TO: Seattle City Council

Council President Joy Hollingsworth, District 3

Council Member Alexis Mercedes-Rinck, Citywide, Position 8

Council Member Dionne Foster, Citywide, Position 9

Council Member Rob Saka, District 1

Council Member Eddie Lin, District 2

Council Member Maritza Rivera, District 4

Council Member Debra Juarez, District 5

Council Member Dan Strauss, District 6

Council Member Robert Kettle, District 7

CC: Mayor Katie Wilson

Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt, Chief of Staff Kate Brunette Kreuzer, City Budget Director Aly Pennucci, Jon Grant, Senior Policy Advisor, Homelessness

RE: 2026 Shelter Acceleration Action Plan

We, the undersigned organizations, represent employers of all sizes across the city of Seattle. We want to thank Mayor Wilson for treating the housing crisis for our unhoused neighbors with the urgency, creativity, collaboration, and compassion this situation requires. We all acknowledge that our region has been in a housing and behavioral health crisis for many years, and that the challenges associated with managing a project of this size to completion are significant.

We also want to thank our City Councilmembers, especially Council President Hollingsworth and Councilmember Strauss, for expediting the legislative process needed to realize the mayor’s vision. The legislation proposed to implement the mayor’s accelerated action plan includes strategies that the business community supports, such as redeploying existing resources and scaling up proven models to get our neighbors off the streets and into shelter as quickly as possible. According to the Seattle Chamber’s ongoing research project, The Index, it also includes strategies Seattle Voters agree on:

  • Homelessness has been one of the top three issues voters say they are most concerned about since The Index research began in August 2021. In the most recent installment (Index 9, Nov. 2025), homelessness was cited by voters as their top concern, 7 points above public safety and affordability.
  • Index 9 data also revealed that over 7 in 10 voters feel the city should prioritize government basics and support for our city’s most vulnerable residents while addressing the deficit by reducing non – critical spending before considering tax increases

For these reasons, we respectfully urge the City Council to pass the legislation in front of you to activate the mayor’s plan as quickly as possible. The implementation will be challenging but necessary work. We encourage city leaders to gather input and identify approaches that meet community needs. Strong, clear, consistent, and enforceable accountability agreements for sharing feedback and responding to neighborhood impacts are essential to ensure this initiative has the enduring community support it will need.

While we look forward to supporting this critically important work, we do have questions about how the city plans to support these capital investments in the long term with the necessary ongoing operational support. We hope we can be partners in those future conversations and urge the city to be bold and creative. Existing resources that are not currently generating the outcomes we all want to see should be considered as potential funding sources to maintain the ongoing operations of the proposed new units, helping ensure the city is achieving the kinds of outcomes voters want to see and that existing resources are ultimately generating meaningful outcomes.

The Shelter Acceleration Plan is a critical next step to lay the groundwork to help move our unhoused neighbors off the streets of Seattle – a goal we all share- and we need to ensure taxpayer resources are used wisely to sustain the operations of these new units. The business community stands behind the mayor and the proposed citywide approach and is ready to support city leadership with this monumental effort to meet the moment and chart a new path towards responding to unsheltered homelessness in our city using the ample resources you already have at your disposal.

Sincerely,

Lars Erickson, Senior VP of Public Affairs & Communications, Seattle Metro Chamber

Dennis Sills, VP, Advocacy & Economic Development, Downtown Seattle Association

Erin Goodman, Executive Director, SODO BIA

Lisa Howard, Executive Director, Alliance for Pioneer Square

Gabriel Neuman, Esq. Director of Policy & Advocacy, Greater Seattle Business Association

Tammy Canavan, President & CEO, Visit Seattle

Skylar Schmidt, Senior Manager, Local Gov. Affairs, Seattle Restaurant Alliance and Seattle Hotel Association