Monthly Meeting –Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 7 p.m.
Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Avenue South 98144
[This beautiful facility with free parking and a grand view of Lake Washington is just three blocks east of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. and one block south of S. Jackson Street]
AGENDA |
Did you know that for every unit of subsidized housing the city creates, we lose three to four times that number due to redevelopment and gentrification? As reported by the Displacement Coalition, last year alone, Seattle lost about 900 housing units to demolition. As the housing stock fell, rents on 1,000 remaining rentals were pushed up above low-income thresholds. Another 1000 were lost due to developers buying and selling apartment buildings and the new owners raising rents to cover financing costs. Compare that to the 400 new subsidized units our city built over the same period using limited public revenues.
Look what is happening at Yesler Terrace and Northgate. At Yesler, the Seattle Housing Authority plans to sell half the publicly owned land to developers. The redevelopment could include up to 4,500 units, with only 11 percent reserved for extremely low income people.
Issues to be discussed include the failure of the multi-family tax exemptions program, policies that could be implemented to preserve low income housing, and more.
The March meeting also includes our monthly Round Robin to share with others the recent issues and projects in your neighborhood. If you have informational materials you would like distributed at the meeting, please e-mail electronic copies or links to jeannieh@serv.net.
7:00 Administration
2. Minutes /Treasurer’s Report / President’s Report
7:10 Does low income housing have a future in Seattle? John Fox and Bruce Bowden
8:15 Round Robin of issues and projects in your neighborhood
1. City’s petition for extended hours for bars
2. Car tabs legislation
3. District or mixed elections for city council
9:00 Adjourn
