Newsletter | April 2, 2021 |
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IN THIS ISSUE
- Seattle charter amendment campaign announced to combat homelessness
- Regional Homelessness Authority picks its first leader
- Recall effort of council member Sawant can continue
- Retailers complete two weeks in Phase 3 of Covid recovery
- Discover a new COVID workplace safety training platform accessible anytime, anywhere
- Bellevue emerges as top competitor for Seattle business
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Seattle charter amendment campaign announced to combat homelessness
On Thursday, Compassion Seattle, an alliance of business, civic, and community leaders, announced a citizen initiative campaign to create housing and services for the city’s growing homeless population. According to GeekWire, the measure’s backers include:
The charter amendment initiative campaign must collect 33,060 signatures from registered Seattle voters to qualify for the November 2021 ballot. Petitions will be available soon. For more information, please visit www.compassionseattle.org.
At last count, an estimated 3,738 individuals live in unauthorized encampments and vehicles throughout the city.
Compassion Seattle’s charter amendment would require the city to:
- Provide an additional 2,000 units of emergency or permanent housing within one year.
- In conjunction with King County, to deploy a behavioral health rapid-response capability as an alternative, where appropriate, to a law enforcement response.
- To identify tiny houses, hotel-motel rooms, and other forms of non-congregate emergency and permanent housing to house individuals currently camping in city parks and living in vehicles.
- Ensure that “city parks, playgrounds, sports fields, public spaces and sidewalks and streets remain open and clear of encampments” once programs and services required by the amendment are identified and made available.
Retailers and other businesses downtown have been severely impacted by homelessness, mandated Covid-19 closures, and rising crime rates. Nearly 200 downtown businesses have permanently closed over the past year.
A new U.S. Housing and Urban Development report highlights Seattle’s homeless problem. It ranked Seattle and King County third among urban areas in the total number of people experiencing homelessness, behind New York City and Los Angeles. It also reported that the state’s 6.2% growth of homelessness between 2019 and 2020 (pre-pandemic) was the third highest in the nation behind California and Texas.
The Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) with about 700 corporate and nonprofit members – plus nearly 1,400 downtown residents – has been an outspoken advocate for additional action to address homelessness.
“DSA has been at the table with key stakeholders to help shape this much-needed action to address the crisis of chronic homelessness,” said Downtown Seattle Association President & CEO Jon Scholes. “This is the type of approach our members have long advocated for to ensure we can bring more people inside and provide the services they need."
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Regional Homelessness Authority picks its first leader
Ohio-based activist Marc Dones has accepted an offer to become the first CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. He is scheduled to start work on April 26.
The authority’s task includes bringing Seattle, King County, and suburban cities together in a cohesive strategy to address homelessness throughout the region. Disagreements among some of the region’s cities on how to address homelessness have delayed getting the authority started.
The Covid-19 pandemic also has delayed the CEO selection process. The authority’s first selection, a racial equity consultant from Atlanta, turned down the job offer. The Seattle Times reports that Dones was originally the runner-up for the job.
The Seattle Times also reports that Seattle leaders hope the authority can encourage suburban cities to play a bigger role in addressing homelessness by helping to fund shelters and by allowing more shelters and low-income housing for the chronically homeless.
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Recall effort of council member Sawant can continue
This week, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an effort to recall Socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant can move ahead. Sawant had appealed a lower court ruling that the recall effort met the requirements of state law.
The latest ruling could result in the recall election being placed on either the August primary ballot or November general election ballot. Supporters will have 180 days to gather more than 10,000 signatures from registered voters in Seattle Council District 3 to place the recall on the ballot.
Sawant represents Capitol Hill and part of the Central District. She was elected citywide in 2013 and elected to represent District 3 in 2015 and 2019. Sawant’s current term runs through 2023.
The Kshama Solidarity campaign has announced a Saturday rally on Capitol Hill to build support for Sawant’s anti-recall campaign.
