Monday night, we delivered a coalition letter and a petition signed by hundreds of Burien residents, workers, and community leaders to the Burien City Council, urging them to raise the minimum wage to match neighboring cities like SeaTac, Tukwila, and Seattle. The public comment period was packed with testimony about why passing this legislation is urgent. Here’s what Olivia had to say:

“I’m 19 and I’ve lived in Burien for about ten years. I graduated from a local high school and I’m currently a fast food employee. I’m lucky enough that I’m able to stay with my mom and help out when I can but currently I can only pay a quarter of the $2,000 we pay for rent. I help with groceries and gas, and even with two sources of income we’re having trouble trying to make ends meet. We make too little to go on trips or visit family, but we make too much to apply for certain financial aids for college. I’m having to look for work outside of Burien just so I can help out more in my household. Please see the need that Burien workers are sharing with you and raise the wage!”

Supporters shared stories about how hard it is to miss your children’s school functions because you have to work multiple jobs to pay the bills. About how low wages force families to move, impacting their kids’ well-being and education. About how raising the minimum wage will level the playing field for employers who want to do the right thing.

Let’s make Burien the fourth city in King County to raise the wage! Now we’re waiting for the council to put this topic on the agenda & direct staff to start drawing up legislation — stay tuned for next steps, sign and share our petition with anyone you know who lives or works in Burien!

It’s time to celebrate our first big victories of 2023! Yesterday, Seattle took a major leap toward reining in the punitive fees that more and more renters, especially those with corporate landlords, are facing in this housing market:

With a 7-2 vote, the city council passed legislation that bans Notice Delivery Fees. These arbitrary charges, often as much as $50 or $75, are tacked on whenever a landlord pins a notice to a tenant’s door. Read more about the problem of rental “junk fees” here.

And…. Drumroll… after plenty of contentious debate, Seattle joined the South King County cities of Auburn and Burien and capped late fees at $10 per month, one of the strongest standards in the nation!

But there’s more. Last week in SeaTac, after months of deliberation, with much testimony & pressure from renters and community members, the SeaTac City Council took a final vote on new protections for renters! Here’s what they passed:

• 120 days notice for rent increases greater than 3%
• 180 days notice for rent increases greater than 10%
• Move in fees are limited to the equivalent of one month’s rent, payable in installments
• Late fees are limited to 2 percent of the monthly rent
• Limits around requiring social security numbers
• Renters on a fixed income can adjust the rent due date
• Stronger protections from eviction without just cause
• Rent cannot be increased on uninhabitable rental units

These new protections for SeaTac renters will go into effect in mid-May.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make these victories possible! TRU and the Stay Housed Stay Healthy Coalition are proud to have championed this legislation in Seattle and SeaTac. Join us as we continue the fight for stronger renter protections and stable, affordable housing across King County!

It’s been a big year for TRU! Here’s some of what we accomplished.

We raised Tukwila’s minimum wage to $19 an hour!

Late last year, we began laying foundations for a workers’ rights campaign in south King County. We surveyed nearly a hundred workers at and around Tukwila’s Westfield Southcenter Mall, one of the largest retail shopping centers in Washington state. Through conversations with workers, local immigrant-owned businesses, and organizations rooted in Tukwila’s diverse communities, we decided to take on an ambitious campaign to raise Tukwila’s minimum wage to match the higher minimum wages in neighboring SeaTac and Seattle.

We built a broad community-labor coalition and mobilized our members and volunteers for a citywide door knocking operation, talking with Tukwila residents about their struggles and the need for higher wages, and gathering thousands of petition signatures to qualify for the November ballot. We did it! Tukwila voters passed our measure in a landslide, with over 82% voting yes. Tukwila’s minimum wage will rise to about $19 an hour in July 2023, more than a 30% raise from the 2022 statewide minimum wage of $14.49. Our measure also includes an “access to hours” policy that requires employers to offer available hours to existing part-time employees before new hiring, to prevent corporations from cutting workers’ hours to avoid having to provide benefits.

We’re now discussing how to continue organizing with Tukwila workers and residents next year to ensure the new law is enforced and to fight for further gains, and how to spread the movement to other cities across King County.

