Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee 7/21/23

Thank you.

Good morning.

Thank you to everyone here for making time to attend this very important meeting of the Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee of the Seattle City Council.

Today is Friday, July 21st, 2023, and the time is 9.34 a.m.

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

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

Council Member Sawant.

Present.

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Nelson.

Present.

Council Member Juarez.

Here.

Council Member Lewis.

Present.

Five ayes.

Thank you, Ted, and welcome members of the committee.

Today's meeting has two items on the agenda, both on rent control.

First, there will be a community panel discussion on rent control, and then the committee will discuss and vote on the rent control bill and amendments, after which it is expected to go for a final vote at the full city council meeting on August 1st.

So I urge everyone who is here today to speak in public comment, to stay until the end of the meeting, and then return on August 1st so that council members know that renters in Seattle will hold them accountable for how they vote.

This is the third committee meeting officially discussing this rent control legislation.

It was discussed in detail at the June 30th committee meeting and then we held a public hearing last Wednesday in the community where about 100 speakers gave public testimonials.

We have not yet heard any council member publicly express support for this legislation.

and I will say it's a little bit disappointing.

However, I hope they all vote yes today without any watering down.

Even before this, however, my office has released drafts of our rent control legislation three years ago, and the bill before us is substantively the same as what we had made available to the public and to elected representatives then.

And my office has been relentlessly advocating for rent control since I first took office in 2014. My office organized a public debate against a Republican legislator and landlord lobbyists over rent control in 2015, the same year that we successfully passed a city council resolution urging the state legislature to lift the ban on rent control.

Socialist Alternative, my organization, has gathered tens of thousands of petition signatures for rent control since then, and we have seen the need for rent control only grow as rent spirals out of control.

I want to continue making a few more But I just wanted to let everybody who signed up for public comment in person and online know that given the number of speakers who have signed up, which I welcome, we will have to limit each public testimonial to 45 seconds.

It might not seem like a lot, and it's certainly much less than two minutes, but you can say a lot in 45 seconds if you're prepared.

So I urge you all to prepare your comments as, you know, you have a few minutes before we start public comment.

And the reason we have limited is so that we have the vote in a timely manner.

At the public hearing last week, renter after renter expressed deep frustration with out-of-control rents, but also showed a real willingness to fight, which is what we will need to win rent control.

For the last 42 years, Washington state legislators in Olympia have maintained a statewide law prohibiting any regulation on rent.

Imagine, not only is it legal for your landlord to double your rent, but state law makes it illegal to pass a local law preventing it.

Democrats have controlled the Washington state governor's mansion for 30 out of the last 30 years, the Senate for 20 years, and the House for 23 years, and have controlled all three centers of government power in Olympia for 15 of those 30 years.

The ban on rent control has remained intact for 42 years, and we know this is not a neutral act.

This ban on rent control is a gift for the real estate barons.

I have sent our rent control legislation to state legislators from Seattle, and they predictably replied by congratulating themselves for a bill that was never even given a hearing in committee, let alone voted on.

As the party in power, the Democratic Party decides which bills are brought to a vote, so we have to ask, why was lifting the rent control ban not given a vote?

Who is responsible?

Who is accountable?

There are never any votes, so they want us to believe that nobody is to blame.

Well, today, our rent control bill will be put to a committee vote, and Democratic Council members on this committee will have the opportunity to show where they stand.

and then it will go to full city council, as I said, on August 1st.

Our rent control legislation bans rent increases larger than the rate of inflation.

Yes, sometimes costs do go up for landlords.

All of our costs go up.

That is what inflation is.

But corporate landlords have been raising rents far faster than inflation, and that has meant that renters have fallen farther and farther behind Let's keep in mind wages have not gone up by the same rate as the cost.

Far from it.

So rent control will affect only those landlords who gouge their tenants.

If you are a small landlord who does not gouge your tenants, then this law will not affect you.

The unvarnished truth is that for-profit landlords and property management corporations raise rents exorbitantly, not because their costs are going up by the same rate, but simply because they can, given the balance of power they have against working class and low-income renters.

Not surprisingly, a survey of landlords and tenants from last year shows that the likelihood a landlord will raise rent goes up with the number of properties they own.

In fact, the survey shows that many mom-and-pop small landlords plan to raise rents less than what they believe to be the market rate.

And the biggest rent increases and the most often are by landlords who own more than 100 or more rental units.

So, you know, we're talking about actual corporate landlords or slumlords as the case may be.

I want to thank all the small landlords who spoke in favor of rent control at the public hearing last week and the small landlords and homeowners who have signed a joint letter and sent it to the city council urging they pass our rent control legislation.

Nationally, we know that, you know, as I said, the majority of apartments are owned by big landlords.

According to data from the 2021 Rental Housing Finance Survey conducted by the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S.

Census Bureau, 61% of rental apartments are owned by landlords who own 25 or more apartments.

More revealing is the statistic that fully 54% of all apartments nationwide are owned by corporations who own 100 or more rental apartments.

So who are the landlords who increase rents by the most?

And most often, it's big landlords who own 100 or more rental units.

And who are the ones who own most of the rental units?

It's the same corporations.

So we know where the rent increases are coming from.

And what's the support for rent control?

Of course, support for rent control is very strong.

I already talked about the surveys that people have signed since 2019 in Seattle, but even statewide, an online survey in 2020 found that 71% of likely Washington voters support rent control and good cause eviction protections.

And 78% majority describe housing costs as a crisis or a major problem.

And, you know, all of this is going on.

This exploitation has been chronic.

It has been going on for decades.

But on top of that, we now know, and I mentioned this at the public hearing last week, that there is an alleged price-fixing scandal that has been reported by ProPublica investigators and also locally by Jonathan Rosenblum in the Stranger newspaper.

And it is dramatic, the kind of rent increases that these corporate landlords have been responsible for using an algorithm by RealPage, which is another corporation which has also profited from this.

So we have all these corporations profiting from rent increases that are unreal, really, and although they are all too real for the renters who are paying them.

As one of the confidential witnesses in one of the lawsuits, and there are three such lawsuits against these corporate landlords, as one of the confidential witnesses said, quote, it was price fixing.

What else can you call it when you're literally calling your competition and changing your rate based on what they say, end quote.

And they also use the word cartel, you know, in this allegation that they're making in the lawsuit.

In other words, the allegation is that the corporate landlords are, you know, colluding with one another and setting the rents so that they're all together raising rents.

And then there's an explanation also of why even if your landlord may not have been alleged to be part of this, if they are so big and they are raising rents by a certain amount, then it means that other landlords are also increasing by the same amount.

So in other words, it doesn't matter even if your landlord is one of the ones implicated in these lawsuits or not, your rents are going up for the exact same reason as well.

So it's no surprise that between 2010 and 2020, Seattle rents almost doubled.

So all of this, I believe, is very strong evidence why we need rent control.

I just want to say I will not accept any council member, whether on this committee or in the full council, saying that we need studies, we need data.

This could not be more grounded in data.

And I'm going to talk about more data as the committee goes on.

But this is so thoroughly vindicated by statistical analysis and by data, both Seattle-wide and nationwide.

Now, we will go to public Comment.

And if there are more sheets, you should send them to me.

As I said before, you all will be limited to 45 seconds, which I apologize for, but please make the best use of those 45 seconds.

And I will read names three or four at a time.

If you hear your name, please stand in order and be ready in order so that we don't waste time and people having to get up from their seat.

We'll have the in-person commenters first and then the online commenters.

So we have...

Alicia Burton, Kate Rubin, Daniel Bannon, and William Shadbolt.

Can we please have them stand in line?

Alicia, are we ready, Ted?

Yes.

Okay, go ahead.

And please make sure to put the microphone very close to your mouth.

My name is Alicia and I live at Nicholsville cd.

Nicholsville supports the rent control legislation and would like to thank council members for putting it forward.

I urge council members to vote yes and support the legislation.

Over half of our Seattle residents are renters, and over 70% of our Washington residents support rent control.

Many studies and research have proven that the number one root cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing.

With costs skyrocketing, our city is becoming less and less affordable every year, and more and more people are becoming homeless.

The status quo is unattainable.

We need rent control now.

The thing that you hear tells you that you have 10 seconds left.

Go ahead, Kate.

Good morning.

My name is Kate Rubin.

I'm a renter living in District 2 and the organizing director of Be Seattle.

As a city that prides itself on its progressive values and commitment to social, racial, and economic justice, Seattle must lead the way in addressing our housing crisis.

By implementing strong rent control measures without any loopholes, we can challenge the unjust power dynamics in our housing market and ensure that everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

It is your responsibility as our elected representatives to prioritize the well-being and stability of the people.

Take a stand against the injustices of the housing crisis and do your part to create a city where housing is a fundamental pillar of social and economic justice.

Show the rest of the state that we are committed to building a more equitable society where everyone can thrive.

Hello, my name is Daniel Bannon, and I'm here on behalf of the Rental Housing Association of Washington and over 5,000 small housing providers from across the state.

I'm here today to urge you to oppose rent control in Seattle.

Rent control has been seen to kill housing, full stop.

Rent control has never worked anywhere it has been tried, in fact, has a detrimental impact on both the quality and the quantity of housing available to renters.

This ordinance will not achieve the results that have been promised.

In fact, it will do the opposite.

Passing this ordinance will not only dramatically reduce any new housing, it will increase the current exodus of small housing providers from the city, pass this ordinance and watch the landlords flee in 2023. We need to look at the facts and the facts do not support rent control.

Thank you.

Sorry, before William goes ahead, the next speakers are Rose Himstra, Brandon Ang, Steven Doroski, and Sarah Russell.

Please line up.

Go ahead.

Thank you very much.

I'm urging the council members to vote no on this.

I could talk about the 93% of actual economists that think this is a bad policy, or on how rent control, for example, in New York City helps wealthy renters and not the lower income ones, or how this ordinance is clearly unconstitutional under existing US Supreme Court precedent.

But what I really want to talk about is how it will negatively impact existing renters in the city of Seattle.

We've already seen thousands of small landlords sell off their single-family homes.

Under this ordinance, most of single-family homes will be sold off.

We've seen in St. Paul a 61% decrease in the number of building permits for apartments after they enacted it.

Please vote no.

Hi, my name is Rose heemstra.

I'm a renter in North Seattle.

I'm a teacher and a union member of North Shore Educators Association.

I was also one of the renters on the panel that council members don't want hosted when introducing this bill, and I urge you to pass this legislation without any loopholes or watering down amendments.

I'd like to remind you of some of the stats I shared on student homelessness in Seattle.

Over 2,000 students, about one out of every 25 in this district, were experiencing homelessness in 2021. Seattle Public Schools reported that these students were living in group homes, shelters, doubled up with other families, and in transitional housing, as well as some reporting living on the street or in a vehicle.

This rent control legislation will keep those students housed.

Rent needs to be kept affordable to working class families and the lack of support, the lack of vocal support from the majority of the council is concerning.

If you are on the side of the working class people and of union and non-union workers, you will vote yes on this legislation.

Thank you.

I'm Brandon Ang, renter in U District.

Who runs essential services in this city?

Grocery workers, construction workers, healthcare workers.

Why should they be forced to commute far because they cannot afford housing near their workplace?

Why do they have to endure mediocre wages just to barely scrape by while the corporate billionaires are making record profits in major companies and property management.

We need rent control so we can keep affordable housing in the city.

Thank you very much.

Good morning.

My name is Sarah Russell.

I am not with any organization or union.

I am a renter in Capitol Hill.

I urge all Democrats on the Renters' Rights Committee today to stand with the working people, not wealthy corporate landlords, and I urge you to vote yes on Councilmember Sawant's rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

In an op ed in the stranger by Jonathan Rosenblum, I read that a real page alleged price fixing cartel explains how your rent has gone up, even if you're not in a real page building other landlords seeing how big the property, seeing how the big property owner owners around them are hiking rents also increase rents dramatically.

That's why, as we know, average Seattle area rents across all apartments rose nearly 92% last decade, while median household income went up only 47%.

As Jonathan says, this is not some magical, inanimate marketplace at work.

It's a rotten price-fixing cartel, as the lawsuits say, one that is organized and maintained by multimillionaire and billionaire landlords.

Thank you.

Are you, wait one second, are you Steven Doroski?

Okay, after Steven, we have Anitra Freeman, Jeremy Hawkins, somebody who just gave their name as Sarah, and then Lauren Gardner.

So we have Anitra, Jeremy, Sarah, Lauren.

Go ahead, Steven.

Good morning, members of the council.

My name is Steven Doroski.

I talked already about how some and vulnerable people are my neighbors.

I want to remind you that the law is to protect the weak from the strong.

We know that the strong corporations will lie and we Poor people are telling the truth.

We need rent control.

Have empathy.

I know you can do the right thing.

You'll go to bed tonight.

You'll feel good about yourself.

You're good people.

That's why you became council members.

Please vote yes on this measure and protect us.

Thank you.

I need your Freeman wheel women in black.

Seattle economy is booming.

Homelessness is going up.

Detroit economy is failing and homelessness is going down because housing is cheaper in Detroit.

In King County, 162 homeless people have already died this year, outside or by violence, because it is literally too expensive to live here.

Landlords deliberately withhold housing to drive the rents up.

With this legislation, you can increase housing and decrease deaths.

Thank you.

My name is Jeremy Hawkins.

I am a renter in Wedgwood.

I urge all Democrats on the Renters' Rights Committee today to stand with working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on Councilmember Sawant's rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

We won't accept City Council Democrats saying that you can't pass this legislation because of statewide bans on rent control.

It's your party that helped pass the unjust ban in the first place and has refused to lift it for over 40 years.

You are accountable.

Will you pass this trigger law for rent control and help force the state Democrats to lift the ban?

Hi, my name is Sarah.

I am a renter in Seattle.

I live in Capitol Hill and I support rent control.

And I'd like to give the rest of my time to my people who feel equally as impassioned and would like to chant.

Thank you.

Madam Chair, is it me or did we lose audio?

I'm not hearing anything.

I said, is it me or did we lose audio?

Are you able to hear now?

No, I missed the last person.

I thought it was my computer, but it's not.

I just want to make sure my colleagues can hear if they're having any problems.

I can hear you now, Chairwoman.

Thank you.

I just lost audio.

Thank you.

