A trio of legislators who represent the 41st District, which includes Mercer Island, feel that open lines of communication for meaningful engagement are paramount regarding issues that cities are concerned about.

On Feb. 3, Mercer Island Mayor Salim Nice sent a letter on behalf of the city’s more than 25,000 residents to Sen. Lisa Wellman and State Reps. Tana Senn and My-Linh Thai stating that the legislators are not engaging in significant discussions with the cities they represent before continuing to draft and pass legislation.

It’s “not good public policy,” wrote Nice, pointing toward the House Bill 1782 and Senate Bill 5670 package, which, as proposed, “will force zoning changes that place an unsustainable burden on Mercer Island’s infrastructure.”

Further, he added in the letter that the proposed alterations “will prevent the City from managing growth within the bounds of sustainability and will add millions in costs to upsize our already strained systems.”

At post time, the legislators noted that SB 5670 is dead and the intricate HB 1782 is still on the table with copious moving parts that are changing every day.

Mercer Island resident Wellman was infuriated and insulted when she read Nice’s letter after many people contacted her about its contents. She said the mayor never reached out to her to discuss the matter as many of the officials from other cities do when they have a problem.

“Had he discussed it with me, he would have found out that I had already said that I couldn’t vote for it,” Wellman said. “I had talked to the prime sponsor, said, ‘I don’t like the bill in the structure that it has.’ It’s a preemption, which I generally don’t like doing for cities unless there’s really an emergency action that’s required.”

She added that they’re on track with the Growth Management Act (GMA) and “there’s nothing that Mercer Island isn’t doing in that regard in terms of getting appropriate zoning here that we’re not already set for.”

Senn, also a local resident and former Island city councilmember, added that it’s already permissible to have accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the city, and within the bill there would be no change to the single-family home zoning requirements for the city outside of the transit area.

At post time, Senn said that she also voted against the bill as written, and that she and Wellman did not sign onto the bill as co-sponsors while Thai did sign on.

Senn noted that she had previously discussed the bill with Deputy Mayor David Rosenbaum and councilmember Wendy Weiker and wished that Nice would have made contact and asked questions before releasing the letter. (Senn has since spoken to Nice and hopes to have better communication moving forward. Rosenbaum spoke with Wellman and Thai.)

“In addition, other cities in our district had testified in committee and I had spoken with about this bill, so the consultation with cities was happening from the outset,” said Senn, noting that housing is a critical issue that needs to be continuously addressed.

Senn added: “If we are going to solve this housing crisis, we need to robustly debate the issue. As bills move through the legislative process and more stakeholders weigh in, it illuminates the major and minor policy concerns, benefits and considerations in a bill. Without debate, there is no room for conversation, learning and policy improvement.”

Thai, a Bellevue resident, said in an email that she signed onto the bill, “because I think our state has a housing crisis, given that our state (collectively) is short of between 200,000 and 250,000 housing units. I think we can all agree that this isn’t going to get better unless we act.”

While discussing Nice’s letter, Senn said she found an inaccuracy regarding that there wouldn’t be additional funding to help cities with the code-change process or with infrastructure improvements.

Senn cited a funding portion of 1782: “In order to ensure that jurisdictions receive adequate funding for their comprehensive plan updates, the department shall distribute funds in the form of grants.”

Nice told the Reporter that the funding wouldn’t pay for the city’s infrastructure.

“HB1782/SB5670 seeks to paint the state with a broad brush, treating all cities as though they were the same. For example, Bainbridge Island has a population nearly identical to Mercer Island, yet they rely on an aquifer and septic for most of the island,” he said in an email. “In contrast, Mercer Island purchases water and sewer from Seattle and King County, respectively. These bills create cost prohibitive and unnecessary infrastructure challenges for both cities in different ways because they are applied the same, without the consideration or input of specific local circumstances.”

The city council will soon be ratifying the King County Countywide Planning Policies document, a collaborative effort that includes housing and jobs targets through 2044, Nice said. Page 23 shows Mercer Island netting 1,239 new housing units and 1,300 new jobs from 2019-2044.

Nice also mentioned the city council’s 2022 legislative priorities, which were drafted and adopted prior to this legislative session, and No. 1 on the document is preserving local decision-making authority, particularly over land-use planning.

As for the Feb. 3 letter, which was shared with the community on the city’s website, Wellman questioned if Nice needed to check with councilmembers before pushing the send button.

City Manager Jessi Bon noted: “I do want to confirm Mayor Nice’s letter to the community was consistent with the legislative priorities adopted by the city council. When this is the case, the city manager, the mayor, or any councilmember may advocate on behalf of the city.”

Thai said that she will always welcome conversations with Nice and that any piece of legislation should have stakeholder engagement.

“As a legislator, I have always emphasized productive and meaningful discussion on any proposed bill. That hasn’t changed. To that end, I am always able to make time for the mayor,” she said.

Nice said: “Mercer Island desires to be part of the conversation with the state before legislation is introduced, with the expectation that the legislature expresses its intent through the GMA framework.”