The Supreme Court found that three charges against Sawant met the requirements of state law:
- that she allegedly used city resources to promote a “Tax Amazon” ballot initiative;
- that she allegedly allowed demonstrators entry into City Hall during a nighttime protest in June, despite City Hall being closed to the public due to Covid; and
- that she allegedly spoke at a protest in front of the home of Mayor Jenny Durkan, whose address is protected by a state confidentiality program due to her history as a federal prosecutor.
The Seattle Times reports that the state law governing the recall of elected officials requires the charges to represent “misfeasance, malfeasance or violation of the oath of office.”
Sawant views herself as a champion of working people and renters. She has been a frequent critic of her Council colleagues while gaining fame for leading the passage of Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law, as well as laws to protect the rights of renters.
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Retailers complete two weeks in Phase 3 of Covid recovery
Retailers throughout Washington State now have completed their second week of operation under Phase 3 of the statewide Covid-19 recovery plan.
This means that:
- Occupancy limits for in-store retail have increased from 25% to 50%
- Common seating areas and indoor dining, such as food courts, are open subject to the same requirements as restaurants, taverns, breweries, wineries, and distilleries.
There have been additional developments this week that could help struggling retailers recover from the pandemic.
- Governor Jay Inslee has announced that anyone age 16 and older will be eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine as of April 15. This is a significant expansion as earlier eligibility requirements focused vaccinations on older residents.
- Amazon, with some 60,000 Seattle-area employees, announced that those who have been working remotely the past year are expected to return to their downtown offices by fall of this year.
Downtown workers are critical to the survival of businesses that serve them. The Downtown Seattle Association reports that Covid-related business closures have played a major role in the loss of 200 businesses that have permanently closed. Remote work has greatly reduced the number of people working downtown, damaging the retailers and restaurants that depend on their business.
As more vaccine becomes available, Washington Retail has urged state health officials to make all frontline retail workers across the state eligible for vaccinations.
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Discover a new COVID workplace safety training platform accessible anytime, anywhere
Employer ALERT – Now that the state is beginning to open up with higher occupancy, join one of our April webinars to acquire a free tool to train new employees and keep your current employees vigilant about COVID safety best practices.
Target attendees – employers, safety coordinators, new employees or those that could use a refresher course.
4/7 – 10:00 A.M. 45 minutes in English presented by Rick Means, Retail Services Director of Safety and Education
4/15 – 12:00 Noon 45 minutes in Español presented by Marcos Wanless, President and Founder, Seattle Latino Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
4/28 - 10:00 A.M. 45 minutes in English presented by Rick Means, Retail Services Director of Safety and Education
4/29 - 6:00 P.M. 45 minutes in Español presented by Marcos Wanless, President and Founder, Seattle Latino Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
Select a date above to register soon!
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Bellevue emerges as top competitor for Seattle business
A Seattle Times piece by columnist Jon Talton outlines how Bellevue has become a competitor for Seattle businesses and future development projects.
Talton observes that Bellevue’s pro-business politics gives it a current advantage over Seattle, from which Amazon is transferring thousands of employees to move to Bellevue.
As Seattle struggles to address homelessness throughout the city, sidewalk camping is not tolerated in Bellevue, which has a far smaller homeless population than Seattle, Talton observes. Among the advantages Bellevue enjoys is a light rail connection to Seattle in two years and 50 major commercial and residential projects currently underway.
While acknowledging that Bellevue won’t become Seattle in the foreseeable future in population or as a port and trade center, Talton concludes that Seattle must reckon with Bellevue as a real competitor for business growth and development.
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WR is committed to the principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. We strive to create a safe, welcoming environment in which these principles can thrive.
We value all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, identity, sexual orientation, nationality or disability and that is the foundation of our commitment to those we serve.
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Renée Sunde
President/CEO
360.200.6450
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John Engber
Director, Retail Industry Coalition of Seattle
206.850.5517
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Jim Szymanski
Director of Communications
360.753.8742
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