Before Lauren goes ahead, I wanted to say that after Lauren finishes, Ted, let's do 10 online speakers, and then we'll come back to the in-person speakers.

Please don't leave.

All of you, stay if you can till the end of the committee.

Go ahead, Lauren.

My name is Lauren.

I'm a transgender man who moved here when I was 17, leaving a conservative household in Utah under the impression that the Democrat lawmakers in Seattle had built a progressive paradise for LGBT people.

Real nasty surprise when I got here and learned y'all are a bunch of lying two-faced snakes who claim to stand with marginalized people, but when the time comes to act, you always stand with billionaire corporations.

I urge all the Democrats in council to vote yes on rent control today.

Rent control is especially impactful for LGBT people who are both more likely to live in poverty and less likely to have family support.

When I graduated, I couldn't find a place I could afford.

Young adults in my situation are usually forced to move back home, but I and countless gay and trans people like me didn't have that option, and I was briefly homeless.

Rent control is a critical safety measure for all working people and especially marginalized communities, and I urge all members of the committee to vote yes on Council Member Sawant's bill.

The first three online speakers are Angie Gerald, followed by Carrie Costin, followed by Leo Hallink.

Angie, you are muted.

Hit star six to unmute yourself.

There you go.

Good morning.

My name is Angie.

I'm a small landlord in Ballard and a member of Seattle Grassroots Landlords.

Please vote no on rent control.

Do not advance this out of committee.

An expensive impractical and oppressive rent control law will have severe consequences for Seattle renters and property owners.

It is illegal in Washington state and a misleading and divisive political distraction.

For years council has deliberately excluded housing providers from collaborating in legislation with increasingly unfortunate consequences.

While customers still want rails against corporations, Seattle is losing thousands of small, locally-owned rentals, with steadily diminishing options for renters.

Please redirect your energy toward a One Seattle approach.

We need more community-based rental housing, more diversity of ownership.

Please vote no.

This is a political stunt.

Thank you.

Carrie Cosden, followed by Leo Pallink, followed by Jennifer Leckish.

I'm Carrie Cosden, and I'm an affordable housing provider in Seattle.

Seattle does not need rent control.

65% of Seattle renter households can afford to be in a price apartment.

Seattle rents have gone up about the rate of inflation for the past four years.

Some people struggle to afford rent in Seattle, but this bill will not help them.

It will make it worse because non-corporate owners with affordable units will leave the market, builders will not build rental housing in Seattle, and people who live in existing rent-controlled housing will not move.

Affordable units will not be available to people who really need them.

Someone says rent control has no effect on the rental supply, but she is wrong.

This bill is unprecedented in that new construction is not existing, and there is no relationship provision to recoup cost for repairs and improvements.

Runners love the idea of rent control because who doesn't want predictable rent increases?

Just because something's popular doesn't mean it's good.

This rent control is a bad idea.

Please don't vote for it.

Leo Palink?

And for IT, the Ted Verdone account needs to be made a host so I can cycle through public comment speakers.

Go ahead, Leo.

Yeah, thank you.

My name is Leo Plank.

I'm a Seattle landlord.

If you want to know how the rent control proposal will impact the housing situation, you need to ignore the divisive rhetoric of SWAT and look at the facts.

So let's do that.

First, this proposal does nothing at all for homeless people, so it will have no effect on the current homeless population.

Second, most studies indicate that those who become homeless typically suffer a crisis such as job loss, abuse, a mental health or physical health crisis.

This proposal will do nothing to help them avoid homelessness.

So what about the rest of the rental population?

According to Swann's own numbers, most Seattle renters can easily afford the average rent and the average rent increase in Seattle is already about the rate of inflation.

So this proposal will do nothing to improve things for most renters.

And then what effect will this proposal have on POP landlords who typically charge well below market rents like some of my tenants To avoid getting permanently locked into these very low rents, we will have to raise rents dramatically.

And to be clear about this, it is be- Jennifer Lekish, followed by Isaac Miller, followed by Larry Gotham.

My name is Jennifer Lekish.

I'm a past renter, landlord, and a regular working person.

Do the right thing and vote no on rent control.

The facts do not support this bill.

You want to want to peg the cost of living increase at roughly 3%, but rental costs far exceed this figure.

My property taxes increased by 21% last year, and black flow testing went from $55 to 70 which is 27% increase.

These are city imposed fees.

The problem is rising costs which should be addressed.

This bill prevents property owners from reduced rental units in their property for example, if I have a rent If I rent out a mother-in-law apartment in my house, then I have to rent this mother-in-law apartment indefinitely, which is a problem.

Rent control is a bad idea.

Please do not vote for it.

Isaac Miller?

Isaac, there you go.

Hello everyone.

My name is Isaac.

I'm a renter in Wallingford.

And wow, all the landlords really just didn't show up and they're calling in, huh?

From their cozy little home.

Yeah.

Uh, these people are nuts.

Uh, the rent control, uh, lower rent wouldn't help homelessness.

Are you serious?

If you even hear yourself, man, what's wrong with you?

The also just like all these people, we're going to hear a lot of landlords talk about like economic policy and like why supplies, why it's expensive and.

Uh, but we just had this huge article about like a greedy price that can handle it.

It's expensive, not because of supply.

It's those price fixing and they're in league with the developers and keeping the supply low intentionally.

Uh, and, uh, it is, I don't know.

Also, like, what about our economics?

You know, like what, what about us?

Like most people are not landlords.

Most people are renters and we're rent burdened and we need your help.

And, uh, uh, these people don't represent the majority of Seattle.

And if you want to be a labor Democrat or a progressive vote, uh, yes, on this proposal.

Larry Gossett, followed by Jessica Scalzo, followed by Kevin Bitswong.

Go ahead, Larry.

Oh, okay.

This is Larry Gossett.

Formerly, I was on the King County Council for 25 years.

I am very upset about the cost of rental housing in Seattle.

This morning, I got a letter from Representative Adam Smith, where he said that the primary thing we should be doing right now to help people in the greater Seattle area is incentivize affordable housing, meaning figuring out ways we can lower the cost.

I believe this rent control legislation It's absolutely necessary, particularly for African-American families who have been moving out of Seattle in extremely high numbers.

And the best way that we can figure out a way to afford for more Blacks to live in Seattle is by lowering their put-in rates on the rising cost of rent.

Thank you very much.

Jessica Scalzo next.

Hi, my name is Jessica Scalzo.

I am a renter in district three and I'm urging all city council members to vote yes on rent control for the working class because we already have rent control for wealthy corporate landlords.

And I live in, I've said before, I live in an apartment studio with no kitchen.

I have to share it with everyone on my building, which is cool.

I'm grateful, but that's what I can afford.

And there's always still a fear that that continues to go up and I won't be able to afford that.

And also I have worked in shelters and on hotlines trying to find people housing, hearing from people that have lost their housing that are now homeless.

And there is no more space available yet.

There are vacancies, 6% of vacancies of apartments that are just too high of rent for people to pay.

So please vote for rent control without any loopholes.

Thank you.

Next, we have Kevin Bitswong, followed by Echo Hall, followed by Aidan Nardone.

And then that would make 10 online speakers if you wanted to do groups of 10. So go ahead, Kevin Bitswong.

Kevin, you're muted.

If you hit star six on your phone, you'll unmute.

You're still muted.

Star six.

Kevin is still muted, so perhaps we should move on to Echo Hall.

Echo Hall, if you hit star six on your phone.

There you go.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Echo Hall, a socialist alternative.

And today I challenge every Democrat and self-described progressive on this committee to stand with the working people of this city in the face of the wealthy corporate landlord lobby.

I expect all of those who care about the families and working people they serve to vote yes on council members who want rent control without loopholes to appease the landlord barons.

We will not accept city council Democrats espousing rhetoric that suggests we cannot pass this legislation due to the statewide ban they themselves helped pass.

Vote yes today and force a lift on the ban.

Thank you.

Next we have Aidan Nardone and then we'll come back to Kevin Bitswong and try and unmute again.

So Aidan Nardone.

Hello, my name is Aidan Nardone.

There's no means testing component in this legislation.

How many people that may be leasing an expensive Pied-a-terre that they may be visiting occasionally will be celebrating this proposed legislation?

Do not pass this legislation out of committee.

Vote no.

Kevin vets long another attempt hit star six on your phone.

That's my response to that.

Devon, if you can hear us, we'll come back to you when we come back to the online speakers next, but we'll go to in-person now.

Hemant is the next speaker, and then after that it's Ali, Sullivan, Dominic Wolfgang-Wallace, Gary Vassar, and Xavier Ensley.

Go ahead, Hemant.

Hi, I'm Hemant.

I'm a renter in Capitol Hill.

I urge all Democrats on the Renters' Rights Committee today to stand with the working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on the council member Savant's rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

This issue is really important for low-income communities of color who would experience far-reaching benefits from a strong rent control policy.

And all of the arguments from the landlord side are either lies or complete nonsensical economic dogma with no basis and material reality.

All the data shows that rent control would be very important to people of color and working class people in America.

Thank you.

My name is Allie Sullivan, I'm a resident of District Two and I volunteer with Stop the Sweeps as well as a local syringe program and safer smoking program.

Homelessness is going up, overdoses are going up.

You must vote yes without watering down the legislation to show you are on the side of the tenants, the working class and the folks living on the streets, not just the major corporations that are a part of a cartel nickel and diming those of us who live in their buildings.

No excuses on the state law when it's your party that triggered it and kept it in place.

You have been in control of both the Senate, the state Senate, the governor mansion, as well as Seattle City Council for a long time.

It's time to get rent control passed.

Thank you.

Hello, I am Dominic Wolfgang Wallace.

I am a renter in Seattle up in Roosevelt right now.

I will say I urge all Democrats on the Renters Rights Committee today to stand with working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on Council Member Sirwant's rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

I personally am a working person who has lived in Seattle for over five years now and in all that time I have been in tiny apartments crammed in with multiple roommates because that is all we can afford.

I think it is frankly ridiculous to hear about the threats that the how that rent control could have on this city as though we are not currently in a housing crisis with all our friends and community members being pushed into homelessness and outside of Seattle.

Are you Xavier?

I am.

One second.

One second.

Is Gary Vester here?

Okay, Gary is before Xavier.

Please get up when your name is called.

Gary, Xavier, and then Michael Kachi.

I'm sorry, Kachi?

Kachi.

Michael Kachi.

So Gary, Xavier, Michael, and then Ryan Driscoll.

Go ahead.

Go ahead, Gary.

Thanks.

So I am a landlord, and I also have a personal experience of living in Sapporo, Japan about, like, most of my time, where there's a lot of housing, it's very affordable, and my wife and I live in a place that we paid $300,000 for 20 years ago.

We pay about $1,000 a month to own this place.

You need to, there is rent control, there is, you know, price controls in Seattle.

It's called the supply and demand.

If you would increase the supply, if you would increase the supply of housing, okay, and you can do that very cheaply by lowering the regulations to allow people to build.

Your argument is a Malthusian argument of just, it's just not, no, I mean, you guys are wrong and you're gonna, it's gonna have negative consequences for this city.

I just want to know, please, you may agree or disagree with the speakers, but please let them have their full 45 seconds while they're speaking.

Go ahead, Xavier.

Good morning.

My name is Xavier Ansley.

I'm representing Tent City 3, and I strongly urge you to vote yes on this bill.

Being that I'm a two-job working class citizen and finding it very hard to find an apartment is very alarming.

Because I came from a place where, you know, housing wasn't as adequate as it is here in Seattle.

And the fact that I have two jobs and still can't find an apartment is very, very troubling and alarming.

And I vote you.

I mean, I strongly urge you that you vote yes for this bill.

Well, good morning.

My name is Michael Kochi.

I absolutely support rent control.

This is a great bill.

But I'm also here to introduce a concept that should be part of the map for all legislation coming out of the city council.

And that is I represent a team of preeminent scientists worldwide who are trying to create this map.

Chief among them is William Reese, UBC.

And the nuts and the bolts of it is that we are facing ecological overshoot.

It's a process in which we're consuming ever all the resources nature can regenerate and discharging wastes nature cannot assimilate.

Thank you.

After Ryan, we have Barbara Finney.

Is Barbara here in person?

After Barbara, it's Sasha Somer, then Preston Sahabu, and then Gwendolyn Hart.

Go ahead, Ryan.

Good morning.

My name is Ryan Driscoll, and I'm an organizer with 350 Seattle who support this legislation.

The dramatic increases in rents over the past decade have led to displacement of many across our city, most especially low-income people and people of color.

Rather than live in the communities they work, too many are forced into long commutes each day.

These commutes mean more greenhouse gas emissions, more traffic, and less time to spend on activities that people value.

With transportation representing over 60% of the city's carbon emissions, we see rent control as a climate policy in addition to an equity policy.

The Seattle Green New Deal set the goal of eliminating our climate pollution by 2030, and that is not going to happen if people are forced into longer and longer commutes due to low carbon emissions.

rent increases.

People need to be able to afford to live where they work.

I encourage all the committee members to support this legislation.

Thank you.

My name is Barbara Finney, member of American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3197, the Union of Healthcare Workers of the Seattle VA Medical Center.

AFGE 3197 supports council members who want to propose legislation for Seattle rent control with no loopholes, no watering down, no vacancy decontrol.

I urge Councilmembers on the Renters' Rights Committee today to stand with working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on Councilmember Suwant's rent control legislation.

No loopholes, no watering down.

Councilmembers' attendance and your yes vote on rent control at the full Council meeting on August 1st is critical.

Either you support rent control to protect union and non-union workers who have been crushed by the greed of corporate landlords in your district and Seattle, or you support multimillionaires, billionaires who are making profits by gouging working people.

Solidarity.

Hi, my name is Sasha.

I'm a recent Seattle Central graduate and a renter in the Central District.

And I, like many other people in Seattle, had to live with many roommates to be able to afford to live in Seattle.

I lived with 12 roommates in a single household for five years.

The house was badly maintained.

We were all on separate leases, so the landlord was fully aware and making a huge profit off of this one house.

and this is an unacceptable situation that is widespread.

I urge all Democrats on the Renters' Rights Committee today to stand with working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on Councilmember Sawant's rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

Councilmember Lewis, you're absent today, but you absolutely must be present to vote yes on the rent control.

Councilmember Lewis is present.

Okay.

Well, they're not here in person, which is really ridiculous.

