FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9/21/2015
Kshama Sawant: “City Council Tells Olympia – Repeal the Ban on Rent Control!”
SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant released the following statement after Council adopted a resolution today that asks Olympia to lift the ban on rent regulation:
“I welcome passage of this rent control resolution as a huge victory for our grassroots movement for housing affordability. Thirty five years after the state legislature sold out to big landlords by banning all rent regulation, the City Council has been forced to take a historic action, officially urging the repealing of the ban.
“Just days ago several of my fellow Councilmembers opposed the resolution from Councilmember Licata and me, which is substantively the same as what they supported today.
“Why is this happening now? The majority of this Council has been in office for years and has failed to act on housing affordability. This key victory is a product of the pressure our movement has brought to bear.
“The real estate lobby, the Rental Housing Association, and big developers are scared by our movement, so they want this resolution to disappear into oblivion. Our movement’s goal is exactly the opposite. We need to use the resolution to build real pressure on Olympia.”
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