2019 Seattle City Council Housing and Homelessness Voters Guide
To help Seattle voters understand their choices in the upcoming City Council election, Tech 4 Housing has partnered with Resolution to End Homelessness, Seattle University’s Project on Family Homelessness, Housing Development Consortium and Solid Ground on a 2019 voter education project.
This online Voters Guide on Housing and Homelessness is based on responses to a candidate questionnaire sent to all 14 candidates. We’re pleased that 13 of 14 candidates are expected to participate in this Voters Guide. See more of our methodology here.
Many thanks to the candidates who participated, and to the voters who consider housing and homelessness a primary issue in this campaign.
Note: Because we are 501(c)(3) organizations, we are providing this information for educational purposes only and are not making endorsements. We do not endorse nor oppose any candidate.
King County Elections will mail ballots to everyone mid-October. You can return your ballot by mail (no stamp required) or at a drop box, by Tuesday, Nov. 5.
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District 1 | District 2 | District 3 | District 4 | District 5 | District 6 | District 7
District 2
Mark Solomon
Download complete candidate response as submitted.
Question 1. Beyond making current programs more efficient, do you think we need to increase funding for housing for people experiencing homelessness? If so, where would you raise the revenue?
We need to account for money we are already spending before looking for additional revenue. If we do need to raise revenue, I think we should explore bonding on sales tax, the creation of a public bank, and public/private partnerships for additional funding and resources.
Question 2. What are your thoughts on the City's current implementation of encampment removals? In what ways would you improve the policies?
Unauthorized encampments are a huge concern for my District, especially for the residents and businesses of Georgetown and SODO. While visiting unauthorized encampments, I’ve seen the conditions in which our unsheltered neighbors live. There are health and safety hazards that no one should be forced to endure; leaving anyone in such circumstances is inhumane.
Seattle must provide alternatives to those in encampments including more temporary low-to-moderate barrier shelters, increased investment in long-term supportive housing, and funding for effective case management and wrap-around services. Yet, the City can’t do it alone; we need partners—other cities, the County, the State and the Feds to partner with us. Faith-based communities, non-profits and corporate partners must participate. Sheltered neighbors must come to the table to work with the unsheltered. We must work to reduce the number of unsheltered neighbors by addressing underlying needs and moving them towards stable, safe and supportive housing.
Question 3. The City and State have introduced several new tenant protections in recent years. Do you think more work is needed to protect tenants and combat displacement? If so, what changes would you like to see?
Seattle has very strong tenant protection laws thanks in part to bills passed by city council to provide protections for vulnerable renters as well as state legislation requiring more advanced notice for evictions. I would like to see attention focused on housing affordability, a primary cause of displacement in my district. Rental costs in some neighborhoods are so high that many are forced to move out of the city altogether. I support efforts such as the Mandatory Housing Affordability Plan and the Multifamily Tax Exemption and will work to ensure these efforts not only continue but are enhanced. We must invest in mechanisms to keep people in their homes and build enough affordable housing units to allow people to be able to live in this city without exceeding 35% of gross annual income.
Question 4. Homelessness and housing insecurity disproportionately affect people of color, LGBTQ communities, people with disabilities and other marginalized communities. What would you do to address these disparities?
Homeless and housing insecurity are equity issues. We must focus first on preventing homelessness in the first place, ensuring equal access to quality education and opportunity pipelines to high paying jobs for people of all races, abilities, orientations, and backgrounds.
Beyond prevention, the city needs to partner with organizations already working to support these vulnerable populations. In my experience on the board of YouthCare, I have seen great success when we meet youth where they are at, get them safe, and provide them with the wraparound services and long-term shelter they need. I would focus my efforts on fully funding organizations already doing this work well.
Question 5. How would you adjust Seattle's land use and zoning laws? In particular, what changes, if any, would you want to see in neighborhoods currently zoned exclusively for single-family housing and in multi-family neighborhoods where we're making significant investments in transit?
I support increasing density and allowing more housing types—triplexes, rowhomes, townhomes, and ADUs—in neighborhoods currently zoned for single-family homes. That being said, I think I new development should complement the neighborhood it is in and I don’t think single-family zoning should be eliminated altogether. Urban villages and transit-oriented housing development make the most sense as they put people closest to the neighborhood services and transit opportunities they need to walk more, drive less, and build a more sustainable Seattle.
Question 6. We know that it is cheaper to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place than it is to support them to exit homelessness. What is your vision for homelessness prevention initiatives and services in our community?
I think we need to take a multifaceted approach to the prevention of homelessness. First, we need to keep people in their homes by supporting existing efforts such as the Mandatory Housing Affordability Plan, the Multifamily Tax Exemption, homeownership assistance through the City’s Office of Housing and community-based efforts through organizations such as Southeast Effective Development (SEED) and HomeSight as well as tax reduction/exemption and tax deferral programs offered by King County for our seniors and disabled neighbors. Secondly, we need to invest in effective case management so those who are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders can be connected to quality healthcare and on-demand treatment. Finally, the root causes of economic inequity must be addressed to ensure access to quality education for all children across our city and we should explore partnerships with businesses to establish pipelines to high-value employment for our young people.