Organizing with renters for stronger tenant protections in King County

This year, TRU continued working with allies in the Stay Housed Stay Healthy coalition, which we helped to build in 2021. We organized with renters and fought for stronger tenant protections in cities across King County. This work is especially timely as median rents skyrocketed this year, in many cities rising 20-30% since before the pandemic. By door knocking at apartment buildings and mobilizing renters and allies to put pressure on elected officials, we’ve won crucial protections in five cities this year. Our work in the city of Kenmore was covered in The Seattle Times earlier this year. We plan to continue this vital work in more King County cities, including SeaTac and Tukwila, in 2023.

Continuing the Fight for Progressive Revenue

Washington state has long had the most regressive tax system in the country. After dramatic tax battles with Amazon and Seattle’s corporate class going back to 2017, in 2020 TRU played an instrumental role in winning a big business tax (“JumpStart Seattle”) targeting the tech sector, which raised over $250 million in its first year— revenue that helped Seattle weather the COVID-19 crash, is now funding affordable housing and other community priorities, and will be key to sustaining basic services during the coming economic downturn and budget crisis. Last year we won a commitment from the city council to continue making our tax system more just, and this year the city laid foundations for a new Progressive Revenue Task Force!  TRU has a seat on this workgroup, which convened this fall and will continue its work through spring of 2023.

Sustaining Our Unsheltered Neighbors

The pandemic has been brutal for people experiencing homelessness. This year, TRU’s camp outreach project has turned tens of thousands of dollars into food, propane, batteries, water and other basic necessities for our neighbors surviving outside. This project is powered by TRU members’ volunteer labor, cooking meals and visiting camps every weekend, and funded entirely by individual donations from TRU members and supporters.

House Our Neighbors Coalition & Initiative 135 for Social Housing 

TRU is part of the House Our Neighbors coalition, which collected signatures this year for a Seattle Social Housing initiative and qualified for the ballot! Next February, Seattle voters will decide whether to create a Public Development Authority to build affordable mixed-income housing on the model of Vienna and other cities worldwide with large non-market public housing sectors.

Organizing for a Solidarity Budget

TRU is a proud member of the Seattle Solidarity Budget coalition, which grew out of the 2020 uprisings in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. This year the coalition’s priorities included fighting for living wages for human services workers, opposing police-based responses to the homelessness crisis, transportation investments to end deaths and injuries due to vehicle traffic, massively increasing the pace of affordable housing construction, and fully funding Seattle’s Green New Deal.

Defeating an Amazon warehouse near the Mt. Baker Transit Center 

Last year, we learned that Amazon was scoping sites in Seattle for new warehouses, including two sites near a light rail and bus station in the historically Black and Asian neighborhood of Mt. Baker. As Consumer Reports recently showed, Amazon opens warehouses in low-income and Black, brown and immigrant communities, with disastrous effects on their health and safety. We helped to build and support a coalition opposing these plans. In July, when news broke of a planned rally, Amazon announced that it no longer intends to build warehouses in South Seattle! Now the coalition is pushing to get those sites dedicated to neighborhood-supported uses such as affordable housing to prevent Amazon from changing its mind in the future.

Let’s get out there and knock some doors! Sign up to volunteer.

The Transit Riders Union made the following endorsements at our September Membership Meeting. Ballots are mailed on October 19th. Remember to Vote by November 8th!

City of Tukwila Initiative Measure #1: Yes

King County Charter Amendment #1: Yes

Seattle Measure 1B (Rank Choice Voting): Yes

11th LD, Pos. 1: David Hackney

30th LD, Senate: Claire Wilson

34th LD, Senate: Joe Nguyen

34th LD, Pos. 1: Leah Griffin

36th LD, Senate: Noel Frame

36th LD, Pos. 1: Julia Reed

37th LD, Senate: Rebecca Saldaña

37th LD, Pos. 2: Emijah Smith

42nd LD, Senate: Sharon Shewmake

43rd LD, Pos. 1: Nicole Macri

43rd LD, Pos. 2: Frank Chopp

46th LD, Pos. 2: Darya Farivar

47th LD, Pos. 2: Shukri Olow

48th LD, Senate: Patty Kuderer

King County Prosecutor: Leesa Manion

Seattle Municipal Court Judge: Pooja Vaddadi

Tuesday evening, the Redmond City Council heard testimony from renters in crisis and members of the Stay Housed Stay Healthy coalition. They debated and finally voted 6-1 to pass these important protections:

