Everett City Council Unanimously Approves Mayor’s Request To Condemn & Acquire Waits Motel

In spite of pleas from the owner of the Waits Motel and others on his behalf, the Everett City Council Wednesday night voted unanimously to authorize Mayor Cassie Franklin to move forward with the process to condemn and acquire the Waits Motel calling it a blight on the surrounding neighborhood and a threat to the public health, safety or welfare.

Emily Simpson, the new manager of the Motel who took over in March, made a plea for more time. She briefly outlined her plans to buy the Motel, and have it be the first Native American owned Motel in Everett, rebranding it as the Rain Haven Motel.

Others advised the City Council that it has been too bad for too long at the Waits with even Councilmembers saying they’d seen ups and downs and putting the blame on the ownership of the property as well as failure of past City of Everett administrations to take action.

Next week the City Council will hold a first reading of a condemnation ordinance with a second reading on July 26th and a public hearing and vote set for August 2nd.
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Everett City Council President Brenda Stonecipher called the action a bold and important move and said the City will pay market value and the owner will be made whole. She also noted (as did many others) how impressed she was with Emily Simpson and her hope that Ms. Simpson would be involved in future development projects in Everett.