Mayor says the presentation and information from staff was very good, so she asks CM Lee to take his questions offline. CM Stokes comes in and says that ask from ARCH is very clear, supports expanding the advisory board as recommended. CM Zahn also supports the name change.
Conversation
ILA passes unanimously, now getting CM Robertson back in the call to discuss the following funding allocations. The withdrawn project was in early stages of feasibility, so they didn't feel they were quite ready for grant funding. It might still come back in future rounds though.
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Application process had $6 million in funds available. Since only $3.1 million is being allocated, nearly $3 million is still on the table, and ARCH staff mention the Executive Board is looking at a project that might receive this funding. Would come back for additional vote.
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ARCH staff note that the partnership was able to leverage *$14* in other public & private funds for every $1 contributed by members.
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First project is at Totem Lake, would have nearly 100 units at 50% AMI or less. The project has previously received ARCH funds, but cost overruns made them need to come back. Estimated completion in 2024.
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Second project would be 14 units at 50% AMI, also in Kirkland. Near grocery stores in Houghton and along the 245 bus route. Meant for young adults ages 18-24. Slated to open later this year.
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Third project is the Lifewire project that the city funded with its HB 1590 money. ARCH would be giving an additional $750k to the project. As covered previously, 25 units for survivors of domestic violence. 10 units transitional, 15 units emergency housing. Opening late 2022.
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CM Lee asking why the Totem Lake developer needed to come back for more money. Staff note increases in labor costs (17% over the last couple of years) but believe this final bit of funding will be enough to fill the gap.
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CM Zahn asks for details on why the one project was denied funding. Staff needed additional information around zoning for the project & if design of the building would've been consistent w/ current zoning. Staff hope they'll come back for next year's funding round w/ more info.
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Funding for Horizon @ Totem Lake, Friends of Youth, and Lifewire projects are approved unanimously. Mayor Robinson is now recusing herself for the final allocation votes, as her husband works for the King County Housing Authority.
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W/ Mayor off the call, discussing a project in Issaquah. Single Room Occupancy w/ shared kitchen and office space. Meant for residents at 30% AMI, and they'll have access to behavioral & health clinics. Opening in 2024.
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BookmarkFinal project, which was not approved for funding, which had questions around zoning and other funding sources. Staff are open to continuing work w/ Attain Housing, including offering an earlier round of funding should they choose to apply again.
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CM Zahn appreciates how the Issaquah project will specifically have services and design features for people w/ disabilities. CM Lee asks what all is close to the Issaquah site. Staff mention the health clinics that would be inside the larger building once it's built.
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Additional funding allocation for the Issaquah project passes unanimously, so Mayor rejoins the call after a quick break. Moving onto the final item, which is the report on the Conflict Resolution Center's renter program.
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Staff note the program provides services both to residents of Bellevue & Kirkland, and that the program "gives attention both to the needs of landlords and to the needs of tenants. It is not taking sides. It's helping keep landlords whole and keeping people housed."
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Staff note it's hard to know exactly how many renters face eviction, but estimates are that 13% of renters were behind on rent in KC metro area. For Bellevue specifically, staff are taking the current unemployment rate of 2.7% (close to prepandemic level of 2.2%) as a good sign.
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*However*, participation in the labor force is down 3% from pre-pandemic levels, which they say is equivalent to 4600 individuals no longer in the labor force. Barriers from reentering the labor force remain ongoing health concerns and access to affordable childcare.
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CRC staff outline the process. After a landlord posts a pay or vacate notice, the CRC is supposed to reach out to the tenant 3 times. Staff say they have a high success rate of doing outreach in culturally-sensitive and trauma-informed ways.
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In its typical bothsidesyness, staff sharing steps for landlords and tenants to take in this process.
In tenants portion, staff acknowledges residents are fearful w/ the amounts of debt they're accruing and might interpret pay or vacate notice as the eviction.
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Staff previously noted how we'll never know the number of people who just self-evicted.
