Dori Monson’s Feedback Friday: Upzoning and prevailing wage jobs

Welcome to our new Feedback Friday feature, where we collect a sampling of comments we receive over email and Facebook on various topics throughout the week. Want the chance to have your comments included in Feedback Friday? Send your thoughts about any show topics via email or the Dori Monson Facebook page.

Upzoning is destroying family neighborhoods

The council doesn’t care about ruining Roosevelt

Yep, Dori! It’s true! The upzoning is real. I’m in “Bulldozer” Rob Johnson’s District 4 and just learned that I will be directly affected by this upzone. As newlyweds, we purchased our first home in 1998, a craftsman in Roosevelt. When we bought the house, we had a dream to add an upstairs and remodel to make this our forever home. With hard work, we accomplished that. But now … things are changing.

My neighbor said we are three years too late. Who knew our fate was being discussed and gambled with as we lived life raising our daughter from preschool, to a junior now at Roosevelt High School, paying taxes, and working hard to have a place we can call home? Who knew you had to become a city council junkie to know what heavy agenda is being pushed? We didn’t even know until a couple of weeks ago about the city council FINAL Public Hearing on Feb. 21st — and we went! Our neighbor spoke for us and we held our signs … but all too late. Just how they like to handle things … behind your back (and is it any wonder that the final public hearing happened to be scheduled during mid-winter break, when many of my neighbors – and others! – were off celebrating their families on a vacation?). Most hurtful is the feeling of betrayal from my city and my community leaders with misleading or absent information about Roosevelt’s future.

Yes, we see the construction going up along the corridor of Roosevelt Way, but did we ever think it would seep into the blocks of single-family homes? We had no idea it was us — our little pocket of a neighborhood on Northeast 72nd Street between Roosevelt Way and I-5. It’s a neighborhood that will be hosting our 16th annual Neighborhood Picnic this June. We are neighbors that have such a strong bond that we regularly get together to go out for music, dinners, host progressive dinner parties, and have happy hour on one another’s porches and decks. We are neighbors that borrow tools and help out with projects. We are neighbors that take our dogs for walks together and will even care for one another’s dog while out of town. We are neighbors who grow rich gardens of vegetables and flowers only to share with others. We are neighbors that have created a carpool to get the kids to school. We are a neighborhood where the kids are friends — they have the freedom to go to each other’s homes and play in the backyard or ride bikes. We are more than neighbors. We are a family that has created a support system for one another.

We are NOT taking one for the team this time. The neighbors who want to stay will rally. We will do all that we can to hold hands tight and dig in our heels. Where would we go? We can’t afford to sell and still live in this neighborhood either. Talk about making housing affordable! We are FAMILIES. We don’t want to live in condos. Those who promoted the Roosevelt light rail station, which we supported, gave a very positive spin on impact for our specific neighborhood at the informational meetings. We were assured, over and over, that the urban village density would not overreach into our little pocket of heaven here.

Please don’t get me wrong; I want affordable housing in our city. This city is out of control with the cost of living and the amount of people on the streets. It’s disgusting and embarrassing. It’s sad. This city has been run into the ground. It will take years for it to ever recover. I don’t think sweeping out single family housing is the answer, and the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda is full of false promises.

It angers me that Bulldozer Rob Johnson can just push his agenda – and in his district! He is displacing families and then running away as he goes to work on the NHL project. It makes me sick to my stomach!

– Sarah in Seattle

Upzoning will just make homes more unaffordable

Johnson’s proposal to upzone neighborhoods other than his own also appears to be the first step in his “incentivize turnover” plan for existing residents of Seattle. The upzones will, of course, further exacerbate the prices of existing homes even further out of reach of those who wish to live here, PLUS there will likely be an incredible subsequent tax hike associated with just the price increases, regardless of what further steps the city council takes to impose additional taxes.

Whatever happened to having council members that actually REPRESENT their constituents? Wasn’t that the intent of having District representation?

As a 36-years resident of one of the areas targeted for an upzone who will be on the receiving end of the pain imposed by CM Johnson, I do not feel that his policies will do anything other than increase the profits for his developer contributors, at great loss for the City of Seattle.

– Greg in Seattle

What about golf courses? 

If the Seattle City Council cares so much about affordable housing and thinks that upzoning single-family-homes will help, surely they’ve considered the massive value increase that will cause for the remaining homes? Likely not, but if you consider basic supply and demand to it, the results are obvious; those interested in having a yard or not sharing walls with inconsiderate neighbors will still want homes, and the values for those homes will go up. This will push some to move out of the city, which can easily put even more load on our horrible roadways.

I’m curious if anyone has bothered to consider doing anything about the golf courses we have inside the city limits. It could be used for the dense housing they want so badly. There are 418 acres of golf space in the city of Seattle handled by the city itself, with over 100 acres of private land used for courses. That seems quite excessive, and I’d bet it’s more than other large cities with similar geographic limits on urban sprawl.

– Nathan

Prevailing wages — fair or not fair?

Dirt haulers are not overpaid

I was listening to your comments today over the wage the dirt haulers were to be paid on the tunnel project. One thing immediately came to mind that you did not take into consideration with your yearly income calculation. I didn’t work on this project, but have on many like this one over my 30 years as a dirt hauler. Our work is seasonal, not year-round as you might think. Also, the material they more than likely hauled was accumulated over several days to load enough of the trucks on the project, and then they would have to wait for several more days for another sufficient amount to be generated. I have worked on many highway projects, including the paving on I-5 near the Tacoma Dome. This work has to be done at night to where you can’t be on the highway before 11 p.m. and must be off by 4 a.m. Many shifts are not even eight hours and can be canceled for various reasons. I make about $65,000 a year, if I’m lucky. Perhaps you still think I’m overpaid. There are a lot of safety risks involved and a level of skill needed. I would invite you to come out and try your hand at it at any time. Love the show by the way. Respectfully,

– David in Puyallup

Driving a dump truck takes a toll on your health

Prevailing wage is determined with what piece of equipment you can operate. An operator takes a beating sitting on machinery. Try riding an iron bull for about 10 hours. I’ve been on equipment for over 20 years.

– Michael in Eatonville

Prevailing wage jobs are a racket

Dori has a point. I’m in the glass/glazier industry working at a non-union shop. Occasionally a prevailing wage job comes across and it’s mostly union labor working them. We get some dirty looks and nasty comments because we dare get a taste of their gravy train. We even had some goons come up from Oregon to picket in front of our shop. You are most definitely right, it is a racket and it’s supposed to go to certain groups.

– Paul in Woodinville

Prevailing wage has nothing to do with a worker’s worth

Prevailing wage rates only apply to government projects. They do not apply to any private construction. The wage rates are set by the state or federal government for each discipline. Trust me, prevailing wage rates are almost always much more than what a worker would get in the private sector working on a private construction job. Dori is right that prevailing wage rates increase the cost of a construction job. In many cases, the wage rates are arbitrary and do not reflect the actual wage rage that a worker is worth.

– James in Mount Vernon