By Erica C. Barnett
In what became a foregone conclusion with Rob Saka’s defection last week, the Seattle City Council failed to override Mayor Katie Wilson’s veto of legislation, sponsored by Dan Strauss, that would have banned RVs from parking overnight in Seattle, with a 5-4 vote that fell just short of the six-vote supermajority needed to override a mayoral veto.
Under The legislation Wilson vetoed, the city would have done a one-time-only count of people living in RVs in Seattle and offered some of their residents—those who could prove they owned their vehicles, had up-to-date registration, and whose vehicles were in relatively good repair—a short-term “license” allowing them to continue parking in industrial areas overnight, as they’re currently allowed to do for up to 72 hours.
Anyone who failed to meet those criteria would either have to leave the city or risk having their vehicle impounded, and anyone who wasn’t counted in the one-time “census” would also be prohibited from parking an RV in Seattle. Those who made the cut would get short-term permits on the condition that they participate in services and go to shelter. The bill did not fund any additional shelter or services, but it did refer to funding for an RV safe lot in this year’s budget.
Saka, who joined a 6-vote majority in voting for the legislation last month, said he changed his mind after Wilson issued her own executive order directing city departments to create a plan to better serve people living in RVs and help them transition to housing while also ensuring that people engaging in illegal activities in RVs are held accountable.
“Voting to support legislation and deciding whether to override a veto are two separate decisions,” Saka said. “My principles and values haven’t changed. What’s changed is that we now have a new path to consider. Through her executive order, Mayor Wilson has committed to expanding outreach, advancing RV safe lots and developing an alternative approach. I believe that deserves a fair opportunity.”
Strauss, who sent out a last-minute “action alert” to get constituents to come out and rally around his proposal, gave a 12-minute speech that hit many familiar notes about his legislation. (Despite Strauss’ efforts, public comment before the vote was overwhelmingly against the ban). Strauss said his bill was “human-centered,” and would “help stabilize and support people living in their vehicles by giving them more certainty about where they can and cannot park, and that they will not be pushed around, that they have more agency, that they are connected with service providers, and that they have a pathway into shelter or housing.”
Both Strauss and Councilmember Debora Juarez, who will be replaced by Nilu Jenks later this month, blamed critics of the legislation for opposing it without, according to them, offering suggestions to help. Strauss wondered out loud where all “the service providers, and these are folks who have given chewed my ear off just this week,” were during this morning’s vote. (This morning, the 30 or so people who showed up to comment got just 60 seconds each to do so before their mic or online connection was cut off, often mid-word.)
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Juarez addressed public commenters directly, saying they had falsely accused the council of sitting around and saying “‘let’s figure out the worst way to criminalize the homeless and impose draconian bans and punish people.’ No, that’s not the hard work we do here. I know that when people show up and scream at us at city council, they think that. That’s absolutely not true,” Juarez said. “Nobody’s pitting anyone against anyone. Nobody’s criminalizing anyone with their thoughts or their policies.”
Juarez, who changed her mind and sought an appointment to the council after quitting last year, has called Wilson a liar for initially saying she would not veto the bill, then changing her mind. This morning, she accused Wilson of “dishonesty, inconsistency, [and] lack of leadership.”
Council President Joy Hollingsworth, who also voted for Strauss’ legislation (and to override Wilson’s veto) expressed frustration that the homelessness crisis has continued despite hundreds of millions of dollars a year in spending to address it. “I was at the grocery store the other day and there was a woman with a baby standing outside with her children, asking for a couple dollars, asking to be seen, asking to be helped,” she said. “And I think about the hundreds of millions of dollars that we invest in this city. And I ask myself, why isn’t that investment reaching her? And why is it when I raise that question, why am I then targeted as bad?”
One of the three councilmembers who voted against Strauss’ legislation initially, Dionne Foster, cited the persistence of the homelessness crisis as one of the key reasons she opposed the licensing scheme in the first place. “We know that homelessness is not a static experience, that people’s circumstances change,” she said. “People move in and out of homelessness.” A one-time count, followed by a slamming door, does not respond to this reality, Foster said. “As we continue to try to bring more shelter online, bring more housing online, we are still seeing people become newly homeless. … And from my perspective, having a one-time census and a permit that corresponds with that one time census is not an effective way to address what is an ongoing challenge.”