Seattle business leader: the city should ‘treat this emergency on our streets’ like the pandemic

Businesses across King County will soon have 72 hours to verify that their customers have either been vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested negative for the virus.

However, some business leaders say their ability to recover from the pandemic, particularly in downtown Seattle, depends on how the city will make the same efforts to address the “emergency on our streets” – chronic homelessness and declining affordable housing.

These are things a vaccine can’t fix.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan says the new rule, which goes into effect October 25, will be especially important during the winter months as the cold will drive people indoors.

Jon Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, says the long-term solution is jobs – jobs that pay a livable wage in a city where the cost of living has grown steadily.

“What doesn’t work are people who live in parks and public spaces, shop entrances and music venues,” he says.

That is bad for business and for “the lives of the people who suffer outside today”.

Unless the city approaches the homeless crisis like the pandemic – from all fronts and with urgency – Scholes says the economic recovery won’t last.

Durkan acknowledged this when she decided to extend the city’s eviction moratorium until January 15, 2022. This is the sixth time that the moratorium has been extended since March 2020. Durkan says if it will be the final extension.

“Are we getting the money into the hands that need it? Have we restarted our economy so these tenants can earn an income to pay their rent?” Durkan said KUOW.

According to the US Census Bureau’s latest Household Pulse Survey, at least 60,000 renters in the Seattle area say they are behind on rent; As the Seattle Times reports, that’s likely outnumbered.

The majority of respondents said they owed rent arrears for several months, and many do not expect to be able to pay rent for the next month.

“The last thing we can afford is a deluge of people losing their housing stability at a time when we already have a homelessness crisis,” Durkan told KUOW. “We have to keep people stable while we get through this really difficult situation.”

Scholes says vaccinations or negative test requirements for customers help in their own way.

“We don’t want to bring a lot of unvaccinated people indoors because we know that … a lot of people go to the hospital,” says Scholes, adding that Seattle’s high vaccination rate could be attractive to tourists if travel picks up again.

“So you can come to Seattle and look around the room you’re in – be it a restaurant or a venue – and really know that most of the people there are vaccinated,” he says. “And now, with the mandates, everyone is vaccinated.”

Scholes and city officials hope this means companies can avoid further closures or interruptions to normal business operations, keeping people permanently busy and able to pay their bills.