'Compassion Seattle' organizers file appeal after judge struck down homelessness charter amendment

The organizers behind Charter Amendment 29 — also known as "Compassion Seattle" — filed an emergency appeal on Tuesday to overturn a King County judge's ruling that will keep that amendment off of the November ballot.

Following a lawsuit brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness and the Transit Riders Union, King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer struck down the measure last week, saying that it would conflict with state law and was not within the scope of a ballot initiative.

At the time of the ruling, the organizers of the controversial charter amendment — which is backed by over one million dollars in donations from major real estate and business organizations in the city — said that they would not file an appeal, noting that the decision would not happen in time for the November general election. Instead, they urged supporters to "change who is in charge at city hall."

But those organizers reversed course on Tuesday with the emergency appeal, hoping once again to get the initiative onto the November ballot for voters to weigh in.

"As we said last Friday, we strongly disagree with Judge Catherine Shaffer's decision to strike Charter Amendment 29, a decision that blocks Seattle voters from being able to voice their opinion about the continuing crisis of homelessness," wrote Compassion Seattle organizers in a statement published Tuesday. "The Judge's decision caused an outpouring of support over the weekend from supporters who want us to press on with an appeal. We decided that we must take this action to represent the interests of tens of thousands of voters who signed petitions to put this amendment on the ballot."

The amendment, which collected a total of 64,155 signatures from Seattle voters over the summer to qualify for the November ballot, aimed to create an additional 2,000 units of emergency or permanent housing and expand behavioral health services for mental health and substance use disorder.

Once the shelter space was made available, the amendment would have also required that the city keep "parks, playgrounds, sports fields, public spaces and sidewalks and streets open and clear of encampments." Advocacy groups like the ACLU have decried the amendment, saying that it would codify encampment sweeps and only reduces signs of visible poverty without focusing on permanent housing solutions.

"Destroying unhoused peoples’ homes and shuffling them all over Seattle has only exacerbated the region’s housing crisis and pushed more of our neighbors onto City streets.  It has no place in our City Charter," wrote the ACLU. "The government’s destruction of peoples’ homes and belongings when they have nowhere else to go is neither compassionate nor effective."

The amendment has also been controversial among politicians in the upcoming elections. Former Seattle City Council President and interim mayor Bruce Harrell has signaled his support for the amendment, while current Council President Lorena Gonzalez opposes the measure.

Ultimately, the backers of the initiative believe that Seattle voters should have a say in how the city handles the homelessness crisis.

"The people of Seattle deserve their say on how City Hall should be addressing this worsening crisis, and we will do everything we can to make that happen, whether by fighting for a vote on this Charter Amendment or by holding the candidates for Mayor, City Council, and City Attorney accountable for their positions on homelessness," wrote Compassion Seattle.