Flanked by the director of the Seattle school board, District 3 representative Kshama Sawant unveiled legislation Monday that she says would prohibit evictions of school children, their families, and educators during the school year.
““When landlords evict families with school-aged children, especially during the school year, the eviction has a devastating impact on the children’s academic achievement, health, and development. The vast majority of evicted schoolchildren have to change schools, abruptly leaving behind their friends, teachers they know and trust, and their social supports,” Sawant said.
The chair of the Seattle City Council’s Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee, Sawant was joined by school board director Zachary DeWolf and members of the teachers union in announcing the proposal, calling for quick action from the council on the bill.
In an announcement on the bill, DeWolf said a March 2021 point-in-time survey found more than 2,100 Seattle school students “in a range of homelessness circumstances, including group homes, shelters, doubled up with other families, and in transitional housing” including “living on the street or in a vehicle.”
During the ongoing pandemic, Seattle has extended moratoriums on both commercial and residential evictions but those temporary measures are expected to eventually be lifted later this year.
Sawant, meanwhile, has opened up several renters rights and anti-eviction political battles this year including a successful push to win public funding of lawyers to help tenants facing eviction.
Sawant’s office announced it is launching a petition to gather support for the new proposal to restrict student and teacher evictions.
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So now no small landlord will rent to anyone with kids or teachers. Sawant’s heart is in the right place but her approach to solving the problems our city faces are always completely backwards and generally make the problem worse.
Yup – the free rent approach isn’t going to work
Expect a trend of dividing any larger rental units (2brs and up) into 1brs and studios to be encouraged by rules like this. Its already hard to find 3br and larger apartments in private market.
More #ParentPrivilege that’s sure not to backfire, eh?
If Sawant is so worried about children’s education being disrupted, where has she been while Seattle’s schools have been closed for over a year?
Teachers’ income is about as guaranteed in this state as any. What would be their excuse, bad budgeting?
Why assume that the teachers are motivated by self-interest in regard to their own housing rather than by concern for their students and their students’ education?
Irrelevant question. Why should public employees who have had no interruption in pay be specifically exempt from eviction? What about police officers? Or SCC staffers?
They or a loved one may have health issues and expensive bills, or their landlord may be evicting them for non-financial reasons (such as wanting to sell, move a family member in, etc.), or may have raised the rent hundreds of dollars making their home no longer affordable on a salary that is unchanged.
Stop acting like all evictions are a result of stupid financial decisions, that view is extremely simplistic, reality is more complex.
If you feel so strongly that teachers should be able to maintain housiNg on a set salary, support rent control, a universal healthcare system, and guaranteed childcare and eldercare.
The problem with all these approaches is that they will impact the more affordable units by either forcing them to sell or switch over to things like Airbnb which are becoming safer (yes annoying, but ultimately worst case you can always remove for trespass if guests don’t leave).
Every article mentioning Sawant is filled with comments from the same right wing concern trolls and D3 larp accounts.
Yep, we’re all fake but real uneducated mouth-breathers larping about making comments on a neighborhood blog.
You can’t be serious
It would be nice to have some actual research around these types of proposals, and articles. how many teachers get evicted each year? etc.
LOL. Glad school board director Zach DeWolfe and the teachers union were able to find time for this, because I can’t think of anything more pressing either of them might be doing right now.
I’m sure this proposal totally wouldn’t have any unintended consequences.
Have you heard the expression, “Now I’ve heard it all”? At this point, I only hope that is true. Does ANYONE who believes a tenant with children shouldn’t have to pay rent for 10 mos. have rental property? For that matter, own any business? Owners of rental property, or any business, have mortgages, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. to pay. How can they pay these substantial expenses with only 2 months rent or income a year? Owners would be forced to sell their properties or their mortgages would be foreclosed. New owners would likely tear down the existing building and build new townhomes, for a profit. Is that what the City of Seattle wants?? Well maintained and fairly priced units/houses is what the the City should seek, and allow Owners to evict if a tenant does not pay rent. If this logic doesn’t ring true for you, as yourself: how would you pay your rent or mortgage, taxes, insurance, buy food, pay your utility bills (to the City), buy gas or electricity for your vehicle, buy clothes, etc., etc. if you lost your income for 10 months a year, every year???