We won't accept City Council Democrats saying you can't pass the legislation because of the statewide ban.

That's not an acceptable excuse.

Good morning, my name is Preston.

I'm a renter in District 4 in the University District and the City Council Democrats are trying to do this like really annoying thing where they like plead powerlessness and pass the buck to the state Democrats who have, you know, repeatedly drowned rent control and endless committee meetings and bureaucracy.

It's just an infuriating abdication of responsibility.

You have the power right now to pass Councilmember Sawant's bill in committee and in full council, this bill actually fights to protect the renter majority in the city and applies, like, actual legal pressure on the state legislature, not, like, the pretend pressure that puts up, like, pretend protections for, I don't know, the pretend rent that we're paying.

If you continue to give us the equivalent of thoughts and prayers instead of actual action, you're taking the side of a literal landlord cartel.

Seriously?

Are you kidding me?

Pass this bill.

No loopholes or watering down.

Sorry, Gwendolyn, before you go, after Gwendolyn, the first three in-person speakers are Daniel Wang, don't come up yet, Natalie Tomaszewski, sorry if I'm saying it wrong, and then Natalie Bailey.

But after Gwendolyn, let's go to 10 online speakers.

My name is Gwendolyn Hart.

I'm a renter in Green Lake, and I'm here to urge every Democrat to vote yes on this legislation.

The cost-of-living crisis is dire now.

We've heard landlords today talk big game about their affordable housing, what they say we can afford.

But then they come out against this legislation and say they have the right to outstrip inflation, which has already outstripped our wages?

That's a real-world claim while we struggle to survive so they can thrive.

I know many of you council members count on your union endorsements.

So today, because of that, you have to stand with union members.

You have to side with people of color, LGBT, and immigrants, because we are the victims of eviction and homelessness, or else you can't claim the stand for diversity and inclusion anymore.

Side with the majority of Seattle renters and vote yes.

The first three online speakers, or the next three online speakers, we can try Kevin Vitswong again, followed by Piper Hine, followed by Suzanne Anderson.

Hi, thanks.

My name is Kevin Vitswong.

Hey, thank you so much.

Yeah, I'm an educator and a renter in the Central District.

And yeah, the housing supply has been increasing steadily in Seattle.

We've got a construction boom over the past decade.

And in the same period, average rents have risen nearly 92%.

And guess what?

Vacancies have been up consistently every quarter since 2019. And now they're sitting at over 11%.

So I'm calling to urge all Democrats to vote yes for strong rent control without loopholes or watering down.

The Democratic Party's had full power in the city and the state this whole time and presided over the ban on rank control in 1981. Thousands and thousands of us have been calling and asking you, you know, address this housing crisis, address the homelessness crisis.

And we've been met with silence.

So this is on you.

To any so-called progressive or labor Democrat on the council, pass rank control now, you know, vote for it today and vote for it during full council.

Thank you.

Piper go ahead.

Hello, my name is Piper Heine.

I'm a renter in the district.

I urge all council members on the renters right committee today to stand with working people not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on Council Member Soran's rent control legislation with no loopholes and no watering down.

Seattle needs rent control to protect union and non-union workers who are being crushed by the greed of corporate landlords.

I believe we have a right to affordable housing.

As the city grows and rents skyrocket while wages lag behind, I have had to consider leaving the city that I love and have come to call my home.

Thank you.

After Suzanne Anderson comes Jacob Rosendale, followed by Cynthia Green, followed by Bruce Becker.

Go ahead, Suzanne.

Suzanne, you're unmuted on Zoom, but perhaps your phone is muted.

Is there a mute button on your phone?

We still can't hear you, Suzanne.

Now you're muted on Zoom.

So if you hit star six, you'll unmute on Zoom.

You are unmuted on Zoom, but we still can't hear you.

You have a mute button on your phone.

I think we should come back to Suzanne and move on to next is Jacob Rosendale.

Hi, my name is Jake Rosendale.

I'm a renter in District 3. And I urge all the Democrats on the Renters' Rights Committee to stand with wealth people, not corporate landlords, and vote yes on council members who want right to control inflation.

People will come on, a lot of landlords come on today, pleading property, talking about how they're housing providers, but they are not the building workers, the union building workers that actually build the house, that need rent control to support them.

And all the Democrats on the committee, but especially ones that call themselves labor Democrats, progressive Democrats, owe it to working people and union members all across Seattle to vote yes on this bill without any loopholes or any watering down.

It's important for every single one of you to publicly vote yes on this bill.

Thank you very much.

Next we have Cynthia Green followed by Bruce Becker and then we'll try Suzanne again.

So go ahead, Cynthia.

My name is Cynthia Green.

I'm a city of Seattle renter in favor of rent control.

As a past kinship caregiver, I maintain a connection with that community made up primarily of grandmothers, 55 plus years of age and over on fixed and low income facing rent increases of 50 to $900 per month.

late fee $75 the first day $5 each day afterwards.

Some have been evicted, many facing eviction.

I continue to have these added to the population when it can be stopped.

Thank you.

Suzanne, I see you're unmuted.

Do you want to try speaking again?

Now you're muted, Suzanne.

OK, Bruce Becker.

Go ahead and unmute yourself, Bruce Becker.

Hi, my name is Bruce Becker.

This is a rent control issue.

It's a bad policy, and it's badly executed.

No place, not New York and not San Francisco, as far as I know, has this kind of draconian rent control.

And the reason is it's not sustainable.

Rents need to reflect costs and not be limited to the consumer price index.

Just as an example, I looked at a 1940 rent in a house in Northeast Seattle, and now if it were Rent adjusted to inflation to the consumer price index alone would be 55% of the monthly rent.

It's just not sustainable.

And furthermore, this whole process is a waste of time.

It has no effect because it violates state law.

All right, let's try Suzanne one more time.

Suzanne's the 10th in this group of 10, so let's try Suzanne one more time before going back to in-person public comment.

Go for it, Suzanne.

Can you hear me now?

Yes, we can.

Can you hear me?

Oh, great.

Oh, my gosh, this new phone.

Anyway, I'm a small landlord.

I've got six units in the city of Seattle, but I may not be a small landlord anymore because the regulations that have been put on us over the last couple of years, including the first-in-time rule which had horrible unintended consequences.

Guess who responds to my posts on vacancies the first time around?

It's the tech people that have the ticklers on their computers that tell them when a vacancy is up.

It's not the people of color.

It's not marginalized communities.

I have, first in time, a lot of tech guys in my unit.

Same thing with the 180-day advance rule.

I don't know the increases in my insurance costs or...

That is our 10th online speaker.

Okay.

So, the first speaker, I think, will be Fatima, because Fatima has to leave, so go ahead.

And then after Fatima is Daniel Wang, Natalie Tomaszewski, Natalie Bailey and then Sarah Champernown.

Please line up here after Fatima so that we can go ahead quickly.

Catch my breath.

Can we start?

Yes, I'm ready.

My name is Fatma Zain, and I am a renter on Capitol Hill.

How many more meals do most of us have to skip for the sake of making rent?

I can't believe I have to rely on people who probably own property themselves and don't have to worry about housing insecurity to pass basic human rights.

We never consented to be held responsible for our landlord's livelihood.

Care is a two-way street.

I urge all Democrats on the Renters' Rights Committee to stand with working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I beg you to vote yes on rent control with no loopholes or watering down.

Why own property if you can't keep up with it?

Hey, I'm a renter in District 3 and I'm joining many other working people here in demanding the Democrats on the Renter's Rights Committee to stand with us, your constituents, not the corporate landlords who are enriching themselves by price gouging the very people who make the city run and the most vulnerable and oppressed communities with exorbitant, ever-growing, profit-seeking rent increases.

It is high time we enshrine rent control a basic bare minimum protection into law, which Councilmember Sawant's office has put forward in a strong, universal form.

It's simple.

It doesn't matter what unit it is, who's renting it, who owns it.

Rent increases are just capped by inflation.

Anybody can understand that this is a common sense, reasonable protection that absolutely is not going to prevent landlords from still profiting off their properties, let alone destroy housing or mess with the laws of supply and demand.

That is a lie.

You might want to take a look at our over 11% vacancy rate.

to the people who keep saying supply and demand.

So to the Democrats in City Council, I reiterate, we the working people of Seattle, or maybe formerly, because we all got priced out, we're watching, and your concrete support, with a yes vote or lack thereof, tells us whose side you are on.

And everyone else, what do we want?

Rent control!

When do we want it?

Now!

What do we want?

Rent control!

When do we want it?

Now!

but we have Natalie Tomaszewski here, you're first.

I just wanted to say that I noticed a couple of, there's a couple of words that I've noted that maybe might just be a, Anyway, single-family home, pied-à-terre, mother-in-law, tech renters.

I'm urging the council to make a decision when thinking about it and dealing with special interest versus community interest and basic human rights, also known for shelter, also known here as housing.

All right, can you hear me?

Am I in the mic?

Okay.

My name is Natalie Bailey.

I am a renter here in Seattle.

I've been a renter for over a decade here, and I've bounced all across the city, most of the time having to live with multiple roommates, up to four sometimes, living in situations with rat-infested apartments and sewage pouring through the, The roof and I urge all Democrats on the renters rights committee today to stand with working people and not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on council member Swann's rent control legislation.

No loopholes or watering down.

To self-proclaimed labor and progressive Democrats on the City Council, which way you vote on Sewan's legislation is not whether or not you support rent control.

Big corporations have and will continue to scheme together to keep increasing rents.

So which way you vote will indicate whether you support rent control for the working class and poorer renters to survive, or if you endorse rent that is controlled by the real estate barons and their endless greed, which side will you be on?

Hi, my name is Sarah.

I'm a rank-and-file WFCE Local 443 member speaking in a personal capacity today.

I am from Seattle and I now own a home, but for 12 years I was a passive income provider, also otherwise known as a renter.

I am urging all City Council members to show up August 1st and vote yes on Council Member Sawant's rent control proposal.

And I would like to say that the 93% of economists opposing rent control, as far as I can tell from Google, that came from a poll done in 1990. decades ago at the height of a trend of anti-labor, neoliberalism, and academia, and a pushing out of progressives from economics departments that was before Airbnb, before price-fixing, before price-fixing algorithms, before the rental investment and speculation phenomenon we have today.

And as an epidemiologist that uses statistics every day, I am sick of hearing points taken from studies without being honest about their known limitations.

Thank you.

Sally Soriano, you're next.

And after Sally, it's Lucas Johnson, Jenna Dimac, sorry if I'm saying your name wrong, Lucas, and then Jenna, and then Zuri Reyes.

Thank you.

I'm Sally Soriano, 32nd District Democrats, and this was in regard to a letter just sent to Seattle State legislators.

We wanted to inform them that in October 2019, the 32nd and 43rd legislative districts unanimously passed resolutions supporting comprehensive citywide rent control free of corporate loopholes.

Then, that was followed by the King County Democrats in January 2020 passed a similar resolution.

After that, the Washington State Democrats included a plank calling for the repeal of Washington's prohibition on rent control in their 2020 and 2022 platforms.

The note on the platform says that once this platform is adopted, it must be implemented by the Democrats we have elected to represent us.

Given all of this, we urge our Seattle legislators to publicly support Councilmember Swan's rent control bill, to publicly state your opposition to the state ban on rent control, and work with our movement to finally end it, and work with our movement to win strong statewide rent control support without corporate loopholes.

Thank you.

Hello, I'm Lucas Johnson.

I rent in Greenwood.

I urge all Democrats on the Renters' Right Committee today to stand with working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on council members who want rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

There are now multiple lawsuits in court that allege that nationally, including in Seattle, landlord corporations gang up against working-class renters to artificially escalate rents by using a price-fixing algorithm by another corporation called RealPage.

If this scandal does not make a devastating case for strong rent control, I don't know what will.

We need everyone fighting for us, not for wealthy corporate barons.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Zuri Reyes.

I'm a Puerto Rican immigrant with a high school diploma trying to take care of a disabled non-English speaking parent.

I've been playing paper tag with DSHS and her doctors for a year and a half trying to prove she's disabled, can't work, and I need help.

I've been mostly able to pay for my low-income two-bedroom apartment, which is almost $1,700, because my friends and community have helped me to do so, and because I found a job through an app that connected me to someone willing to pay me $30 an hour to be their home health aide, and she believes I deserve a living wage.

How are people like me supposed to stay housed when all you pay us is $17 per hour and ask us for three times of $3,000 a month.

Please vote yes in favor of rent control.

Thank you.

Are you Jenna?

Yes.

After Jenna, it's Quill Freitas, Josie Ubelhauer, Monica Yee.

And then we'll go to online.

Go ahead.

Hello, my name is Jenna Dimmick.

I'm a renter in the Central District, but I've lived in six different neighborhoods over the last decade.

I'm speaking up for myself and other fellow public servants and direct service workers renting in Seattle.

We need rent control now.

For the last decade, I've served this community working with houseless individuals and trafficking survivors.

Over the decade in Seattle, I've had to move six different times because of rent hikes.

I've been in constant risk of houselessness myself.

Do you understand the kind of upheaval and expense that weighs on a single individual making less than $50,000 a year?

The cost of moving truck, time off, first and last, plus a deposit.

Unfortunately, rent goes up but wages do not.

The working class is not able to maintain housing due to limited wage compensation.

It's a downward cycle of being forced to move or change careers.

When direct service workers can't afford to have their jobs anymore, who's going to run the front desk at the downtown emergency center?

Tech workers?

How about you council members?

We need rent control now.

Bye.

Hi, my name is Quill, and I'm a PCC grocery worker, a member of UFCW 3000, and part of a rank-and-file caucus, PCC Workers United.

We recently passed a resolution in support of citywide rent control without corporate loopholes.

I urge you to vote yes on the rent control legislation brought forward by Councilmember Sawant and our Renters' Rights Movement.

Workers in this state, including most essential grocery workers, literally cannot afford five more years of double-digit rent increases.

We also support commercial rent control.

Many small businesses cannot stay in business with rent skyrocketing for them as well.

Corporate landlords' profits margins consistently exceed the growth of the economy, when in fact they are rent gouging a larger and larger share of the wealth.

The rest of us in this economy refuse to risk everything to satisfy their greed.

Rent control now.

Hi, my name is Josie Ebelher.

I'm a renter in District 3, and I'm speaking in personal capacity today as a member of the Washington Federation of State Employees.

