Each election cycle, our Affordable Housing Council (AHC) interviews candidates at the city, county, and state levels to determine their degree of support for housing.

The following candidates have received an AHC endorsement for the 2023 election cycle.

Ballots are due Tuesday, November 7. Your vote in support of AHC-endorsed candidates will go a long way toward affecting the outcome of these critical races.

For dropbox locations, ballot questions, and more, visit King County Elections or Snohomish County Elections.

Endorsements as of October 19, 2023.

Is 2017 leaving you black and blue? You're in luck!

And slightly ahead of the curve, too. It so happens that black (in many iterations) and blue are the colors predicted to trend in 2018, according to various paint entities as part of the companies' prestigious color of the year predictions.

Each year, beginning in fall, several paint companies, fashion entities, and design websites begin to predict what they see as the colors that will dominate the various landscapes of the next year. Last year, it was Pantone 15-0343, a lovely yellow-green shade that "evokes the first days of spring." The Pantone Color Institute, which calls itself the "global color authority," may have the final say when all things are said and done, but that isn't stopping companies like PPG Paints, Olympic Paint, Glidden, and Behr from throwing in their hues of choice.

Specifically, PPG Paints has backed their Black Flame concoction, a lighter black with indigo tones launched back in June. Black Flame was the unanimous choice to become the world's "new neutral" by 20 leading color experts around the globe (think secret underground meetings with weird chants and robes).

While the chants and robes may not actually exist, the opinions of opinion makers certainly do. A company's paint color can mean big business, which is a large part of why so many entities throw their choices into the ring and announcements are highly anticipated. At the same time PPG was showing off Black Flame (it's like Zoolander's Blue Steel but EVEN MORE INTOXICATING), Olympic Paint revealed Black Magic, an "often misunderstood neutral" primed to blot out the easy-going grays and pinks of 2017.

Says Dee Schlotter, senior color marketing manager, Olympic Paint: "In past years, consumers have gravitated toward open, airy spaces that are thought to leave room for exposure. However, in the current day, consumers often feel uneasy, restless, or like their privacy is being invaded, so they crave deep, comforting colors that offer a welcomed escape from the chaos of daily life. Olympic paint's Black Magic perfectly satisfies consumers' desire for privacy."

Schlotter continues, "Black Magic can easily make a statement in any home on a front door, window trim, kitchen cabinets, exposed shelving, or even sliding barn doors. It works especially beautifully in a dining room with a bold light fixture."

Not to be outdone, Glidden put its own spin on black, announcing their Deep Onyx as their color of the year. Why? According to Color Marketing Manager Misty Yeomans, "Just like a little black dress, Deep Onyx is a classic, timeless staple." The hue is meant to give off a "less is more" attitude that reflects a minimalist style inside the homes of those in the know.

Stepping out of the shadows is Behr, who boldly announced their first-ever color of the year as In the Moment, a blue-green blend that "Speaks to our society's desire to disconnect and be present," according to Erika Woelfel, vice president of color and creative services at Behr. Grand Central Station commuters on August 9 were certainly living In the Moment, as they were witness to Behr's blue via a virtual reality color video and chats with the company's color experts as they strolled through different rooms of a makeshift home.

While we could talk about trends until we're blue in the face, we'll await the final verdict on which colors clients will consume in 2018.

One thing does still plague the mind, however: How does one become a color expert, exactly?

Halting development to slow growth? It’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.  

If a building clad in a color you didn’t think fit your city’s personality suddenly popped up overnight, would you take action? 

That’s what the City of Issaquah did in 2016 when a multi-hued apartment complex started gaining attention for all the wrong reasons. The building in question, the Atlas Apartments, featured colors (including a brazen blue) that many residents deemed unacceptable to their city’s persona. The outcry resulted in an emergency ordinance at the Sept. 6, 2017 council meeting that paused development in the area, the reasoning being that new construction was not meeting the standards of the 2012 Central Issaquah Plan. 

On the moratorium, which was extended an additional six months after the original verdict last September, Issaquah Economic Development and Development Services Director Keith Niven stated that the decision was made not to deter future growth but to ensure the right kind of growth for the city. 

Critics claimed the Atlas complex served as an example of what the city didn’t want or need, citing its lack of mixed-use ground floor space and unsightly “Orlando architecture.” City leaders instead wanted to see denser projects fit for growth and which add vibrancy to the central Issaquah area. Twenty-one months after the original moratorium, city staff had revamped code to solidify areas such as parking requirements for new development and introduced a design and architectural manual to streamline future project aesthetics—including acceptable colors. 

Development changes also included a plan to help diversify the city’s available housing, including reducing hurdles for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and experimenting with a tax exemption for multifamily housing. 

The moratorium officially ended May 21, and so its effects are yet to be determined. But the underlying question is this: Are moratoriums like the one instituted in Issaquah ultimately beneficial or an unnecessary hindrance to providing much-needed housing? MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher states the latter, calling halts to facilitate growth a “drastic measure” that won’t do anything but put our region even more behind the effort to give residents the shelter they demand. 

“We are obviously continuing to grow at a fast pace and instituting a building moratorium isn’t going to stop that,” says Butcher. “The growth is coming whether there’s a moratorium in place or not.” 

That sentiment hasn’t stopped other cities from following suit, however, as cities such as Federal Way, Duvall, North Bend, and Newcastle have all recently adopted moratoriums for a variety of reasons, from reworking zoning standards to policy updates and more. 

But the question remains, are these sudden stoppages ultimately preventing the very thing we need in this unprecedented time of growth and home prices? 

Butcher further explains the potential backfire our cities could see while instituting construction stoppages, saying, “While a moratorium is legal, it does not mean it is good policy. At a time when demand for housing is far outpacing housing supply, which drives up both home prices and rents and makes housing less attainable, building moratoria certainly are not good for housing. They also are not good for our economy or the families and workers looking for a home closer to job centers. Furthermore, they potentially could run counter to our region’s transportation investments that contemplate the need for more transit-oriented development in certain areas.” 

Butcher goes on to address housing affordability and how it relates to moratoriums, stating that “perhaps the biggest problem with building moratoria is that they are counterproductive to solving our housing affordability crisis. Simply put, moratoria are a bad deal for anyone looking for housing—they only make it harder for current and future residents to find a home they can afford.”

Butcher also says that stoppages also lose significant revenue from new construction, as participating cities become devoid of local income, taxes, and other benefits to new housing. Her solution? “Instead of enacting policies designed to slow or halt housing, local governments should work within their communities to expand housing supply and choices for families. Housing goes hand in hand with a strong economy and vibrant community.” 

Those looking for affordable housing options might not care about a wild blue tint outside their window. Cities must look out for their residents but must also be willing to let growth flourish because, as Butcher points out, the people are coming, and it shouldn’t be our self-imposed lack of available housing that leaves them feeling blue.