Harrell’s meetings raise questions about just how anonymous this anonymous donor really was, and they underscore whose voices the mayor privileges in initial conversations about public spaces.

by Vivian McCall

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office maintains that the mayor did not know the identity of the donor who offered to fund a children’s playground at Seattle’s gay nude beach, Denny Blaine Park, during his two meetings with that donor, including one meeting that happened on the day after the Seattle Parks Department announced the death of the playground proposal. Harrell’s meetings raise questions about just how anonymous this anonymous donor really was, and they underscore whose voices the mayor privileges in initial conversations about public spaces. 

Additionally, The Stranger found that the parks department didn’t really highlight the full cost of the project in its public communications. 

The Mayor’s Meetings 

On Wednesday, KUOW identified the donor as Stuart Sloan, a wealthy, 80-year-old businessman and philanthropist who lives next to the park and who owns University Village. 

Strategic communications firm The Keller Group told the station that the idea to put a kid’s playground in a queer, nudist sun temple during a time of surging anti-LGBTQ groomer rhetoric came from the City, not from Sloan. “Had it happened, Stuart would not have been the anonymous donor alone,” The Keller Group told the radio station. “Several were willing to give.” 

Harrell first discussed Denny Blaine in person with Sloan at the mayor’s downtown office on November 8, 2022, before the City announced the proposal. The second meeting occurred on Sloan’s turf at University Village on Saturday, December 9, 2023, the day after the City announced it planned to kill the playground project. 

In a statement sent to The Stranger in March, Housen said the Mayor did not discuss the donation for the playground at either meeting. During the first meeting they discussed parking, trash, and graffiti at the park, and during the second meeting Harrell aimed to “update progress being made on these issues” after the park had received media attention, Housen said.

In a follow-up email Wednesday, Housen maintained that the Mayor didn’t know Sloan was the anonymous donor, despite the fact that Harrell personally saw to it to keep Sloan abreast on the status of the playground proposal. Sloan donated $550 to Harrell’s campaign in 2021, and KUOW reported Sloan had texted Harrell’s personal cell phone to complain about the beach before there was a playground plan.

KUOW reported that the mayor’s office met with Sloan several times and presented him with playground mockups and ballpark numbers at his house before making the proposals public. Housen said he was not aware of anyone else requesting a meeting or a visit to their home regarding Denny Blaine.

The City Wasn’t Exactly Clear about the Price Tag

When this story blew up in November, the City said the Denny Blaine playground would cost $550,000. Every outlet, including The Stranger, ran with that number. 

However, the City knew the proposal could cost twice as much. A Sept 25, 2023 budget breakdown document shows Sloan committed $1 million in “private funds” for a construction project that the Seattle Parks Foundation, the nonprofit that acted as the project’s manager and fiscal agent, projected to cost a little more than $1 million. 

Why cite “construction costs” instead of total costs in communications with the public? In an email, Seattle Parks Foundation President and CEO Rebecca Bear said the $550,000 related to hard costs, and the rest were “soft costs” such as the expense of project management, design, and consultants “necessary to complete a project from start to finish.”

Seattle Parks and Recreation spokesperson Rachel Schulkin said the department “…Made the judgment call to communicate the cost we knew of at the time. There was no desire to obfuscate anything from the public—the budget was still in flux.”

Who Is Stuart Sloan?

According to KUOW, Sloan arrived in Seattle from SoCal in the 1960s, and he got a degree in business from the University of Washington. In 1999, Seattle Times reported he started making the big bucks on business deals in the 1980s. One of those deals involved selling QFC to Kroger when he served as chairman of the grocery chain. 

He made the news in 2022 when he and his wife, Molly Sloan, gave $78 million to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Oh, and he doesn’t like his picture taken, according to a 2013 story from the Seattle Times.

The Seattle Parks Department plans to hold a meeting about Denny Blaine tomorrow, inviting park users to comment on a proposed policy that would codify the right to be naked at the park. They’ve been working out the details with neighbors and activists with the group Friends of Denny Blaine for months, and we’ll have more on those developments this week.

