I was on a panel last week on the Seattle Channel’s City Inside/Out, perhaps the best public affairs show in the region, to talk about the latest scheme hatched at City Hall to regulate housing. It isn’t much of a surprise that the proposed legislation to impose what amounts to a form of rent control in Seattle is being supported by Councilmember Sawant, but it is surprising to see the uncritical support of her efforts by the Mayor. The legislation is the worst kind, born out of anecdote rather than data, duplicative of existing programs, and, ultimately, illegal. But it’s good politics, and lately the Mayor seems to favor good politics over good policy. And like Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIZ), the infeasible scheme to require rent restricted units for some increase in zoning, this legislation was written by a select few and excluding the very people most impacted by the new rules.

The proposed legislation we discussed on the panel would prevent landlords from increasing rent when a tenant complains about lack of maintenance in their unit that might cause the unit to be below legal standards of habitation. The problem is that the City already has the Rental Inspection Ordinance (RIO) which apparently has failed to catch substandard buildings (even when inspected) and has only registered about a third of rental properties in the City. All this would do is add more to the City’s to do list with no additional resources. And it’s an incentive to do nothing. If a housing owner decides to raise the rent, and a tenant complains, it doesn’t mean the repairs will happen. How would they be paid for?

The fact is that operating costs are outpacing rent increases. Taxes, utilities and other costs are climbing quickly. Those costs include maintenance. The only way to cover operating costs is from rent. When rents don’t keep up, buildings fall apart. The proposal does nothing to solve that problem, and in fact it would incentivize avoiding making improvements along with limiting rents.

More importantly, the proposal is illegal grandstanding by Sawant, and ill conceived piece of legislation that will provoke law suits. Like MIZ, the Mayor seems bent on using his power to score political points without actually accomplishing anything beneficial for renters or people looking for housing. We’ve come to expect that from Councilmember Sawant, but the Mayor appears to be following her example.

The right thing to do, is to allocate resources to encourage and incentivize housing owners and operators make needed repairs, not make it harder to do so. A loan program, expanding the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program so it could be used for improvements, and perhaps funds for the City to acquire and improve truly troubled buildings. All of these things would be collaborative solutions that would make life better for renters and keep their rents low. But that’s hard work. And there is no villain or victim, just people working together trying to make life better. Boring.