Seattle Forward

Two Cities, Two Children, Two Very Different Paths

The following article was sent out in my City View Newsletter, which you can sign up to receive here.

Ella is three months old, a firstborn child. She lives with her family in Seattle zip code 98118 in the Rainier Beach neighborhood in the city’s far southeast corner. Her mom and dad both work two jobs to make ends meet but still fight to rise above the poverty line. As new parents, they struggle with the challenges, wonder where they will find affordable, high-quality childcare to match their different shifts. Ella faces a mountain of obstacles as she begins her life.

Olivia is also three months old, also the firstborn in her little family. She lives in Seattle zip code 98117 in the Ballard neighborhood at the opposite northwest corner of the city. Olivia’s parents each have high paying jobs with flexible hours, leaving her at a private childcare center on her mom’s route to work. Olivia receives more support than she knows; she’s lucky to be living in Ballard.

Ella’s and Olivia’s zip codes are different by just one digit; their likely life trajectories are worlds apart.

Sadly, and to our long-term detriment, not every child born in Seattle receives the same opportunity for a strong

Youth Voice, Youth Choice Vote Week Starts Tomorrow

Last year the City launched a youth-focused participatory budgeting process, where Seattle youth will get to choose exactly how to spend $700,000 of City money. Youth delegates helped select 19 thoughtful proposals to be on the ballot, including funding for safe routes to schools, murals, job readiness workshops, or a youth-produced podcast on violence prevention.

Starting tomorrow, youth from the ages of 11 to 25 are able to vote for their favorite seven projects. Voting can be done in person at select locations or online. If you know a young person, encourage them to vote!

More details and a link to ballots are available here.

Full Council Arena Street Vacation Vote

The Full Council did not approve the conditional street vacation of Occidental Avenue South for the proposed arena project by a vote of 4-5 yesterday (Bagshaw, Herbold, Sawant, Juarez and González voting no; Harrell, O’Brien, Johnson and myself voting yes). This vote is a major disappointment for those who hope to bring an NBA team back to Seattle; at a minimum, the Council’s decision yesterday sets this effort back.

I voted in favor of the conditional street vacation both in committee and at the Full Council meeting yesterday. I explained my committee vote in this earlier post.

When determining my position, it was important to me that the street vacation would have been conditional on many factors. Most notably, the street would have been vacated only for the proposed arena project. It could not have been vacated for a large office complex, even though that use is permitted on the parcels on either side of Occidental Ave S. It also would have been conditioned on a detailed scheduling coordination agreement we asked the arena proponents and other major teams to work out together.

Per Council policy, the street vacation would have lasted for five years, but the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) approved in 2012 that commits partial public financing of this project expires in November, 2017. After the expiration of the MOU in late 2017, any arena construction would have needed to be completely privately financed. If an arena was not constructed by 2021, the opportunity for a street vacation would have expired.

My colleagues who voted the opposite way based their opposition on concerns about traffic impacts and the proposed arena’s effect on maritime jobs. While I respect my colleagues’ decision, I saw no convincing evidence to back up these claims. In fact, the city’s traffic engineers and the professional consultants the city hired assured us the traffic impacts could be mitigated.

Full Council To Vote on Housing Levy Today

This afternoon the Full Council will vote on an ordinance that would send a $290 million Housing Levy to voters for consideration on the August 2, 2016 Primary Election ballot. If approved, the seven-year Housing Levy will serve as the largest investment in affordable housing the City has ever made. The Housing Levy proposal focuses on increasing affordable housing production and preservation, supporting homelessness prevention, and fostering home ownership for low-income residents. 

Since 1981, Seattle has chosen to generously invest in affordable housing for our neighbors, with a particular emphasis on those most in need. This year, the Council and Mayor have thoroughly analyzed and crafted a package that will provide affordable housing for thousands of Seattle residents.

After receiving the Mayor’s draft proposal in March, Council made several amendments that would:

• Allow levy funds to provide a grant or low interest loan to an owner of existing multifamily housing to make building improvements in exchange for putting rent restrictions on a certain percentage of units in the building;
• Allow for up to $30 million of levy funds to be used as short-term loans for acquisition and preservation of existing affordable housing; and
• Dedicate an additional $1.75 million toward homelessness prevention and housing stability services using interest earnings generated from levy proceeds. 

The Council’s amendments work within the existing funds of the $290 million proposed levy submitted to the Council by the Mayor.