🏠 500 housing units in 500 days

County Executive’s Plan To Create 500 New Housing Units

Yesterday, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay announced his administration’s plan for 500 new units of shelter or housing in the next 500 days. He also shared plans to put a county-wide housing levy on the ballot to fund more long-term projects. [Seattle Times]

• City and county partnership: Zahilay said some of this housing will be a collaboration between the city and county. Mayor Wilson made a promise of 4,000 housing units during her four-year term, including 500 units to open in June and 1,000 by the end of the year. The County Executive is also creating a work group to develop a list of county-owned vacant land that could be used for housing or shelter. Maybe also an interesting time to partner with local faith communities, as we discussed on the podcast this week.
• COVID-era funding runs out in 2027: The county is also searching for funding to maintain existing housing programs, which are losing federal funding. For example, without county intervention, the Salvation Army’s 270-unit county-supported shelter in SODO is set to lose all of its COVID-era federal funding by May 2027.
• Don’t we already have housing levies? Since 2020, King County has funded housing and shelter projects with revenue from a one-tenth-of-a-penny sales tax. Seattle has had a housing levy since 1986, but a county property tax for housing projects would be new.

🤘🏼 Bumbershoot line-up is stacked: The headliners for the weekend are Turnstile and hometown classic Death Cab for Cutie. Personally, I’m excited about De La Soul, Sudan Archives, Bikini Kill, Noname, and Blood Orange. There will also be a cat circus (?!), a mermaid, wrestling, and more. Plus, kids 12 and under are free if they’re accompanied by an adult with a ticket. [Bumbershoot]

🪂 Tech layoffs hit more WA workers: Another round of layoffs at Meta will affect 168 employees in Washington. The workers, who are primarily based in Seattle, Redmond, and Bellevue, will be out of work starting May 8. Oracle is also laying off 491 employees, impacting workers at two Seattle offices as well as remote employees. These cuts take effect June 1. [GeekWire]

⚖️ Supreme Court rules against ‘conversion therapy’ ban: In news that makes me want to get back into bed, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a religious counselor’s challenge to Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ minors, saying it likely violates the First Amendment. This means Colorado’s law, as well as Washington’s, plus the more than 20 states with “conversion therapy” bans, will likely be struck down by lower courts. [Washington State Standard]