From 2010 to 2020, rents in Seattle have almost doubled, and throughout that decade, my union has consistently won wage increases, but it has done nothing to keep up with the rising cost of rent in this city.

Many of my coworkers, especially those with children, are forced to live outside of Seattle and even outside of King County to be able to afford to live.

State workers are critical to the function of this state and this city.

As a state worker, I work alongside public health workers and social workers at DSHS.

We are the Department of Transportation.

We are food service workers and custodians at the University of Washington.

We run community colleges.

We drive the ferries.

We keep this state running.

We keep this state safe.

And yet we cannot afford to live in this city any longer.

How can you sit there and call yourself a labor Democrat and yet stay silent on an issue directly impacting working people and union members?

Vote yes today on rent control with no corporate loopholes.

Thanks.

Good morning.

My name is Monica from District 2 in the historic Chinatown and Japantown area.

As part of the RealPage scams, my MFTE building company has a portfolio value of $5.9 billion.

To scale, a million seconds is less than 12 days.

5.9 billion seconds is 183 years.

In the time I've lived in my building, I have seen tenants evicted and move out cyclically.

Most people are three paychecks away from homelessness.

This includes me, my friends, and elderly neighbors who create the cultural value of this city.

The very functional nature of racism is distraction.

You have the data.

You see the suffering.

No more studies.

No vacancy decontrol.

No loopholes.

Have some political courage and will.

Support your constituents and pass rent control today.

So moving to some online speakers.

The next three online speakers are Hilary Hanses, followed by Jordan Medlock, followed by Brett Frank Looney.

So Hilary.

Hilary, you're muted.

Hit star six.

There you go.

Hello.

Thank you so much.

I'm Hilary Hanses.

I've also lived in Seattle for the past 10 plus years and have been moved around between neighborhoods with increasing rent.

And I just wanted to share that when the government thinks that they're taxing landlords or homeowners those landlords are taxing they're passing that tax directly to renters.

Every time they talk about increasing costs they're talking about the cost to own their home or as a corporate landlord to run their building, but they're passing this cost directly on to renters.

Thank you so much for all of these great points.

You guys, I feel out of my element here, but I'm just here because I'm angry and I've felt this way for a long time.

I'm here on my own personal capacity.

Thanks so much.

This is my first time here.

Please vote yes.

Hi, my name is Jordan Medlock, and I'm a homeowner, and I urge all Democrats on the Renters' Right Committee to stand with working people, not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on Councilmember Solange's rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

Seventy percent of Washington voters support rent control, including many homeowners and small landlords.

you will be voting for working people instead of those who are passing off as the insane rent increases.

Thank you very much.

After Brett comes Daniel Lim, followed by Megan Murphy, followed by Jay Foxglove.

Good morning, my name is Brett Frank Looney.

I'm a third, good morning, Brett Frank Looney.

I'm a third generation African-American housing provider.

I'm one of the African-American families that Dawson spoke to earlier.

However, we oppose Council Bill 120606. First, I have to apologize to the council members there.

I am very disappointed that, you know, I'm not here today to attack your character.

I'm very disappointed that that has come from a lot of people who oppose me today.

I'm here simply to talk about the policy at hand.

It's very clear that that's the case.

The state made historic investments to fund construction of affordable housing.

This bill would be detrimental to that.

I urge you to vote no on this council bill.

Thanks for your time.

Daniel Lim followed by Megan Murphy.

Go ahead, Daniel.

Hi, Daniel Lim, Small Landlord District 3, attempting to provide safe and quality housing options to my tenants.

Yes, I'm calling in today as I'm a working person and I continue to struggle to provide a quality housing option at the market rate.

This past year, for example, I spent over seven months of rent just to replace a roof and keep a good roof over my tenants' heads.

Rent control would make it impossible for me to continue to provide a safe and quality housing option for my tenants and would likely force me to sell my building.

likely townhome site redevelopment site which would eliminate housing stock for our city that we desperately need.

Please vote no.

After Megan Murphy comes Jay Foxglove followed by Ariel Thomas Ellis followed by Blake Rue.

Go ahead Megan.

Hi, yes, I urged every single council member to vote yes for rent control.

Rent control is long past due.

It should have been written in the government from day one because the minimum wage worker, if somebody is working 40 hours a week at 15 an hour, that means they make about $2,100 a month after taxes.

So if affordable rent is 30%, That means rent should be about $750 a month for them.

And that is not a possibility for many people.

That's why there needs to be rent control.

It's fair.

It's just.

Vote yes.

It's unacceptable.

The corporate landlords reaping huge profits off taking advantage of people's need for housing and being predatory in that way.

And they need to be stopped.

Go ahead, Jay.

Thank you.

My name is Jay Foxglove.

I'm a renter in central Seattle.

Since spring 2021, I've lived in a property that was acquired by Redside Partners.

According to their website, they own 167 properties.

After sending us a 10% increase for a lease of less than a year, they raised my rent 43% this year.

I'm being uprooted from a place where I know my neighbors and I know the neighborhood like the back of my hand.

And I make below the median rent in the city.

So the alternatives I can afford are either homes with multiple roommates, like many people have mentioned today, or studio apartments that require you to make three times the rent.

And as a writer in creative communities, artists like myself struggle to remain in this city.

So I urge council members to vote yes for rent control with no loopholes or watering down.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Arielle.

Okay, thank you.

Hello, my name is Arielle.

I have been a renter in Seattle for 10 years and I can tell you right now there is no shortage in housing.

There's shortage in housing that I can afford.

You know, so like I'm seeing all these buildings being built and sure, I sympathize with, you know, small town landlords, but those are the people who are building and they're not the people who are driving the prices up.

Those are the corporate landlords that are.

And in terms of homelessness, if you want to solve homelessness, you need to have something like rent control so that people can plan, can, you know, when you're going paycheck to paycheck, you could be one paycheck away.

from being hope you lose your job.

So you need to support this.

And if you need to solve this homeless problem, you need to support rent control.

Thank you.

Sorry, one second, Blake.

After Blake Rue comes Maddie Danks, followed by Connor Christad, and that's the 10th person in this group of online speakers.

Go ahead, Blake.

Hello, I'm a renter slash resident of Bryant in District 4, and I feel that rent control is a necessity for our city.

The housing crisis is reaching a point that is very unstable.

The average one-bedroom apartment in the city is $2,500 a month, which is more than half of what I make.

And I thought I made good money at $60,000 a year for a 24-year-old.

Five of the major renters in our city, Pillar, Redside, Northwest, Cornell & Associates, and Seattle Property Associates, control the vast majority of rental listings, all charging insane rates in our city.

We need regulations put in place to ensure housing is a basic right.

And if the Democrats on our city council do claim to be For the people, then they need to back the majority of renters and push forward with rent control in Seattle without loopholes or watering down.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Maddie.

Hi, my name is Maddie.

Hi, my name is Maddie and I'm a renter in District 3. Like so many young people and increasingly older people, not only is homeownership not a possibility for me, but currently neither is living without several roommates.

This isn't an issue of supply and demand.

Seattle's vacancy rate as Kevin mentioned is currently over 11 percent and it's far higher downtown.

I also want to agree with the speaker who mentioned climate change with the majority of people in Seattle being renters and the average renter needing to move at least once a year.

That has a measurable carbon cost.

We need rent control without loopholes and without watering down.

And as a Seattle voter I'm incredibly disappointed that self-described progressive and labor Democrats have not publicly supported this rent control bill.

Thank you.

Connor Christad is our final online speaker in this group of 10. Go ahead, Connor.

Hello, committee.

My name is Connor Christad.

I haven't shown up to one of these public comments before, so I feel a bit out of my depth, but I'm a resident and renter in District 6, and I'm strongly in favor of implementing rent controls in Seattle.

I love our city, and I want people to be able to, like, enjoy their lives without worrying about paying rent.

It'll just give people more money to buy groceries or health care or housing.

The money is not going to disappear.

It's still going to be spent in the local community.

You know, as other people have mentioned, homelessness is a problem.

And at some point, someone was evicted because they couldn't pay rent.

And this would help with that.

So everyone knows about this housing crisis.

This would be a step in the right direction.

Thank you again.

Connor, Chris, Chad, I'm in favor of rent control.

In-person speaker is Tom Colligan.

Well, is Tom here?

Tom doesn't seem to be here.

Jennifer Nedelchev.

Go ahead, please.

After Jennifer, it's Ken Ullendorf.

Is Ken here?

Please line up behind Jennifer.

After Ken is Rye Armstrong, and after Rye is Kiana Daly.

Jennifer.

Good morning, Council, and Councilmember Sawant.

I'm Jennifer Nadelchev.

I'm from District 5, and I am strongly in favor of this legislation, and I urge you to support it.

We needed it, like somebody said, 10 years ago or more.

I think we're tired of hearing for the last 10 years that, oh, we just need to build more.

We just need more units.

We just need this and that.

We have been the crane capital of the nation for years, and it ain't solving the problem.

I would like to say that I would like to say that to leave something like housing costs in the hands of the unfettered market is unfortunately leads to financial exploitation and it's not really a way a decent society operates.

Thank you for your time and vote yes please.

My name is Ken Olendorf.

I'm a renter in District 3. I urge all Democrats to vote yes on the Rent Control Bill proposed by Commissioner Watt.

I'm a working class person in this city.

I make good money for my wage, but I have to count every single dollar to make my rent at the end of the month.

This is a normal story in this city.

Having a rent control would just limit at the rate of inflation and that is something that we all have to live with.

This bill, we've heard today with supply and demand, there's 11% vacancy in this city.

We had to supply, the demands are too high.

This is not working.

Last evening, the Seattle LGBTQ Commission passed a resolution in favor of moving this ordinance out of committee to full council because we desperately need this.

In speaking with individuals who worked in Olympia, I heard that there was just, quote, not enough appetite to take up rent control this past state session.

That is grotesquely wrong when the most vulnerable among us, queer youth and BIPOC trans individuals are trying to just survive in our city and are being pushed out.

Talking to people in District 3 when canvassing, the number one thing everyone tells me is why is my rent so high and what can we do about housing?

It's time to put people over profits and look at other tools to solve this crisis.

Human beings are not squalor to walk around when it is inconvenient in your commute to a baseball game.

Council Member Morales, Council Member Lewis, I know you do not believe this to be true.

Please be bold and continue the conversation through August 1st.

We need rent control now.

We are ready to fight.

Housing is a human right.

We are ready to fight.

Housing is a human right.

After Kiana, you're Kiana, right?

After Kiana, we have Luke Weigrin, Riley Retta, A. A. Ray Ward, and Christian Gunther, or, I don't know how you want me to say it, but you're next.

Okay, so we have Kiana, Luke, Riley, Ray, and Christian, go ahead.

Hi, I'm Kiana Daly.

I've been renting in Seattle for years now.

I'm currently living in a one-bedroom apartment with somebody else because we cannot afford to live in a one-bedroom by ourselves.

We don't make three times the rent.

It's impossible.

I urge you to vote yes on this measure.

The people who live here and work here, we deserve to be able to afford it.

The landlord, he made a threat that they would flee.

Well, we're not going to flee.

We live here.

This is our home.

I live in one of the places that's managed by Metropolitan Management, and they use the price fixing scheme to make our rent go up, and they do not manage their buildings.

Our rent is not going towards maintenance.

It's going in the pockets of greedy landlords.

Thank you.

My name is Luke, I'm a renter like more than half the city.

I want to start by responding to a point by one of the anti-rent control folks from last week's meeting.

They quoted a Stanford study that, to make the point that rent control doesn't work, and Council Member Shama Sawant said that, you know, we're all supposed to ooh and ah Stanford, you know.

But a funny thing happened this week, which is that yesterday the Stanford president said that they're going to resign because they were allowing folks, allowing falsified data into their research papers.

So I just want to say, you know, having gone there, I know for a fact that there are lots of professional, world-class bullshitters on that campus.

Not all of them, thank God, but enough.

And the same corporate forces that rig our political process in this country, they can rig research.

Just ask, you know, Sally Bagshaw, former city council member and Stanford, you know, graduate.

So while we're on the topic of data, oh shoot, is it out of time?

Okay, sorry.

Hello, my name is Riley Retta.

I'm a social worker and a second-year master's of social work student at the University of Washington and a renter in an apartment in North Seattle that's managed by a large corporate landlord utilizing RealPage to gouge rent.

The vast majority of my social work experience lies in housing, homelessness, and disability.

We know the facts.

The number one cause of homelessness is cost of living.

Once rent passes 30% of household income, tenants' risk of homelessness skyrockets.

We are barely surviving.

Poverty is linked to chronic stress, disease, drug use, mortality rate and more.

This is literally a matter of life and death.

Our most basic human right is at risk and you all hold our fate in your hands.

Please vote yes.

Hello.

I am Ray.

I'm an unemployed bartender, and I've lived here since you could get an apartment for under $700, and now it's impossible to pay less than double that, it seems.

I've seen my coworkers get deported.

I've seen a lot of people who work here have to move south because they can't afford to live here.

I've seen the homelessness become worse and more visible and so on and so forth due to the...

We don't need more sweeps or subsidies for property developers, and we don't need to cave in to the pressure from corporate lobbying groups and big landlords and so on.

We need you guys to vote yes on this legislation.

No loopholes, no watering down.

And that's the bare minimum that you can do because you're supposed to represent us, and three-quarters of us want this, and so forth.

Do we have Riley here?

What's your name?

Action.

Action, okay.

Do we have Riley here?

Oh, you already spoke, sorry.

Okay, after Action, we have Luz and Tristram, and then John Watson, and then we'll go to the online one.

Go ahead.

So this is the smartest city in the country, and yet they think we're imbeciles.

They think we don't realize that developers are affluent and rich, and most people who are struggling in this city are not.

They continue to spew their tired tropes about their failure in this market, which is the problem.

Housing should not be a marketplace.

It should be a necessity that we provide.

The reality versus the bullshit?

In New York City, 44% of those who live there and rent, rent from a rent-controlled unit.

That's reality.

They can call out San Francisco and New York, but the reality is that nobody would be able to afford to live in those cities who actually contributes to the lifestyle, the art, and the vibrancy of those places.

So support rent control now for the real people of Seattle without loopholes.

I work in food service and hospitality.

The people in my industry work long hours, brutal shifts, so that people in this city can eat.

