HomeMy WebLinkAboutCashman-Crane 11.24.20From: Winter Cashman-Crane <winter.cashman@gmail.com>
To:
Cc: eprince@rentonwa.gov; rmcirvin@rentonwa.gov; Randy Corman <rcorman@rentonwa.gov>; Ruth Pérez
<rperez@rentonwa.gov>; vohalloran@rentonwa.gov; kvan@rentonwa.gov; abenedetti@rentonwa.gov
Date: 2020-11-24 08:44
Subject: Red Lion / DESC Ordinance
CAUTION:ThisemailoriginatedfromoutsidetheCityofRenton.Donotclicklinks,replyoropenattachmentsunlessyouknowthecontentissafe.
Hello Honorable Council,
I have concerns about the ordinance created in relation to Red Lion and DESC.
First, I feel that these put unnecessary government constraints on nonprofits and businesses. The extreme regulation in order for the city to prevent services for
unhoused communities is unprecedented, and it feels as if the city has prioritized this matter above all for the pandemic. For a city which values free enterprise, I
was surprised by how much red tape and regulations there were included to block future shelters.
Second, I would like to remind that council that we are now in the fifth year of a housing crisis declared by the State of Washington. I'd like the council to consider
the global ramifications as well. The world has been experiencing the largest refugee crisis since World War II. While so far, the federal administration has denied
migration and asylum, there are underlying conditions which are expected to force open borders such as the climate crisis, creating an entirely new class of
climate refugees which are forced from areas near the equator to the north and south.
Are these the kind of policies the City of Renton would like to have in place while we know there is a strong need not just to house our own unhoused
communities but also to provide services for the migrants and refugees we should expect will come increasingly over the next decade? Today the policies may
feel to "save" us from today's crisis, but I feel will easily become our enemy in the next one. These rules will hamper efforts for us to be part of world solutions to
the climate crisis and war torn asylum seekers.
Third, I am concerned reading through the ordinance that this specifically is controlling unhoused communities that we would not expect from any other
neighborhood or residents or businesses. As myself and many others have made clear to the city, we support DESC and believe Renton needs to do more to
equip itself for handling its own chronically unhoused communities. We have found it unfortunate that our local government seems to cave to the bigotry and hate,
and rather than take time to be part of public education and unity has decided to throw fuel on it with these negative conversations which are exacerbated by
NIMBY crowds. Some of these rules are expressedly classist and would put the government in a position of open discrimination:
"Entrances and elevators serving the homeless services shall be physically separated from entrances and elevators serving any residential use that is located on
the same site."
This doesn't "sound like" discrimination, it is discrimination. This would reflect the government feeding into the narrative that unhoused communities are somehow
inherently criminal or unhygienic or to be avoided. At minimum it displays that the City of Renton finds unhoused people are unsightly and not to be mingled with.
Please take time to correct this ordinance, to make it something that will establish us as a city ready to help rather than ready to build a wall of policies to keep
them out.
I find it unfortunate that the city has put this much effort into regulating a shelter, but has not taken this much effort to stop evictions happening in Renton or to
prevent gentrification of our city and displacement of diverse communities. It speaks to the priorities of the administration during this pandemic and demonstrates
how out of touch the administration is with the realities people are facing.