The Stranger

Harrell’s meetings raise questions about just how anonymous this anonymous donor really was, and they underscore whose voices the mayor privileges in initial conversations about public spaces.

by Vivian McCall

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office maintains that the mayor did not know the identity of the donor who offered to fund a children’s playground at Seattle’s gay nude beach, Denny Blaine Park, during his two meetings with that donor, including one meeting that happened on the day after the Seattle Parks Department announced the death of the playground proposal. Harrell’s meetings raise questions about just how anonymous this anonymous donor really was, and they underscore whose voices the mayor privileges in initial conversations about public spaces. 

Additionally, The Stranger found that the parks department didn’t really highlight the full cost of the project in its public communications. 

The Mayor’s Meetings 

On Wednesday, KUOW identified the donor as Stuart Sloan, a wealthy, 80-year-old businessman and philanthropist who lives next to the park and who owns University Village. 

Strategic communications firm The Keller Group told the station that the idea to put a kid’s playground in a queer, nudist sun temple during a time of surging anti-LGBTQ groomer rhetoric came from the City, not from Sloan. “Had it happened, Stuart would not have been the anonymous donor alone,” The Keller Group told the radio station. “Several were willing to give.” 

Harrell first discussed Denny Blaine in person with Sloan at the mayor’s downtown office on November 8, 2022, before the City announced the proposal. The second meeting occurred on Sloan’s turf at University Village on Saturday, December 9, 2023, the day after the City announced it planned to kill the playground project. 

In a statement sent to The Stranger in March, Housen said the Mayor did not discuss the donation for the playground at either meeting. During the first meeting they discussed parking, trash, and graffiti at the park, and during the second meeting Harrell aimed to “update progress being made on these issues” after the park had received media attention, Housen said.

In a follow-up email Wednesday, Housen maintained that the Mayor didn’t know Sloan was the anonymous donor, despite the fact that Harrell personally saw to it to keep Sloan abreast on the status of the playground proposal. Sloan donated $550 to Harrell’s campaign in 2021, and KUOW reported Sloan had texted Harrell’s personal cell phone to complain about the beach before there was a playground plan.

KUOW reported that the mayor’s office met with Sloan several times and presented him with playground mockups and ballpark numbers at his house before making the proposals public. Housen said he was not aware of anyone else requesting a meeting or a visit to their home regarding Denny Blaine.

The City Wasn’t Exactly Clear about the Price Tag

When this story blew up in November, the City said the Denny Blaine playground would cost $550,000. Every outlet, including The Stranger, ran with that number. 

However, the City knew the proposal could cost twice as much. A Sept 25, 2023 budget breakdown document shows Sloan committed $1 million in “private funds” for a construction project that the Seattle Parks Foundation, the nonprofit that acted as the project’s manager and fiscal agent, projected to cost a little more than $1 million. 

Why cite “construction costs” instead of total costs in communications with the public? In an email, Seattle Parks Foundation President and CEO Rebecca Bear said the $550,000 related to hard costs, and the rest were “soft costs” such as the expense of project management, design, and consultants “necessary to complete a project from start to finish.”

Seattle Parks and Recreation spokesperson Rachel Schulkin said the department “…Made the judgment call to communicate the cost we knew of at the time. There was no desire to obfuscate anything from the public—the budget was still in flux.”

Who Is Stuart Sloan?

According to KUOW, Sloan arrived in Seattle from SoCal in the 1960s, and he got a degree in business from the University of Washington. In 1999, Seattle Times reported he started making the big bucks on business deals in the 1980s. One of those deals involved selling QFC to Kroger when he served as chairman of the grocery chain. 

He made the news in 2022 when he and his wife, Molly Sloan, gave $78 million to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Oh, and he doesn’t like his picture taken, according to a 2013 story from the Seattle Times.

The Seattle Parks Department plans to hold a meeting about Denny Blaine tomorrow, inviting park users to comment on a proposed policy that would codify the right to be naked at the park. They’ve been working out the details with neighbors and activists with the group Friends of Denny Blaine for months, and we’ll have more on those developments this week.

