Stronger tenant protections in Tacoma? City Council sends measure to ballot
For the second time since 2023, Tacoma residents will vote on a measure to strengthen tenants’ rights, barring a legal challenge to keep it off the ballot.
The Tacoma City Council at its July 7 meeting voted unanimously to send the “Safe Homes For All” initiative to the ballot on Nov. 3 — following an unusual lack of discussion in public meetings about the measure. The measure would create an enforcement mechanism for the city’s existing tenant protections, which now can only be enforced by individual legal action. The initiative outlines a per-unit rental license fee that landlords would pay to cover the cost of enforcement.
It also would require landlords to pay penalties for each violation of Tacoma’s tenant laws and require the city to create a program to educate landlords and tenants on those laws.
The measure is making its way to the ballot via Tacoma’s initiative petition process, which allows Tacoma residents to put ballot measures to the people by collecting a certain number of signatures. Tacoma For All, the group that spearheaded the effort to pass a “Tenant Bill of Rights” in Tacoma, also led the effort to get Safe Homes For All on the ballot.
Tyron Moore, executive director for Tacoma for All, said the group is now gearing for “a big fight.”
“We fully expect the landlord lobby, real estate interests to once again spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of outside corporate money to try and stop this,” Moore told The News Tribune.
Tacoma For All collected thousands of signatures and delivered them to the city clerk on June 16. Once the county auditor verified the signatures on June 24 and the city clerk validated the petition on June 25, the measure was in the hands of the council to either enact on its own or reject and put to a vote of the people.
The last time Tacomans sought to put a measure on the ballot via the initiative process was in 2025 for a “Worker’s Bill of Rights.” The council at the time discussed the proposal in study session meetings, ultimately deciding against implementing it directly and putting it to the voters instead. They did so within the time frame required by the city charter but after the county’s deadline to receive measures for the November ballot – kicking off a protracted and ongoing legal battle that’s at the Washington State Court of Appeals. Oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 15, according to court records.
This time, the council did not discuss details of the measure in public meetings. After the Pierce County Auditor’s Office verified the signatures and the city clerk validated the petition, the council had two study session meetings – one on June 30 and another on July 7. The ballot initiative was on the agenda for the June 30 meeting, but as an informational item. Council members did not discuss the measure but received details about it in the agenda.
At the July 7 meeting, council members heard from City Attorney Chris Bacha, who explained the city’s legal requirements on the matter. The measure passed with no comments about the measure from public commenters or council members.
Per the city charter, the council has the option to enact the initiative on its own, eliminating the need to put it on the ballot. When The News Tribune asked Mayor Anders Ibsen if the council explored that possibility for the latest initiative, Ibsen said he couldn’t comment due to pending or potential litigation. He deferred to city spokesperson Maria Lee when asked which litigation, and Lee was not able to immediately clarify.
“What I can say is that what’s coming before us is just us following the law,” Ibsen told The News Tribune in the minutes before the July 7 meeting. “This initiative reached the requisite amount of signatures, and this is just us placing it on the ballot. Simple as that.”
Moore said he was surprised at how little engagement he has seen from city leaders since the group began.
“My hope is that if they’re not prepared to actively support it, that they will at least stand aside and let voters make the decision,” Moore said.
