City Council Passes Mayor’s Rental Junk Fee Ban — And Holy Shit Did Wilson Need A W

The Seattle City Council voted 8-0 to pass Mayor Katie Wilson’s rental junk fee ban, legislation that codifies what fees landlords can impose, mandates upfront transparency, and bans any charges not explicitly permitted. To the relief of tenant advocates, the council also completely rejected amendments to water the legislation down. But not only is this a win for Seattle’s renter majority, it is a win for the Mayor, especially coming off a few particularly nasty public spats with the council that left progressives worried the council would declare any policy attached to Wilson’s name dead on arrival. 

Legislation related to landlord-tenant law is always steeped with controversy. This is the exact kind of bill that conservative council members can’t help but mark up with red ink and ultimately reject at the final vote. 

And the ordinance attracted some of that from Council Member Bob Kettle, but his colleagues hardly entertained it.

Kettle proposed an amendment to strike the term “junk fee” as to not offend or impugn landlords. Council Member Eddie Lin and Rob Saka joined him in voting “yes” and the rest of the council voted “no.” He might have scored a fourth if Council Member Maritza Rivera was not disqualified from voting because she owns a rental property. 

Kettle also proposed an amendment to allow landlords to charge pet rent, capped at $25, a change from the outright ban in the original legislation. In the meeting, he changed the amendment on the fly to only allow landlords to charge pet rent for dogs. His colleagues welcomed that change, but when it came to the underlying amendment, no one dared join him. 

Kettle’s amendment to renter’s insurance fees “opt-out” instead of “opt-in” also failed. 

And still, for respect of “the process” and “good governance,” Kettle joined all other eligible council members in voting “yes.”

Wilson took to social media immediately after the vote to claim a victory. And honestly, she needed a W right now. In the fallout of the tragic Bite of Seattle shooting, an already unfriendly media ecosystem raged against Wilson. Some members of the City Council also took the opportunity to publicly air their grievances against the Mayor. The situation became so toxic that onlookers lost track of what anyone was blaming her for. Nonetheless, it left some progressives worried that working with the Mayor going forward would insure the failure of their bills. Afterall, some council members were still licking their wounds from the “food fight” they lost against the Mayor. 

Tuesday’s vote is evidence that the Mayor and the council can work together to pass progressive priorities. Her relationship with the council will get another test in the surveillance pricing ordinance, which is seeing major pushback from the big business lobby many council members have pledged fealty to. If she can pull that one off, the media and politicos may have to look past her awkwardness, her wobbly start, and criticize the substance of her agenda rather than her supposed incompetence.