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SEATTLE – Seattle City Councilor Kshama Sawant joins a coalition of housing advocates calling on Mayor Jenny Durkan to extend the city’s eviction moratorium until the end of the year.
Currently, the eviction moratoria are due to expire on June 30 at both city and state levels. The last time she was asked in early June if she would like to postpone this deadline, Durkan stated that they are investigating the data and checking with Gov’s office before making a final decision.
Meanwhile, pressure has continued to mount after councilors unanimously passed a resolution calling on the mayor and governor to extend their respective moratoriums. On Tuesday, Councilor Sawant renewed the call, along with plans for a rally on Thursday June 24th in Cal Anderson Park.
“Mayor Durkan has a choice: she can support herself with struggling tenants and extend the eviction moratorium this year or represent company landlords,” said Sawant.
Sawant has also been joined by several housing advocates, including representatives from the Seattle Renters Commission, nonprofit housing association Be: Seattle, the Seattle Education Association, Nickelsville, and Real Change.
“Not extending the eviction moratorium is playing with people’s lives,” Tiffani McCoy, director of Real Change advocacy, said in a written press release. “We need immediate measures to extend the moratorium and to further strengthen tenant protection and to create a massive fund for rent support so that nobody loses their apartment.”
It does so amid concerns that the end of eviction moratoriums in Washington state could lead to a significant spike in homelessness and housing instability. Data cited from a U.S. census poll conducted between April 28 and May 10 showed that around 82,500 people in the greater Seattle area were behind on rent.
Kenmore City Council unanimously voted Monday evening to extend the city’s eviction moratorium to at least the end of September, according to Tram Larsen with the Housing Justice Project. According to Larsen, King County could “investigate 120,000 to 180,000 people at risk of homelessness” if the state moratorium is scheduled to open on Jan.
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