By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
In a strong showing of bipartisan support House Bill 1918, which establishes criteria for the formation of a Community Preservation and Development Authority (CPDA) and authorizes the Central District CPDA within the city of Seattle, was recently passed by the Washington State Senate by a vote of 45-0. The bill was previously passed by the Washington State House of Representatives by a vote of 96-0.
Under The bill, CPDA’s can be established to help restore local area’s that have been devastated by gentrification their sense of community, reduce the displacement of community members and businesses, stimulate the community’s economic vitality, improve the standard of living of its community members and to preserve the historic building and areas by returning them to economically productive uses that are compatible with or enhance their historic character.
State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D – 37th Dist.), prime sponsor of the bill, believes that the preservation and restoration of the character of a community and the historical and cultural character, are important public policy goals that can be achieved through the creation of a CPDA.
“The [Central District has] developed rich, culturally diverse communities that are now being threatened by gentrification. Long-time residents are being priced out of the area by rising property values,” says Santos. “Local institutions in the Central District are threatened and those who have been displaced by gentrification must travel many miles to visit these cultural institutions.”
As it relates to the establishment of the Central Area CPDA, activists are working to preserve the Seattle Vocational Institute (SVI) building in Seattle’s Central Area. Originally established at the Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center (SOIC), the building has long been an integral part of vocational training, employment and community advancement.
During the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, many programs were established that promoted fair and equal rights in housing, voting and civil liberties. One such initiative, the Great Society Programs, paved the way for the establishment of the SOIC which was located in the building that now houses SVI.
The late Rev. Dr. Samuel B. McKinney, former pastor of the Seattle’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church, helped bring Great Society programs such as SOIC to Seattle in the early 1970s. First housed in Mt Zion, it later moved to 23rd and Madison until it found its permanent home on 22nd and Jackson.
Community activist Eddie Rye, Jr. recalls how programs and educational opportunities came about in Seattle during those times.
“The SOIC came about as a part of the Great Society Program of Lyndon Johnson’s administration. Rev. Samuel McKinney was the Vice President of the National Board of the OIC and he brought that program back to Seattle,” says Rye.
According to Rye, SOIC’s goals were to give African Americans an institution of its own to promote education training and employment that they would otherwise not receive in a society bent on keeping progress out of reach.
The CPDA created in HB 1918 would be the second of its kind, the first being the Pioneer Square and International District CPDA restoring the downtown Chinatown and Pioneer Square core. The bill would give the CPDA the authority to revitalize the historical and cultural significance of institutions like SVI and, according to Santos, would recognize that “there is a statewide benefit to preserving and restoring these communities.”
Rye agrees and says that the bill, if signed into law, will help re-establish an institution in our community that has helped so many people get ahead.
“Representative Santos saw a need with the gentrification of the Central Area to reclaim some of the things that belonged to the descendants of slaves and to uplift, train, promote and employ African Americans in the Pacific Northwest.,” says Rye.
The creation of the Central District CPDA would allow the state-owned educational facility, which originally was under the direction of the Seattle College District, to be transferred from the Seattle Central College umbrella to the CPDA.
According to Rye, it hasn’t been an easy path as those with other plans for the building have tried to present stumbling blocks and prohibit the bill from reaching its goal of being passed.
Regardless of the efforts of opponents of this measure the bill was passed by the Legislature and now it awaits the signature of Gov. Jay Inslee.
