On Tuesday, June 24, the nation watched in awe as Zohran Mamdani soared to victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary election on the wings of radical, unheard of ideas like… making big business pay fair taxes and granting workers a living wage.
Jokes aside–with people all over the country struggling to find housing, pay their rent, and avoid landlord exploitation, it’s no wonder that Mamdani’s bold platform for housing resonated with New Yorkers.
That same night, on the opposite coast in our very own Grit City, renters and working class Tacomans also won a major victory in the fight for housing. Tacoma may not have a fashion week or more than one place in town to get a decent bagel, but we agree with New York on something more important: the fact that everyone deserves a stable and safe place to live.
Thanks to the incredible organizing work of Tacoma for All and a coalition of more than a dozen labor and community partners, Tacoma City Council couldn’t ignore the voices of our community. Our collective power led to the council adopting bold amendments to the One Tacoma: Comprehensive Plan, which guides the city’s policies and direction for the next 25 years. These two amendments further commit the city to tenant protections passed by voters in 2023, as well as open the door for an innovative housing model to meet the needs of our current and future neighbors.
This victory wouldn’t have been possible without the support of everyday community members showing up and taking part in the democratic process. At a city council meeting earlier this month, several dozen Tacomans of all ages and walks of life – from high school students to union leaders, lifelong residents to recent newcomers – showed up with the same goal in mind: to protect and build upon community-led efforts to make stable, safe, and permanently affordable housing a reality for everyone in our beloved city.
Harlan, a local high school student, spoke in support of an amendment to include expanding tenant protections and enshrining the provisions of the Landlord Fairness Code as official policy in the comprehensive plan. He stood before the city council as the youngest person in the room and passionately advocated on behalf of community members like himself and his mother, who were able to avoid losing their apartment thanks to the Landlord Fairness Code.
“For the last six years of my life, my mom and I have lived in a cozy apartment in Tacoma near my school and her work, near public transportation and parks, with a vibrant community that has supported me, and that I’ve become a part of. It’s my home and it holds immense value to me. But to some people, this isn’t a home, it’s just an apartment–an apartment with “value”, but not the same value it holds for me,” said Harlan.
A year ago, while his mother was already working 2-3 jobs just to be able to pay their rent, an unexpected increase threatened to displace the family, which would have forced them to uproot their lives right before Harlan’s senior year of high school.
“Thanks to the renters’ protections passed just prior to this, we were able to fight to keep our home and stay a part of our community. These renters’ protections keep communities together and give hardworking families the stability they deserve,” he said.
While the Landlord Fairness Code has had a life-changing impact for many families like Harlan and his mother, other Tacoma tenants continue to struggle as landlords ignore, and even retaliate against, the law. Several tenants and organizers spoke at the meeting about the continued appalling conditions and mistreatment residents face at apartment complexes in Tacoma.
April, a tenant at Bryn Mar Village, has been working with her neighbors to fight against the injustices its owners continue to get away with. She shared her personal experiences with basic maintenance requests going unanswered and safety violations being ignored. She went without heat in her apartment for two years. Despite this, the owners of Bryn Mar keep trying to raise rents. As a disabled cancer survivor, April feels responsible to speak up on behalf of other people with disabilities who are suffering from the effects of landlord greed.
Since the passage of the Landlord Fairness Code, volunteers with Tacoma for All have been supporting tenants at apartment buildings across the city to know their rights and take collective action against violations. The Landlord Fairness Code is an important tool empowering working class Tacomans to protect their homes and their families, which is also, unsurprisingly, why landlords are trying to destroy it.
Corporate landlords are already suing the city in an attempt to overturn the Landlord Fairness Code and go back to business as usual, bleeding working families dry without consequence. They are also not above using their money and influence to pressure city council to roll back tenant protections. But the power of the people is stronger. Our success at getting a commitment to tenant protections included in the One Tacoma Plan demonstrates that when working class Tacomans show up and fight together, our demands cannot be ignored.
We also know that simply protecting our current housing isn’t enough. Our city’s population continues to grow, with no signs of slowing down. Thousands of our neighbors live unsheltered on the streets. On top of all this, Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to federal affordable housing programs threaten to create what state officials have warned would be a “tsunami of homelessness” in Washington.
Community members let city council know we have a different vision for the future of housing in Tacoma–one that doesn’t rely on granting tax subsidies to private market developers in exchange for insufficient solutions, or waiting on the support of a federal government currently more concerned with kidnapping workers than housing its people.
Tenants, organizers, and affordable housing experts spoke in support of a plan for social housing in Tacoma, a model for mixed-income public housing that has seen success in other American cities and internationally. The amendment to the One Tacoma Plan commits the city to exploring a potential social housing developer for Tacoma that meets the needs of low-income residents and serves historically-marginalized communities.
“The city’s own data shows that private market is only producing affordable housing at one-fifth of the necessary rate,” said Jacqui, an affordable housing designer and tenant, “We cannot rely on the private market to provide what our community desperately needs: safe housing that allows them to live within their means.”
Earlier this year, Seattleites voted overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to fund social housing. Tacoma faces many of the same housing issues as our northern neighbors, so why not pursue a similar solution? For far too long, city leaders have relied on the same approaches, faced the same setbacks, and landed back in the same place they started with little to show for it. Now, with an innovative approach showing tested success and popular support, it’s time to try something different.
Rowan, a renter who volunteers with Tacoma for All, shared why he supports social housing in Tacoma.
“By housing a broad range of incomes, social housing generates revenue that’s invested into new, affordable homes – homes that are desperately needed, as right now, Tacoma is set to lose over 150 shelter beds by the end of July. Personally, I’d be much happier if part of my rent went towards that, rather than being siphoned out of the community and into corporate profits.”
The benefits of social housing align with the values of everyday Tacomans: looking out for each other, supporting our neighborhoods, and creating a positive future for the city we love.
Both housing amendments to the comprehensive plan were passed unanimously by city council on June 24. Successfully amending a municipal plan may not sound as exciting as electing a socialist mayor of the biggest city in the country, but it’s a victory worth celebrating. Housing policies can have a life or death impact for our community members, as well as the potential to create better ways of living for us all. That’s why organizers worked so tirelessly to achieve this win. Tacoma for All advocated the necessity of these amendments to the Tacoma Planning Commission, which brought them before city council. Organized tenants and labor built a coalition, gained support from local leaders, and made their voices heard at council meetings. Over 350 community members fought for themselves, their families, and their neighbors by sending letters of support.
Because of this, our elected leaders had to pay attention to the demands of working class people in Tacoma, and the future of housing in our city looks brighter than before.
But the fight is far from over. Tenants across Tacoma continue to face threats to their health, safety, and human right to a place to live. The landlord lobby is not going to give up easily, and will continue to fight against the public good by all means necessary. And while the possibility of a social housing solution is one step closer to reality, thousands of our neighbors are currently facing evictions or already living on the street.
We flexed our collective muscle to make these recent wins possible, and we will do it again and again. Because that is what it will take to achieve housing for all in Tacoma, our home.
by Audrey Bracken