• 120 days notice required for rent increases above 3%, 180 days for increases above 10%.
• Move in fees are capped at the equivalent of one month’s rent, payable in installments.
• Late fees are capped at 1.5% of monthly rent.
• Social security number cannot be required to apply for a rental home.
• Renters on a fixed income like social security can adjust their rent due date.

There’s much more we want them to do, but this is a really great start! Enormous rent increases and displacement are happening now all over King County, and these protections will help to mitigate the harm to Redmond families and communities.

What’s next for the Stay Housed Stay Healthy coalition? We are expecting the Kirkland City Council to vote on a similar set of protections on Wednesday, August 3rd. And we are expecting Kenmore (which already passed the above protections) to vote on a second ordinance next Monday, July 25th, including a local Just Cause Eviction law that applies to all lease types, closing some gaping loopholes in the statewide law.

TRU and the Stay Housed Stay Healthy coalition will continue working to pass strong permanent renter protections in cities all across King County!

Photo by Tri Pham

Over the past three months, we’ve been hard at work gathering signatures to win a living wage for Tukwila workers. As you may have seen in The Seattle Times, last week we learned that we submitted more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot!

Thank you so much to everyone who helped with this achievement: all the volunteers who knocked doors, entered data and made phone calls; our hard-working TRU organizers; allied groups that endorsed the campaign & gathered signatures; everyone who’s donated so far— and, of course, all the Tukwila residents who signed the petition and all the Tukwila workers who spoke up about why it’s time for higher wages. Together we will win on election day!!!

But… It’s going to be a fight. We expect to be far outspent by corporate interests that care way more about maximizing their profits than the well-being of their workers. They’ll try to scare Tukwila voters into rejecting a minimum wage increase— just like they tried to do when SeaTac and Seattle were fighting for the same thing. We need to run a super strong Get-Out-The-Vote campaign this fall to counter their misinformation, and for that we need to raise a lot more money than we have on hand right now. To help us off to a solid start, please consider making a donation of $10, $100 or $1000 now in honor of TRU’s 10th birthday!

The Transit Riders Union made the following endorsements at our June Membership Meeting. Remember to Vote by August 2nd, 2022!

11th LD, Pos. 1: David Hackney

30th LD, Senate: Claire Wilson

34th LD, Senate: Joe Nguyen

34th LD, Pos. 1: Leah Griffin

36th LD, Senate: Noel Frame

36th LD, Pos. 1: Julia Reed & Nicole Gomez

37th LD, Senate: Rebecca Saldana

37th LD, Pos. 2: Andrew Ashiofu

43rd LD, Pos. 1: Nicole Macri

43rd LD, Pos. 2: Frank Chopp

46th LD, Pos. 1: Hadeel Jeanne

46th LD, Pos. 2: Darya Farivar & Melissa Taylor

47th LD, Pos. 2: Shukri Olow

48th LD, Senate: Patty Kuderer

Congress WA-09: Stephanie Gallardo

Back in March, the University of Washington finally agreed to provide fully-subsidized, employer-paid transit passes to ALL its employees. This was the result of a multi-year pressure campaign that TRU was deeply involved in, bringing together UW workers, labor unions, community allies, and transit and environmental advocates. It took years of pressure, from the inside and the outside, to push the UW to fully adopt this common sense pro-climate, pro-worker policy. The new benefit goes into effect on July 1! Read about how we got here in The Stranger, and celebrate with us on June 30!

On Saturday, March 26, we launched a new campaign called Raise the Wage Tukwila! Tukwila is one of the largest job centers in the state, with thousands of low-wage retail and food service jobs at and around Southcenter Mall. The neighboring cities of SeaTac and Seattle have higher minimum wages of over $17, but in Tukwila many workers are still making the statewide minimum wage of $14.49. That’s just not enough.