The Stranger

Harrell’s meetings raise questions about just how anonymous this anonymous donor really was, and they underscore whose voices the mayor privileges in initial conversations about public spaces.

by Vivian McCall

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office maintains that the mayor did not know the identity of the donor who offered to fund a children’s playground at Seattle’s gay nude beach, Denny Blaine Park, during his two meetings with that donor, including one meeting that happened on the day after the Seattle Parks Department announced the death of the playground proposal. Harrell’s meetings raise questions about just how anonymous this anonymous donor really was, and they underscore whose voices the mayor privileges in initial conversations about public spaces. 

Additionally, The Stranger found that the parks department didn’t really highlight the full cost of the project in its public communications. 

The Mayor’s Meetings 

On Wednesday, KUOW identified the donor as Stuart Sloan, a wealthy, 80-year-old businessman and philanthropist who lives next to the park and who owns University Village. 

Strategic communications firm The Keller Group told the station that the idea to put a kid’s playground in a queer, nudist sun temple during a time of surging anti-LGBTQ groomer rhetoric came from the City, not from Sloan. “Had it happened, Stuart would not have been the anonymous donor alone,” The Keller Group told the radio station. “Several were willing to give.” 

Harrell first discussed Denny Blaine in person with Sloan at the mayor’s downtown office on November 8, 2022, before the City announced the proposal. The second meeting occurred on Sloan’s turf at University Village on Saturday, December 9, 2023, the day after the City announced it planned to kill the playground project. 

In a statement sent to The Stranger in March, Housen said the Mayor did not discuss the donation for the playground at either meeting. During the first meeting they discussed parking, trash, and graffiti at the park, and during the second meeting Harrell aimed to “update progress being made on these issues” after the park had received media attention, Housen said.

In a follow-up email Wednesday, Housen maintained that the Mayor didn’t know Sloan was the anonymous donor, despite the fact that Harrell personally saw to it to keep Sloan abreast on the status of the playground proposal. Sloan donated $550 to Harrell’s campaign in 2021, and KUOW reported Sloan had texted Harrell’s personal cell phone to complain about the beach before there was a playground plan.

KUOW reported that the mayor’s office met with Sloan several times and presented him with playground mockups and ballpark numbers at his house before making the proposals public. Housen said he was not aware of anyone else requesting a meeting or a visit to their home regarding Denny Blaine.

The City Wasn’t Exactly Clear about the Price Tag

When this story blew up in November, the City said the Denny Blaine playground would cost $550,000. Every outlet, including The Stranger, ran with that number. 

However, the City knew the proposal could cost twice as much. A Sept 25, 2023 budget breakdown document shows Sloan committed $1 million in “private funds” for a construction project that the Seattle Parks Foundation, the nonprofit that acted as the project’s manager and fiscal agent, projected to cost a little more than $1 million. 

Why cite “construction costs” instead of total costs in communications with the public? In an email, Seattle Parks Foundation President and CEO Rebecca Bear said the $550,000 related to hard costs, and the rest were “soft costs” such as the expense of project management, design, and consultants “necessary to complete a project from start to finish.”

Seattle Parks and Recreation spokesperson Rachel Schulkin said the department “…Made the judgment call to communicate the cost we knew of at the time. There was no desire to obfuscate anything from the public—the budget was still in flux.”

Who Is Stuart Sloan?

According to KUOW, Sloan arrived in Seattle from SoCal in the 1960s, and he got a degree in business from the University of Washington. In 1999, Seattle Times reported he started making the big bucks on business deals in the 1980s. One of those deals involved selling QFC to Kroger when he served as chairman of the grocery chain. 

He made the news in 2022 when he and his wife, Molly Sloan, gave $78 million to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Oh, and he doesn’t like his picture taken, according to a 2013 story from the Seattle Times.

The Seattle Parks Department plans to hold a meeting about Denny Blaine tomorrow, inviting park users to comment on a proposed policy that would codify the right to be naked at the park. They’ve been working out the details with neighbors and activists with the group Friends of Denny Blaine for months, and we’ll have more on those developments this week.

The Stranger

I’ve finally accepted that I have feelings for you.

by Anonymous

I’ve finally accepted that I have feelings for you. My favorite part about coming into that bar is to see you. I love when there’s a lull in the rush and you come over to me to talk. I’ve loved just sitting and staring at you talk about your hobbies and your favorite things. I honestly don’t know the first thing about them, but I love seeing your face light up when you talk about them, and I love how excited you get when you tell me about what you have planned. You make me belly laugh, and you have such a goofy sense of humor. 

