[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written by a Reader (we offer one free letter posting per candidate running for SeaTac City Council). It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The SeaTac Blog nor its staff:]
Recently, while on the campaign trail, I had a conversation with a retired federal worker in the city of SeaTac who has become homeless because the rent on his apartment increased almost 25%. While I was heartbroken by the specifics of this man’s story, I was also disappointed because his situation was entirely preventable if the current city council had taken more aggressive action to preserve and advocate for more affordable housing in our city.
In 2017, the city contracted with a private consulting firm to do a human services needs assessment. Through this project, residents identified safe and affordable housing as the number one priority for the city. The current council, however, rejected the consultants’ findings and has done nothing to preserve and develop affordable housing.
The retired worker I spoke with was just one example of a disturbing trend. We know that young families, seniors, immigrants, and the working class — communities that have already been pushed out of many other cities in King County — are increasingly finding it difficult to afford to live in SeaTac. We need to stop the displacement of working families and seniors by implementing robust renters’ protections in SeaTac. We also know, however, that affordable housing is a regional issue that goes beyond any one city. That is why it is inexcusable that the current city council passed up the opportunity to join South King Housing and Homelessness Partners, a new coalition of cities in South King County that are working together and sharing resources to preserve affordable housing and prevent homelessness. As a council member, I would push for SeaTac to join SKHHP.
Beyond safe and affordable housing, there are a range of other issues where the current council has failed the city’s residents. Picture these scenes: A mother is worried about letting her kids walk to school because there are not enough sidewalks in their neighborhood. Seniors fear walking to visit their neighbors because of cars speeding down the road. A family has trouble sleeping because of the increase in aircraft noise over their home. A small business owner wonders how she will continue to do business after being displaced.
These are all stories that I have heard while walking the campaign trail in SeaTac this year. And they are representative of issues that we can fix if we choose to focus on the needs of our residents, rather than the needs of large businesses.
We need to invest in things like sidewalk construction, which will make the city more livable while also making it safer and more attractive to families. The current council has planned sidewalk improvements on only four city blocks per year. As a council member, I would double that investment to eight blocks per year.
There is also a need to address growing safety concerns in our community. Slowing traffic down on our neighborhood streets will be one of my biggest priorities. We also need to build a bridge between our diverse community and first responders to foster positive relationships and build trust. I believe that by investing in community crime prevention programs we can greatly improve the safety of our neighborhoods.
I have heard from our neighbors that a couple of other resources in our community need more attention from the council as well. We have several beautiful, well-maintained parks and open spaces. We need to build on these by improving parks that have been overlooked for too long. We can also improve our relationships with the public schools in SeaTac. I have a daughter who just began kindergarten at Bow Lake Elementary School. As a council member, I commit to engaging in conversations with school district leadership and board members about how the city can be more supportive of all our schools.
Finally, despite the resources that the airport brings to our city, we also recognize the challenges that come with the airport’s significant growth in recent years. In my conversations with voters living under the SeaTac flight paths, I have heard repeatedly that people feel the need for strong advocacy on this issue. And while it is true that the city council has limited jurisdiction when it comes to many airport issues, the council can be a powerful advocate and ally, using its influence to work with the Port of Seattle and the Federal Aviation Administration on new noise reduction strategies for the airport. As a council member, I would do just that.
The City of SeaTac is a beautiful place. Home to almost 30,000 people, we have a wealth of resources in the diversity of our residents, including long-time renters, homeowners, and immigrants who came here seeking opportunity and wanting to contribute. We have the beginnings of a good public transportation system, with three light-rail stations. And we benefit from the energy and dynamism of the international airport that is our namesake.
And yet, if current trends continue, we risk leaving behind so many residents who contribute to our city’s richness. SeaTac is at a crossroads: with new leadership we can make sure that SeaTac leads the way in creating an equitable and inclusive city for all residents.
