by Guy Oron
(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
Despite years of criticism and successive legislative efforts by the Seattle City Council, the City of Seattle has proceeded on its policy of sweeps unabated.
Continue reading Seeing Sweeps in a New Way: Data Visualization Invites Analysis of Seattle’s Housing Crises Responsesby Erica C. Barnett
(This article originally appeared on PubliCola and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
The Washington State Court of Appeals denied the Compassion Seattle campaign’s appeal of a lower-court ruling striking down their proposed Seattle charter amendment on homelessness this morning, and the measure will not appear on the November ballot.
In its ruling, the appeals court did not give any specific reason for denying the campaign’s appeal, which it filed on Tuesday after strongly suggesting it would not do so following last week’s King County Superior Court ruling. Knoll Lowney, an attorney for a coalition of groups opposing the measure, told PubliCola this week that he expected to prevail, in part because Compassion Seattle “appealed without coming up with any appellate arguments.” Instead, the campaign’s appeal relied on the same arguments it made in its initial response to the lawsuit against the initiative.
Continue reading ‘Compassion Seattle’ Charter Amendment Won’t Appear On November Ballotby Elizabeth Turnbull
In roughly three weeks, community organizers transformed a bare lot in Skyway into a new village filled with tiny homes and amenities for people living without houses — creating a path for residents to ultimately transition to permanent housing.
“We are our brother’s keeper, we are our sister’s keeper, so this is what it’s about,” said Min. Kathy L. Taylor at a press event for the village, held Tuesday, June 9. “All of us at some time need some help, so this is a transition for folks that may have had a setback so that they can come here and have a strong comeback as they transition into permanent housing.”
Continue reading Tiny House Village to Open in Skywayby Hannah Krieg
Tenants rights counselor Julissa Sanchez read from her phone at the Cancel the Rent Rally at Othello Park on the afternoon of Saturday, June 5 . She said it would be easier to read without her sunglasses on, because if she took them off, the crowd of a few dozen would see her smeared makeup. Sanchez had been crying.
“The eviction moratorium is great — it has prevented unjust evictions …” Sanchez said. “… but it definitely did not prevent the thousands of thousands of dollars of rental debt that our people are in.”
Continue reading Activists Gather at Othello Park to Call for Cancelling Rent, Continuing Moratoriumby Leo Brine
(This article originally appeared on PubliCola and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
As the legislative session in Olympia ended this week, Democratic lawmakers celebrated the list of historic, progressive bills they passed, such as a capital gains tax, a new clean fuels standard, and police reform.
But as usual, legislators’ attempt to increase access to affordable housing by changing outdated zoning rules ended in disappointment.
Continue reading House Democrats Gut Pro-Renter Backyard Cottage Bill
