The conclusion of our interview with the inimitable Terri Anderson, Spokane Director and Policy Lead for the Tenants Union of Washington this week on the podcast.
The Whitman Neighborhood is in the Northeast, bound by Francis, Crestline, Wellesley and Morton (one block off Nevada). It’s 90%+ single family homes, an elementary school and a large park.
This episode was really disheartening for me. There are 29 different neighborhood councils in this city and they’re all different. While they can be problematic, they’re called for in the charter so they aren’t going away. Many are good and welcome renters. The Hillyard Neighborhood Council has helped bring affordable housing to our neighborhood (Kehoe Building, Hillyard Station, etc.). Renters can and should be involved in the councils. I’ve been on my neighborhood councils for 15+ years and only been a home owner for 4. I’m sorry she had such negative experiences with the councils she’s experienced, but I wish she could see the system more complexly.
Thanks for the note man. Sorry I'm just seeing it. I appreciate these thoughts and your experiences. And obviously it's going to be true that the neighborhood councils are going to be shaped by the people who show up.
And insofar as Terri's work is with the most marginal populations, it's kinda not surprising that her framing might be skewed by that. The people who struggle to even make rent probably aren't going to have a ton of time to be active participants in their neighborhood councils. If they even realize they exist.
What do you think is different about the Hillyard Council that renters feel welcomed and that have led to positive outcomes around affordable housing?
You're welcome. Thanks for the reply. Nothing to be sorry about, you've been busy. I have to say that your interview with our mutual friend Kitty tipped the karmic scales back to even for me as she portrayed some of the good neighborhood councils can do.
For the majority of my time with the HNC I was a renter. The HNC's bylaws intentionally allow for just about anyone with a stake in Hillyard (live, work, own, play, school, etc.) to come to the table with an equal voice. We also minimize the parliamentary procedure stuff and try to allow people to meet us where they're at.
We're far from perfect and many are not going feel welcome. I hope that's something we can continue to improve. In truth were are still a white, male dominated group missing representation from large demographics in our neighborhood like Asian, Marshallese and Slavic. You're correct that folks who are low and middle income often don't have time for evening meetings and if they do, they very likely have never heard of a neighborhood council. Real community organizing has been missing from Spokane for a very long time. The leadership at city hall outside of the Council has been chipped away by budget cuts and poor leadership for the last 10 plus years.
So, our council does its best to try to represent those voices. I can't think of a person who's been an active member of the HNC who isn't one or less generation away from poverty, disability or another form of marginalization. We reach out when we can. We talk to people at events like the Hillyard Festival and do our best to make a good faith effort.
The HNC has a different attitude about low income housing. The large(ish) projects we've seen have been really good redevelopments of otherwise vacant, abandoned or underused property. Market Street Station was a small vacant bank building with a huge parking lot that turned into an amazing mixed used building that respected the architecture and traditions of the neighborhood. The Kehoe rescued the old Hillyard High School from demolition. It's a beautiful building that was left fallow for too long. The recent Jayne Auld Manor on Francis transformed a mostly vacant lot into modern housing. We have also had housing situations like this in our neighborhood for a long time, like the Hillyard Plaza apartments.
Spokane Housing Ventures, Spokane Housing Authority and Inland Empire Residential Resources came to us, worked with us and participated in our planning efforts. It's a two way street. Too many developers are unwilling to reach out to residents and too many residents are unwilling to allow developers a voice at the table to create positive, mutually beneficial outcomes in most cases.
The Whitman Neighborhood is in the Northeast, bound by Francis, Crestline, Wellesley and Morton (one block off Nevada). It’s 90%+ single family homes, an elementary school and a large park.
This episode was really disheartening for me. There are 29 different neighborhood councils in this city and they’re all different. While they can be problematic, they’re called for in the charter so they aren’t going away. Many are good and welcome renters. The Hillyard Neighborhood Council has helped bring affordable housing to our neighborhood (Kehoe Building, Hillyard Station, etc.). Renters can and should be involved in the councils. I’ve been on my neighborhood councils for 15+ years and only been a home owner for 4. I’m sorry she had such negative experiences with the councils she’s experienced, but I wish she could see the system more complexly.
Thanks for the note man. Sorry I'm just seeing it. I appreciate these thoughts and your experiences. And obviously it's going to be true that the neighborhood councils are going to be shaped by the people who show up.
And insofar as Terri's work is with the most marginal populations, it's kinda not surprising that her framing might be skewed by that. The people who struggle to even make rent probably aren't going to have a ton of time to be active participants in their neighborhood councils. If they even realize they exist.
What do you think is different about the Hillyard Council that renters feel welcomed and that have led to positive outcomes around affordable housing?
You're welcome. Thanks for the reply. Nothing to be sorry about, you've been busy. I have to say that your interview with our mutual friend Kitty tipped the karmic scales back to even for me as she portrayed some of the good neighborhood councils can do.
For the majority of my time with the HNC I was a renter. The HNC's bylaws intentionally allow for just about anyone with a stake in Hillyard (live, work, own, play, school, etc.) to come to the table with an equal voice. We also minimize the parliamentary procedure stuff and try to allow people to meet us where they're at.
We're far from perfect and many are not going feel welcome. I hope that's something we can continue to improve. In truth were are still a white, male dominated group missing representation from large demographics in our neighborhood like Asian, Marshallese and Slavic. You're correct that folks who are low and middle income often don't have time for evening meetings and if they do, they very likely have never heard of a neighborhood council. Real community organizing has been missing from Spokane for a very long time. The leadership at city hall outside of the Council has been chipped away by budget cuts and poor leadership for the last 10 plus years.
So, our council does its best to try to represent those voices. I can't think of a person who's been an active member of the HNC who isn't one or less generation away from poverty, disability or another form of marginalization. We reach out when we can. We talk to people at events like the Hillyard Festival and do our best to make a good faith effort.
The HNC has a different attitude about low income housing. The large(ish) projects we've seen have been really good redevelopments of otherwise vacant, abandoned or underused property. Market Street Station was a small vacant bank building with a huge parking lot that turned into an amazing mixed used building that respected the architecture and traditions of the neighborhood. The Kehoe rescued the old Hillyard High School from demolition. It's a beautiful building that was left fallow for too long. The recent Jayne Auld Manor on Francis transformed a mostly vacant lot into modern housing. We have also had housing situations like this in our neighborhood for a long time, like the Hillyard Plaza apartments.
Spokane Housing Ventures, Spokane Housing Authority and Inland Empire Residential Resources came to us, worked with us and participated in our planning efforts. It's a two way street. Too many developers are unwilling to reach out to residents and too many residents are unwilling to allow developers a voice at the table to create positive, mutually beneficial outcomes in most cases.
Thanks again for these thoughts man. They're still sparking ideas for me