City Council

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 City Council Information: 360.753.8244 Wednesday, March 29, 2017 6:00 PM United Churches, 110 11th Avenue SE, Olympia Potential City Council Meeting 1. ROLL CALL Present: 5 - Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones, Councilmember Jessica Bateman, Councilmember Clark Gilman, Councilmember Julie Hankins and Councilmember Jeannine Roe 2. BUSINESS ITEM 2.A 17-0331 Olympia Housing Levy Forum Hosted by Home Fund The Agenda featured presentations from Executive Director for Opportunity for Bellingham Greg Winter, Vancouver Councilmember Alisha Topper, Executive Director Council for Homeless Vancouver Andy Silver, and Chair of the Home Fund, Phil Owen. Mr. Winter reviewed the projects Bellingham has accomplished since the approval of its housing levy in 2012. He noted they have constructed 417 units out of the 614 they have committed to build. Their levy rate was .36/$1,000 of assessed valuation and they anticipated generating approximately $21,000,000 in revenues. The collected funds to date have been leveraged at a 7:1 ratio. Mr. Winter stressed the importance of including supportive services in the levy and maintaining flexibility going forward. Ms. Topper noted Vancouver’s process began with the creation of an Affordable Housing Task Force and was the result of a developer systematically evicting residents from a project without cause and with little prior notice. She said the Vancouver City Council took early action on the following three issues to help to establish a more equitable rental environment: 1. 60 day notice for no cause eviction. 2. 45 day notice for a rent increase of more than 10%. 3. No discrimination in source of income. City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes March 29, 2017 Ms. Topper said Vancouver was facing an affordable housing crisis which prompted their City Council to declare a state of emergency as provided in RCW 84.52.102. Mr. Silver noted the campaign kicked off two days after the Vancouver City Council placed the measure on the ballot. He said key elements included the partnerships formed including those with non-profits and health care institutions. They created a brand (Bring Vancouver Home), held a forum once per week and knocked on 15,500 doors. They raised $110,000 to support this effort. The measure passed in 2016 by 57.64%. Mr. Owen spoke about the current vacancy rate in Vancouver being under 3% and 499 highly vulnerable people are waiting for housing. He explained how the vulnerability index is being used to help to triage resources by placing the most vulnerable at the top of the list. Bellingham’s process started in January of 2012 and it passed in November of the same year. Vancouver started their process in May of 2015 and saw it pass in November of 2016. During the question and answer portion of the forum, there were a number of questions regarding how the tax increase would affect cost-burdened households. The information was provided. . ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:30p.m. City of Olympia Page 2