We need to collect signatures of thousands of Tukwila voters before the end of June to qualify for the November ballot. Check out our campaign website and sign up to volunteer at RaiseTheWageTukwila.org, and read more in The Seattle Times and MyNorthwest. Together let’s Raise the Wage!

Kenmore Councilmember Corina Pfeil. Ellen M. Banner, The Seattle Times: click through to source article.

Rents aren’t just rising in Seattle, they’re going up fast all across King County. That’s a big problem. Where are low-income renters supposed to go?

TRU and our allies in the Stay Housed Stay Healthy coalition are rising to the challenge and organizing to pass stronger permanent renter protections in multiple King County cities. Earlier this month, the city of Kenmore took a huge step forward. Check out this great article in The Seattle Times that highlights our work.

On Valentine’s Day, council members heard testimony from Kenmore renters and members of Stay Housed Stay Healthy, and devoted hours to discussing a long list of possible protections. They agreed to move forward with a number of them, including requiring longer notice of significant rent increases and capping move-in fees and late fees. Others they decided to study further. We expect a first piece of legislation to be passed later this month, and hopefully a second later in the spring. The Seattle Times article features stories from Kenmore renters and also one of the champions of our legislation, Councilmember Corina Pfeil:

“Several years ago, homelessness knocked on Corina Pfeil’s door. When her landlord raised her rent $300, Pfeil couldn’t pay, nor could she quickly find a cheaper place in Kenmore, where she’d lived for three decades.

‘I thought I was going to end up in a shelter,’ possibly separated from her older son, who was 18 and who has autism, she recalled.

That didn’t happen, thanks to a last-minute negotiation. But the upsetting incident stayed with Pfeil, who now serves on the Kenmore City Council and is pushing to pass a batch of new tenant protections. She still rents, in a sprawling complex tucked behind pine trees.

‘We have to be willing to take a hard look at the inequities in our community,” she said. “We’re a community with haves and have-nots.‘”

TRU and Stay Housed Stay Healthy will be working over the next few months to pass strong legislation in Kenmore, which will help to propel forward our work in other cities later this year.

Organizing to Protect Renters

The COVID-19 pandemic left many thousands of King County households unable to pay rent and at risk of eviction. This year, TRU stepped up to build and lead a countywide coalition called Stay Housed Stay Healthy. We fought for emergency protections to keep renters in their homes, and for stronger permanent protections to shift the balance of power between renters and landlords for good. We organized with renters and successfully passed powerful legislation in jurisdictions around King County:

Emergency Renter Protections

• • Kenmore: Enacted a local eviction moratorium from July 1, 2021 through Jan. 15, 2022. Created a legal defense to prevent future evictions due to rental debt accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Burien: Enacted a local eviction moratorium from July 1, 2021 through Jan. 15, 2022.
  • Kirkland: Enacted a local eviction moratorium from July 1 through Sept. 30, 2021.
  • Seattle: Extended a local eviction moratorium through Jan. 15, 2022. Created a legal defense to prevent future evictions due to rental debt accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Permanent Renter Protections

Seattle: Closed the “lease loophole” in Seattle’s Just Cause Eviction Ordinance, ensuring that ALL renters are protected from arbitrary & unjust evictions. Supported legislation requiring six-months notice of rent increases and landlord-paid relocation assistance if a tenant has to move after a rent increase of 10% or more.

King County Council: Won a pathbreaking package of renter protections for unincorporated areas of the county like Skyway and White Center, including:

• ALL renters are protected from eviction or lease termination without a “just cause.”
• Move-in fees are capped at 1-month rent and renters can pay in installments.
• Late fees are capped at 1.5% of monthly rent.
• For rent increases greater than 3%, landlords must give 120 days notice.
• Renters on fixed incomes can change their rent due date.
• You don’t need a Social Security Number to apply for a rental home.

This legislation creates a high standard we’ll work to match in cities around King County in 2022.

Unmasking False Compassion 

TRU, together with the ACLU of Washington and the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, brought a successful lawsuit to knock the “Compassion Seattle” initiative off the ballot. In addition to being illegal and misleading, this measure was far from a good faith effort to address the homelessness crisis. Instead, it was a cynical unfunded mandate backed by big business interests that don’t want to pay their taxes. TRU also joined the House Our Neighbors coalition to put forward real solutions: housing, shelter & services at scale.