I want to be more forward, but I’m scared. I’m scared you don’t feel the same. I’m scared that the hour-long talks at the end of the night or the glances I catch from you across the room are all innocent, platonic, or otherwise lack a deeper meaning. And if you do like me back, then I’m scared that acting on our feelings will ruin what we have. What if it doesn’t work out? I’ll never be able to come into that bar again. What about all of our mutual friends? What if I’m completely delusional and you get creeped out by me? 

There’s also HIM. You don’t have to worry about me wanting him. He does what he can when he shows up there to get me to go home with him. I never do. He makes me feel unsafe. You make me feel safe. I know you would stand up and say something to him in a heartbeat if I gave you just one look of fear or uncertainty when he’s around. Just know that I see through him and I don’t want him. I do what I can in the moment to keep the peace, and I know it may seem that I’m reciprocating his feelings towards me, but I’m not. I want you. I hope one day I can stop being a chickenshit and just tell you how I feel. Or maybe you might do that, too? 

Do you need to get something off your chest? Submit an I, Anonymous and we’ll illustrate it! Send your unsigned rant, love letter, confession, or accusation to ianonymous@thestranger.com. Please remember to change the names of the innocent and the guilty.

The Stranger

I’ve finally accepted that I have feelings for you.

by Anonymous

I’ve finally accepted that I have feelings for you. My favorite part about coming into that bar is to see you. I love when there’s a lull in the rush and you come over to me to talk. I’ve loved just sitting and staring at you talk about your hobbies and your favorite things. I honestly don’t know the first thing about them, but I love seeing your face light up when you talk about them, and I love how excited you get when you tell me about what you have planned. You make me belly laugh, and you have such a goofy sense of humor. 

I want to be more forward, but I’m scared. I’m scared you don’t feel the same. I’m scared that the hour-long talks at the end of the night or the glances I catch from you across the room are all innocent, platonic, or otherwise lack a deeper meaning. And if you do like me back, then I’m scared that acting on our feelings will ruin what we have. What if it doesn’t work out? I’ll never be able to come into that bar again. What about all of our mutual friends? What if I’m completely delusional and you get creeped out by me? 

There’s also HIM. You don’t have to worry about me wanting him. He does what he can when he shows up there to get me to go home with him. I never do. He makes me feel unsafe. You make me feel safe. I know you would stand up and say something to him in a heartbeat if I gave you just one look of fear or uncertainty when he’s around. Just know that I see through him and I don’t want him. I do what I can in the moment to keep the peace, and I know it may seem that I’m reciprocating his feelings towards me, but I’m not. I want you. I hope one day I can stop being a chickenshit and just tell you how I feel. Or maybe you might do that, too? 

Do you need to get something off your chest? Submit an I, Anonymous and we’ll illustrate it! Send your unsigned rant, love letter, confession, or accusation to ianonymous@thestranger.com. Please remember to change the names of the innocent and the guilty.

The Stranger

I-137 can help get social housing like Sonnwendviertel in Vienna off the ground here in Seattle; let’s not allow misleading critiques to stop our city from achieving a beautiful, low-carbon future.

by Akiksha Chatterji

Can you imagine a Seattle with dense, green, affordable housing in every neighborhood? Housing interwoven with public transit, where essential services such as child care are located within walking, biking, or rolling distance? This future is possible, and social housing can help us get there.

Like much of the US, Seattle is confronting the overlapping crises of climate change and housing affordability. These pressing issues are deeply interlinked. Decades of urban sprawl, displacement, and carbon-intensive building practices have contributed greatly to climate pollution, compounded by racist and exclusionary zoning policies that have disproportionately pushed communities of color into some of the most polluted areas in Seattle.

Seattle’s population is expected to reach one million by 2044. Yet the City at present does not have a credible plan to meet these needs. The mayor’s Comprehensive Plan, mapping out the city’s growth for the next two decades, is shockingly inadequate, and intentionally so, as article after article have pointed out. Meanwhile, two-thirds of young people in Seattle are rent-burdened, and one in three say owning a home feels impossible in their lifetime.