– Takele Gobena
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I’m confused and flabbergasted over the content of this letter. There will always be people with complaints, that is a fact of life. The financial/budgetary gains our current council has made ALONE negate a good part of this letter. We have expanded our ability to help with social service needs, while reducing waste. The need for more affordable housing is front and center, and rent control is not the simple solution being suggested here. I am reminded of the misleading (AKA complete and outright lies) printed on the mailing materials that were sent out when the now ousted candidates were campaigning to stay in office. They had the EXACT same groups supporting them behind the scenes. According to their post cards, if we voted in the new folks (now sitting on the council and doing an excellent job), we would all be robbed at gunpoint while our houses were burning down without any emergency response. I could not in good conscience allow something like that to be sent on my behalf, and it speaks VOLUMES to me that those candidates (Mia and the rest) were okay with it. Fear mongering is the tool of the desperate person, willing to do whatever it takes to regain power. We can do much better. There’s great folks in SeaTac – from all walks of life. Let’s not let their divisive talk and veiled comments send us back in the wrong direction.
thank you Dee Dee well said.
Ms. Gobena and other candidates talk about affordable housing and the lack thereof in Seatac, yet they seem to think this is all on City Council. So untrue! My north Seatac home property tax assessment just increased by 44%. That’s all on King County. No room for mobile homes? That’s on both the county and the state for enacting laws that benefited developers and site-build home contractors. (One of those changes was how mobile home park property is assessed.) When property taxes rise, it’s passed on to tenants.
Seattle City Light, starting over a year ago, began raising their rates 6% per year for five years, over 35% in total. That was the Seattle City Council. Seatec residents that have City Light have no representation. However, Peter Kwon has been a great advocate for us.
King County levied a rental fee on water and sewer companies, contending their pipes sat on county property. That increased those bills to consumers.
I still work, and I’m already budgeting for next year. My salary probably won’t increase near enough to cover the property tax and utility increases. I sure as heck will never be able to retire in this area. If Ms.Gobena and the other progressives follow the path of their predecessors, they too will raise taxes, first of all the city’s part of the property tax, followed by a utility tax. They’ll want more money for regional projects. Yet they wonder why people are getting squeezed!
While a lifelong Democrat, I’m happy with the current council. We have more police protection, more parks employees, a balanced budget and a rainy day fund. Yes, I’d love sidewalks on my street, but what good are they if it breaks the people living on the street?
Thank you Janice
This editorial piece was not written by Mr. Gobena. Written by John Wyble campaign consultant paid by unions and outsiders.
Pretty obvious
Mr Gobena
After reading your letter to the editor one might think it is April Fools not Halloween.
First it saddens me your campaign trail has not come by my house, nor any of your running mates. I wonder why you would not look to Mia Gregerson 33rd district representative for help about housing. Although she did NOTHING for the people at the firs except try to blame the city for something they have no control over.
As far as sidewalks are concerned it seems there is always an opening on the sidewalk committee you could have joined and been way ahead of the game.
As far as traffic the city increased the traffic patrol at no increase in taxes. Most speeding is done by people in the immediate neighborhood so I would suggest the neighbors talk to each other about slowing down.
Seatac has the cheapest housing in King County. The new SeaTac center will have over 600 affordable housing units when done. You would remember hearing that I would think from the two council meetings you and your followers shut down when you illegally stormed the meetings. Also in the new building there will be spaces for new business for those who pay rent.
The city has put alot of time and attention in parks and open spaces and continue to improve on them.
Immigrants are more than welcome to contribute.
SeaTac has never been in better shape and will only improve with FOUR more years of the sitting council.
Mr. Gobena says,”We also need to build a bridge between our diverse community and first responders to foster positive relationships and build trust. I believe that by investing in community crime prevention programs we can greatly improve the safety of our neighborhoods.”
Our Medic 1 program is second to none, our Fire Service has an FDCARES program and the city has Block Watch programs going for anyone who is interested in participating or starting their own. SeaTac Police services includes a Traffic Unit, Detective Unit, School Resource Officer, Community Service Officer, 2 new motorcycle Officers and a new Parking Enforcement office.
