Two local bids for tenant rights

Plus more campaign cash and some recommended reading

Ballots are hitting mailboxes around the state and money is flowing in some hot local races.

In Tacoma, two landlord groups, the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association and the Rental Housing Association of Washington, have plowed $60,000 into the campaign against Measure 1, which would install a suite of tenant protections in the City of Destiny. Joe O’Sullivan over at Crosscut went deep on the underlying policy.

Among other things, the measure would ban evictions between Nov. 1 and April 1 and during the school year for families with school-age children.

Image by Shutterstock

Tacoma For All, the labor-backed committee behind the measure, has spent more than $60K so far. The opposition campaign hasn’t reported any spending yet.

Here’s why you should care about this: Tenant rights advocates have largely been turned away in the Legislature, so they’re trying to chip away in friendlier local jurisdictions in hopes of building statewide momentum. That approach worked with the minimum wage back in the day.