Title
Special Recognition - Proclamation Recognizing Fair Housing Month
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Proclaim April 2025 as Fair Housing Month.
Report
Issue:
Whether to proclaim April 2025 as Fair Housing Month.
Staff Contact:
Christa Lenssen, Senior Housing Program Specialist, Community Planning & Economic Development, 360.570.3762
Presenter(s):
Adria Buchanan, Executive Director, Fair Housing Center of Washington
Christina Daniels, Thurston County Realtors Association
Background and Analysis:
Congress passed the Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968, just one week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Act was a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public places and employment discrimination. Civil rights organizers, including Dr. King, had advocated for open housing and an end to housing segregation and discrimination. The highly contentious bill had been proposed and failed to pass from 1966-1967.
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions based on protected classes. The Fair Housing Act has been amended over time and protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability and family status. In addition to barring housing discrimination, the Fair Housing Act requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its funding recipients to also take affirmative steps to remedy fair housing issues such as racially segregated neighborhoods, lack of housing choice, and unequal access to housing-related opportunities. This is known as the mandate to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing.
On April 30, 1968, Olympia City Council passed its Unfair Housing Practices code (OMC 5.80) to prohibit housing discrimination and establish a Thurston County Human Rights Commission to investigate complaints, in collaboration with Thurston County, and the cities of Lacey and Tumwater.
Current Landscape
Fair housing month is celebrated nationally in the month of April. Today, HUD and the Washington State Human Rights Commission enforce fair housing protections by investigating complaints filed by Washington State residents. These enforcement agencies can also provide information and technical assistance to both housing consumers and providers.
The Fair Housing Center of Washington is a nonprofit agency dedicated to providing fair housing education, outreach, and enforcement services to the residents of western and central Washington. They aid individuals in filing housing discrimination complaints, provide education and technical assistance, and assist residents with disabilities to request reasonable accommodations or modifications in their housing. Approximately 75% of fair housing complaints nationwide are processed by non-profit fair housing agencies like the Fair Housing Center of Washington.
On February 27, 2025, fair housing organizations across the nation, including the Fair Housing Center of Washington, received a termination letter from HUD cancelling Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grant funding, effective immediately. On March 13, 2025, four nonprofit fair housing groups filed a class action lawsuit against HUD and recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on behalf of similar programs. The termination of those grants jeopardizes over $30 million in critical, congressionally authorized funding for fair housing groups to fight housing discrimination and enforce fair housing laws throughout the country.
On March 3, 2025, HUD released an interim final rule which eliminates the requirements for HUD grantees, such as the City of Olympia, to demonstrate that they are taking steps to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing or submit planning documents (such as an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice or an Assessment of Fair Housing). Prior to this action, HUD grantees were required to complete fair housing planning (such as the Assessment of Fair Housing) to examine fair housing complaint data, census data, and other sources to identify patterns of segregation, access to opportunity for protected class groups, and barriers to housing choice for members of protected classes.
Under fair housing planning, grantees were expected to outline goals and strategies to make meaningful progress toward integration, equal access to housing and opportunity for protected class groups. Under the interim final rule, HUD grantees are required to certify that they are taking steps to advance fair housing, but do not have to report on any of the steps taken or activities completed.
City’s commitment to Fair Housing
The City of Olympia wishes to recognize the anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act, as well as reiterate the City’s commitment to affirmatively furthering fair housing, undoing past harms of segregation, and addressing ongoing housing disparities and discrimination.
The City of Olympia recently completed a Discrimination Study to inform our efforts, as well as took the lead in completing an Assessment of Fair Housing for Thurston County in 2023. The City has provided resources to educate community members about fair housing and is working to advance equity through strategies identified by the Assessment of Fair Housing, Housing Action Plan, Social Justice & Equity Commission, and related efforts.
The City recently joined the Black Home Initiative to participate in focused efforts to increase homeownership for Black households. The City of Olympia affirms that we are an inclusive community committed to fair housing. The City will provide educational links and resources through its social media channels in April to provide more information about fair housing, including both history and resources to contact for help.
Climate Analysis:
This action is expected to have no significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Providing more housing choice to members of protected class groups means that households may be able to live closer to their work or schools their children attend, decreasing commute times.
Equity Analysis:
The goal of this recognition is to celebrate the passage of the Fair Housing Act, while acknowledging the ongoing work that must take place to ensure equal housing access for all.
Between 2017 and 2022, there were 32 total fair housing complaints in Olympia that were filed with HUD or the Washington State Human Rights Commission. According to data from the Thurston County Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH), people of color, people with disabilities, people who are transgender, and single mothers are:
• cost burdened at higher rates (pay more than 30% of their income on housing costs);
• more likely to be renters;
• at higher risk of displacement (being forced to move due to eviction, increasing costs, etc);
• more likely to experience homelessness; and/or
• face continuing gaps in homeownership in Thurston County.
According to American Community Survey data referenced in the AFH, about 82% of single female-headed households with children in Olympia rent their homes. The City of Olympia has enacted multiple protections for renters, which are intended to stabilize housing access, costs, and decrease risk of displacement for renting households. Over 600 community members participated in the online survey to inform the AFH. About 39% of respondents who completed the online community survey were housing cost burdened. Of those respondents, about 62% have disabilities or a disabled family member living with them. There were 15 total transgender respondents to the survey, and of those 15, 9 (or 60%) experience housing cost burden. Ten of 24 single mothers (42%) who responded to the community survey are severely cost burdened, spending over 50% of their income on housing costs.
The City is taking several actions to decrease housing discrimination and promote integration. These include multiple steps to increase supply of more affordable housing, including incentives for developers to include affordable units, financial support through the local Home Fund, and adaptation of zoning and permitting requirements to make it easier to build more affordable homes. Black households have the lowest rate of homeownership of any racial/ethnic group in Thurston County. The City of Olympia has joined the Black Home Initiative to increase homeownership among low-to-moderate income Black households. All members of our community will benefit from increased housing stability, diverse and inclusive neighborhoods, and equal access to housing.
Financial Impact:
There is no financial impact related to this special recognition.
Options:
1. Recognize Fair Housing Month.
2. Recognize Fair Housing Month at another time.
3. Do not recognize Fair Housing Month.
Attachments:
Proclamation