How we address the housing affordability crisis presents a huge opportunity to curb Seattle’s climate pollution, invest in healthy and resilient communities, and usher in a thriving green economy. With an ambitious and equitable approach, Seattle could serve as a model for the rest of the US. 

The Green New Deal offers a way forward: solutions that call for bold transformations to our economy and society that tackle both rampant inequality and climate change at the same time. We need more housing of all types in Seattle, but one particular model serves as an especially strong Green New Deal solution: social housing.

Social housing is permanently affordable, publicly owned, mixed-income housing governed by more resident leadership than traditional public housing. No resident would ever pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent. Importantly, as noted in this report, social housing would help “decommodify human essentials by keeping units permanently out of the private rental market and insulating them from market fluctuations.” 

Done equitably, social housing can bring down climate pollution and create hundreds of skilled union jobs, all while reducing inequality and drastically improving the quality of life for the vast majority of people. And, thanks to some really incredible organizing by House Our Neighbors, Seattle now has a social housing developer.

Last year, Seattle voters passed Initiative 135 (I-135) by an overwhelming majority. This decision created the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD), a Public Development Authority tasked with building and acquiring social housing. In addition to being permanently affordable, all new social housing would be built to carbon-neutral energy efficiency standards known as Passive House, and could serve as a model for green buildings and techniques across the nation.

What’s more, adding more affordable housing across the city will reduce displacement and climate-destroying commutes, and build climate resilience. As we face more and more summers with extreme heat and wildfire smoke, our communities deserve to stay housed and healthy with access to clean air and cooling. 

House Our Neighbors is now running a campaign to pass Initiative 137 (I-137), a progressive revenue source to fund the SSHD. The campaign has gained significant support from a wide coalition of organizations and labor unions, including climate justice group 350 Seattle and MLK Labor. 

The campaign has tremendous momentum, having already gathered over 15,000 signatures to put I-137 on the November ballot. That said, another 20,000 signatures are needed by the end of May to make the cut, and you can help. Join House Our Neighbors, 350 Seattle and other community groups for a signature-gathering event or two—there are lots of opportunities to do so, and you do not need to have any experience or expertise. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, critics of I-137 have already started questioning the legitimacy of the SSHD. One such article states that the SSHD is struggling to “take shape.” This is incredibly misleading. I-135 required the city to provide 18 months of administrative funding, which was delayed until recently. No new entity can get started without sufficient funding, and if the City had respected the democratic mandate of I-135, then the SSHD would have had the required funds long ago. We wouldn’t call a business a failure for fundraising to get started, so why is this any different? 

Importantly, social housing is a proven model. Just look at Singapore, France, Finland, Vienna, Montgomery County, Maryland, New Zealand, Egypt and more. Seattle could have this future, too, so long as we ensure a secure funding stream for the city’s social housing developer. I-137 can help get social housing off the ground; let’s not allow misleading critiques to stall Seattle achieving a beautiful, low-carbon future. 

Everyone deserves to have a safe place to call home, without fear of displacement. Social housing offers a future in which our fundamental human right to stay housed is met, all while building a city with thriving, climate-resilient communities. This is an opportunity to win climate, economic, and racial justice, and it is a huge step towards achieving a Green New Deal for our city.

Akiksha Chatterji is the campaigns director for 350 Seattle. Aki is responsible for building, managing, and sustaining 350 Seattle’s local Green New Deal campaigns. 

The Stranger

I-137 can help get social housing like Sonnwendviertel in Vienna off the ground here in Seattle; let’s not allow misleading critiques to stop our city from achieving a beautiful, low-carbon future.

by Akiksha Chatterji

Can you imagine a Seattle with dense, green, affordable housing in every neighborhood? Housing interwoven with public transit, where essential services such as child care are located within walking, biking, or rolling distance? This future is possible, and social housing can help us get there.

Like much of the US, Seattle is confronting the overlapping crises of climate change and housing affordability. These pressing issues are deeply interlinked. Decades of urban sprawl, displacement, and carbon-intensive building practices have contributed greatly to climate pollution, compounded by racist and exclusionary zoning policies that have disproportionately pushed communities of color into some of the most polluted areas in Seattle.

