Council OKs task group to draft ordinance helping displaced low-income tenants

After weeks of discussion, the Lynnwood City Council has approved the formation of a task group that will decide how the city can help low-income tenants displaced by redevelopment.

At its Oct. 28 business meeting, the council voted 4-2 (Councilmember Ruth Ross was absent) to form the ad hoc task group. The group’s goal will be to draft an ordinance aimed at helping the city work with landlords who are displacing low-income tenants. The motion to form the task group was made by Councilmember George Hurst at the council’s Oct. 14 business meeting and was discussed further at the council’s Oct. 21 work session.

According to motion, the council president will approve the formation of the task group to draft and present an ordinance by the end of 2019. The council also voted to allow the task group’s meetings to be subject to the Open Public Meetings Act, allowing public attendance. However, the council voted against allowing public comments during the task group’s meetings.

Prior to the vote, the council heard additional public testimony from Whispering Pines residents. One resident, Darlarae Osborn, said she moved to the affordable-housing complex five years ago after being displaced from Whispering Cedars, which also underwent redevelopment. Had she known that she would find herself in the same situation, Osborn said she would never have moved to Whispering Pine, because she knows all too well how costly it can be to relocate.

“With bills, I have no money to save to move,” she said. “I’m not asking for a handout, I guess I’m just asking for help.”

Housing has been a highlighted topic in recent months as Whispering Pines has been slated for demolition and reconstruction to bringing the building’s failing sewer and fire alarms up to code. Though councilmembers have unanimously agreed that they should explore creation of a plan to bring more affordable housing to Lynnwood, the issue has divided the council on how best to execute the plan.

Some, like Hurst, have called for immediate action. His proposed ordinance would help displaced Whispering Pines residents cover the relocation costs like rent deposits and moving expenses using the city’s Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) funds. Whispering Pines residents are expected to have vacated the building by September 2021.

“Time is of the essence here,” Hurst said at the council’s Oct. 14 meeting. “(Whispering Pines residents) are desperate to know that there’s going to be some help for them.”

Following additional discussion, Councilmembers Hurst, Shirley Sutton, Ian Cotton and Shannon Sessions voted to approve the task group. Council President Ben Goodwin and Council Vice President Christine Frizzell voted in opposition.

Speaking to her decision to vote against the motion, Frizzell said the council should not rush housing policies and should look at affordable and low-income housing in Lynnwood as a larger picture.

“I don’t believe that this ordinance by itself will move us further along,” she said. “I believe that we need a comprehensive plan — one that takes into account housing at all income levels.”

After speaking to Housing Authority of Snohomish County (HASCO) Executive Director Duane Leonard, Frizzell said HASCO — which owns Whispering Pines — has no plans to make any decisions affecting current tenants in the coming months. She also pointed out that the council should wait for additional information, like the Snohomish County Housing Affordability Regional Taskforce (HART) report due out in December.

HART has been working to develop a five-year action plan that identifies properties for county and city governments to effectively meet housing affordability needs through 2050. Mayor Nicola Smith is co-chairing the taskforce.

While presenting the motion, Hurst said he was looking to cities like Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma, which he said have similar displaced tenant ordinances. Hurst said Tacoma’s ordinance was inspired by a similar situation in the city involving low-income tenants becoming displaced due to redevelopment.

However, Frizzell pointed out that the policies in those cities were drafted in the 1990s and are rarely used. Frizzell also said that Tacoma’s ordinance requires that tenants be notified 100 days before they are evicted and HASCO has already notified Whispering Pines residents of their expected move-out date. Additionally, an ordinance from the city may not be able to backtrack and alter the plans HASCO has for tenant relocation.

“We need to do better,” she said. “We need to have something that is relevant for today.”

Councilmember Sutton suggested that the council reach out to those cities with similar policies to learn from them. She said the council could receive additional information to include plans for future policies they have not thought of yet.

“Let’s go to people who are already doing this work and let them be our guidance,” she said.

After voting 5-1 — with Frizzell voting against — that the task group would present the ordinance to the council before the end of the year, the council discussed whether the task group’s meetings would allow public comments.

At the Oct. 14 meeting, four amendments were made to Hurst’s motion, including an amendment from Hurst himself to make the task group’s meetings subject to the Open Public Meetings Act and allow public comments. During the Oct. 28 discussion, the council unanimously voted that public comments would not be allowed.

Prior to the vote, Council President Goodwin pointed out that the entire council would not be able to attend the task group’s meetings without violating the Open Public Meetings Act and that any information said during comments at the meetings would be secondhand for the rest of the council. However, Goodwin welcomed public comments on the matter at the council’s regular business meetings.

To address those concerns, Councilmember Cotton suggested that the council use the city’s Facebook page to livestream the meetings so anyone, including councilmembers, could watch the meetings live. 

Councilmember Hurst pointed out that other city boards and commissions allowed public comments, and public testimony would permit the task group members to hear public input directly.

“It’s more of an ease of allowing people who are interested in this issue to come forward and be able to inform the task group of their concerns or what they would allow to see done,” he said.

Ultimately, Hurst conceded that public comments be removed from the task group’s meetings so that the council could move forward with the formation of the task group.

The task group will be formed at a later, to-be-determined time

In other business, the council proclaimed Nov. 11 as Veterans Day in the City of Lynnwood. Speaking to the proclamation, Air Force veteran Jon Ramer praised Lynnwood’s efforts to become a veteran-friendly city. 

“Other cities strive to be and become what Lynnwood already is,” he said.

–Story and photos by Cody Sexton