Two City Council members missed a vote: a fight over renter representation ensued

Something interesting happened – or rather, didn’t happen – last week at a Seattle City Council committee meeting. 

There was supposed to be a vote on member appointments to the Seattle Renters’ Commission. That commission has seats for 15 members but currently only has five. 

The vote didn’t happen. That’s because Council President Sara Nelson and Councilmember Rob Saka failed to attend, leaving the committee shy of its three-member quorum.  That sparked a lot of outrage, including from Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who had this to say:

“This isn’t a committee meeting any more. This is just a community meeting. It is council members’ chartered responsibility to be at these meetings. This is literally our job, so I find it deeply frustrating that people took time to leave their jobs in the middle of the day, yet not every member of the committee could show up to do theirs.”

Many people have criticized the council members’ absence – and some are asking whether political motivations were involved.

Soundside sat down with Seattle Times reporter David Kroman, and Seattle Renters' Commission Interim Co-Chair Kate Rubin to discuss.

GUESTS:

• David Kroman - Seattle Times City Hall Reporter
• Kate Rubin - Interim Co-Chair, Seattle Renters' Commission

RELATED LINKS:

• Seattle City Council members stymie appointments to renters commission
• Housing & Human Services community discussion
• Seattle Renters' Commission

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