Taking on Big Tech

Amazon has accumulated enormous power over our economy and our lives. But what is a monopoly? What are its dangers and how are we impacted as residents, consumers and workers? And what can we do about it? TRU co-hosted a teach-in with Puget Sound Sage, with special guests from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office Antitrust Division, to dig into these timely questions.

State Legislative Wins

The remote legislative session allowed TRU’s members and supporters to participate as never before. We set up many virtual meetings with individual legislators, testified at hearings, signed in “PRO” or “CON” on bills, sent emails and made phone calls. Working with allies, TRU’s pressure helped to win big victories like renter protections, criminal-legal system reform, the HEAL Act, Working Families Tax Credit and a capital gains tax. 

Organizing for a Solidarity Budget

TRU is a core member of the Solidarity Budget coalition, fighting for a vision of an equitable city where all of us can thrive. Thanks to this powerful coalition work, Seattle is the only city in the U.S. to shrink its policing budget two years running. Our pressure helped to restore the JumpStart Seattle corporate tax revenue to its intended purposes, including major ongoing investments in new affordable housing and equitable development. With the MASS coalition, we expanded investments in safe streets for walking, biking and rolling. And more! 

Sustaining Our Unsheltered Neighbors 

The pandemic has been especially hard on homeless people, and homeless deaths are near a record high. This year, TRU’s camp outreach project turned over $50,000 into food, propane, batteries, water and other basic necessities for our neighbors sleeping outside. This project is powered by TRU members’ volunteer labor, cooking meals and visiting camps every weekend, and funded entirely by individual donations from TRU members and supporters.

ORCA Passes for Afghan Refugees 

When refugee families began arriving in the Seattle area from Afghanistan this fall, TRU stepped up. We raised over $2,500 from individual donations from our members and supporters, and used these funds to purchase loaded adult and youth ORCA passes for the Muslim Community Resource Center to give to refugees in need of transportation in their new home.

TRU is conducting a project in order to better understand the issues affecting Tukwila workers and residents. Do you live or work in Tukwila, or have friends or family who do? Invite them to take our 5-minute survey:

For Tukwila workers: bit.ly/tukwila-jobs

For Tukwila residents: bit.ly/tukwila-resident

Here is who we recommend voting for in the 2021 General Election:

King County

• Executive – Joe Nguyen
• District 3 – Sarah Perry
• District 5 – Shukri Olow

Seattle

• Mayor – Lorena González
• Position 8 – Teresa Mosqueda
• Position 9 – Nikkita Oliver
• City Attorney – Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

Port of Seattle

• Position 1 – Ryan Calkins
• Position 3 – Hamdi Mohamed
• Position 5 – Toshiko Grace Hasegawa

Bellevue

• Position 4 – Ruth Lipscomb

Bothell

• Position 1 – Han Tran

Burien

• Position 1 – Hugo Garcia
• Position 5 – Sarah Moore
• Position 7 – Krystal Marx

Kenmore

• Position 4 – Nigel Herbig

Kent

• Mayor – Dawn Bennett
• Position 2 – Satwinder Kaur
• Position 4 – Cliff Cawthon
• Position 6 – Brenda Fincher

Kirkland

• Kirkland City Council Position 5 – Neal Black

Issaquah

• Position 3 – Barbara de Michele

Renton

• Position 1 – Joe Todd
• Position 2 – Carmen Rivera

Tukwila

• Position 1 – Tosh Sharp

Federal Way

• Position 4 – Katherine Festa

Lake Forest Park

• Position 3 – Stephanie Angelis

SeaTac

• Position 2 – Jake Simpson
• Position 4 – Mohamed Egal
• Position 6 – Iris Guzmán

Port of Edmonds

• Commissioner-at-Large Position 5 – Scott Marshall

On Tuesday afternoon, after hours of public comment & debate, the King County Council voted 6-3 to pass a pathbreaking package of renter protections, including:

• ALL renters are protected from eviction or lease termination without a “just cause.”
• Move-in fees are capped at 1-month rent & renters can pay in installments.
• Late fees are capped at 1.5% of monthly rent.
• For rent increases greater than 3%, landlords must give 120 days notice.
• Renters on fixed incomes can change their rent due date.
• You don’t need a Social Security Number to apply for a rental home.

