Follow-up to KIRO story

George Petrie: False statements to KIRO last night

Tenants Union of Washington State member and tireless LTU ally Stina Janssen has written to some of our City Council allies to correct the misstatements of George Petrie. Her letter reads in part:

Last night, KIRO News reported on the displacement, rent increases, and negotiations at Lockhaven.

Many thanks to Councilmember Licata for interviewing for the segment.

We did want to point out an inconsistency we noticed: when Mr. Petrie of GRE met with the tenants in early January, he said by GRE's projections, only 27% of current Lockhaven residents would be able to afford the new rents, or just under under 1/3 of current residents.

In the news segment, he stated that only 1/3 of residents would not be able to afford the increased rent, indicating 2/3 would still be able to afford the new rents (in direct contradiction to his earlier assertion that under 1/3 of residents could afford the new rents). Unfortunately, he switched his own numbers, a significant error.