Just wanna note the power imbalance that gets sweeped away - yes there are "mom and pop" landlords that stand to lose big, but there's also a lot of big landlords losing out on profit.
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In contrast, *every* tenant involved in this situation is a person who stands to lose their housing, get saddled with thousands in debt, and have a stain on their record that would make rental housing near-impossible to obtain in the future.
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Staff mention that in the last week alone, there have been an *additional* 152 ERPP cases that have been initiated in Bellevue. Total number of cases therefore stands at 533 since the eviction moratorium expired on November 1.
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Staff note that some tenants w/ repayment plans are being asked to pay up to 60% more than what they were paying pre-COVID. Landlords are sometimes not accepting rent relief funds b/c it would require them to be willing to forgive portions of debt.
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Moving to CM comment: DM Nieuwenhuis notes how both sides are facing issues and says it's "so great to see" some landlords forgiving debt, "it's extraordinary to see in our community." Also asks about how staff are measuring success.
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Staff consider being able to connect w/ a tenant a success, as some don't answer or "run away". Also cite the high percentage of repayment plans entered into. Going to circle back to his remaining questions later, on how long agreements tend to take and how often tenants default.
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CM Barksdale notes how it seems landlords initiate a lot in this process, including providing notices. Staff note that they also are contacted by tenants, but those don't count as "official" ERPP cases, so the number is even *higher*.
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Staff note that landlords who accept King County funds are required to forgive 40-50% of the debt, and some aren't willing, which staff says "they can't blame people" for, "people have bills & mortgages to pay". Staff also confirm that landlord is the one to deliver ERPP.
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CM Robertson: asks how much in rental assistance funds are still available for the community, staff say approximately $2 million remain. Bellevue had given $7 million in ARPA funds a few months ago, which has since gone to about 2000 households.
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CM Robertson says the city needs to do more to get word out into the community about rental assistance.
CM Zahn appreciates how quickly city was able to get rental funds out. Also wants to increase outreach to orgs who work w/ people who speak other languages.
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CM Stokes also appreciates the city focusing on both sides in this issue. Speaks about how it's a larger issue around helping people around housing and homelessness services.
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CM Lee: "there are people who for 2 years they don't wanna pay, there's no relationship, no matter what you do, we're not talking about those folks, we're not talking about leeches, the people who just wanna go from free place to free place, we're talking about honest folks"
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Appreciates the program and the people it serves.
I just wanna point out the double standard in the ability for conservatives to reference a negative stereotype about tenants, but you *know* if any of the progressives were to insult landlords today, they'd be accosted.
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Like, personal editorial here - no he's not saying people who are using that program fit this archetype, in fact he's saying the exact opposite, but like.... why do you even need to reference the stereotype, man?
It doesn't add to your statement, and in fact it's kinda harmful.
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Mayor Robinson: "This work is what we asked be done when we elected not to do a moratorium, cause we were advised that it was better to put all our energy in helping people to pay their rents, so they didn't have to dispute it and go to court."
*walk & chew gum GIF*
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Answering a question from Mayor, staff say they've heard through the grapevine that more County rental assistance funds might be coming in May, organized through a different program than EPRAP.
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Getting back to DM Nieuwenhuis's extra questions: staff can usually get a payment agreement within a month. Staff note they've started to see defaults, and they've had to renegotiate payment plans.
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CM Barksdale asks what the breakdown is in sizes of landlords. Staff will have to get back on that, note that even before program officially started, small landlords were coming to them for help. Say that many landlords have had to sell properties.
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CM Stokes: "We're still dealing w/ issues much larger than this... We have a lot of inequalities... I hope we take this into account when we talk about other things like affordable housing and trying to get everybody to be able to live reasonably well."
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CM Zahn wants to know what the city can do to help out w/ childcare needs. Also wants to make sure city's able to help commercial tenants, which this program doesn't cover.
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Appears the stream was removed, so that's it from me! Looks like Zahn's comments were the last of the night anyway, so I don't feel too bad.
Thanks for reading! Look for the summary article tomorrow.
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