SeaTac is fortunate to have these valuable resources available in our city! Bridges are there for all! Check out these links for more information about what is available in the city of SeaTac:
https://www.seatacwa.gov/government/city-departments/police/our-department
https://pugetsoundfire.org/fdcares/
I would personally like to know exactly what it is that our diverse community does not trust about our first responders?
Mr. Gobena
I appreciate your desire to run for office. Unfortunately, many of your statements are inaccurate or misleading, and your promises ring hollow. Perhaps this is due in part to the fact that you rarely, if ever, bother to make an appearance at the council meetings which are open to the public. It seems if one was interested in running and serving on a council seat, the first order of business would be to observe such proceedings and provide comment about issues you claim to care about. I am not running for public office, but as a resident I routinely avail myself of this opportunity. If you had done so, for example, you would have noted that the council has recently raised the budget significantly for human services. Working with the city staff and volunteers in several committees, council members are in the process of streamlining and updating the comprehensive plan to further encourage development of affordable housing. Did not see you at those meetings, either. You might also check the recent census data which documents the high percentage of subsidized housing units SeaTac already has in place, relative to the surrounding cities and King County. This does not include the proposed workforce housing for hundreds of units in the 650+ units for some 2,000 residents adjacent to the light rail station.
Perhaps you also missed the fact that, due primarily to their fiscal management, as well as effective negotiations with the Port, the incumbent council members approved the addition of seven new full-time police officers to the force which have subsequently been hired. This includes two motorcycle officers assigned specifically for traffic enforcement and safety. The council was also able to hire a highly respected officer as the new police chief, considered a notable selection by those within the agencies. (You missed his formal public introduction/welcome as well).
The council and city manager/staff have been actively soliciting for volunteers to serve on several committees, including the sidewalk committee. Did not see you at these meetings. Perhaps you would have learned the significant costs and time involved (a new six block stretch cost over four million dollars – covered primarily by grants that took significant effort to obtain). You may have also learned that several council members are currently exploring ways to accelerate sidewalk construction – but one of the constraints is to not increase the cost burden on residents, to maintain affordable housing. Ms. Taylor has documented several burdens placed upon the residents, of which the city council has no control.
As to being an advocate for airport issues, no one has been stronger than the current incumbent council members. Working with the Airport Advisory Committee, the council developed, negotiated along with staff and approved a new, updated Interlocal Agreement with the Port that substantially improved the City’s position and garnered significant new income. Unlike other cities, the council decided to negotiate with the Port rather than engaging in pointless lawsuits that only drain funds and create acrimony. This has placed the city in a much stronger position to work with the Port on the federal level to deal with the FAA, the real roadblock to certain solutions of complex problems. The incumbents also approved the matching funds that instigated the current study by the State Department of Commerce to assess and report the impacts of the airport on the surrounding communities. This study is well underway, with consultant Stantec already addressing the issues of concern you noted. In addition, the council has appointed citizen representatives and members attend the public START meetings, designed to foster discussions among the Port, FAA, airlines and the surrounding communities to identify and seek solutions to the myriad of issues created by the presence of a major international airport. I presently sit on the Airport Advisory Committee; you have never bothered to attend or volunteer.
For me, actions/involvement speaks much louder than words. Suggest you might try to show up and participate in the process before you seek to manage it. The incumbents have done so and have subsequently eliminated a multimillion dollar inherited debt without raising the city portion of taxes, placing the city on the best fiscal footing in many years. Finding solutions to complex problems is much more difficult than crafting campaign flyers and making promises. The incumbent council members have performed the heavy lifting, kept their promises, and created a proven track record that so demonstrates.
Mr. Gobena,
Would be nice if you could respond to these comments
Would be even nicer if he wrote the letter.
Finally, Mr. Gobena has put forward a demonstration of his knowledge of the issues in SeaTac. Unfortunately, he should have had his ghostwriter do better research into the issues.
He accurately states the Council rejected the consultants finding a Human Service needs assessment. However, his conclusion of the reason for the rejection is incorrect. What was being sought was an analysis for a complete reorganization of the way Human Services distributed funding to the community. The fact is the one excellent recommendation did arise from that report, a suggestion that the city fund fewer vendors with larger funding amounts.