And I just want to ask you, who does more for this city?

The corporate landlords with the price-fixing scheme or the people in my industry?

I stand with the workers of Seattle.

I stand with the vulnerable communities of Seattle, and I hope that you stand with me.

Thank you.

That's all I have to say.

Thank you very much.

Hi, my name is John Watson.

I'm a renter in District 3. My landlord is implicated in the price-fixing scandal that we've been speaking of.

My landlord has been implicated in the price-fixing scandal that we've been discussing today.

I don't really know how I'm going to continue to make rent over the next few years.

I don't think I can stay in the City of Seattle.

I don't feel like this city has a future unless you support this rent control bill.

Thank you, that's all I have to say.

John, John.

Rent control!

Rent control!

Rent control!

Now!

John, you're a member of WFC 1495, is that right?

Are you a member of a union?

Yes.

WFC 1495?

Yes.

Okay.

So for people signed up online, there are eight left that are signed up and present online.

And then there are nine people who are signed up but are not present online.

So I'll go through those eight, and then I'll list the names of people who are not present in case any.

Actually, I'll list the names who are not present now.

Not present is Brady Mort, Joe Rowe, Long Nguyen, Karen Taylor, Gary Vassar, David Bart, Tiffany McCoy, Tad Perkins, and Gabe Mahan.

Gary Vassar already spoke in person.

Got it.

So if anybody heard your name, you're not currently listed as present, and you can call in.

So the people who are present and called in online, Hasib Yousafzai is next, followed by Marlin Hathaway, followed by Gordon Haggerty.

Go ahead, Hasib.

Hi, my name is Dr. Hasib Yousafzai, and I'm a renter and physician at Harborview Medical Center and instructor at UW Medicine.

And I ask all of you to vote in favor of rent control legislation.

While my views are my own and not my employers, I share my employment as I work directly with mostly low-income and homeless patients in Seattle.

I've lived here for nearly a decade, and I've seen the effects of rising cost of living, rent, and housing, and how they've worsened the homelessness situation.

And I'm very discouraged to hear people making honestly paradoxical arguments against this as it would worsen housing and worsen homelessness in the city when we have such rising levels of rent and vacancy in the city.

The truth is that the vast majority of Seattleites are in favor of rent control and lowering the burden on housing.

I urge everybody on the city council to side with their constituents and not the corporate landlords that have frankly made this

Marlon Hathaway, followed by Gordon Haggerty.

Go ahead, Marlon.

Hello, my name is Marlon Hathaway, a homeowner in District 5, and I support the passage of this rent control legislation with no loophole.

I've been a Seattleite for 45 years, more than half of that time as a renter.

I also owned a restaurant in Wallingford from 1997 to 2008. I feel deep roots in my community.

Currently, I'm a beer, wine, spirit specialist for PCC Markets and Greenlink and USCW 3000 member.

My wife and I now own a home and two single family rental properties that we purchased as a strategy for retirement.

Our thinking was that this was a more ethical way to save than in the equity market.

Our goal is not to profit from the rentals for higher rents, but through longer term appreciation, selling them later at a higher price.

Our philosophy is to change as little as we can, charge as little as we can for rent and ensure people who live in our homes can have a decent life.

This isn't just a humane business practice, which allows us to have an increased standard of living as a practice, which supports longevity in the community, increased social stability.

We see rental price fixing as rapacious by corporate landlords.

In the last 10 years, rental prices and homelessness has skyrocketed.

We need affordable housing for all.

We need rent control now.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Gordon.

Gordon, you're still on mute.

Can you hear me?

There you go.

Now we can hear you.

All right, thank you.

My name is Gordon Haggerty, and I'm testifying today against this rent control bill.

I've been a small, affordable housing provider in Seattle for over 50 years.

I got my start as a housing provider as a university student because I needed affordable housing myself.

I managed a five-bedroom rooming house while I lived in the unfinished basement.

Continuing on to today, the Seattle regulations have already driven many small rental housing providers like myself out and rent control will drive the final nail into the coffin of private rental housing in Seattle.

I know many on the city council won't want to believe small housing myself exists, but we do.

And I urge you to keep us in the activity as providers for our neighbors.

Thank you very much.

Our next three are Eric Brand, followed by Ellen Kramer, followed by Elisa Lyles.

Go ahead, Eric.

Hi, my name is Eric Brand.

Thanks for listening to me this morning.

I'm a, I was a renter until the age of 41 while I trained to be a medical doctor where I currently serve the community getting an 87% discount compared to corporate hospital price gouging.

Unfortunately this has left me 16 years in practice $100,000 still in debt.

My family's been here since the 1890s.

I have a long-term perspective on our Seattle area community.

My wife is a refugee a person of color housing insecure bootstrapped her way into two houses which now due to due to all the regulations since 2017 she has lost one house and is losing the other now.

We desperately need affordable housing.

Unfortunately I don't think rent control is the answer.

It's evidence-based to increase costs and actually reduce supply and actually benefit the wealthy, we need to vote no on this.

Next up, Ellen Kramer, followed by Alisa Lyles, followed by Aiden Carroll.

My name is Ellen Kramer.

I am a renter in favor of rent control.

We cannot live without housing.

I believe it's a fundamental human right.

It should not be at the mercy of corporate greed.

You've seen what's happened to insulin prices.

If rent is unsustainable for the working class who keep the city infrastructure and its culture running, Seattle is shooting itself in the foot.

It's absolutely telling how many landlords and people it means are pushing against this legislation on the grounds of quote unquote technicality.

This free market rhetoric is yes.

Vote yes on rent control.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Elisa.

Yes, I'm Elisa Lyles.

I am a housing provider.

I'm a rare commodity.

If you want to keep, you need to keep your housing providers close to you, like you want your farmers local.

You want your housing providers local.

You want them to care about your community.

This division that you're setting up is going to drive the local providers out.

Rent control does not take into effect other costs.

What are the costs of repairing properties?

Far higher than the CPI.

What are the costs of your property taxes increase?

Will that be a special thing that that would be capped at the CPI?

That's not going to happen.

You're going to drive housing providers out of the area.

Seattle will have very, very few.

Go ahead.

Hey, so much misinformation from the no side, so little time.

If you don't build, repair, or maintain housing physically, you are not a housing provider.

Rent control will lower your property taxes as a landlord because the property value will go down because you can't legally exploit tenants anymore.

If they were sincere, about the Paul Landler argument, they would ask for one and only one exemption for people who are not corporations, but they're not doing that.

By this point, you may ignore me as a person you hear all the time, but this is a very clear cut, very simple thing.

It's caused almost every problem we have in Seattle these days.

It simply...

Next up, Carl.

Next up comes Osho Bergman, followed by Tiffany McCoy, followed by Gabe Mahan.

Go ahead, Osho.

Hi, good morning.

I'm a low-income housing provider, and I'm proud to say we've been offering housing for as little as $860 a month leading up to COVID.

But the reality is we need to look at why costs are now really going up a lot.

And as a housing provider, I can tell you firsthand what we see.

What we see is these under the guise of tenant protections, politicians like Stalin who continue to pass expensive ordinances that require us to then increase our costs in providing housing, which means we have to raise our rent.

That's how business works.

And so the same politicians who are giving you this false hope in the magical rent control solution are only leading to more unintended consequences that hurt tenants.

The solution we need to focus on is why housing costs are going up.

It's not as simple as just capping rent.

That has too many unintended consequences.

Next up, we have Tiffany McCoy, followed by Gabe Mann, and we now have David Bark present.

So go ahead, Tiffany.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Tiffany McCoy.

I'm the advocacy director.

at Real Change and the co-chair for Initiative 135 which created the first social housing developer in Seattle.

I am struck listening for all of the renters who courageously called in this morning to talk about their stories and just how similar it is to what we heard on the ground when gathering signatures.

Renters in Seattle do not know how long they can afford to live in the city.

Period.

And we're doing nothing to prevent that.

So I really appreciate council members want bringing this forward being dogged in rent control as a very important intervention in the housing market.

And I just want to question why small renter or small landlords would need to be able to rent couch.

That's what I'm hearing from these local housing providers.

That's how business works in the private market.

That's why we need to be incentivizing social housing and low-income housing, just as equally as we have been historically with private.

Please support council members to want rent control legislation without delay.

Thank you.

Gabe Mahan followed by, we now have two people present, Joe Rowe followed by David Bart.

Go ahead, Gabe.

Gabe, you are muted if you hit star six on your phone, that should unmute yourself.

Star six.

You're still muted, Gabe.

Star six, not pound six, star six.

Hi, uh, sorry about that.

Um, uh, but yeah, my name is Gabriel.

I'm a renter and tech worker, uh, calling in district three in emphatic support of the rent control legislation.

This is something we really need.

Uh, even as a tech worker, I can't afford a home and probably never will with rents going up by 15 to 20% each year, just adding fuel to the fire of this speculative real estate bubble.

And like most renters worried about rent control, our complex is not owned by a small landlord who knows us and appreciates good tenants.

I mean, those types of landlords don't raise the rent by crazy amounts, but rather by thrive.

One of the handful of large corporations that control a disproportionate share of the apartments.

And when we and our neighbors talk about a real human, you know, to try to do something about this, they often say that there's nothing we can do and it's totally out of their hands because prices are set by corporate.

And I'm urging Democrats, please do something.

help keep our community safe and help give me and our neighbors some surety about what happens next.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Joe.

Hi, my name is Joe Rowe, and I am a proud union member of the National Education Association.

And I'm here speaking for all the homeless students that I've worked with over the 20 years of teaching.

Also for all my fellow teachers who are just starting like me when I started as a teacher I was making under $30,000 and I was priced out of a city.

I have now fled and my only resources are because I'm white and privileged and old and male.

And if we don't solve this crisis up and down the West Coast we will just have to hire more social workers to help my home.

So I beg the people here making the decision to think that rent control does not harm renters any more than banking regulations harm people who have savings accounts.

Thank you all, union strong, Joe Roe.

Go ahead, David.

Hello, my name is David Barth, and I am a nurse living and working in Seattle.

First of all, I'd like to say that I urge all Democrats and on the Renters' Rights Committee today to stand with working people and not wealthy corporate landlords.

I urge you to vote yes on Council Member Swant's rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down the cost of living crisis.

It's what is driving the homelessness pandemic in our city.

Airbnb and Burbo apps encourage landlords to charge luxury hotel prices for what are really just cheap apartments.

This is the reason why Our commenters supply and demand arguments are oversimplified and simply don't work.

You say you need to break some eggs to make an omelette.

Well, sir, we see your broken eggs.

Where is the damn omelette?

That's our final speaker who's signed up and present.

There are still five not present.

Brady Mort, Long Nguyen, Karen Taylor, Camille Gicks, and Tad Perkins.

OK.

So we have just four in-person speakers left, so we'll take them.

The first speaker now is Kat.

After Kat, it's Kit.

And then, after Kit, I can't read your first name, but your last name is Fissner, I think?

Sorry, yeah, so Kat, Kit, and then you, and then Carl Nakajima.

Go ahead, Kat.

I'm Kat.

I'm a resident in District 3 in Capitol Hill.

I've been living here in Seattle for three years, and we need rent control, and we need it now.

The fact of the matter is, rent is already controlled by the rich, by the corporate landlords, as the RealPage scandal has highlighted.

Rent is now being price-fixed by algorithms that, you know, rakes in the money, rakes in makes more profit.

So, you know, bypassing rent control, it is standing side with the working class, with the renters, and it is absolutely disappointing that the Democrats and the City Council has not publicly support this bill.

At the matter of the heart is, Will landlords get to make more profits out of workers or renters?

Or do workers get to have affordable housing?

That is the crux of the matter.

Please, you know, if we're serious about ending homelessness, serious about giving people the houses and the lives that they deserve in Seattle, pass this rent control comprehensive without any loopholes.

Thank you.

My name is Kit Damien, and I can be a poster child for rent control.

I have been a client of Seattle Housing Authority my entire adult life.

Without them and their assistance, I would be homeless.

Please pass the rent control without loopholes.

I am also undergoing an attempt to force me to move, and I need help with that.

If you are facing eviction, any imminent problem, make sure to talk to Ted Verdone from my office after the committee.

Go ahead.

My name is Nathan Fisher, work multiple jobs, still can't afford the rent, but my intention is not to rile up the peasants here, but this is not the ultimate solution for our problem.

I think the major solution we need to arrive at is ending the ability for corporations to be able to own property, period.

It should be illegal for them to own anything, because they artificially raise up the prices of the housing.

Fighting billionaire greed is a cute slogan, but we need to end billionaires.

They have the ability to buy up all of our politicians.

Does anyone looking at these empty seats believe that they give a wet chart about your precarious living situation?

I don't.

I would like to see the people with the capital being the workers because we provide value to society.

Hi, my name is Carl Nakajima.

I'm a real change vendor.

The rent in our city is already too high, and many people struggle with everyday life.

And many of my friends have already left Seattle because their landlord jacked up their rent.

Some of them elected you guys.

We elected you guys to make our lives better, not to let evil business thrive in this town.

The main act of raising the rent as much as they want should not be tolerated.

Tenants in this city need some kind of protection and we need a rent control.

Thank you all who spoke in public comment.

I really appreciate it.

I want to make sure we get to the vote in time.

So I have urged all our panelists to keep their comments very, very short.

under three minutes.

And then after that, we will go to the discussion on the legislation.

We have city's council staff here to help us with that as well.

And before we start with our first speaker here, I just wanted to convey apologies from one of our panelists who is unable to be here, Violet Lovatay from the Tenants Union.

The Tenants Union is strongly supporting this legislation.

However, Violet had a family emergency that she had to attend to, so she Can't be here with us.

I'll read an extract of her statement in a little bit, but go ahead Julissa, please each speaker Introduce yourselves for the record and then go ahead

Hi.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Julissa Sanchez.

I'm the Director of Advocacy at Choose 180. I also am connected to the Tenants Union with five years of work that I did there and supported the path of Just Cause statewide.

And I'm here in representation of the youth that are often left out of the conversation.

I'm also here in representation of the tenants, BIPOC renters, LGBTQ plus renters, immigrants, refugee workers, single parents, and elders who are often on a fixed income.

And I urge all Democrats in the city council to stand with working people and not wealthy landlords.

And I urge you to vote yes on council members who want rent control legislation with no loopholes or watering down.

