A RESOLUTION calling on Governor Inslee to impose an immediate moratorium on rent payments and urging the Governor to call on federal legislators and the Trump administration to impose an immediate moratorium on rent and mortgage payments; and calling on federal legislators and the Trump administration to impose an immediate moratorium on rent and mortgage payments.
Agenda item for resolution 319 40, a resolution calling on Governor Inslee to impose an immediate moratorium on rent payments and urging the governor to call on federal legislators and the Trump administration to impose an immediate moratorium on rent and mortgage payment, and calling on federal legislators and the Trump administration to impose an immediate moratorium on rent and mortgage payments. Thank you. I'm going to I'm going to move to adopt resolution 31940. Is there a second second? It's been moved and seconded to adopt the resolution. I know that Councilmember Morales is the sponsor of the resolution, and I'm going to hand it over to you, Councilmember Morales, to make some comments about the the bill. But I know that Councilmember Strauss has an amendment which I understand is a friendly amendment. Councilmember Morales, would you like us to consider the amendments before you make your remarks or after you make your remarks? Let me explain what the resolution is. And then and then we can talk about the amendment. Okay. So the resolution has been moved on and then I'm going to hand it over to you, Councilmember Morales, to speak to the resolution first, and then we will hear about the a moment, please. Thank you. Well, first, I do want to apologize to my colleagues. I left our briefing this morning to tour the field hospital before actually having the opportunity to share with you this information about this resolution. So. So I will do that now. Before I do that, I do want to acknowledge and thank Councilmember Sea-Watch. She is circulating a letter and petition to achieve a similar goal. Councilmember Mosqueda is also circulating a letter. I think all of us are all of us as a council are eager to make sure that we're protecting our neighbors. And this resolution is really aimed at protecting. I'm sure all of you are getting calls from your constituents about their fear about the rent crisis. It is the end of the month and we've got constituents who are worried about being able to make their rent payments. We also have landlords who understand that their tenants can't pay rent, but who still have mortgage payments that they are responsible for. And so this is really calling on the governor to use his emergency power to freeze rents and calling on our federal legislators, our congressional delegation, to freeze mortgage payments during this public health crisis. I am getting hundreds of emails from folks who are really worried about their ability to cover their bills. And the truth is that we've got, you know, tens of thousands of Seattleites who are worried we may be entering. We're certainly going to enter a recession, possibly worse. And so we want to make sure that we're doing something now to protect people and keep them from having, you know, just pushing this debt out and not being able to cover it later. So we are proposing this resolution. I do want to let folks know that we're working with other legislators up and down the West Coast. This is part of a broad coalition of supervisors from San Francisco, council members from Los Angeles, Boston, New York state senator, who are moving these kinds of resolutions through their jurisdictions in the next week in a real effort to push our federal administrators to to make this to make this happen for our constituents and to keep people in their homes during this crisis where they are safest. And so I move passage of this resolution. Thank you, Councilmember Morales, for the description and explanation of this resolution. And before I open it up to the the whole the whole for discussion and additional comments, let's consider Councilmember Strauss's amendment first. And once we consider that amendment and have a vote one way or the other, we can go ahead and go back and have a conversation on the resolution as amended if the amendment is successful. So I'm going to hand it over to Councilmember Strauss to make his and excuse me to introduce his amendment. Thank you. Council President. Council members. I have an amendment that I would like to propose that did not meet the council rule of distributing it by noon today. My apologies for the late notice on this. It simply adds to the the resolution, a moratorium on insurance payments that are related to either residential, commercial or primary ownership. So insurance. Policies that cover your home and your tenancy as well as property tax. Is that is it? Okay. So if there is no objection, the council rules will be suspended to allow an amendment that was not distributed by 12 noon today. Hey, hearing no objection, the council rules are suspended and we can proceed with consideration of the amendment. So I will now ask Councilmember Strauss to make the formal amendment to and to consider Amendment one. Thank you. Council President. I move to amend resolution 31940 and present as presented on Amendment one. Is there a second? Okay. It's been moved and seconded to amend the resolution. Councilmember Strauss, you already spoke a little bit about Amendment One. Is there anything else you'd like to add? Yes, thank you. Council President Just to add that, beyond rent and mortgage, we also need to be aware that insurance policies need to maintain coverage despite a person's ability to pay this month if they were laid off or for other reason. Economic reasons as well as property tax for some folks may be the final straw that breaks their back during this moment. So as we advocate, because resolutions are not legally binding ordinances, as ordinances are here at the city of