Shared to the leadership of Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) on 12/3/2025.
REPAIRS NOW!
The most glaring and urgent cause of concern in Seattle’s public housing is the level of disrepair. Tenants want, need, and deserve habitable housing with consistent and comprehensive repairs. Minimal steps SHA must take include:
Complete the Repair Backlog: We demand that SHA complete all open maintenance work orders right now! SHA must prioritize and fully complete all unfulfilled maintenance work orders. Ranging from issues with electrical, plumbing, and heat to broken appliances and various unsafe and unhealthy conditions, public housing tenants deserve healthy living conditions.
Maintenance System With Dignity and Without Delay: Moving forward, SHA must guarantee swift and comprehensive repairs and steward a maintenance system that is accessible, consistent, and communicative. Components of a future maintenance system include: repairs without delay, respect and fair treatment for tenants, accessibility, language justice, stability, worker justice, and accountability.
Repairs Without Delay: SHA must demonstrate an active commitment to timely and comprehensive repairs. Every hour without repairs is a threat to tenant health, safety, comfort, and dignity. At minimum, SHA must follow the timeline set by law for all repairs moving forward.
Electricity, water, and heat in the winter: 24 hrs
Appliances and plumbing: 72 hrs
Other repairs: 10 days
Respect: Tenants deserve to be treated with respect and dignity by SHA, not ignored, minimized, or scoffed at. SHA bosses must provide SHA workers with the support, resources, and training to be fully responsive to and caring toward the needs of tenants.
Accessibility: SHA’s maintenance system must be accessible, consistent, easy to use, and accommodating of different levels of technological literacy. This must include clear communication, documentation, and transparency.
Language Justice: Language justice must be expanded at SHA, where tenants will receive information from and communicate with SHA in their primary language without facing barriers.
Stability: Major code violations that require significant work may necessitate tenants to temporarily vacate their units. In this situation, SHA must strengthen their commitment to provide temporary and reasonable accommodations for tenants and expedite repairs that require absence of tenants to minimize time away from one’s home and neighborhood.
Worker Justice: Maintenance workers deserve fair working conditions, fair wages, and fair union contracts. SHA must be committed to working with the numerous unions that represent workers at SHA. Repairs must benefit tenants, workers, and the larger community.
Accountability and Power: Public housing tenants must have collective bargaining power in relation to SHA. At minimum, public housing tenants must have formal recourse to hold SHA accountable in regards to disrepair issues and the maintenance system process.
To start, we expect SHA to complete all Rainier Vista repairs by the end of 2025.
Action on 11/3/2025 outside SHA's Rainier Vista office
