Unaffordable Housing

5/17/25 letter to county:

The county comprehensive plan is driven by the real estate industry. The housing element is not motivated by concern for retail and service workers who pay half their income or more for rent. Upzoning for luxury housing is attractive to city and county planners and elected officials, as it increases property tax revenue. This makes housing overall more expensive, exacerbating homelessness. This is class warfare, supported by the state and county.

Blaine is a microcosm of all these corrupting influences at play in the state capitol and county seat. Blaine's inability to fulfill its pipe dream of emulating Carmel, California (Blaine-by-the-Sea) will ultimately succumb to the judicial nemesis, and in agency rulings now starting, such as DOE requiring Blaine to follow the 2024 Stormwater manual in the toxic waste site cleanup downtown where the city planned to build condominiums. 

Unfortunately, the working poor can't afford lobbyists like the Washington Association of Realtors (WAR), who can often be found taking our elected officials to lunch.

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