This legislation will protect renters in unincorporated areas of King County like Skyway and White Center, home to historically underserved Black and brown and low-income communities. It also creates a high standard that we can now work to match in cities around the county! Read more in The Stranger and The Seattle Times.

This major victory wouldn’t have been possible without sustained pressure from the Stay Housed Stay Healthy coalition & from all the TRU members and allies who sent emails, made phone calls, testified at council meetings and amplified our message on social media. THANK YOU!!! Together we make progress!!!

Our Stay Housed Stay Healthy campaign for stronger renter protections is rocking it! With energetic pressure and support from renters, TRU members and so many allies in this powerful county-wide coalition, elected officials have approved a suite of renter protections this month:

June 7: Seattle City Council passed legislation closing the “lease loophole” in Seattle’s Just Cause Eviction Ordinance; creating a defense to eviction for COVID rental debt; and banning school year evictions of families and educators.

June 14: Kenmore City Council passed a local moratorium on evictions and rent increases through Sept. 30; a defense to eviction for COVID rental debt and for renters with rental assistance applications in progress; and a requirement that landlords certify that they have applied for rental assistance before initiating an eviction.

June 15: Kirkland City Council passed a local moratorium on evictions through Sept. 30.

June 18: Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan extended Seattle’s moratorium on evictions and rent increases through Sept. 30.

June 21: Burien City Council passed a local moratorium on evictions through Sept. 30.

And we’re not done yet! Stay tuned for news of King County Council’s permanent renter protections package, up for a vote on Tuesday, June 29.

At TRU’s membership meeting last week, we debated and voted on endorsements for the 2021 Primary Elections, considering races throughout King County. (Not every candidate we endorsed will appear on the primary ballot; in races where there are only two candidates, there is no vote until November.) Here is who we recommend:

King County

• Executive – Joe Nguyen
• District 3 – Sarah Perry
• District 5 – Shukri Olow
• District 7 – Saudia J. Abdullah
• District 9 – Ubax Gardheere

Seattle

• Position 8 – Teresa Mosqueda
• Position 9 – Nikkita Oliver
• Mayor – Andrew Grant Houston
• City Attorney – Nicole Thomas-Kennedy

Port of Seattle

• Position 1 – Ryan Calkins
• Position 3 – Hamdi Mohamed
• Position 5 – Toshiko Grace Hasegawa

Bothell

• Bothell City Council Position 1 – Han Tran

Burien

• Position 1 – Hugo Garcia
• Position 7 – Krystal Marx

Kenmore

• Position 4 – Nigel Herbig

Kent

• Mayor – Dawn Bennett
• Position 2 – Satwinder Kaur
• Position 4 – Cliff Cawthon
• Position 6 – Brenda Fincher

Kirkland

• Kirkland City Council Position 5 – Neal Black

Issaquah

• Position 3 – Barbara de Michele

Renton

• Position 1 – Joe Todd
• Position 2 – Carmen Rivera

Tukwila

• Position 1 – Tosh Sharp

Federal Way

• Position 4 – Katherine Festa

Lake Forest Park

• Position 3 – Stephanie Angelis

SeaTac

• Position 2 – Jake Simpson
• Position 4 – Mohamed Egal
• Position 6 – Iris Guzmán

Port of Edmonds

• Commissioner-at-Large Position 5 – Scott Marshall

Yesterday, TRU joined with Real Change, Nickelsville and Be:Seattle to file a petition challenging the ballot title for the “Compassion Seattle” campaign’s proposed amendment to the city charter.

For our neighbors experiencing homelessness, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a crisis on top of a crisis. Indoor public spaces and public restrooms closed their doors. Many free meal programs and other services shut down. Shelters struggled to keep people distanced and safe from COVID. Meanwhile, there’s still a severe shortage of deeply affordable housing. And many homeless or housing insecure people lost jobs. So more people are sleeping outside. Not because they want to, but because there aren’t better options.

