Bellingham Initiative 1 would boost these renter protections, but at what cost?
Bellingham voters will see four initiatives on the Nov. 2 general election ballot, each addressing a social issue.
Measures brought forward by a coalition of local groups called People First Bellingham are seeking renter protections, limits on police technology, neutrality on labor issues from city contractors, and hazard pay and other rights for hourly wage workers, volunteer Sage Jones told The Bellingham Herald.
“The initiatives spoke to deep needs in and visions for our community and mobilized many people to join the campaign,” Jones said. “The success of the campaign shows that bold renter protections, making material demands for racial justice instead of symbolic gestures, supporting the right to unionize, and improving the conditions of hourly workers’ are profoundly popular in our city. Everyone sees Bellingham gentrifying, and these initiatives galvanized our community to take bold actions for people over profit.”
Whatcom County Auditor Diana Bradrick said that each measure met the required minimum of signatures from 6,188 registered Bellingham voters.
According to the city’s charter, City Council members could enact the measures into law, offer competing ballot measures, or place the measures on the ballot.
Council members voted 4-0-1 to place the measures on the ballot at their July 12 meeting. Councilman Michael Lilliquist abstained, and council members Pinky Vargas and Dan Hammill were absent.
But council members and the city’s legal staff said at the meeting that they think the measures won’t survive a court challenge if voters approve them.
Jones disagreed, saying the measures were modeled on successful initiatives in other cities across the country.
At its Oct. 12 meeting, the council voted 6-0 to urge voters to reject them.
“Don’t let the fear-mongering of some folks get in the way of your priorities,” Jones said in an email after the council vote. “Vote as if your pay, and your rent, and your ability to organize for better working conditions with your co-workers, and your privacy and constitutional rights, and your quality of life depend on it — because they do.”
If approved, the measures would take effect 10 days after the final election canvass, and City Council members cannot change or amend them for two years after they take effect.
People First Bellingham had raised $71,137 through Oct. 14 in support of the four measures, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.
That includes a $50,000 grant from the nonprofit Group Health Foundation in Seattle, but most of the rest was from donations in amounts less than $500, according to the PDC.
Children’s writer and illustrator Phoebe Wahl of Bellingham designed the group’s poster, listed as an in-kind contribution of $1,928.
All four measures are endorsed by Whatcom County Jobs With Justice, Imagine No Kages, Whatcom Democratic Socialists of America, Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, Sunrise Bellingham, Bellingham Unity Committee, Riveters Collective, Bellingham Tenants Union, Whatcom Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Board members of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce voted to oppose Initiatives 1 and 4.
Ballots were mailed Wednesday, Oct. 13, and must be postmarked — not simply mailed — or placed in ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Initiative 1
This measure expands tenants’ rights in several ways, and offers certain exceptions, according to the Voter’s Pamphlet provided to Whatcom County voters from the state Secretary of State’s Office:
▪ It requires 90 days written notice for a no-cause eviction or if a tenant’s rent will increase more than 5% in a rolling 12-month period.
▪ It requires landlords to provide relocation assistance — if a tenant requests it — equal to three months fair market rent for a no-cause eviction or if rent increases by more than 8%.
▪ It allows the tenant to sue for damages.
Current Bellingham municipal code requires 60 days notice for rent increases over 10%.
According to the text of the ballot measure, rental demand continues to grow in Bellingham, but wages have not kept pace with housing costs. It cites government statistics showing that 57% of renting households spend more than one-third of their income on housing and 30% spend more than 50% of income on housing.
It’s endorsed by Lummi Nation, the Riveters Collective and Whatcom Democrats.
Pro
“It’s fair for tenants,” Jones told The Bellingham Herald in an interview. “It’s not a solution, but it’s going to alleviate some of the pressure.”
Jones said that the last time she moved it took six months to find a new place to live because the rental vacancy rate is so low and rents are so high.
“We’re asking for three (months)“ Jones said. “If they aren’t breaking the lease, they should be allowed to stay there. There’s a lot of exploitation happening. (This initiative) doesn’t punish reasonable landlords.”
In their ballot statement from the state Voter’s Pamphlet, Jones and others wrote that sudden rent hikes displace residents and disrupt their lives.
“Providing renters with more notice for rent increases and requiring rental relocation will help keep more of our community housed. Together, we can create a Bellingham where renters can ask for repairs without fear of retaliatory eviction and enjoy a city where economic evictions are less common,” their statement said.
Con
In their Voter’s Pamphlet statement against the initiative, authors Jon Neville, Bret Beaupain and Jim Henderson called the measure a form of rent control.
They said that “landlords will increase their application standards, making housing less accessible for average people.”
Their statement also said that the initiative will cause rents to rise.
“Initiative 2021-01 has good intentions but the policy only worsens what it claims to fix,” the statement said.