Seattle’s population is expected to reach one million by 2044. Yet the City at present does not have a credible plan to meet these needs. The mayor’s Comprehensive Plan, mapping out the city’s growth for the next two decades, is shockingly inadequate, and intentionally so, as article after article have pointed out. Meanwhile, two-thirds of young people in Seattle are rent-burdened, and one in three say owning a home feels impossible in their lifetime.

How we address the housing affordability crisis presents a huge opportunity to curb Seattle’s climate pollution, invest in healthy and resilient communities, and usher in a thriving green economy. With an ambitious and equitable approach, Seattle could serve as a model for the rest of the US. 

The Green New Deal offers a way forward: solutions that call for bold transformations to our economy and society that tackle both rampant inequality and climate change at the same time. We need more housing of all types in Seattle, but one particular model serves as an especially strong Green New Deal solution: social housing.

Social housing is permanently affordable, publicly owned, mixed-income housing governed by more resident leadership than traditional public housing. No resident would ever pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent. Importantly, as noted in this report, social housing would help “decommodify human essentials by keeping units permanently out of the private rental market and insulating them from market fluctuations.” 

Done equitably, social housing can bring down climate pollution and create hundreds of skilled union jobs, all while reducing inequality and drastically improving the quality of life for the vast majority of people. And, thanks to some really incredible organizing by House Our Neighbors, Seattle now has a social housing developer.

Last year, Seattle voters passed Initiative 135 (I-135) by an overwhelming majority. This decision created the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD), a Public Development Authority tasked with building and acquiring social housing. In addition to being permanently affordable, all new social housing would be built to carbon-neutral energy efficiency standards known as Passive House, and could serve as a model for green buildings and techniques across the nation.

What’s more, adding more affordable housing across the city will reduce displacement and climate-destroying commutes, and build climate resilience. As we face more and more summers with extreme heat and wildfire smoke, our communities deserve to stay housed and healthy with access to clean air and cooling. 

House Our Neighbors is now running a campaign to pass Initiative 137 (I-137), a progressive revenue source to fund the SSHD. The campaign has gained significant support from a wide coalition of organizations and labor unions, including climate justice group 350 Seattle and MLK Labor. 

The campaign has tremendous momentum, having already gathered over 15,000 signatures to put I-137 on the November ballot. That said, another 20,000 signatures are needed by the end of May to make the cut, and you can help. Join House Our Neighbors, 350 Seattle and other community groups for a signature-gathering event or two—there are lots of opportunities to do so, and you do not need to have any experience or expertise. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, critics of I-137 have already started questioning the legitimacy of the SSHD. One such article states that the SSHD is struggling to “take shape.” This is incredibly misleading. I-135 required the city to provide 18 months of administrative funding, which was delayed until recently. No new entity can get started without sufficient funding, and if the City had respected the democratic mandate of I-135, then the SSHD would have had the required funds long ago. We wouldn’t call a business a failure for fundraising to get started, so why is this any different? 

Importantly, social housing is a proven model. Just look at Singapore, France, Finland, Vienna, Montgomery County, Maryland, New Zealand, Egypt and more. Seattle could have this future, too, so long as we ensure a secure funding stream for the city’s social housing developer. I-137 can help get social housing off the ground; let’s not allow misleading critiques to stall Seattle achieving a beautiful, low-carbon future. 

Everyone deserves to have a safe place to call home, without fear of displacement. Social housing offers a future in which our fundamental human right to stay housed is met, all while building a city with thriving, climate-resilient communities. This is an opportunity to win climate, economic, and racial justice, and it is a huge step towards achieving a Green New Deal for our city.

Akiksha Chatterji is the campaigns director for 350 Seattle. Aki is responsible for building, managing, and sustaining 350 Seattle’s local Green New Deal campaigns. 

The Stranger

I-137 can help get social housing like Sonnwendviertel in Vienna off the ground here in Seattle; let’s not allow misleading critiques to stop our city from achieving a beautiful, low-carbon future.

by Akiksha Chatterji

Can you imagine a Seattle with dense, green, affordable housing in every neighborhood? Housing interwoven with public transit, where essential services such as child care are located within walking, biking, or rolling distance? This future is possible, and social housing can help us get there.

