‘Even local government in WA is being polarized’: Former Burien mayor links Tacoma housing debate to party pressure

Tacoma’s Safe Homes for All initiative would expand tenant protections, increase penalties for rental-law violations, and establish additional licensing and enforcement requirements. The proposal appeared on the Nov. 3 ballot as Initiative Measure No. 1, building on tenant protections voters approved in 2023.

The initiative led in early election returns Tuesday night, with 59.48% voting in favor and 40.52% opposed as of 8:20 p.m., The Tacoma News Tribune reported.

Former Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, now government affairs director for the Rental Housing Association of Washington, challenged Tacoma’s housing measure and criticized political pressure on local officials during an Election Day appearance on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

“Even local government in Washington now is being polarized, and you have to define your ideology,” Schilling said.

Tacoma housing measure raises questions about construction

The initiative includes tenant-organizing protections, a public landlord database and education for renters and property owners. Supporters argue stronger enforcement is necessary to make existing protections effective; landlord groups warn additional requirements could increase costs and discourage rental investment.

“This would be just a continuation of added regulatory burden onto housing in the city of Tacoma,” Schilling said.

He argued that increasing housing supply should remain the priority.

“Tacoma has actually done a pretty good job of permitting more construction to get rents to stabilize, or even maybe decrease a little bit,” Schilling said. “Our message is, if this measure passes, that’s going to stop because there’s going to be no new construction.”

Schilling distinguished that opposition from support for assistance.

“Pierce County and Tacoma actually have a significant rental assistance program for low-income people or seniors. That’s great, and we support expanding tenant assistance programs,” Schilling said.

Party pressure and local accountability

The conversation also covered Democratic incumbents Amy Walen, Jesse Salomon and Sharon Tomiko Santos. Schilling described their election challenges as examples of pressure against lawmakers who depart from party positions.

“They’re more independent in what they’re thinking, especially what’s working for their districts,” Schilling said. “Can’t have independent thought. How dare we? How dare we have independent thought?”

Local offices and legislative seats differ in their responsibilities and constituencies. Schilling drew a comparison based on how readily residents recognize the officials making decisions.

“You got people coming up to you in the grocery store and know exactly who you are and what you’ve done,” Schilling said. “But legislators, people oftentimes don’t really even know who their state representative is or their state senator is. I’m all for competitive elections. We should have them.”

Schilling connects populism with concentrated power

Schilling extended his criticism beyond one political party.

“It doesn’t matter on the right or the left if you are going for a populist push,” Schilling said. “You are either going to have the government be the monopoly, or you’re going to have the corporations be the monopoly, depending on what side you’re on.

“When you’re just a capitalist, and you’re in the middle, and you want free markets, and you want private independent ownership or capacity to join that market, that’s the third way these days,” Schilling continued.

Government spending was another part of his argument.

“The local governments took out a bunch of money during COVID to expand these programs, expand their spending, and then the revenues haven’t kept up,” Schilling said.

Ballot wording adds another concern

The Tacoma initiative combines changes to rental-housing and business-license rules, including fees, enforcement and tenant protections.

Schilling questioned its breadth and readability.

“If you look up the full ballot title, if you go to Pierce County Elections and go to the local ballot title for Tacoma, it’s like a paragraph,” Schilling said. “Any time that something is not within the framework of the law around single subject or whatever, you should be able to say that’s clearly not single subject.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

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