The Seattle Renters Commission (SRC) accused Mayor Bruce Harrell and the Seattle City Council of “ongoing neglect” that not only “hampers” the commission’s work but “insults” the communities they aim to serve. For eight months, Harrell has failed to release $50,000 in funds to convene a new tenant workgroup, and the Housing and Human Services Committee has failed to appoint members to the commission, according to two public letters from SCR. The mayor and the council have not responded to their letters.
SRC Co-chair Lydia Felty said officials need to communicate any good reason for the delays, or else they leave renters to wonder why the City would disempower tenant advocacy in City Hall while the council eyes rollbacks to renter protections.
The SRC provides information, advice, and counsel to various City departments, monitors the enforcement and effectiveness of tenant laws, and advances policy proposals.
“It's really hard to feel like the city council or the mayor view our commission as anything more than performative,” Felty said in a phone interview. “They can show us off in concept but deprive us of our needs and make us powerless to actually advocate for renters. Renters deserve a strong voice in City Hall now more than ever.”
Harrell and Human Services Committee Chair Cathy Moore did not respond to my request for comment.
Spare Some Change, Sir?
The SRC sent the Mayor a letter on June 5 to express their “frustration and concerns” about the delays to a new tenant workgroup promised during budget negotiations last fall. He has not responded, according to SRC.
Last year, Council Member Tammy Morales and former Council Member Teresa Mosqueda passed an amendment to allocate $50,000 to the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections (SDCI) to convene a workgroup that would help establish a new office dedicated to enforcing current tenant laws and establishing new ones, according to the text of the amendment. The workgroup would consist of three renters appointed by the SRC, two eviction defense attorneys, and two tenant organizers.
According to the SRC letter, the commission started the process of appointing the three renters to the workgroup in February, but the commission’s Department of Neighborhoods (DON) liaison told them to pause the appointment process until they “get a greenlight from the Mayor's Office or City Budget Office” (CBO). That greenlight never came. The lack of action, the commission wrote in June, is unacceptable.
“As unpaid volunteers committed to serving the best interests of Seattle renters, we refuse to accept a mere symbolic role as a commission in name only, devoid of the power to effect real change,” SRC wrote. “This delay has not only impeded our ability to fulfill our responsibilities, it’s a disregard for the democratic process.”
The City appears to be tightening its purse strings in anticipation of a tough round of budget negotiations where the mayor and the council must eliminate a quarter-billion-dollar budget shortfall. Felty said no City official has raised the deficit as a reason to delay the $50,000, but advocates have accused Harrell and the council of skimming off programs, particularly those supported by progressives, to balance their budget without imposing new taxes on the corporate interests that bankrolled their campaigns.
The Mayor’s Office, CBO, SDCI and DON did not respond to my request for comment.
Pick Up the Pace, Moore
In an August 5 letter, SRC demanded immediate action from Council Member Cathy Moore’s Housing and Human Services Committee to address the “long-overdue” appointments to their commission. Moore has not responded to the letter, according to SRC.
SRC is supposed to have 15 members, but right now they only have five. They have approved five additional members but need Moore to put the appointments on her committee agenda.
With just five members, the SRC has a quorum of three, so if three members talk to each other without calling an official meeting with 24 hours notice, they could be in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. That hinders the commission's ability to tend to its duties.
Moore seems more friendly with landlords, as she invited them to air their grievances in a committee meeting last month. And, not to be petty, but the committee used to have “Renter’s Rights” in the title before the new council took over.
Landlord whine sesh in City Hall tomorrow at 930 btw pic.twitter.com/voyMrbOy3N
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) July 9, 2024
SRC also expressed concern that the delayed appointments have excluded Black people from the commission. SRC emphasized the importance of hearing the perspective from Black commissioners given Seattle’s history of redlining, gentrification, and displacement of historically Black neighborhoods.
“The Council’s lack of engagement shows a misguided view that the SRC is a formality that can be ignored, rather than a valuable collaborator in addressing these critical issues for our community,” SRC wrote. “This dismissive stance is detrimental to the effective governance of our city.”
If the City does not respond to SRC, Felty said the commission will get “louder and harder to ignore.”