District 3 rep Kshama Sawant played the swing vote Monday afternoon and into the evening as the Seattle City Council’s legislative tinkering on the city’s Mandatory Housing Affordability plan was finally completed.
The plan that ties upzones in 27 of the city’s densest neighborhoods to the creation of affordable units and will transition a reported 6% of Seattle’s current single family-zoned property will go to the full City Council for a final vote on March 18th. But that vote is mostly symbolic — all nine of the council’s members have been part of the MHA committee’s two years of meetings.
Sawant, Monday, took a swing at the overall legislation’s shortcoming despite joining her companions in unanimous committee approval of the plan.
“Those small affordable housing payments are the only part of this so called Grand Bargain that mitigates the rampant displacement and gentrification driven by the for profit real estate investment of big developers and other larger investors,” Sawant said. Continue reading