Like much of the US, Seattle is confronting the overlapping crises of climate change and housing affordability. These pressing issues are deeply interlinked. Decades of urban sprawl, displacement, and carbon-intensive building practices have contributed greatly to climate pollution, compounded by racist and exclusionary zoning policies that have disproportionately pushed communities of color into some of the most polluted areas in Seattle.

Seattle’s population is expected to reach one million by 2044. Yet the City at present does not have a credible plan to meet these needs. The mayor’s Comprehensive Plan, mapping out the city’s growth for the next two decades, is shockingly inadequate, and intentionally so, as article after article have pointed out. Meanwhile, two-thirds of young people in Seattle are rent-burdened, and one in three say owning a home feels impossible in their lifetime.

How we address the housing affordability crisis presents a huge opportunity to curb Seattle’s climate pollution, invest in healthy and resilient communities, and usher in a thriving green economy. With an ambitious and equitable approach, Seattle could serve as a model for the rest of the US. 

The Green New Deal offers a way forward: solutions that call for bold transformations to our economy and society that tackle both rampant inequality and climate change at the same time. We need more housing of all types in Seattle, but one particular model serves as an especially strong Green New Deal solution: social housing.

Social housing is permanently affordable, publicly owned, mixed-income housing governed by more resident leadership than traditional public housing. No resident would ever pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent. Importantly, as noted in this report, social housing would help “decommodify human essentials by keeping units permanently out of the private rental market and insulating them from market fluctuations.” 

Done equitably, social housing can bring down climate pollution and create hundreds of skilled union jobs, all while reducing inequality and drastically improving the quality of life for the vast majority of people. And, thanks to some really incredible organizing by House Our Neighbors, Seattle now has a social housing developer.

Last year, Seattle voters passed Initiative 135 (I-135) by an overwhelming majority. This decision created the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD), a Public Development Authority tasked with building and acquiring social housing. In addition to being permanently affordable, all new social housing would be built to carbon-neutral energy efficiency standards known as Passive House, and could serve as a model for green buildings and techniques across the nation.

What’s more, adding more affordable housing across the city will reduce displacement and climate-destroying commutes, and build climate resilience. As we face more and more summers with extreme heat and wildfire smoke, our communities deserve to stay housed and healthy with access to clean air and cooling. 

House Our Neighbors is now running a campaign to pass Initiative 137 (I-137), a progressive revenue source to fund the SSHD. The campaign has gained significant support from a wide coalition of organizations and labor unions, including climate justice group 350 Seattle and MLK Labor. 

The campaign has tremendous momentum, having already gathered over 15,000 signatures to put I-137 on the November ballot. That said, another 20,000 signatures are needed by the end of May to make the cut, and you can help. Join House Our Neighbors, 350 Seattle and other community groups for a signature-gathering event or two—there are lots of opportunities to do so, and you do not need to have any experience or expertise. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, critics of I-137 have already started questioning the legitimacy of the SSHD. One such article states that the SSHD is struggling to “take shape.” This is incredibly misleading. I-135 required the city to provide 18 months of administrative funding, which was delayed until recently. No new entity can get started without sufficient funding, and if the City had respected the democratic mandate of I-135, then the SSHD would have had the required funds long ago. We wouldn’t call a business a failure for fundraising to get started, so why is this any different? 

Importantly, social housing is a proven model. Just look at Singapore, France, Finland, Vienna, Montgomery County, Maryland, New Zealand, Egypt and more. Seattle could have this future, too, so long as we ensure a secure funding stream for the city’s social housing developer. I-137 can help get social housing off the ground; let’s not allow misleading critiques to stall Seattle achieving a beautiful, low-carbon future. 

Everyone deserves to have a safe place to call home, without fear of displacement. Social housing offers a future in which our fundamental human right to stay housed is met, all while building a city with thriving, climate-resilient communities. This is an opportunity to win climate, economic, and racial justice, and it is a huge step towards achieving a Green New Deal for our city.

Akiksha Chatterji is the campaigns director for 350 Seattle. Aki is responsible for building, managing, and sustaining 350 Seattle’s local Green New Deal campaigns. 

The Stranger