urgent.

I will now invite Council Member Lewis, Council Member Morales, if you have any questions or comments, please go ahead.

Sure.

I'm sorry, I can't find my hand function right now.

Can you hear me, Chair?

Yes.

OK.

Well, I just want to thank Julissa and Kate for being willing to serve in this capacity.

And just to speak to the issue of rent stabilization, I mean, we know that people are getting pushed out of the city because prices are skyrocketing.

I happen to be a homeowner.

What I pay to have a roof over my head is predictable.

Way too much money, but at least I know what to expect.

And I know that there's not going to be a, you know, 20% or 50% increase from month to month.

Um, and that, that, that is absolutely, uh, reassuring.

And I think, uh, renters in the city deserve the same sort of, uh, security.

So.

Um, I'm, I'm looking forward to both of you joining this, this commission and, uh, continuing the chance to work with.

both of you and your organizations on making sure renters have the stability that they need to be secure in their homes.

So thank you both.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

Council Member Lewis, yeah, you have your hand up.

Go ahead, Council Member Lewis.

Thank you, madam chair.

I just wanted to briefly speak to the appointment of Kate Rubin.

I'm very excited to be able to confirm this nominee.

I've really enjoyed working with Kate Rubin on a variety of different projects over the last couple of years and can really attest to their professionalism and their knowledge of the subject matter and.

And really, really just glad to have a commissioner of, of this caliber stepping up to serve, and can just speak from personal experience that I think she'll be a great fit for this role.

Thank you.

So, If there are no further questions or comments, we will move to a vote.

If there are no objections, I will move both appointments at the same time for a single vote.

I move appointment 02576 and 02577. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

Ted, please call the roll.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Three in favor.

Thank you, council members, committee members.

Appointments 02576 and 02577 pass and we'll go to the full council for the final passage.

Thank you to Kate and Julissa for attending and speaking to and all the work that you've been doing for renters' rights.

Items voted out of Friday committees like these appointments typically wait a week to go to the full city council.

However, if there is no objection, I will suspend the rules to allow these items to be placed on the June 6th City Council meeting so that the appointments can be finalized in time for Kate and Julissa to attend the June renters commission meeting.

Are there any objections?

Council Member Lewis, I'm assuming that's the old Zoom hand from when you spoke earlier.

Yes, no objection.

Okay.

Thank you.

So seeing no objection, these appointments will be sent to the full city council for final vote this coming Tuesday, June 6th.

Again, thank you, Julissa and Kate, and I look forward to talking to you and other members of the interest commission in the next couple of months, especially in relation to rent control or rent stabilization.

If there are no further comments, I will adjourn the meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Seeing no further comments, meeting will be adjourned.

See you all.

Thank you so much committee members.