I was gentrified out of the Central District in the early 2000s.

That community has been destroyed.

It is a historically African-American community.

We know the history of redlining and racist policies, right?

And once immigrants settled and created a beautiful community in the Central District, we were gentrified by landlords who raised the rent.

more than any immigrant or refugee that lived in that area or the African-American community could afford to stay in that area.

What happened to the youth and the children of those communities?

What happens to youth when they are ripped away from their communities and their homes and their spaces?

And in my five years of working as a community organizer with Tenants Union, countless of tenants who have cried over the $100, $300, $500 rental increases that displace them and their children, single parents who have children who need medical attention and they can't What are you gonna choose, paying the rent or paying the medical bills, right?

Saving your child's life, protecting your child, or paying a landlord who, most of them, that's passive income.

That's what they're fighting for.

And undocumented tenants who have to move due to rental increases have a hard time finding a new place to live because of their immigration status, where landlords are racist and do not and will not rent to undocumented tenants.

You know, Seattle is really not a diverse place.

We do not see a lot of African-American tenants here.

Larry Gossett himself said that African-American tenants are moving out of Seattle are great numbers.

Like, you know, Latinos and Latina people, renters and black renters, that we make $47,000 a year to $78,000 a year, and rents are $2,000 to $3,000 a month for a two-bedroom.

And then, we get $300, $500 rental increases, and the repairs are not done.

And it's, you know, then we...

somebody said something about this is not gonna help homelessness.

Yes, it is.

Because the main cause of homelessness is our rental increases.

And we were able to to push for the pass of Just Cause statewide because Seattle was the first and champion to do that.

Then the city of Burien.

Then we as a community continued to organize and to push for the state legislator to pass Just Cause.

And we're going to do that for rent control because...

Because we deserve to live in the cities and the communities.

Our youth deserve to live in the community with their friends and their schools, and for them to thrive and grow in community within their cultures.

And we just can't afford to not pass rent control.

Thank you.

My name is Robert Jeffrey.

I'm senior pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.

High rents in Seattle are driving out those who make up the diversity that has historically been an asset to and for this city.

For example, the black population, which was located in the heart of the city, has declined from 73% of the population in Central Seattle in 1970 to less than 9% now today.

They have been driven out by racism and discrimination and gentrification and are being kept out by high rents.

That allows only the upper middle and upper classes to be able to afford to live in both the central area from which they were driven out and the city of Seattle as a whole.

Henry McGee stated in his article written in August 19, 2007, that this ever-increasing concentration of wealth could mean that Seattle will become the guilted city of upper middle class and upper classes.

Well, his prophecy was correct.

Things have gotten worse since 2007, increasingly.

What we must do now is clear.

We must vote for rent control if we want to save our city, or we will end up as what McGee called the superstar cities like New York and San Francisco.

And we can clearly see where their policies have led them.

The poor are not going to just disappear.

Those who have been discriminated against are not going to fade into the night.

Those who have been mistreated will not have their voices totally quietened.

They are still here.

They will always be here.

The problem is not going to go away simply because you ignore it.

The problem is not going to disappear simply because you have an infusion of billionaires, an infusion of high property values.

These problems are going to only intensify The anger that these people now have is going to only grow.

This is not the future that Seattle deserves.

It's not the future that any of us deserve.

What we must do now is begin the reversal of years of insensitivity and insensitive problem solving.

Start now, vote yes, without exceptions, on Shama's recommendation.

Thank you.

My name is Shirley Henderson, and I am a queer small business owner in Seattle's Central District, and I'm honored to be here today in support of Councilmember Sawant's legislation on rent control.

As a small business owner in Seattle for the past seven years in the epicenter of racist gentrification in the city, I have seen and experienced the devastating effects of rising rents firsthand.

In the years since we opened, rents have increased so dramatically, my wife and I have been forced from our apartment in Capitol Hill, and we can no longer afford to live in the community we serve.

Many of our regular customers, both working people and struggling small business owners like myself, have also been economically evicted.

In fact, our business is located in a building managed by Thrive, which is one of the companies that has been exposed for alleged price-fixing rents through this notorious real-page algorithm that we've heard a lot about today.

Thrive Communities manages multiple large buildings in my neighborhood.

controlling close to 800 apartments in a four-block radius.

The company charges nearly $2,000 and up for one-bedroom apartments and just slightly less for studios.

Price gouging by corporate landlords like Thrive has been the reason for the rapid and alarming gentrification in the neighborhood and across the city, which has pushed working-class families out of Seattle, hitting poor and working families of color the hardest.

And what breathtaking arrogance to call your company Thrive when you are brutally exploiting your tenants.

At 23rd and Union, to echo Reverend Jeffries, in the heart of the Central District, black working people used to constitute the majority of the Central District homeowners and renters.

But today, as Reverend Jeffries mentioned, that statistic is down to 9% and shrinking.

There's a similar housing unaffordability crisis being faced by the LGBTQ community, as Lauren mentioned in public comment.

I don't have words to express my frustration at how state Democrats have preserved the unjust statewide ban on rent control for 42 years, which is longer than the years that many of the queer and trans youth who are disproportionately unhoused have been alive.

This is not politically neutral.

The statewide ban is a gift for corporate real estate, and it's troubling to see how Seattle and state Democrats give each other cover to stifle progressive legislation.

It will not be acceptable for council members to vote no on this rent control bill or to bring in amendments to weaken it.

I marched for marriage equality almost a decade and a half ago.

I remember Councilmember Sawant and I marched together.

I also marched for $15 an hour minimum wage, then for Black Lives Matter, and then the Amazon tax.

I also participated in the LGBTQ hate crimes town hall that Councilmember Sawant's office organized in 2014. In fact, it was at All Pilgrims Church, the same place where we had the rent control public hearing last week.

At that LGBTQ town hall, the most important demand from queer youth was for rent control and publicly owned social housing.

Here we are, nine years later, and the situation for the queer community members has only gotten worse, while corporate real estate profits have expanded.

And that's why I'm here.

Rent control is urgently needed as a human policy.

As Councilmember Sawant has pointed out repeatedly, the question for Council Democrats is simple.

Which rent control do you support?

Is it going to be the price fixing in the interest of the insatiable greed of the millionaires and billionaires?

Or is it going to be rent control in the interest of the survival of the majority of working people?

I'm truly grateful for all of the renters, homeowners, and small landlords and small business owners who have spoken in support of this legislation.

When we fight, there is never a guarantee that we will win, but one thing that both labor history and LGBTQ history shows is that society cannot progress without struggle.

When we fight, we can win.

Hi, my name is Kayla Nicholson.

I'm a full-time working mom of two and volunteer with Worker Strike Back.

My family is really lucky.

We have found a genuinely nice small landlord who in five years has never raised our rent more than what he needs to cover his property tax increases.

And this rent control legislation would not impact him at all.

I'm really not sure what these other so-called small affordable landlords are talking about.

If you're raising your rent regularly by more than the cost of living increase, then your housing is not affordable by definition.

But if our landlord were ever to encounter an unexpected expense and be forced to sell his house, my family would almost certainly be forced to move out of the city.

Because the reality is that the average rent for a three-bedroom apartment, which is what a family of four like mine would need, the average market rate rent is $4,678.

And to not be rent burdened, to pay that rent, you need your household to earn over $150,000 a year.

And that is just not the reality for a huge proportion of working families in this city.

And that's why, you know, we've seen how the average income in Seattle has gone up significantly.

And I think a huge proportion of that is just because people who make under $150,000 are being forced out of this city at increasing rates.

Also, more and more mothers are being forced out of the workforce.

They're losing their jobs because they can't afford reliable childcare on top of exponential rents.

The average cost for full-time childcare in this city is $1,480 a month.

So, I think, yeah, some of the arguments we've heard today against rent control have claimed, you know, that we need to look at the facts, and they claim to have the facts on their side.

And a number of people have already spoken really well to how those facts are being intentionally misrepresented and cherry-picked.

And I think, in reality, the facts are very, very firmly on our side.

52% of Black households in Seattle rent.

69% of Hispanic households in Seattle rent.

59% of Black renters are rent burdened.

Every $100 increase, median rent increase, correlates to a 15% increase in homelessness.

One in five children in Seattle public schools experienced homeless at some point in 2021. Young queer people are 120 times more likely to be homeless than the general population.

These are all facts, right?

The fact that as a family of four, you need to earn over $150,000 to afford to live in this city, that is a fact.

And I think all these facts point towards all of the members of this committee and all the members of the city council.

If you are not supporting rent control, then you are telling all the people in these groups, you're telling working class families, you're telling black households, Hispanic households, LGBTQ youth, indigenous people, people with disabilities, that this city is not for you, that you don't deserve to live here, you don't deserve to be able to afford to live here.

And I really, yeah, I think every council member needs to stand with their constituents, with the people who elected them, and vote to recommend Council Member Sawant's rent control legislation to the full council.

Thank you to all the panelists for giving us very, very informative and rich contributions.

And I apologize that I had to ask you to keep it relatively short.

But we want you all to stay here and please weigh in in the discussion.

Council members, we have central staff here, but before we go to them, if council members, committee members had anything, any points to say or questions to ask, please raise your Zoom hand and I can call on you before I call on Asha.

No council members are asking to speak at this moment, so Asha, will you please go ahead?

Good morning Council Members, Asha Venkatraman, Council Central staff for the record.

I'll take us through two of the proposed amendments to this legislation.

I'm going to share my screen so everyone can see them, if you give me just a moment.

Okay, so amendment proposed amendment one is sponsored by console members on, and they are primarily technical and procedural amendments.

So I'll go through the impact of each and then scroll through the language here, so everyone can see it.

The first is a procedural change, the way that the legislation was originally crafted, it only allowed for withdrawal or amendment of citations during the enforcement process.

If a hearing was contested at the recommendation of a couple of departments and.

It seems like it would make sense to allow the department to SCCI who would be enforcing this legislation to be able to amend or withdraw citations, no matter where it is in the enforcement process.

And so that change is primarily a procedural one to separate that section out so it's applicable across the rest of the process.

The second would be to change the requirement for a mitigation hearing.

Originally in the legislation, it would have to be within 30 days of the request.

At the hearing examiner's recommendation, we modified that language so that it would be either within 30 days or at the requester or the hearing examiners to accommodate any scheduling from either of those parties.

The third just corrects a typo and improves readability, and the fourth is a, the addition of a severability clause, and that would that those are usually used in the circumstance where one part of a law or a bill is struck down.

either generally by a court, but if that were the case, the rest of the legislation would still be able to be in effect.

And so I'll just scroll through here so you can see all of the changes.

This first one is the change around accommodating schedules for the hearing examiner or the requester of a mitigation hearing.

The second one here is this change, excuse me, correcting a typo and then just improving some readability.

This third one here is moving this withdrawal and amendment citation from this section and breaking it out.

So it applies to the remaining sections.

And the fourth here is including the severability provision.

And then the rest of the changes are all just renumbering.

So I will stop sharing my screen for a moment if anybody has any questions.

Arsha, before we go on to questions and also to the second amendment description from you, I just wanted to say just for the members of the public here that this amendment that Arsha just summarized and the next amendment that we'll look at, I consider both of them to be technical or logistical or clarifying amendments rather than making any substantive policy changes to clarify to everybody.

The amendment that Arshad just went through is from my office based on feedback from the hearing examiner and the central staff.

And the other amendment is from Council Member Morales, which I consider to be a friendly amendment.

But before we go on, I just realized I should formally move the legislation so that it can be before us before we start considering the amendments and then we can vote on the amendments and then afterwards we can vote on the rent control legislation as a whole.

First, I will move Council Bill 1206. I haven't read it into the record, sorry.

That is what Ted was trying to tell me and I was not realizing it.

Sorry, I will read it, read the council bill into the record first and then I will move it.

Council Bill 120606 an ordinance relating to tenant protections, establishing rent control provisions, regulating residential rent increases, establishing a rent control commission, and district rent control boards to authorize rent control exemptions, establishing enforcement provisions, adding a new Chapter 7.28 to the Seattle Municipal Code, and amending Section 3.06.030 and 22.214.040 of the Seattle Municipal Code.

Having read the legislation into the record, I will now move Council Bill 120606. Do I have a second?

Second.

Thank you.

The bill has been moved and seconded.

Asha has explained the First Amendment, so I guess we can maybe stop there and see if council members have questions or comments on the First Amendment.

I don't see any.

Asha, go ahead with the description of the Second Amendment.

I will share my screen again.

This Second Amendment, Sorry.

Things.

Okay.

The Second Amendment proposed here is proposed by Councilmember Morales, and it would add an exemption, it would add a definition of social housing to the definition section of the legislation and add explicitly an exemption for social housing.

into this exemption section of the legislation.

I'll add that the exemption is already in the legislation.

Number four, housing units that a government entity or housing authority owns, operates, and manages or manages generally would cover social housing just because the current way that social housing is being proposed is that it would be owned by a public development authority, which is generally a quasi-governmental entity.

But just to make sure that that is explicit and fully understood, this amendment would explicitly add exemption into the legislation.

Thank you, Asha.

I know Council Member Morales will want to talk about that, that's her amendment.

But maybe before that, just actually deal with Amendment No. 1 and then we'll go to Council Member Morales to talk about Amendment No. 2. Just to add to what Arsha has explained on Amendment No. 1, I just want to add that when we prepared the legislation, we used the existing enforcement codes that currently governs the Department of Construction Inspections, landlord-tenant enforcement.

I believe there's a lot that needs to be improved about those enforcement procedures and laws.

you know as a whole for landlord-tenant legislation but that's outside the scope of this bill and that's not what this bill is about.

So this bill simply duplicates the existing procedures that are found in the municipal code and in those enforcement procedures there are times when people can appeal a decision to the hearing examiner.

This amendment makes a couple of changes to that part of the enforcement language as Arsha explained because those changes were requested by the hearing examiner.

But as I said before, these do not make any substantive change to the policy.

I'm going to move Amendment 1 for a vote.

Just want to clarify to everybody in the public, these are just amendments, so the votes don't reflect the legislation as a whole.

That vote will come later.

I move Amendment 1 as listed on the agenda.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Thank you.

Are there any comments on amendment one?

I don't see any, so I will call Ted for a vote.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Juarez?

No.

Council Member Nelson?

No.

Council Member Lewis?

Yes.

Three in favor.

