Rainier Valley helps itself

Sound Transit before and after

The Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (RVCDF) was created to help mitigate the effects of at-grade light rail in Rainier Valley. The light rail route runs down the middle of Martin Luther King, Jr., Way South, one of only two north/south transportation corridors in the Valley. Light rail construction affected business districts from Mount Baker in the north to the Boeing Access Road in the south, a distance of 4.6 miles.

The light rail environmental impact statement (EIS) identified numerous unmitigated impacts from at-grade construction and operation in Rainier Valley. A grassroots community group, Save Our Valley, challenged the recommendation for at-grade as discriminatory to the most diverse community in Seattle and filed a lawsuit in federal court. In a letter to the Rainier Valley community dated February 9, 1999, the five Sound Transit board members, who were also elected officials in the Seattle area, recommended the creation of a “... $50 million Community Investment Fund ... driven by the community and controlled by the community...”.

In November 1999, the Sound Transit Board passed Resolution No. 99-34 which established the light rail alignment and station locations. That same resolution specified that “... $50 million ... be available to mitigate impacts of the construction and operation of light rail in southeast Seattle” and that “... the cost of this fund shall, to the extent possible, be offset by contributions from the City of Seattle and King County...”. Because of the unmitigated effects to Rainier Valley caused by at-grade light rail, the Federal Transit Administration’s Amended Record of Decision made the establishment of the $50 million fund a project requirement for the light rail project.

A 15-member steering committee, comprised of ten non-paid community members elected by the Rainier Valley community together with two representatives appointed by the City of Seattle, one appointed by King County and two appointed by Sound Transit, worked with consultants to define how the money would be used and managed.  The elected community representatives made sure that the work was guided by the three attributes for success identified by the Rainier Valley community:

     

  • CDF must be community controlled;
  • CDF must be a long-lived asset that would survive for generations; and
  • CDF must have the ability to lend funds.


In early 2002, concurrent with Sound Transit beginning to acquire property along the light rail alignment, the 15 member Steering Committee issued the CDF Operating Plan which defines the initial use of the money to provide financial assistance to relocating businesses and to businesses along the light rail alignment. The Operating Plan also contains the vision and principles for community development use of the funds. The community development program is defined in detail in the Operating Plan Amendment dated November 14, 2005.
 
King County provided $7.2 million and the City of Seattle provided 42.8 million.  As the major funder, the City of Seattle provided support and ensured that the funding conformed to federal guidelines and to Washington state law (which restricts the use of local public money by individuals) while serving the interests of the Rainier Valley community.  The City continues to partner with RVCDF by providing requested support and conducting periodic compliance reviews.    

A board of community members incorporated RVCDF in September, 2002 as a community-based, non-profit organization to carry out the work defined in the Operating Plan. The Board hired staff, developed the necessary policies and procedures and secured legal counsel to negotiate required funding agreements. RVCDF issued its first check to a relocating business in the second quarter of 2003.

Funding growth, employment, and development

The Rainier Valley Community Development Fund was established as a self-sustaining, community controlled financial institution to stimulate economic development in the Rainier Valley. Initially, the CDF focused on assisting businesses affected by light rail construction, offering Supplemental Mitigation Assistance (SMA) to both businesses forced to relocate and to the remaining businesses along Martin Luther King, Jr., Way South. The assistance was used for rent increases, equipment replacement, tenant improvements and operating costs necessary to maintain business operations or reestablish a business. Under this program, over $15 million was granted to local businesses achieving a success rate of 85% of the businesses operating pre-construction surviving post construction.

The SMA program was sunsetted in 2009. Results of SMA are found in two reports: the program results report prepared by an RVCDF employee who worked with the program from its beginning and a second report prepared by a masters degree candidate who was not involved in program delivery. The program received the Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement award for 2009.

The CDF also funded a construction Pre-Apprenticeship Program to introduce eligible Rainier Valley residents to construction apprenticeship opportunities, with the goal of obtaining journey-level construction careers. As of 2009, more than 140 local residents had obtained construction-related jobs through the program.

Community development financing