Seattle, as we advocate to suspend rent and mortgages, I do believe that we should also advocate to suspend insurance and property taxes. Thank you. Hey, are there any comments on the amendment as proposed? Question it. Councilmember Peterson has a question of the floor is yours. Thank you. Just wanted to clarify on this amendment, Councilmember Strauss, is this to temporarily suspend those payments, but they'll still be due at the end of the crisis. So they're not giving them. Yeah, I think the importance is the nuances are very important. And since this is not legislation and we are advocating to higher levels of government whose jurisdiction it is, and we we know that at the broadest base, the broadest tax base is the best place to make policies, rather than creating Swiss cheese by making, you know, different policies at different municipality levels. I think that it is important to understand the nuances, and I'm not advocating for any which direction I'm at this time. Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments about the amendment? Okay. And I'll see and hear any other questions. So I'm going to ask the clerk to call the roll on Amendment one. Councilmember Suarez. All right. Councilmember Lewis. I. Councilmember Morales. I. Councilmember misgender. I. Councilmember Peterson. All right. Council members a lot. I. Councilmember Strauss. I. Councilmember Herbold. I. President Gonzalez. I. Nine in favor and unopposed. Thank you. The motion carries and the amendment is adopted. Are there any further comments on the resolution as amended? It's. Okay. So I thought Councilmember Peterson raised his hand first, followed by Councilmember. So what? So Councilmember Peterson floor is yours. Thank you. This question is for the sponsor, Councilmember Morales, regarding the moratorium on residential and commercial rent payments. I just want to clarify that it's a it is the intent that it would be that we're asking the governor and federal legislators to temporarily suspend the payments, but that at the end of the crisis, those payments would be due. Are we asking actually to outright forgive all payments? And they will never be do. Yeah. We're asking for them to be forgiven. I'm getting hundreds of calls a day and emails from people saying that, you know, it's if I don't pay rent for four months, especially in Seattle, where rent is, you know, $2,000, there's no way that that accumulated debt is something I will ever be able to pay off. So and similarly for for property owners. So this is a crisis that is, you know, people are experiencing across the country. And we are saying that in this situation, we need to just freeze the the rent for folks until the crisis is over. That might be two months. It might be three months, but that should not be added on to their to the end of their rent payments, especially if folks might be experiencing it might be ending their lease. You know, it just creates more complications. So we're calling for a rent freeze for the time of the until the crisis is lifted and people are able to go back to work and pay their bills, whether they're renters or or have a mortgage payment. Thank you. Any any follow up questions or comments from our Peterson? I just I'm just struggling with this one just because, you know, it did come up on Friday. And there are sorts of legal issues associated with this potentially. And I have also, on the other hand, so so I'm concerned that. You know, people are getting other relief. Should they? Would we want to then suspend the payments that are due when they're getting relief from other angles? However, I have received a lot of emails from constituents who are are expressing their major concern and fear and pain that they're suffering during this crisis. So it's I wish we had more time just to think this through. I appreciate the comments of Councilmember Strauss that this is a resolution and we're simply asking the folks at different levels of government to consider these and they can deal with those specifics. But the sentiment that we're expressing here is that people are struggling and that we need our of their elected officials to address that. I do want to commend our congressional delegation, though. I don't want this resolution to be viewed as that. We feel you know, I feel that Congresswoman Jayapal and our U.S. senators are doing a phenomenal job, as is Governor Inslee and our and our mayor. So I just hope that it's taken in that spirit that we're just trying to communicate concerns we're hearing from our constituents about their financial distress. Sure. Sorry. Can I respond? Yes. Yes, you may. So I appreciate that. And it's true that I did not get to talk to all of our delegation. I did talk to Representative Typology, supports this and believes that we you know, this is part of what she's fighting for in D.C.. I will also say that, you know, our our leaders gave a trillion and a half dollar windfall to the financial sector to make sure that they were able to weather this storm. And so I think it is is critically important that we do what we can to help our constituents who don't benefit from that kind of windfall and who are literally at risk of being out on the street if they if they don't get some assistance. So you're right. We are trying to sort of cobble together assistance in as many different ways as we can. But we know that the reality is that rent is a, you know, for some people, 50% of their monthly expenditure. And and so they need relief. So we're asking our our state and federal leaders to help provide it. Okay. We're going to move over to Councilmember Solent, who I had in the queue next. And if anyone else wants to speak, if you can, I can see you with the exception of Councilman Juarez. If you have questions that or comments that you want to make, if you could just raise your hand so I can put you in the queue of every great. And I'll make note of it. Thank