Council Fizz: Moore To Propose "Prostitution Loitering" Bill, Anti-Woo Graffiti May Be Coming From Inside the Building
Today's Afternoon Fizz.
1. City Councilmember Cathy Moore will reportedly introduce legislation on Thursday that would reinstate a law, repealed unanimously by the previous City Council, banning "prostitution loitering" in places like Aurora Ave. N, where sex workers congregate. PubliCola reported on Moore's intent to re-criminalize prostitution earlier this year.
The council repealed the laws against prostitution loitering and drug loitering after the Seattle Reentry Workgroup, established to come up with recommendations to help formerly incarcerated people reenter their communities, recommended repealing both laws on the grounds that they disproportionately harm people of color and that involvement in the criminal legal system "exacerbates already unmet needs." Former city attorney Pete Holmes stopped prosecuting prostitution loitering even before the repeal, citing the findings of the Reentry Work Group.
Under the previous law, a person could be found guilty of prostitution loitering, a misdemeanor, "if he or she remains in a public place and intentionally solicits, induces, entices, or procures another to commit prostitution." The council also repealed a similar law banning "drug loitering."
Moore reportedly plans to introduce legislation to repeal a ban on winter evictions and the city's landmark "first-in-time" law, which requires landlords to rent to the first qualified candidate. The first-in-time law, which passed unanimously in 2017, is intended to prevent landlords from discriminating against potential tenants because of their race, gender, age, or other protected characteristics.
Moore did not immediately respond to a request for comment; earlier this year, she said that re-introducing so-called Stay Out of Prostitution Areas (SOPAs) would help address sex trafficking, which she said was endemic on Aurora.
2. A few weeks ago, City Councilmember Tanya Woo reported graffiti to the FBI that she and other councilmembers described as "hate speech"; the scrawled messages included "Fuck Tanya Woo/Get Her Out" and "Tanya Woo Hates Black People." Councilmembers denounced the graffiti as racist, sexist, and xenophobic, and Woo said she was later threatened while walking in the area by two men who she believed were motivated to target her by the graffiti.
Woo noted that some of the graffiti was scrawled on a historic building and would be costly to remove—an oblique reference to the building her family owns, the Louisa Hotel apartment building. After our story ran, a reader sent us a photo they said was taken inside a stairwell at the Louisa apartments, showing a scrawled message, "Fuck Tanya Woo," that looks strikingly similar to the ones found immediately outside the Louisa and on an outside wall of the building itself.
The fact that the graffiti was inside the building suggests that the person who wrote it might be someone who lives in the Louisa, rather than a random member of the public targeting Woo.
The reader also noted that a private company, United Marketing, Inc., recently took over management of the hotel from the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority. (Woo's family owns the building and she frequently refers to herself as an affordable or workforce housing provider, but she is not involved in managing it.)
Prior to Juneteenth (June 19), which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, the apartment managers posted notices warning residents that "charcoal barbecues are not permitted anywhere on the property" and reminding them to "observe quiet time hours and no loud music at any time." (Woo's family owns the building and her campaign website notes that "my family and I operate a legacy restaurant and affordable housing complex," but she is not involved in its day-to-day management.)
"Please assist your guests with being courteous to your neighbors with parking and observing the rules," the notice said. According to the resident, a notice posted on the Fourth of July merely reminded residents that fireworks are illegal, and only the Juneteenth message included warnings about barbecue grills and rowdy guests.