Mayor Katie Wilson Can Still Veto The RV Ban

Mayor Katie Wilson could try to stop Council Member Dan Strauss’s cruel, ineffective ban on RVs, but it wouldn’t be easy.

After the council passed the ban 6 to 3, against the consensus of homelessness service providers and advocates, Wilson vaguely flagged “serious concerns” with the legislation, drumming up rumors she may not sign it. But the bill would become law with or without here signature. If she feels passionately about stopping the ban, Wilson could veto the bill, but that’ll require some political courage and savvy to flip a vote to break the veto-overriding super-majority — or a new progressive council member that may take office next month. 

Last week, the Seattle City Council passed a new RV permitting system so stringent it will in effect ban RVs and make the lives of people already struggling all the more difficult. The Burner broke down here.

Now, Wilson has just 10 days from the passage of the bill to either sign it into law or veto it. If she doesn’t do either, the bill becomes law without signature from the Mayor. So far, Wilson’s not committed one way or another. 

“The mayor has serious concerns about this legislation,” Mayoral spokesperson Ansel Herz wrote in an email to The Burner. “She also shares concerns about the impacts of unsanctioned RVs in Seattle, and has accelerated shelter delivery, human services, homelessness prevention, housing production, and encampment resolution to provide people with stable housing, reduce homelessness, and support communities.”

Behind the scenes, there’s some speculation that Wilson won’t sign the bill. Initially, that may sound like a bold, progressive move, but it mostly works to absolve the Mayor of responsibility from the policy, and it won’t stop its deployment. Plus, the symbolic gesture won’t earn her any favor with prime sponsor Strauss, who could use his position as budget chair to retaliate. It’s a little, “worst of both worlds” to misquote semi-fictional pop sensation Hannah Montana. 

If she really wants to kill the bill, she might as well veto it. After the veto, the City Council must decide to sustain or override the veto, no sooner than five days and no later than 30 after its issue, according to the City Charter. If she wants the veto to hold, she’ll need to put on that organizer hat she wore in a past life and flip one of the council members to her side as the council would need six votes to override a mayoral veto. 

Unfortunately for this strategy, Wilson doesn’t have the most collaborative relationship with the City Council — they couldn’t even agree on feeding school kids lunch. But some have suggested she could try to be tricky with time. 

Hypothetically, Wilson could wait until the last second to veto, then hope that the progressive candidate, Nilu Jenks, wins in the district 5 race, which may give her the vote breakdown she needs. However, the council can vote to sustain or override the veto anytime between five and 30 days of the Mayor issuing it. Jenks, who is competing in a special election, would take office after King County Elections certifies the results, but that will be at the very end of that timeline. Besides, Jenks did not respond when I asked if she would vote to sustain or override a hypothetical veto on the RV ban. 

Whichever way she goes, Wilson’s decision will reveal more about her political strategy managing a conservative majority council. Does she go high-risk, high-reward and veto? Does she play it safe and sign so she can have more sway with council to make changes ahead of the July 2027 veto? Or does she throw up her hands and refuse to sign, a move that probably won’t help her relationship to the council, but will keep her name off a bad policy.