you. Councilmember Lewis Culver. So Laura's yours? Thank you. President Gonzalez. I support this resolution. Which will the resolution itself, what it will do will support or show the support from the Seattle City Council to what is now a demand made by literally millions of people. And I wanted to clarify that the resolution's passage itself is not enough, this moratorium, but it will provide support for the movement that has been happening on the ground. You know, several weeks before the city council got involved over the last couple of weeks, a nationwide petition initiated by socialists from all across Washington state making this demand to suspend rent and mortgage and utility payments has garnered over 2 million signatures nationwide, which is roughly one out of every 100 adults. In addition, my council offices also sent letters to Governor Inslee last week, one on Thursday morning and one on Friday, urging that he immediately enact a suspension of rent, mortgage and utility payments with no adverse. And what we mean by suspension is no adverse consequences to renters and homeowners such as any eviction notices, damage to credit rating or incurring back payments or debt. So, you know, do do do respond to Councilmember Peterson's question or concerns. No suspension does not mean you will have to pay it later. No suspension means you don't you don't have to pay it at all because of the crisis that the scale of the crisis that we're in. My letter to my two letters to the governor also called for a statewide rent freeze through the end of 2020, which is no rent increases through the end of 2020. And I just want to acknowledge, by the way, just on that there is the phrase rent freezes are used interchangeably by different people. I just want to clarify that in common sort of housing expertize, related parlance. Rent freezes usually meant to say no rent increases. And but we but the letters that I've written to the governor are upholding both the demands, both the suspension of rent and mortgage repayments without any consequences, plus no rent increases through the end of 2020. And believe it or not, we had to add that that letter, because we are hearing from many, many people who are saying that we are corporate landlords are in the middle of this pandemic, sending them notices for rent increases starting in the spring. This is absolutely unconscionable. My in in coordination with a letter that my council office sent to the governor, we also launched a public petition making these demands of the governor. And this petition has rapidly gathered enormous support. The petition was launched on Thursday afternoon and released to the public and over 6300 people from across Seattle and Washington state have now signed it and people are still signing it. And I urge members of the public who are watching this to continue showing it. There is so much support for these demands because they are absolutely necessary. You know, it's March 30th today. Rent is going to be due in April. And we're talking about households that have lost their incomes because of this crisis and because of capitalism's crisis, because capitalism is incapable of dealing with normal needs, let alone a pandemic for working people. These are people who are already living paycheck to paycheck. And so in a city where thousands of people were already being priced out of their homes and in normal times, paying rent was already becoming difficult. Now it is going to be mathematically impossible for people who are going to be forced to survive at best on reduced paychecks of unemployment if they're lucky enough to qualify. But we know gig economy workers will not qualify. What what are rideshare drivers going to do, for example? And many part time workers don't qualify. And also, we have to make the point that, you know, if if a household has to make a choice between rent and food or prescription , we absolutely want them to be able to have their basic needs satisfied, like groceries and prescription. We cannot have them paying their rent to their landlord and then going hungry or being sick without any medication. In the council briefing this morning, some council members referenced movies like It's a Wonderful Life. You do appeal to banks to do the right thing and suspend foreclosures. I have to say, it is strange to me that this even needs to be said. But that's a movie. It's a fictional story in real life capitalism. But big banks are absolutely ruthless. The decisions that they make are driven by market forces, not personal kindness. In fact, big banks, corporate landlords are some of the most precious corporations who have plundered the economy. In the Great Recession, there were millions of foreclosures of middle class and working class homeowners while the big banks got bailed out . So I just wanted to say, in the interest of our movement, that watching basing any idea on the expectation that big banks, mortgage holders and corporate landlords will do the right thing is just a recipe for massive impoverishment of millions of working families. We've already seen the Federal Reserve's projection or second quarter unemployment. They're predicting a 30% unemployment rate. That is depression level unemployment just now. Just two days ago, we heard from the Department of Labor that statewide unemployment is at least around 130,000. But that is not underestimate. We know that. And so we we are talking about just endless numbers of families and working people, individuals who are just going to be wiped out if we are not going to do something about this. And obviously, the city wide issue won't be enough yet. We do need to fight for it as well. And as far as there are any concerns raised by which again, it's stunning to me that these so-called concerns are being raising that or maybe people are getting working, people are getting some relief from other sources or what if they