By Sid Roberts / Herald Forum
Sometimes policy decisions, many of which may seem logical at the time, can have unintended consequences. I can think of three recent examples where this seems to be true.
When covid bullied itself into our lives, Gov. Jay Inslee signed an emergency proclamation to grant rental home tenants greater flexibility in terms of paying their rent. Evictions for non-payment were also essentially banned by proclamation. While some tenants had a tough time paying rent, especially those in the service industry, for many, the economy boomed, and unemployment remained mostly steady. Renters quickly got the drift of the governor’s handout, and many stopped paying rent altogether. Subsequently, the state Legislature got involved and passed a more stringent Landlord Tenant Law that clearly favored tenants.
Somehow, it apparently didn’t occur to the governor or our representatives in Olympia that most landlords have mortgages to pay, too. A vast majority of landlords are not corporations but are hard-working folks that kept the family home and use it for rental income. These ordinary citizens were put in hardship because the governor viewed tenants as a potential victim. Point of information: single family rentals are often primary sources of affordable housing and are often managed by middle-class owners, and often, the rent is below market.
As a career real estate broker, I can tell you what the unintended consequences were. The governor’s action created uncertainty and arduous new rules for landlords. This complexity caused owners to look for an exit to get out of the rental business. Consequently, they took advantage of a booming real estate market, and many sold their rentals. Thousands of these homes were taken out of the rental pool in our state. As a result, affordable rental property became much harder to find. So, in the end, Gov. Inslee’s action, laudable as it was, had unintended consequences that ultimately punished the citizens he was hoping to protect.
Another example of unintended consequences was the effort to defund the police. After the senseless murder of George Floyd, local governments, particularly in progressive cities like Seattle, passed legislation to diminish law enforcement, shrink police budgets and restrict the work of the men and women in blue.
The unintended consequences? Law enforcement officers began to take retirement or leave Washington and move to states such as Arizona and Texas where their work in law enforcement was respected. As a result, cities and counties across Washington now have major trouble staffing law enforcement positions. The “defund the police” movement has left the public vulnerable, which is certainly an unintended consequence.
Another example of this dynamic is the urge by many progressives to legalize or significantly decriminalize drug use. I can’t argue with the goodness of the desire to help people who have addictions. However, to take away all accountability from substance abuse, including jail time, is like removing the firehose and water from firefighting.
Many of these citizens who are battling drug addiction are doing so with substances that are highly addictive, very cheap and devastating. Removing the consequences, while it seems to some to be the answer, only exacerbates the problem, and hinders treatment. Rarely, almost never, do people agree to treatment while under the influence of drugs. They must hit bottom and be induced to make that step. Decriminalizing drugs may seem to some like a good idea but clearly has unintended consequences.
In life, too often we can make emotional decisions that seem right at the time. Sometimes, however, the cure for the illness is worse than the disease itself. To make good decisions that really help, we need to keep our eye on the big picture and seek what is good for the long haul.
Slower mental processing and more critical thinking are needed. Without wisdom, our actions may hinder the very issue that we are trying to improve. Or as my elders used to say on the Kansas plains, “be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
Sid Roberts serves as the mayor of Stanwood.
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