TRU members and friends have stepped up to do what we can and offer solidarity— our steadfast volunteer outreach team visits camps every week bringing home-cooked food, water, essential supplies and items people ask for. (You can donate here!)

We know the real solutions are systemic: First and foremost, deeply affordable housing. And until there’s enough housing, shelter that meets people’s needs, including keeping families and couples together, accommodating pets, having secure storage for people’s belongings, and offering both privacy and community. And whatever other services and supports people need— which also means paying human service workers a living wage.

There’s no mystery to ending homelessness. It requires acknowledging the scale of the crisis and coming up with the resources to truly address it, as multiple McKinsey reports have shown. We took a big step last year with the passage of Jumpstart Seattle, a pathbreaking tax on large corporations that, starting next year, will fund new affordable housing. The big business lobby groups hate the tax and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is suing the city to try to overturn it. What jerks.

This year, those same lobby groups teamed up with former Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess to launch “Compassion Seattle.” They’re tired of seeing the tents lining the downtown business district. This initiative began as an attempt to codify sweeps in the city charter, which is a foundational document, like the constitution of the city.

Their initial language was really, really bad. But they realized they weren’t going to get far without the legitimation of service providers and homelessness “experts.” So they allowed some service providers to have input, and after a number of revisions, the final language is much less bad than it was. Reading it, you might even think it sounds good: The initiative directs the city to create 2,000 units of “housing” (permanent or emergency) within a year, with services including mental health & drug treatment; and it says the city should keep public spaces clear but balance this with the harm done to people by clearing encampments. And now, the whole thing “sunsets” (expires) after six years.

But here’s one major catch: No new funding is identified for all this work. In fact, the campaign claims that none is needed. Last week in Crosscut, TRU’s general secretary Katie Wilson thoroughly debunked this ridiculous claim.

And here’s another catch: While the measure promises “housing,” creating permanent housing in one year is a tall order, so whatever the city does cobble together will likely be “emergency housing,” a.k.a shelter— and as the city scrambles to fulfill the mandate, it might even pull funds away from creating permanent housing.

The ballot title— what voters will read on their ballot in November, if the campaign gathers enough signatures— is extremely misleading, claiming that this measure will create housing and services and keep public space clear of encampments. We’re challenging this title because voters deserve to know the truth. Amending the city charter is not the right way to make policy, and it’s not going to solve our homelessness crisis.

What can begin to solve the crisis? Listening to homeless people, who are experts on their own situations. Supporting grassroots homeless organizations like WHEEL, SHARE and Nickelsville. Actually creating more housing! Addressing the deep underlying causes of the homelessness crisis, including a profit-driven housing market, systemic racism, and decades of neoliberal policies. Being honest about the scale of the homelessness crisis and serious about coming up with the resources needed to address it. And electing a new Mayor who will lead on these issues, rather than just sweep, sweep, sweep.

TRU will continue to push for real answers. And we’ll call out the fake ones. Join us!

Check out this recording of our launch event for the Stay Housed, Stay Healthy campaign which took place on Monday, March 29!

We’re fighting to ensure renters can be stable during and after the pandemic, so that our community doesn’t need to face a landslide of evictions after moratoriums are lifted. We’ll be pushing strong tenant protections including a Just Cause law through the King County Council, and to strengthen Seattle tenant protections as well. At the launch we heard from renters who are struggling with rental debt and the threat of eviction, and also from special guests King County Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay and Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Seattle City Councilmembers Tammy Morales and Kshama Sawant.

Seattle’s eviction moratorium expires March 31. If we let this happen, a mass wave of evictions could increase homelessness and contribute to a new spike in COVID-19. This week in Crosscut, TRU’s Katie Wilson wrote about why the city & state eviction moratoriums must be extended through the end of 2021. Read more here.

Rental assistance programs need time to work, and tenants need stability to get caught up on rent. Seattle’s moratorium also protects small businesses and nonprofits. Today, we sent a letter to Mayor Durkan signed by 47 organizations calling on her to extend the moratorium through the end of this year. Want to add your voice? Send Mayor Durkan an email here!