Debate on tax for homeless services stirs fury in Seattle
SEATTLE — Reaction to a proposed Seattle business tax for housing and homeless services jolted elected officials this past week as flare-ups of opposition revealed deep frustration with the city's handling of its homelessness crisis.
If Seattle City Council members were surprised by the reaction — including a raucous town-hall meetingand an unexpected protest by construction workers — the response of many residents and business owners seemed to be, what took you so long?
“They're hearing the whole story now,” said Erin Goodman, executive director of the Sodo Business Improvement Alliance. “They have been listening to a very small subset for a long time and have not been listening to their actual constituents.”
Amazon announced Wednesday that it was pausing construction of a new downtown tower until the council votes on the $75 million-a-year tax on large companies.
Hours later, residents shouted down the four council members who sponsored the tax legislation at a 90-minute town hall at a church.
Many residents expressed general empathy for people experiencing homelessness, but lashed out at the city council for lax financial management and failure to address the consequences of widespread, unauthorized tent camps.
Bruce Miller, a Seattle resident since 1971, said he traditionally supported tax levies, but no longer will. “I feel like city government doesn't understand and respect taxpayer dollars, and doesn't take responsibility for them,” said Miller, to applause.
The crowd aggressively heckled the council, the event moderators and the occasional person who spoke in favor of the head tax, drawing rebukes. The crowd erupted in the strongest applause for speakers who demanded more cleanups of the estimated 400 unsanctioned homeless-tent camps citywide.
“Your policies and what we're doing in this city has unleashed chaos and crime on law-abiding people,” said one speaker.
One city staffer who attended the meeting, but asked not to be named, said the anger and incivility in the room was shocking. Many council members were still reeling from the event a day later.
“That did not feel like Seattle,” the staffer said.
Council member Lisa Herbold said she anticipated fierce public reaction at the meeting. She thinks the council needs to do a better job of connecting the dots between the city's economic boom and its skyrocketing housing costs.
“We are unable to keep up with the need that is being created by this really hot competition for housing,” she said. Even as more people get housing, more people are becoming homeless, and residents see no change in the problem, she said.
The debate over the tax took another turnwhen members of the Iron Workers Local 86 crashed and took over a rally planned by Councilwoman Kshama Sawant.
Sawant's rally Thursday, in front of the glass Amazon Spheres, was surreal for an elected official known for her ability to get her vocal supporters to turn out at council meetings and take them over. This time, the iron workers drowned out Sawant and easily outnumbered her supporters.
Every time she tried to speak, the workers shouted, “No head tax, no head tax!” Their yells echoed off the nearby Amazon towers, which many of the iron workers had helped to build, as downtown professionals and tourists looked on in confusion. Sawant, a socialist with strong ties to labor, tried to calm them down, referring to them as her “brothers,” but they yelled over her.
“To reduce the jobs only increases the possibility of additional homelessness,” said Chris McClain, business manager for the union chapter, which has about 2,600 members.
When Local 86 member Logan Swan spoke in favor of the head tax, the other iron workers at the rally turned their backs on him.
The current version of the tax, which has not yet passed out of a council committee, is expected to raise $75 million a year from about 600 businesses citywide. Of that, $50 million would go to affordable housing construction, $20 million to homeless services and $5 million to city administrative costs.
The region's homeless population has increased significantly in the 30 months since Seattle and King County declared states of emergency; the number of people sleeping outside has doubled since 2014 according to snapshot counts of homelessness.
Seattle's proposed head tax is estimated by council staff to create about 1,700 more units of housing, but it would take least two or three years to design and build them.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has not said whether she will veto the tax if it passes the council, but has expressed concern about opposition from Amazon and labor.