The King County Housing Authority handles affordable housing because they have the resources to buy, build and manage affordable housing. That is not a project that a small city like SeaTac could handle.
Regarding affordable housing, another problem is the cost of land in the city, which has risen significantly in the past four years. It’s a fact that the King County Housing Authority, who build and manage affordable housing, did an appraisal of the Firs Mobile Home Park and found that the assessed value of the land made it impossible for them to build affordable housing on that property.
Also, what Mr. Gobena has carefully left out of his statement, is that the city is in the process of selling a piece of land on the hundred and 154th St., known as the SeaTac Center, to a developer who will be building 683 units of work-force and market housing directly across from the Tukwila light rail station. The benefits of this project to the city and its residents are significant, not the least of which is the increase in rental units within the city. A piece of property that has not paid taxes since 2008 will now go back on the tax rolls. Because of the 683 families that will be able to move into SeaTac, $140 million a year of new disposable income will flow into the businesses in the city.
Mr. Gobena states he would push to join SKHHP and accurately indicates that the Council decided that the concept and cost behind the concept would not provide equitable benefits to the residents of the city. He does not mention that this is a new project without a set plan or goals and that it requires a significant upfront payment to become a member. If this organization develops into something more tangible, the option exists for SeaTac to become a member down the road. However, after careful examination of this regional program, which is in its initial inception at this time, it was decided that the cost to join outweighed the benefits offered.
This challenger acts as if the city has not taken action to address and mitigate the issues that arise from having an airport in the middle of the city. The current Council negotiated a landmark agreement with the airport to mitigate its impact on the city. That agreement will pay the city between $30 to $40 million over the next ten years. Also, as the chair of the Airport Advisory Committee, I find it humorous that this candidate is so unaware of the high level of interaction between the airport and the city. Since I am an original member of that committee, before I took office and have chaired it since then, I can say with certainty that Mr. Takele has never participated in that committee’s ongoing discussion of airport impacts. Had he participated in that committee, he would’ve seen the formation of the START committee initiated by the Port of Seattle, the passing of legislation which created the Department of Commerce’s “Airport Mitigation Study” and the enhanced interaction between the city’s building department and the Port of Seattle in reference to the ongoing construction at the airport. There is no question that the current Council is actively pursuing the impacts of the airport on the city since 2015.
Similarly, since Mr. Gobena has never participated in the city advisory committee, he is unaware that the city has an ongoing Sidewalk Committee where residents pick the locations for sidewalk development and design. Currently, there are two major projects in design for next year, 34th Ave and 200 Street, which include street widening undergrounding of the utilities and the addition of bicycle lanes.
This challenger once applied for a city position that required the entire Council to interview him. In that interview, it was his position that safety was a major issue within the city and the city should create some committee to address that issue. Unfortunately, Mr. Gobena was completely unaware that one of the most important advisory committees is Public Safety and Justice, which meets regularly, is open to the public and provides the ability for the public to comment. This year Mr. Gobena attended that committee for the first time when the committee was resolving an issue with parking permits for the Windsor Park Apartments.
This candidate has never participated in the city by joining any committee, or by attending Council meetings regularly or by asking to meet with any Council member to discuss an issue with which he was concerned.
Before he sits in judgment of what four years of successful management by the current Council has accomplished, he must learn how the city works, how carefully we examined the issues in front of us, and how committed this Council is to making SeaTac better.
This response is my personal opinion. I can not speak for the city or the city council!
It is very unfortunate that more people did not read your excellent analysis. Larry Hughes
Takele had a post on his Facebook page that mentioned this letter. I made a comment asking him why hasn’t he responded to the comments on the SeaTac blog? Well, he still hasn’t responded here or to my comment on his Facebook page.
Ignoring the comments and not responding is not good. Why won’t he respond???
https://seatacblog.com/2020/05/14/city-council-approves-11-million-sale-of-two-seatac-center-properties-over-councilmember-gobenas-objection/
He voted “against ” Affordable Housing, not “for” it…