Open Letter to Olympia City Council: Treat human renters with the same urgency you give dogs

Life is not ok in our beautiful city. As the rents soar, more of us are at risk of being forced into homelessness. I use a Housing Choice Voucher (also known as Section 8) to pay for my rent but I am struggling to survive in my city. I feel lucky to at least have a home, but my home is not what most reasonable people would consider habitable. Considering that this is happening in a historic building, right across from the historic state capital, is infuriating.

Most electric sockets and light switches in Jubert’s unit in The Olympian are broken or hanging from the walls by a few cords.

The walls in my rental unit radiate heat. They are hot to the touch. This is common throughout the building, All but one of my windows won’t open, which means I have no cross-ventilation in my unit. Windows throughout the building have no weather-proofing. Water accumulates and seeps into the walls. Unsurprisingly, mold is growing in crevices and corners. The building has become a haven for bed bugs and rodents. I’ve repeatedly asked for repairs, but nothing has happened.

We’ve had more than 20 managers over the past two years. Most have treated me and my neighbors with at, best, disinterest, and at worst, contempt.

I would hope that when property management lets us down, my neighbors and I could look to our local government to support our right to living in safe and healthy housing - but Olympia does not have any local tenant protections - there is no rental inspection program that proactively holds slumlords accountable. It is too expensive to move - and there is no local move-in fee payment plan requirement that would allow me to spread my move-in fees over a payment plan. I know that tenants who need repairs risk retaliation in the form of a no-cause eviction notice.

Unfortunately, Olympia City Council has been slow to passing tenant protections - even other cities like Bellingham, Seattle, Burien, Federal Way, Tacoma and more, have passed ordinances they could easily copy. Instead, the council has made puppies their priority, fast-tracking an ordinance focused on the health and well-being of pets.

Water is leaking from the ceiling; mold and mildew grow in the ceiling and walls.

Don’t get me wrong - I love puppies. But it is infuriating that the Council values the health and well-being of animals more than me, than children, than seniors, people with disabilities. They can skip process and debate to protect the health of animals, but renters? We just get told that we need to wait for a lengthy process to ‘hear all sides.’ Our health and well-being does not matter as much as the health and well-being of puppies.

In the ordinance that was swiftly passed to protect puppies, there were three pages of value statements talking about the importance of animal welfare. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said this prioritization of puppies over renters was a parody. Unfortunately this is real life. And in real life, I have to deal with mold, rodent infestation, and worrying about my neighbors’ health and safety.

If you can act with urgency to protect puppies, you better act with urgency on the crisis that is hurting - even killing - your human constituents.

Jubert Berrios outside his home.

The number one issue Washington voters are concerned about is homelessness. Councilmembers should take that seriously and act on what the voters want and have been calling for. We must implement a landlord code of conduct to keep low-income renters like myself in housing, while also making sure apartments meet reasonable habitability standards. At the same time we’re building up resources for folks who are currently homeless, we must also be proactive in preventing people from falling into homelessness.

What councilmembers are doing in Olympia now is instead de-prioritizing the issue most of us are wanting to be Priority Number One.

Jubert Berrios has lived at The Olympian apartment complex in Olympia for about two years.

Tell Olympia City CounciL RenterS Are A Priority

What: Olympia City Council Forum

When: 5 pm, Thursday, March 5

Where: 3100 Cain Rd SE, Olympia

RSVP: Ty@washingtoncan.org