Send a Personal Letter to City Council Members!

Send a Personal Letter to City Council Members!

House
Time Range For Action Alert: 
November 9, 2020 to November 30, 2020

Now is a crucial time to put pressure on our council members, as they are still deciding whether or not to vote on the Spokane Housing Levy 1590 on November 30th.

Please contact your city council member and encourage them to pass housing levy 1590.

In Spokane, we face a simple choice: pass a housing levy 1590 to build homes that people can actually afford, or allow landlords and developers to drive more Spokane residents into homelessness.

Now is a crucial time to put pressure on our councilmembers, as they are still deciding whether or not to vote on the Spokane Housing Levy before the November 30th city council meeting. We also have an opportunity make sure this ordinance addresses the legacy of systemic racism in housing caused by redlining, predatory lending practices, and other discrimination that disproportionately impact our Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) neighbors.

 The best way to influence City Council is to send them a personal letter to your City Council members and the Mayor.

 Below are some talking points and tips for writing a personal email that you can adapt for a call as well.

 Key Points

 1) Explain why you care about having more affordable housing in Spokane. Why is having a safe place to live important to you? Are you struggling to afford your home? Do you have friends or family who can’t afford rent?

2) Use effective messaging to frame the letter:

No matter what we look like or where we come from, home is where we lay our heads, hug our loved ones, and make our memories. But every year, rising rents and luxury home building leaves more and more of our neighbors without a home they can afford, forcing them to survive while living on our streets. There simply are not enough affordable homes for veterans, seniors, and working class families.

3) Do talk about housing inequity: There is a 3 year wait list for affordable housing in Spokane and a 1% vacancy rate. The legacy of racism in housing through redlining, predatory lending and other discriminatory practices mean that

Our Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) neighbors are the most impacted by this crisis.

4) Explain what we can achieve for Spokane: Pass the Spokane Housing Levy, so together we can build up to 2,000 new homes that our neighbors can actually afford. I believe the $16 a year we would each chip in is well worth this critical investment in our community.

5) Urge them to address housing inequity and the racial wealth gap: I urge you to pass this levy by the end of the year and to make sure the ordinance prioritizes projects that address the racial wealth gap and housing inequities. I urge you to add a requirement that the project selection committee is made up of a majority of our BIPOC neighbors who have been most impacted.

6) The housing levy is not enough: Funding the housing levy alone will not solve the housing crisis in Spokane. I also urge you to quickly pass tenant eviction protections and to change zoning to allow more homes to be built near transit and essential services.

7) Ask them to respond with their position on this issue: Please reply to my email with your position on this levy, whether you will support voting on it by the end of the year, and your position on adding the racial equity elements above to the ordinance.

 Contact Info for Council Members:

Send an email to all city council members and the mayor using the following email addresses: citycouncil2 [at] spokanecity.org, nwoodward [at] spokanecity.org

If you would like to email a specific city council members here are their email addresses.

Citywide Offices: Mayor: Nadine Woodward nwoodward [at] spokanecity.org

City Council President Breean Beggs bbeggs [at] spokanecity.org 

District 1 North East Spokane (North of Spokane River and East of Division)

Kate Burke, kateburke [at] spokanecity.org

Michael Cathcart, mcathcart [at] spokanecity.org

District 2 South Spokane (South hill and everything south of the River)

Betsy Wilkerson bwilkerson [at] spokanecity.org

Lori Kinnear lkinnear [at] spokanecity.org

 District 3 Northwest Spokane (North of the River and West of Division)

Candace Mumm cmumm [at] spokanecity.org Karen Stratton kstratton [at] spokanecity.org