FACT CHECK
Yes to Teresa Mosqueda
Ed Palmer’s letter to The Beachcomber (March 2) headlined “No to Tammy Morales” made me laugh out loud.
Come on, Ed, surely you can do better than this. You can start by getting the candidate’s name straight. City Council member Teresa Mosqueda, not Tammy Morales, is running for the County Council District 8 position. I’d hate to think all Latinas are the same to you.
Teresa is endorsed by County Executive Dow Constantine, former state Senator Sharon Nelson (Vashon’s own), our two state representatives, Joe Fitzgibbon and Emily Alvarado, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, half the Seattle City Council, half the King County Council, and many of King County’s building trades unions. So I’d guess her election is a very strong probability, and I certainly will be campaigning for her.
Of course, you are entitled to your opinions, and I will defend your right to voice them. But don’t you think you would have helped your case, even a little, by identifying the correct candidate? Cheers.
Ivan Weiss
Apology for mix-up
I am sorry I didn’t double-check the information I got about Tammy Morales running for the King County Council before I shot my mouth off in last week’s Beachcomber. I should have known better. Maybe I will shut my mouth for a while.
Ed Palmer
ANTI-RACISM
Kudos for commentary
I want to thank Kathryn True for her commentary in last week’s Beachcomber (“Beyond MLK Day: Anti-racism begins with me). As a recovering racist myself, I resonated deeply with her comments and hope other readers did the same. We on Vashon live in a mostly white bubble which can allow us to remain ignorant of the depth of systemic racism, but it affects all of us and has for centuries. Author Heather McGhee’s book “The Sum of Us” chronicles the crippling price our entire society has paid to preserve white supremacy in every nook and cranny of our culture. I applaud True’s personal commitment to continue peeling back the layers of bias within herself and to having those brutally honest and tough conversations. If more of us joined her on that journey, I think we might experience a revitalizing sense of connection to the truth of life in these United States. And I believe that can help us fulfill the promise America has held since its founding.
Susan McCabe
HOUSING
What is affordable, and to whom?
What are we talking about when “affordable housing” is the topic?
Let’s say that we’re creating housing for people making $30 an hour. A person making $30 an hour is getting $60,000 per year full-time. Thirty percent of that (a commonly accepted housing allowance) would translate to spending a little less than $20,o00 per year or about $1670 per month on a mortgage or a rental. To purchase a house would require an additional cash down payment of 20 percent.
Currently, this would allow the purchase of a house costing less than $300,000.
If we’re talking about “worker housing,” how many island working people are making $30 an hour? A teacher might be able to afford a $1670 monthly payment, but how about a barista or someone mowing your lawn?
And how much is this affordable housing going to sell for?
Until these questions are addressed talk about affordable housing is meaningless.
Mark Graham
