Letters to the editor for March 4

Affordable housing depends on affordable taxes

Let’s talk about affordable housing. The decision makers don’t get it.

I’m an old guy who has accumulated two rental houses over a lifetime. Rising rents are not simply based on landlords’ greed. It costs me plenty to change tenants, and I have concerns that my tenants would move out if they think a rent increase is unreasonable. Likewise, I think very carefully about deciding that a different tenant will be an improvement over one I have (i.e., giving a 20-day notice to terminate the rental agreement).

Consider how the rents have changed over the years: I lived in Seattle (Ballard) in 1967 and my rent was $9 per week. (The shared bathroom was down the hall.) For one of the houses I own in Olympia (3 bedrooms, 2 baths), the rent in 1990 was $725 and the semi-annual property tax bill was $589. In 2014, that tax bill was $1,183 and the rent was $1,300. Now, I just got a bill for $1,900 (6-months), up from $1,663 in 2019. That $1,900 is above market, but could not be for long.

I submit that property taxes are a significant cause of housing becoming unaffordable. I suggest other ways to provide for public services: How about revising Washington’s tax system so that Amazon and Microsoft finance more of our public services? Their founders seem to have done quite well for themselves.

The diet of Lent

Feb. 26 marked the beginning of Lent, the period leading up to Easter, when devout Christians abstain from animal foods in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness.

The call to abstain from eating animals is as traditional as Genesis 1:29, yet as current as the teaching of evangelical leader Franklin Graham. Earlier religious leaders such as Methodist founder John Wesley, Salvation Army pioneers William and Catherine Booth, and Seventh-day Adventist Church founder Ellen White all abstained from animal flesh.

A plant-based diet is not just about Christian devotion. Dozens of medical studies have linked consumption of animal products with elevated risk of heart failure, stroke, cancer, and other killer diseases. A United Nations report named meat production as the largest source of greenhouse gases and water pollution. Undercover investigations have documented routine mutilation, deprivation, and beating of animals on factory farms.

Today’s supermarkets offer a rich array of plant-based meats, milks, cheeses, and ice creams, as well as traditional vegetables, fruits, and grains. Entering “vegan” in your favorite search engine provides lots of suitable products, recipes, and transition tips.