Thank you.

Again, to be clear to the members of the public, this was a vote only on a technical amendment, not on the actual rent control policy.

Same with the next vote, which is just an amendment.

So amendment two has also been explained by Asha.

Thank you, Asha.

That was very clear.

Council Member Morales, please go ahead.

Thank you, Chair Sawant.

I appreciate this opportunity.

This is an amendment with the House Our Neighbors Coalition that passed I-135.

And as Asha said, the ordinance already exempts many forms of low-income and affordable housing.

But given the newness of social housing and the city's current lack of code in even defining it, I wanted to make sure that this permanently affordable, publicly accountable, non-commodified housing has the same protections as other forms of affordable housing under the bill.

So this mirrors the definitions that my office has already been working on with Councilmember Mosqueda to incorporate into upcoming the housing disposition updates and the legislation that we're crafting for introduction later, but just want to make sure that we allow for this to be explicitly included in the legislation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Morales.

Any other Council Members want to speak to this amendment?

Council Member Juarez, go ahead.

Thank you.

I'll be voting no because, and Asha, we saw this from your legal or from your analysis as well, and as Council Member Morales just stated, Number one, social housing is not new.

It's already covered in the state law, RCW 3521830. It's pretty specific.

Other than properties and public ownership under public management or properties providing low income rental housing under joint public private agreements for the financing or provision of such low income rental housing.

So we have it in the base legislation.

We have it already protected under state law for 42 years.

I'm really not sure why it's being proposed, except I I guess if you want more bells and suspenders, but it seems redundant to me.

So for that reason, I will be voting no.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, President Juarez.

Any other council members want to speak?

I had some comments and then I'll allow Council Member Morales to close it out.

I am frankly a little bit puzzled as to why there are no votes to technical amendments, but that aside, I consider this amendment to be a friendly amendment.

Similar to the housing and urban development housing, which is a federal program, Seattle social housing PDA assures affordability by requiring rents to be No greater than 30% of the tenants income.

That is a different affordability formula than in a rent control bill because any rent control bill has to limit and rent increases on the unit.

So our rent control bill limits rent increases on any rental home throughout the city at any moment to no more than the annual inflation rate.

That is a reliable formula, but so is the social housing formula, which limits rent based on income of rent, which is no more than 30% of the currently inhabiting tenant, which is also a reliable formula.

Those formulas could be contradictory because of the rents are tried to the income of the tenant, they can go up or down as a tenant's income changes.

If a renter moves in with a higher paying job, the rent goes up and if the renter moves in with a lower paying job, the rent goes down.

In reality, as Asha already correctly explained, the bill As it is already exempted this affordable housing because it is government on housing and we conformed with the city attorneys that the social housing develop public development authority, which is PDA counts as government owned.

Because of that, the amendment does not change the rent control bill.

But it does add clarity by being more explicit about social housing.

So I consider it a friendly amendment and will support it.

Council Member Morales, if you want to make any closing comments on the amendment.

Thank you, Chair Salat.

I don't have any closing comments except to clarify, as you said, that this is included in some form in the ordinance.

Social housing isn't defined in state law as low-income housing.

It's universally affordable at 0 to 120, which is different.

But I look forward to the vote and ask for your support.

Governor Morales, would you like to move it?

I would like to move Amendment 2.

Second.

Thank you.

I was just ready to call the roll.

Councilmember Sawant?

Yes.

Councilmember Morales?

Yes.

Councilmember Nielsen?

No.

Councilmember Juarez?

No.

Councilmember Lewis?

Yes.

Three in favor, two opposed.

Okay, both the amendments pass.

Are there any other amendments that are coming forward?

I don't see any from any committee members.

If not, would any committee members like to speak to the rent control bill as a whole before we call the bill for a vote?

Council President Morris, go ahead.

Oh, I can't, okay, there we go, sorry about that.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

As you, it's probably no surprise to anybody, I will not be supporting this bill, and I'll tell you why.

Believe it or not, there was a time, well, there is, council members want that we talked a long time ago, I think back in 2015, when a resolution was passed, asking our state legislators to support the repeal of the rental control preemption state statute, that is a state law.

And, I actually agree with you, Council Member Sawant.

I think that the legislator not letting local government tailor housing issues to local government is unjust.

And I read your material in your PowerPoint.

Thank you for providing me the PowerPoint that you submitted when you had your community or council meeting in community.

And the reason why I'm voting no is this.

This isn't a rent control law.

And my concern is that people out there think that if the city of Seattle passes this, it's a trigger law, that somehow we're going to be in control of keeping rents, and we're not.

We know that the Seattle City Council, by your efforts, valiant efforts, I would add, and I watched both your debates, got this through a committee in which I think at least nine times they did the legislative history.

And we had five votes out of that.

which thanks to you got done and other folks.

One was the resolution just uplifting, getting rid of the state law and asking the state to see their preemption, which they have and they didn't and they wouldn't.

But we did a resolution asking our state legislators to keep pushing.

This city council did pass a law that you got to eight to zero vote.

that landlords that rent could be controlled if landlords didn't meet basic maintenance standards.

And then I think Council Member Lewis did this as well as you and some other council members.

In 2020, we passed 9-0 and 7-0 to temporarily restrict, basically control the rent of commercial rents.

We did that.

And so I think it's fair to say when people say this council has never addressed it, we've addressed it nine times in committee, and of those nine times, four times, it's got to full council, and of those four times, every one of them passed.

So again, Council Member Swan, I agree with you that rent control, rent sustainability, whatever you want to call it, that was passed in 1981 42 years ago is unjust, and there's no doubt.

But that just underscores what we tried to do on the state side.

And I know that you have some thoughts about that.

But I just wanna let the public know that we worked with our state delegation.

We know that of the five state laws that came forward, four of them would have just completely lifted and asking the state to see their preemption prerogative.

And if that happened, then this trigger law would make sense.

It would literally slide right in.

If it didn't happen, and we saw that when Representative McAree presented some legislation in 2019-20 and had some conditions there, which the state was not going to completely cede their preemption authority, it didn't pass because it's a statewide law.

I will continue to work with you, Council Member Sawant, and everybody that we heard this morning, and I listened intently and took notes.

I do agree it is an unjust law, but that just underscores my passion, if you will, or my sensibilities to keep pushing on our state legislatures.

This last session, as you know, Representative Pollack and Senator Valdez pushed again.

And I don't think it's fair that a law that's 42 years old continues to control the housing market and doesn't allow local municipalities and cities to look at the realities in the landscape And I think your data, you provided us with some data of how rents have tripled, doubled, quadrupled, and it will not be a livable city for those that can't afford it.

So I am not gonna be supporting this law as is, because it's not a rent control law, it's a trigger law.

And many things have to happen before this triggers.

The first thing that has to happen, and we don't know when, is the state saying, hey, we're gonna repeal this law, and we're gonna see preemption.

that would be like a free-for-all.

We'll all be like, great.

I do not see, that is not foreseeable.

And the second thing is, even if the state did do that in this next legislative round and said, hey, you're right, City of Seattle and other folks, or anybody for that matter, and let's give proper deference and respect to Representative Macri, who kept going at this and talking to other, as you all say, corporate Democrats, Democrats.

If we keep going forward and we say, look, in 42 years, we have to have the ability to look at the housing landscape and we need the tools, so states step back.

When Representative Macri introduced her legislation in 1920, and I don't think she got a hearing on that, because there were other conditions that you would call either were loopholes or watered down.

But I think those are concessions that she tried to make.

So for me, this isn't about I'm on the side of greedy landlords and corporate capitalist America.

I'm being cognizant that we have a law, a rent control preemption statute that says, number one, you can't do it.

Number two, it's preempted by state law.

It makes exceptions as it should for public and low income housing.

And it allows private folks, if they want to have rent control with their renters to enter into a contract and do that, whether they do that is another issue.

So customers who want, you and I have had these discussions offline and I want the public to know that I don't, I've never considered you, you and I have always been able to talk about these difficult issues.

And I think, you know, that I've always been supportive of that, particularly when I watched your debate, I can't remember the gentleman's name and also with now Congresswoman Strickland.

So I'm hoping, even though I won't be here next year, that our state legislator continues pushing to repeal and lift this preemption luxury they have.

So local governments statewide can say, look it, we need to carve out how rent control, whatever you want to call it, rent sustainability, what that looks like in Seattle.

Not New York, not San Francisco, Seattle.

just like we did with HALA and other groups, MHA.

We may not, we don't always get everything we want, but this is in one area where I agree with you, Council Member Sunwant.

It has to be, if it's done right, it has to be a full repeal of the state preemption.

And right now we don't have that.

And I don't see it on the horizon.

And I don't wanna raise expectations to people that came today thinking that if we pass this today, that all of a sudden there's rent control.

This is not a rent control law.

It's a trigger law, if and when, the state concedes and gives up the prerogative of preemption, which I do not see happening, particularly since we've already taken five runs at the state legislature and been shot down five times.

I'm not saying we give up, but I'm gonna continue to keep lines of communication open with my state reps, Representative Pollitt, Senator Valdez, and Representative McAree and Senator Peterson, who we've talked to offline.

So I don't want, I think you know where my heart and mind is, Council Member Sawant.

I don't think you need to question that.

So I cannot, unfortunately, support this trigger law as it is.

Thank you.

I can't hear you.

Sorry.

No, I haven't spoken yet.

Oh, sorry.

I was just waiting.

I was looking at the screen.

Okay.

Okay.

I appreciate you laying out your thoughts, Council President Juarez, but of course, I don't agree with you.

Unfortunately, the strategy of waiting for the state Democrats to act and holding our breath for them to come through for us is a fool's errand.

It's been 42 years.

It's not going to happen.

And at the same time, I think it is important to say that you are all Democrats.

You are not separate from the state Democrats.

You are from the same party, so you are all accountable for your party's actions, whether you're in the city level or the state level.

I'll also say, yes, this is a trigger law.

That's because that's the best we can do legally.

Because there's a ban, the only kind of law we can pass in Seattle is a trigger law on rent control.

But the point about this trigger law is that winning this trigger law here will absolutely put enormous pressure on the state Democrats like it's never been on them before.

And in fact, If we can win it, if we can win this here, then the next thing we have to do in January is take a delegation of thousands of people from across Washington State to Olympia demanding that they lift the unjust ban.

That's the point behind the trigger law.

And I will also assure you all, President Wise and other Democrats, people are not stupid.

They understand it's a trigger law.

They are not.

They are not going to think if this law passes that they're not going to think that there is uncontrolled.

They understand that that means that now we have the real opportunity to go to Olympia and put pressure on the state Democrats.

That is the purpose behind it.

So I sincerely hope you change your mind between now and when we vote and vote yes on this, because it is the most sensible and the most rational action to take.

And so if you say you support this, then you need to vote yes on this.

That's my opinion.

Thank you.

In response to the comments made, and then I believe Kaylin and maybe other panelists want to speak, and then we'll go to other council members, of course.

But just on the question of working with the state delegation, Democrats, my office has put everything that we can in order to influence the state legislative agenda.

In fact, it was not any Democrat on the city council who introduced the words rent control in the city council state legislative agenda.

It was my office that did that.

So I don't I don't want to be told about working with the state Democrats.

We have done everything in our power to push for this.

I have sent letters to the state Democrats.

I have personally gone to Olympia to testify in favor of rent control.

As President Juarez, you yourself said, I debated alongside former Councilmember Licata, I debated a Republican from Ellensburg, Washington.

I don't know if Seattleites even know where Ellensburg is. and a lobbyist and a real estate lobbyist.

So we have done everything that Democrats tell us we should do, but we are done.

We now need to win this legislation and we need to take this movement to Olympia on the strength of winning this.

That's our position.

So I hope that council members will support it.

I also want to say, I think the time for proper deference and respect to the state Democrats is long gone.

They need to show.

So a modicum of respect to the tens of thousands in Seattle and their families and the hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions around the state of Washington, renters who are losing their dignity every single day because they are being exploited by the rapacious landlord.

So let's stand with the dignity of our working people and low-income communities of color.

to say two things really quickly.

First, yeah, I find it incredibly condescending, Council Member Juarez, that you're saying you're going to vote no on legislation that we are telling you to vote yes on because we are not smart enough to understand what it contains.

We perfectly understand that passing this legislation will not immediately enact rent control.

And we are telling you to vote yes on it and saying that you are gonna vote no in our interests is, is extremely disrespectful, to be honest.

The other thing I just wanted to say really quickly, I went to Olympia with Shama and dozens of other affordable housing activists a few years ago to talk with Democratic state legislatures about passing rent control.

And the number one reason that they gave us as to why they were not prioritizing moving rent control legislation out of committee, which they had rent control legislation introduced that year, just as they had this year.

The reason they said they were not prioritizing moving it out of committee was because they had not seen from municipalities, from cities in the state, that rent control was a priority for them.

And they said if cities are passing their own rent control legislation and making it clear that it is a priority for cities, that they want this, then we will prioritize lifting the preemption.

But until cities show us it's a priority by passing this legislation, we interpret that as it not being a priority.

So Councilmember Juarez, these legislators that you are saying that you want to be in dialogue with, they have said explicitly this is how you show them that you want them to lift rent control preemption.

You pass your own legislation and they will interpret that as you saying we want you to lift it.

And if you vote no on this legislation, they will interpret that as you saying this should not be a priority for you.

I don't think it gets much clearer than that.

And President Juarez, of course, feel free to come in again.

But for now, maybe I will call on, I'm not sure if Council Member Lewis or Morales was first, but if you know who's first, please go ahead.

Morales was first, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis.

Go ahead, Council Member Morales.

Thank you, Chair.

I want to thank everybody for the conversation and discussion that we've been having on this bill.

I will be voting in favor of the legislation.

And we all know about renters needing the predictability and affordable rents that they need for the stability in their communities and in their lives.

We also know that speculation, rapid growth, and as we've seen with the real page situation that ProPublica exposed, The price fixing, all of these things have led to a rental market that is completely out of control, not just in Washington, but across the state.

And that's why in the past I've supported rent control.

Honestly, since before I was on council, it's why I've coauthored emergency commercial rent control and why my office is working on making that permanent.

It's why I've been such a loud voice in support of non-commodified, permanently affordable, publicly owned social housing.

Here in Seattle, as folks have referred to, we've passed eviction moratoria, we've capped fees for renters.