are? Absolutely, they should be. And we should be thanking people like Senator Bernie Sanders for absolutely fighting for working people in the US Congress. But whatever support people are getting right now is not going to be enough. And in the meanwhile, the banks are getting $1,000,000,000,000 a day bailout. So let's be clear about that. All the money is going it's not going to working people. And we are not in any danger of over funding working people's needs. And I just want to close by saying that this is a nationwide movement. Right. There may even be similar demand for an amazing 150,000 signatures. And I support this resolution, of course. But most importantly, I'm committed to building this movement because we all need to be clear. This is a resolution. It makes a statement, but does not by itself enact a suspension of rent and mortgage payments. And it is an important step forward. But I want members of the public to understand that we need to keep fighting. We cannot rest on on what what would be best today, which would be a good step, but not enough. And I would urge everybody who is watching this, please continue to share the petition for my office. Let's get to 10,000 signatures and I need to go home to my office on the day I did that. 68. It comes from a recent council. Lewis You had raised your hand next in the queue, so the floor is yours. Thank you so much, Madam President. So I'm proud to support this resolution today. I want to first thank Councilmember Morales for bringing this forward. And Councilmember Strauss, I want to thank you for your amendment. To really strengthen this. I think now more than ever in these times of uncertainty, it's critical that people get some surety around their insurance payments as well. You know, just to echo the comments that Councilmember Morales made in response to some of the things that Councilmember Peterson said, and I think that this goes a long way to assuaging some of the concerns were raised by Councilmember Peterson. We just saw on Friday, Congress passed a massive bailout for four airlines, for lots of industries that are impacted and affected by the uncertainty of the COVID 19 crisis. You know, the basis and argument for this bailouts is these are companies that have been adversely affected. There's no way they could have planned for a pandemic and what a pandemic would have done to them. The exact same argument can be made in support of the renters and people who have recently entered into mortgages to be homeowners who never could have anticipated or planned that when they signed their mortgage or when they signed their lease, that they were going to be in a position where they were going to lose their livelihoods, lose their homes, and have to be in a position where they could not make their rent or could not make their mortgage and face the threat of eviction or foreclosure. So I think it is they warrant the same consideration. I mean, even more so, our consideration under consideration of government and these big companies that got him out to bail out last Friday, so to speak, to Councilman Peterson's concerns, which I think are warranted. I mean, in my understanding and Councilmember Morales could correct me on this, there's nothing in this resolution to suggest that should Governor Inslee or should Congress heed our request that there be some support to back up those policies and those actions? I think it's very foreseeable that when inevitably there's another relief bill that comes from Congress, and we know that ultimately, you know, be it this summer or later, the spring, there's probably going to be another big relief bill that a big part of it, based on the exultation in this resolution and the other resolutions from other cities and other governments, could include support for helping to cover folks mortgages and people's rents. So there's nothing to even though it's not necessarily specifically enumerated on what are the exact policy prescriptions be that Congress and the governor take and pursue? You know, I mean, the point is we're still asking them to basically put renters and people with mortgages in a position where they are not going to be they themselves are not necessarily going to be expected to come up with the the aggregate debt from this period that they basically be in line to receive the same kind of consideration that we generate lend to to banks and to airlines at the national level, but that we aren't lending to working families. So I think it's fully appropriate given the posture of this. I don't think that let me put it this way. I find it highly unlikely that Congress would or that the state government, for that matter, would put something like this forward without putting some resources behind it to make sure people are whole. So I don't have a concern in voting for it on that basis. The only other thing that I want to do, and similar to the exhortations that were made earlier by some of my or the the urgings that were made by some of my colleagues earlier, I just want to briefly address the general public for the folks that are listening in today, based on a lot of the communications my office has received on this resolution, I do think there's fairly widespread misunderstanding that this resolution will, in and of itself have the effect of freezing the payments to two mortgages and rents. I just want to join my colleagues who have mentioned this already in this meeting and saying if you were in a position to continue to make payments on your rent or your mortgages, please do so. This resolution in and of itself is not going to immediately provide that relief. And relying solely on this resolution is not going to put you in a position where. Where you can get some relief if you fail to pay your rent or your mortgage. So just just I just wanted to remind folks, if you are in a position, continue to do that. Barring pending developments from the