Tammy Morales
Download complete candidate response as submitted. Some answers truncated here for being over 150 word limit.
Question 1. Beyond making current programs more efficient, do you think we need to increase funding for housing for people experiencing homelessness? If so, where would you raise the revenue?
Yes. I believe that we are undeserving and underfunding our current approach for people experiencing homelessness. The McKinsey report from last year demonstrated that succinctly—we need to double our current investment and expand low-income and affordable housing. Our immediate response should be to address the root issues of the chronically homeless at the point of contact. I’m advocating for expanding LEAD while providing safe lots and shelters. We must also increase resources for permanent supportive housing. We can pay for it by redirecting funds away from Navigation teams, by reintroducing the head tax, and by pushing for progressive revenue options that don’t burden fixed income or low-income households.
Question 2. What are your thoughts on the City's current implementation of encampment removals? In what ways would you improve the policies?
Navigation teams are not referring people to services. Instead, the notice periods have been continually reduced—sometimes to 30 minutes—and people are being moved with no real place to go. This is a human rights issue and a waste of funds. We should be providing monitored safe lots with hygiene services and waste removal along with funding shelter expansions while we build more permanent supportive housing, low-income housing, and affordable housing. At the same time, we ought to expand and fully fund LEAD so that we’re beginning to address the root causes and offer folks needed support to stabilize their situation.
Question 3. The City and State have introduced several new tenant protections in recent years. Do you think more work is needed to protect tenants and combat displacement? If so, what changes would you like to see?
As long as housing remains a scant commodity, we need to be shoring up tenant protections and combating displacement. Here’s an example of how protections have to evolve: recently, we’ve been seeing reports of property managers forcing technological upgrades on tenants without their consent. Such upgrades would monitor their comings and goings through digital locks, their electricity consumption, among other surveillance that is outside of the tenant’s control. The work is never over. While extending notice periods for eviction and rate increases is an important step, we have to focus on the displacement of existing residents as our population keeps soaring. It is critical that the vibrant and diverse communities of our city can rely on their existing support systems in the neighborhoods they’ve built. I’d like to invest in community land trusts, to pass legislation that would allow for a right of first return after property redevelopment, and to…
Question 4. Homelessness and housing insecurity disproportionately affect people of color, LGBTQ communities, people with disabilities and other marginalized communities. What would you do to address these disparities?
I am acutely aware of how lack of housing affects people of color and marginalized communities. The historical and sinister efforts of redlining have prevented our communities from building wealth and padlocked success around racial lines. For LGBTQ and the differently-abled, their lack of familial and societal support have led to disproportionate representation among people experiencing homelessness—and for the nonbinary and trans communities, the lack of gender education has led to housing providers turning folks away because of fear-based and ignorant gender presumptions. Each issue has to be examined within the context of their root causes, but it’s important to consider the holistic and intersectional aspects of their inequities. I want to address these disparities by centering their perspectives in our work—from expanding the advisory role of community-based commissions through the office of civil rights, to building wealth by expanding access to housing and support services, my goal…
Question 5. How would you adjust Seattle's land use and zoning laws? In particular, what changes, if any, would you want to see in neighborhoods currently zoned exclusively for single-family housing and in multi-family neighborhoods where we're making significant investments in transit?
Our city needs to build-in density that does not come at the cost of displacement. For SF5000 lots and neighborhoods, we can zone for missing middle housing like townhomes and triplexes that ensure there are affordable options for every income tier. We should allow for the construction of ADUs and DADUs that can help bring in revenue for property owners and expand rental options. As far as adding density near transit, one of the problems with MHA was that it led to speculative investment and kept property out of reach for community groups. I will advocate for transit oriented development and buildings that reserve at least 20% of units for affordable housing with a community preference rule.
Question 6. We know that it is cheaper to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place than it is to support them to exit homelessness. What is your vision for homelessness prevention initiatives and services in our community?
My vision for preventing homelessness is to address the systems that put people in positions of housing insecurity. As our median income continues to rise and we continue to have a housing stock shortage, we have to greatly expand the support needed for folks to maintain their place of residence. From tenant protections, to capital infrastructure and permitting process, all the way to economic development and job creation, we have many leaks in the pipeline that leads to folks falling through the cracks without a social safety net. We have the tools to prevent this- by supporting small businesses, low or no interest short term loans to cover rent through a municipal bank, by mandating health insurance coverage and benefits, lobbying to expand unemployment benefits. Ultimately, I’d like to move towards a right to shelter so that nobody who has fallen on hard times will be without a bed and…