Thank you, Council Member Sawant.

We've ended the Just Cause eviction loophole.

In Bellingham, they're contemplating putting renter protections on the ballot, same as Tacoma, to ensure that folks have more stability.

Cities are grappling with how to stay affordable so they don't lose workers.

grappling with how to keep their school kids from having to move from school to school looking for accountability and as a mom with two kids in Seattle Public Schools I can tell you that would be incredibly disruptive for my children.

It's really clear that cities across Washington state are reaching the limit of what they can do without state action.

And I think, you know, to the last speaker's point, this is how we demonstrate a commitment and a demand that the state start doing something.

Tenants are being displaced from Seattle, from Tacoma, from Spokane, and they need and deserve their protection that rent control provides.

So I do support the legalization of rent control for over a simple repeal.

I think legalization can institute it upon passage for all Washington voters without the need for trigger laws like this.

And so I think that's going to be an important thing for us to be advocating for, including vacancy control so everyone is protected.

And we don't see here the kind of issues that we've seen in San Francisco and New York that folks keep referring to.

I agree as well that it is important to state for the general public that this bill does not impose rent control here in Seattle unless the state legalizes it or repeals a ban.

And that's why after voting yes on this bill, I will continue to advocate at the state level for full legalization as I did this year when I went to support Representative Macri and working with our Office of Intergovernmental Relations to incorporate this into our city's legislative agenda.

So I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with renters, with our state colleagues like Representative Macri, with tenant advocates like the Tenants Union and Washington Can, NBC et al, not just to make sure that we get this passed here, to take this up in the legislature until we get this repeal done at the state.

Thank you.

I really appreciate your comments, including reiterating the point that Kaylin Nicholson made that voting no on this bill sends the wrong signal to the state Democrats when they're saying that they want positive signals for rent control from municipalities.

So voting yes is the right thing to do if for everybody who says that the state's ban should be lifted.

And also, I appreciate you acknowledging that this is a crisis that is statewide.

It's not only in Seattle.

So really, we need rent control throughout Washington State.

Go ahead, Council Member Lewis.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

So, I've listened attentively throughout this process and appreciate the convening and all of the advocates that have come together.

to discuss this in the context of this trigger law.

And the arguments that I've heard are very compelling for regulation, including potentially rent control.

But I have similar thoughts as the council president as to the strategy on this that I just respectfully disagree with.

I haven't heard compelling arguments that the trigger law is going to get us closer to repealing the state ban.

There's actually been some press about the reticence of state legislators to engage with this process, and I haven't seen any public support from our delegation in regards to this being a strategy that they support to get a repeal to the preemption that the state has in this area.

I also don't see a legal strategy.

I'm always down to push the boundaries.

If there's a legal strategy to go to the courts and get something re-examined.

But I don't really see this as a vehicle, for example, with what we've done with progressive taxation to shape changes in jurisprudence that allow us to somehow get a state preemption thrown out.

So for those reasons, I'm not inclined to support this today.

I would add that we have some good examples regionally in the state of Oregon recently, also controlled by Democratic majorities in the legislature, where they have been able to overcome state prohibitions on rent regulation through building coalitions within the state legislature.

And I continue to be supportive of our efforts as a city to get those preemptions repealed and have this discussion ourselves as a community rather than have the state preempted.

But I haven't heard from any of our leaders in our legislative delegation that this particular strategy is helpful to their efforts.

And in fact, I've seen in the public discussion, some reluctance from state legislative leaders to embrace this strategy.

So for that reason, I'm respectfully voting no on this proposal today.

And I can hand it back over to you.

Red control!

Now!

Red control!

Now!

Red control!

Now!

Sarah Nelson, you better vote yes.

You're moving your seat.

I... Julissa has asked to speak, so I will call on her next, and then Council Member Nelson, if you're speaking, I will call on you.

And we should get to the vote as soon as possible, because I know Council President Juarez needs to leave.

I just want to say it is extremely...

disappointing that Council Member Lewis is going to be voting no, because...

Can I speak?

Because, Council Member Lewis, you talk about building coalitions, but by voting no, whom are you building coalitions with?

It is certainly not with the majority renters who think this is a good idea.

You say you haven't heard people say this is a good idea.

Tens of thousands of Seattleites are saying this is a good idea.

Statewide, 71% of likely voters say rent control is a good idea.

So it's extremely condescending for you to say, well, I haven't seen support.

Support from whom?

Certainly not from corporate landlords.

I don't expect corporate landlords to support this.

but renters are supporting it, which is the majority of your constituents.

I want to mention, the ProPublica investigative reporting on the alleged price-fixing, that was a nationwide article, and they were picking highlights from various cities.

And you know the neighborhood that they chose to talk about from Seattle?

It's Belltown and Queen Anne.

Well, guess which district that falls in?

And I have to mention, many of the unions are supporting Progressive and Labor Democrats, or self-described Progressive and Labor Democrats, which are the unions that have already expressed support.

I mean, we've had members from multiple unions support our legislation, but the unions that have officially supported us AFGA 3197, WOOFC 1495, UAW 4121, PROTEC 17, PCC Workers United, which are, as was said, it's a caucus in the UFCW membership.

And in fact, they are also urging UFCW leadership to pass a union-wide resolution.

We have House Our Neighbors Coalition, Real Change, Tenants Union, 350 Seattle, 32nd District Democrats, many members of 43rd District Democrats.

So I just want to be clear that there are coalitions and then there are coalitions.

Council members, politicians decide which coalitions they want to be part of.

Julissa, go ahead.

Woo!

Woo!

Can we please let the panelists speak?

I am, I'm just appalled, honestly.

Like, how can we sit here all morning and listen to the public comment of tenants and listen to how they are struggling and listen to them asking City Council to vote for their for them to support their livelihoods and for them to stay housed and for them to stay safe and for them to be able to afford to keep houses over themselves and their children and the youth.

And then I hear that council members are going to vote no on this.

And as a community organizer, like, we have been doing this, and community organizers and tenants have been fighting for rent control, and legislators have been fighting for rent control, and it has not passed.

So if we're gonna continue doing the same strategies, and then the state legislators and the state Democrats are saying, Well, and I have heard that argument that, well, nobody's saying that they need rent control.

Nobody's saying that we're not hearing from different cities that they need rent control.

All morning, we have been hearing different stories about why we need rent control.

And if we do not try this strategy here in Seattle and start here in Seattle and then support the coalitions that are working for rent control and then connect with other cities in Seattle, I mean, excuse me, in Washington to pass this legislation, then we will create collective power of tenants who are the majority, who need rent control, and they're, they can act like they're not hearing us.

Like, right now, Council members who are voting against this bill are saying they hear us, but they're not listening to us.

So we need to try something different, and this is something different.

So I urge you to please take a deep breath, think about what you're gonna do and how you're gonna affect the livelihoods of so many people in Seattle, renters in Seattle, and vote yes for rent control.

One of the most, to me, one of the most severe threats to this country is not the right-wing idiots and fascists, but it is the pretentiousness of Democrats.

You feel that they can co-op communities, co-op community leaderships, Marginalize the people who are speaking out for the people who feel that they have a system of community control in place so that they can keep their systems in place and keep their power.

But it's not going to last.

It's not going to, it's not working.

You got to do the right thing.

You got to help people and not just say you stand for people.

People are not stupid.

What you're going to see is an increasing number of people voting against their own interests in elections because they are tired of your hypocrisy.

The hypocritical mentality of leaders who say that they are progressives and can drive by and see the starving homeless people on our streets and hear the cries of African Americans who have been driven out like cattle from their historic communities.

The hypocrisy is just unbelievable.

And to think that people are going along with this because you bought off their leaders, because you co-opted people and kept them from speaking out, to think that the majority of people are not seeing what's going on, you're sadly mistaken.

We need to start to do the right thing.

When has doing the right thing been a matter of strategy?

The right thing is we need rent control in Seattle.

We need to do it here, and then we need to proclaim it to the state.

But it begins here.

That journey begins now with your vote.

To vote against it means you're not going to take that journey with us.

And that means that everything you say you stand for, you really don't.

Council Member Nelson, did you want to speak before we call the vote?

I don't see Council Member Nelson wanting to speak.

I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.

No, I'm good.

Thank you.

So I'm going to go ahead and call, ask Ted to call the vote.

The legislation has already been moved and seconded.

And then I want to make a few comments, but just to make sure that we count Council President Juarez's vote.

So go ahead, Ted.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President Solon, for accommodating me.

I really appreciate it.

So the vote on Council Bill 120606 as amended.

Council Member Sawant.

Yes.

Council Member Nelson.

No.

Council Member Lewis.

No.

Council Member Juarez.

No.

Council Member Morales.

Yes.

Two in favor, three opposed.

Before we make further comments, I just wanted to clarify that the vote was two in favor.

and three opposed.

So the committee vote failed however that is only the committee vote which is only a recommendation to the full city council and only the full city council's vote is binding.

So per the council rules this rent control legislation will go to the full city council for a final vote on August 1st so make sure people don't leave yet but but when you do leave make sure you take this leaflet and make sure you come to city council, your chambers on August 1st to make sure that the city council as a whole passes this legislation, the majority of them.

President Juarez, go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, we do want to have a vote on this at full council.

It's either going to be the 1st or the 8th.

when we get the IRC.

So I'm still trying to figure that out.

So I just don't want everyone to show up on the first thinking that we're going to vote if indeed it's the 8th.

Because you know, it's got to come to our office and I got to tee up what the calendar is going to look like, the agenda.

So it will be the 1st or the 8th.

One second, President Rose.

I checked to prepare for the different situations I checked with Amelia about the council rules and the council rules say that for a divided report, it comes the second meeting, the second city council meeting after the committee votes.

So that makes it August 1st.

Well, I still need to look at it and we can have a discussion offline as council president.

It has to come through my office for to approve the agenda.

I'm not trying to be negative here or discourage people.

I just want to make sure we're clear.

So, and I have to go right now.

President Wallace, before you leave, I just wanted to strongly request that at least you let us know as soon as possible so people know which day to come.

I will let you know by the end of closing business council, Madam Chair.

OK, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

So the vote has happened, the council members have spoken.

Did you did any of you panelists want to say anything before we close it out?

I just wanted to say, make comments on the fact that Luis Suarez and Nelson voted no.

It's just absolutely shameful, especially Luis painting himself as a labor council member.

We know from Shama, Council Member Sawant's example in this office, that the way that we build these movements, the way that we win these things is by putting that pressure on the Democrats, not waiting around, not hoping, crossing our fingers that they might pass some legislation at the state level.

Seattle has led the way in $15 an hour.

We led the way in the Amazon tax.

Council Member Sawant's office led the way with the ban on cast legislation.

And all of these things have had ripple effects across the country.

So if we pass this trigger law in Seattle, the potential to put that maximum pressure on Olympia is absolutely there.

And these excuses of kicking the can down the road is exactly what has kept us in this deadlock for 42 years with unaffordability across the state.

And so this is just absolutely heinous that they're making these ridiculous excuses.

I absolutely agree.

I think this is extremely, I mean disappointing isn't the right word.

It's infuriating.

But I really want to reiterate this is not the end.

This will still come to a vote before the full council and that's the only vote that is binding.

And there have been instances in the recent past where council members have voted no in committee and then under pressure you know, massive pressure from below, from their constituents calling them out publicly, showing up on the final vote.

That vote has changed.

I know Council Member Lewis initially voted against capping late fees at $10.

And then in the full council meeting, after he'd come under tremendous pressure from his constituents, he flipped and he voted yes.

So we can still win this, but only if we build pressure between now and when the final vote happens on the 1st.

So we all have our job to do.

I urge all of you to talk to your neighbors and to talk to communities within your community who may come from the Latine community, undocumented communities, Refugee communities who sometimes and many times do not come to these spaces because they are afraid, they have to work, they do not have babysitters, they do not have the language access to be here.

If you all could connect with your neighbors from those communities, and when you come back to give your public comment, I hope that you encourage you to include their realities and what they need.

for all of us to hear, because they are not represented here.

They are not here today, and a lot of their experiences are never seen or heard of, and they are the most affected, some of the most affected by rental increases.

Thank you.

Julissa's urging that we talk to our co-workers, neighbors, family members, friends, just the countless people who are hurting from the skyrocketing rents.

They need to show up.

Their voices are not heard often or never, and Julissa is absolutely right about that.

And so we need to fight for it.

And you heard, we're going to have the, the bill come up for a vote either on August 1st or on August 8th.

So we will let you all know.

Make sure you're signed up so that you can be in touch with my office so that we can let you know which day it is, but we absolutely need hundreds to show up.

Otherwise, we're not going to win.

And I also thought Cailin made an important point that movements can move mountains.

And even these Democrats who, with all these kinds of excuses, say they are going to vote no, the full council vote still is, you know, That still needs to happen.

Let's make sure we...

let's make them rue their words and let's force them to vote yes.

Or if they're voting no, then let's make it very, very clear where they stand.

Let's make sure that the tens of thousands of people in this city understand that these Democrats who are voting no are not on their side.

And I'm just, I'm really sorry if you call yourself a labor Democrat and you vote against this, Council Member Lewis, I don't think you get to call yourself a representative of labor.

I hope Council Member Lewis, I'm making a personal appeal to you as a council member and as elected representative of working people and as myself.

I'm not a Democrat.

I'm proudly not a Democrat, but I am a representative of both union and non-union workers in our city, and I urge you to vote yes in the full city council.

But if you vote no, then no, you don't represent labor, and you certainly don't represent non-union workers who are worse off than unionized workers.

So I urge you all to join us, you know, working people, renters, to join us in big numbers, and we will fight as hard as we can, but I'll end on this note that it is precisely because of the spectacle that we have seen today that I don't, myself, and Socialist Alternative, my organization, we don't, we are not part of the Democratic Party.

We are calling for an independent, new independent party for working people because we see the Democratic Party betray us again and again and again.

And, of course, the Republicans are blatantly not on our side.

They are the right wing.

So that is what's important to remember, and that is why Workers Strike Back, the new movement that we have launched, is also calling for a new party for working people.

I hope to see you all either on the 1st or the 8th in much bigger numbers.

You're going to be there?

What do we need?

When do we need it?

What do we need?

Brand control.

When do we need it?

Now.

Well, there it is.

Let's keep fighting.

Meeting adjourned.

Thank you all.