state and the federal government in response to this resolution. So with that, I'm proud to vote for this resolution today, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Thank you. Councilmember Lewis wi and then Councilmember Morales, i'm going to get once the folks are done talking about the resolution and I'll let you have the last word. So I have Councilmember Juarez who is in the queue. So, Councilmember, whereas the floor is yours. Thank you. I just want to follow up with what Councilmember Peterson said and also share that we all agree and understand the crisis we're in. And I really don't want to go into the US and them saying I just for once, can we all be in the end zone at the same time? The clarification that I have is when I'm looking at the resolution, which is four pages long. It talks about the immediate moratorium on residential and commercial mortgage payments and rent. It is. And I'm glad Councilman Peterson pointed this out, because when I was looking at this resolution and looking at the letter that Councilmember Mosquito put together, you know, I was inclined to vote yes because, first of all, there really wasn't a date in there. But when you actually read it more thoroughly and I, I pulled it out and then finally printed it. It goes on in the last one of the last sentences to add that and no renter in the nation should be required to pay rent during this health emergency or accumulate debt for unpaid rent. So I, I just want to be clear that what we're voting on is a resolution. And you're correct, it is not a law. It's not ordinance. It means that the Seattle City Council is speaking in one voice and that we are resolute to do the following. So we are voting if we vote yes on this, that and I'm guessing as obviously extends to residential and commercial mortgage payment. But not only do we have a moratorium, but we also have a forgiveness of all the debt. Is that correct? What I'm hearing in the sentence so that means that we have a moratorium during this crisis. And whenever this crisis ends, whatever was accumulated, residential and commercial mortgage, folk, people who are on these documents, payments notes that they'll be forgiven of all debt. And that's what that's what the that's the core of what's happening here. And I just want to make that clear. So this isn't about that. We are all and everyone is is not in agreement that we don't want to see a renter, a homeowner, not be burdened with this kind of debt in light of the package that was passed by Congress. We all been watching the news. We all get it. So. So just so we have clarification from council to councilmember up, is that what you're actually this is actually what will be voted on, including with Councilmember Strauss's amendments about the other items that would be a moratorium on and forgiven as well. Councilmember Morales, would you like to answer that question? Sure. So I'm sure we've all heard, as I said, you know, heard from tenants, heard from business owners. I've talked to several property owners who say, you know, I understand that my small business tenant can't pay rent there. They would shut they don't they're not bringing in any money. So it makes sense to me that they shouldn't be paying rent. But I still have a mortgage to pay. And so what am I supposed to do? So that's what this is addressing. Yes, we have it. Not just tenants and residents, but we also have commercial property owners and commercial renters who are in the same boat. And so this is a way to to address the property owners issue, the tenants issue, and understanding that, you know, deferring payment for three or four months isn't really going to solve the problem for some of these folks. So so the short answer is, yes, that is what we're calling for. As I said before, this is part of a national organizing movement because this isn't just happening in Seattle. Across the country, renters and property owners are trying to figure out how they're going to pay their bills. And so this is this is an unprecedented national event, a global event. And things are going to be very jarring for quite some time. So yes, the short answer is yes. That is what this resolution is calling for. Council president. May I follow up? Yes, it is. Councilman Juarez. Thank you. Council President So you're saying that a commercial, somebody that owns 20 plus units or apartment. Who also has a mortgage to pay if they don't collect renters, which we're going to exempt. So that person, let's say, owns 30 units of rental is going to also, from our resolution, understand that we are lobbying for them as well under this administration and to our governor, that they, too, don't have to pay their mortgage to the bank. That's right. Any other follow up comes from our was. Okay. Well, no. Okay. Are there any other questions or comments about this resolution? Okay. Here, bring in seen none. We will go ahead and have the corner call the role on the adoption of the resolution as amended. Councilmember Suarez. I. Councilmember Lewis high councilmember morales I. Councilmember Mascara. I. Councilmember Peterson. I. Council members want. Council members on. Okay. Councilmember Strauss. I. Councilmember Herbold. I. President Gonzalez. I. Eight in favor, nine opposed. Thank you. The motion carries. And the amendment. Excuse me. The resolution, as amended, is adopted. The Resolute Bench and the chair will sign it. Will the clerk please fix my affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf? All right. Give me just a minute, folks. I'm toggling between two different scripts here, so I need to get back to my. Other set of notes here. All right. All right. Well, the clerk fees read item five into the record. Agenda item five. Resolution 319 42. Adding the West Seattle Bridge Emergency Closure and repairs to the watch list of capital projects for enhanced quarterly monitoring. Establishment Resolution 319 31.