DRAFT

CONFIDENTIAL
STATEMENT OF MAYORS

DRAFT

January 2019
We are some of the largest city mayors in King County representing communities outside Seattle and we
believe that healthy, vibrant communities are ones that offer affordable housing options for families and
individuals all along the income spectrum.
In recent years, the speed of economic and population growth in our region has outpaced the growth in
housing supply, creating a shortage of affordable housing—pricing out too many households and
threatening the fabric of our community.
We will continue our work to address homelessness and low-income housing and we will also work to
address the growing crisis of the lack of affordability of middle-income housing in the area.
Too many of our teachers can no longer afford to live near the schools where they teach. Too many
nurses, teachers, police and other first responders are moving out of the communities they serve to find
homes they can reasonably afford. Homelessness continues to rise, and our local workforce is
commuting from farther and farther away – worsening congestion and eroding our sense of community.
To address this problem, we intend to do our part to break down barriers and provide incentives to
substantially increase the supply of quality housing for all households in our community.
We will consider opportunities to advance housing affordability in the region, including but not limited
to:
1) Making available at no cost, at deep discount, or for long-term lease, under-utilized publiclyowned properties,
2) Updating zoning and land use regulations to increase density near current and planned
public transit,
3) Reducing or waiving parking requirements in transit corridors to help reduce overall
development costs,
4) Reducing or waiving impact and other development-related fees,
5) Streamlining and accelerating the permitting process for low- and middle-income housing
projects to improve developer certainty,
6) Providing tax exemptions and credits to incent low- and middle-income housing
development, and
7) Updating building codes to promote more housing growth and innovative, low-cost
development.
We believe that these efforts, combined with the support of the greater community, will make our
region more affordable for all households and will advance quality of life throughout the region.
Mayor Nancy Backus, City of Auburn
Mayor John Chelminiak, City of Bellevue
Mayor Jim Ferrell, City of Federal Way
Mayor Mary Lou Pauly, City of Issaquah
Mayor Dana Ralph, City of Kent

Mayor Penny Sweet, City of Kirkland
Mayor John Marchione, City of Redmond
Mayor Denis Law, City of Renton
Mayor Christie Malchow, City of Sammamish