Hundreds urge Seattle Council to reject ethics rollback and protect renters' rights; attempt to reopen public comment fails

Hundreds of residents and advocates used the council's public-comment period on May 27 to urge Seattle's City Council not to weaken the city's ethics rules or roll back renter protections.

Speakers said an ethics rewrite under consideration would enable council members with financial interests in rental housing to vote on measures that affect their own investments, and many tied the proposal to potential rollbacks of renter protections such as caps on late fees and eviction limits.

The public-comment period drew sustained and often emotional testimony. Alex Olson, who identified himself as a renter and a member of Workers' Strike Back, said: "The fact that you need to repeal your own ethics to carry out this agenda tells us everything we need to know." Sydney Amor, another renter and District 5…