Tacoma is in the election spotlight. One vote could ripple ‘for generations’ in WA | Opinion
On election night, all eyes will be on Tacoma.
Initiative 1 – often referred to locally as the tenant bill of rights — has people’s attention, for good reason.
Locally, the interest is obvious. The initiative would create a host of new rental protections, including limits on certain evictions during cold-weather months. If approved, it would dramatically alter the rental landscape across the city, almost overnight. It’s why there are yard signs everywhere. It’s why people are talking. Everyone has a stake.
Outside of T-Town?
Expect interest to be just as high, most notably among grassroots activists, landlord groups and political movers and shakers.
The initiative is a homegrown effort — championed by a dedicated coalition of volunteers, labor leaders and elected progressives — but what happens on election night in the City of Destiny could ripple across the region, and everyone knows it.
For Tacoma voters, Initiative 2023-01 presents a weighty decision.
Across the Puget Sound region, it could be a harbinger of things to come.
That’s not hyperbole.
It’s one of the few things both sides agree on.
Playbook for tenant rights
Supporters of the Tacoma initiative, which in addition to cold-weather eviction limits on families with local students, teachers and the elderly would enact a number of strong tenant protections, say the ballot measure would help level the rental playing field.
It’s significantly stronger than most local landlord-tenant codes by design, they’ve said — including what’s currently on the books in Seattle.
Among other things, Initiative 1 would require landlords to foot the bill for relocation assistance when a tenant is displaced by a rent increase of more than 5% and sharply limit deposits and late fees. It also would establish what proponents describe as a Landlord Fairness Code, prohibiting rent increases in properties operating in violation of local tenant-protection laws.
Why is this happening — and why now?
It’s simple: Tacoma rents have skyrocketed in recent years, and large, corporate landlords have increasingly come to town to reap the benefits.
There’s also a crushing shortage of affordable housing. Local renters have been forced to allocate more and more of their often-limited income to the cost of housing.
At the same time, long-time residents are being priced out at an alarming rate. It’s an unsustainable cycle, and a critical mass of people has collectively decided local elected leaders haven’t done nearly enough to stem the tide.
Most supporters are also candid about the realities: Yes, a small number of local landlords likely would be put in a tough spot if Initiative 1 passes, they acknowledge, but it pales in comparison to the thousands of Tacoma renters currently being chewed up and spit out by an unjust housing market.
Regardless of where you stand, it’s easy to understand why residents are taking matters into their own hands, through the democratic tools available.
Here’s the thing:
Short of that last part — the bit about residents getting fed up and launching a campaign to do something about it — the same could be said for just about every mid-size city in Western Washington.
If Initiative 1 is successful in Tacoma, it would be foolish to suggest the game plan won’t be put into action elsewhere.
A decisive election victory also could provide inspiration for state lawmakers — including Tacoma Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, a vocal supporter of the initiative — to double down on efforts to pass similar legislation in the Legislature, perhaps as soon as the coming session.
Stakes are clear
The possibility that success at the Tacoma ballot box could provide momentum for others isn’t lost on Ty Moore, the campaign manager for Tacoma for All, the renters’ rights group that worked to qualify Initiative 1 for the ballot.
In fact, it’s something people are banking on, Moore told me last week.
Moore said that a number of political groups and sympathetic state lawmakers — including the Low Income Housing Alliance — would view passing Initiative 1 in Tacoma as “a bellwether for the viability of rent stabilization and other needed reforms.”
Moore indicated that housing rights organizers from other cities have reached out for advice as they weigh similar local initiatives elsewhere, pending the outcome in Tacoma.
Moore also argued that the campaign seeking to defeat Initiative 1 — which includes financial support from statewide landlord advocacy groups like the Rental Housing Association of Washington as well as Realtor groups — is clear evidence of the stakes.
“Outside business interests aren’t investing so heavily in Tacoma’s election because they care about Tacomans,” Moore said via email. “It’s because they fear tenants statewide will demand similar protections.”
“We are in a political moment … where working people are ready to consider much more far-reaching policy solutions to the housing crisis,” Moore added. “The combination of a worsening housing crisis, driven by the financialization of the industry and rising expectations in the aftermath of the pandemic, is creating a new political moment ripe with possibilities if tenants and working people are able to get organized.”
Sean Flynn, the Rental Housing Association of Washington’s executive director and board president, doesn’t agree with Moore on much. But when it comes to the potential statewide implications of Initiative 1, they’re singing the same tune.
On Monday, Flynn agreed that the outcome in Tacoma will provide a signal to state lawmakers in Olympia, one way or the other.
Flynn also said he would expect the same approach that’s been employed by activists and labor groups in Tacoma to take hold elsewhere if the initiative passes.
“I think both sides are looking at this as sort of a proxy for general support,” Flynn said on Monday.
“This is the playbook, right? When the quote-unquote tenant advocates don’t get what they want out of a city council or the legislative process, they kick the table over and go to the voters — and the initiative process,” Flynn added.
As far as common ground goes, it’s not much — and the difference of opinion between the two sides of Tacoma’s Initiative 1 debate remains stark.
Supporters, like Moore, have said publicly that victory would be “massive” for “grassroots democracy in Tacoma” and “everyone fighting for stronger tenant protections.”
Flynn, meanwhile, described it as a nightmare scenario, telling The News Tribune, “If this thing passes, the ramifications for this are going to be felt for generations — and that’s really scary.”
The good news for the average Tacoma voter?
We’re right in the thick of it.
Casting a local ballot in an off-year election rarely carries so much weight.
This story was originally published October 31, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Tacoma is in the election spotlight. One vote could ripple ‘for generations’ in WA | Opinion."
