The special election to determine whether Seattle will embrace a new social housing model starts this week. Ballots for Initiative 135 will be mailed Wednesday. Ballot boxes open on Thursday. The deadline to vote is 8pm February 14th, so fill in your oval, sign your envelope, and get it postmarked or into ballot boxes by Valentine’s Day.
In support of I-135, 43rd Democrats and Seattle Tech For Housing are hosting an unique get out the vote rally on Sunday that will also raise money for the campaign. Part educational workshop and part concert, the event will take place at Neumos and feature the musical acts including Hollis, Tomo Nakayama, Black Stax, and KEXP’s Larry Mizell, Jr. as emcee. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Details and tickets here.
Organizers are calling the GOTV concert “Social Housing Saves Our Stages.” Musical performers will also share stories of their housing struggles and what social housing could mean for artists. King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay is a featured guest, as well.
A numbers of organizations have endorsed I-135 including MLK Labor, Sierra Club, 350 Seattle, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Puget Sound Sage, Tenants Union of WA, 34th Legislative District Democrats, 43rd Legislative District Democrats, 46th Legislative District Democrats, and American Institute of Architects—Seattle.
The Urbanist Elections Committee endorsed I-135 in July. Here’s what we said:
Seattle voters may have a unique opportunity this November to support a new model of providing affordable housing, and they should take it. Initiative 135 was crafted by the House Our Neighbors Coalition as a progressive alternative to the Compassion Seattle ballot measure, which sought to codify homeless encampment sweeps before being struck down in court. While Compassion Seattle was built on short-term thinking, I-135 would set up a public developer with the mission of amassing land and creating social housing on it in perpetuity. This is the long-term thinking that Seattle sorely needs.
House Our Neighbors gathered and submitted almost 30,000 ballot signatures in June. Due to invalidations, that total ended up being about 5,000 short of the requirement to win a spot on the ballot, but the campaign gets a 20-day window to gather more signatures to close the gap. On Saturday, July 20th, that 20-day window officially launched.
The coalition should be commended for their hard work, which raised awareness of social housing and the possibility of building housing in a way better attuned to community needs and values. Their big signature-gathering numbers underscore how interested Seattleites are in addressing the city’s housing affordability crisis. We encourage Seattleites to sign the I-135 petition so that voters get to weigh in via a ballot measure.
Cities like Vienna and Singapore have shown the power a well-funded social housing system has to dramatically reduce housing costs for all residents while also producing beautiful, high-quality, environmentally-sustainable homes that build strong communities in highly desirable neighborhoods. For these standout cities, socializing housing production has meant working class families have been able to find stable housing that meet their needs in high-demand urban cores closer to jobs and amenities. In Seattle, it basically takes winning a lottery for this to happen, but I-135 is an important first step toward changing that.
