WHITE SALMON — During their regular June 18 meeting, White Salmon’s City Council heard a resolution in support of local immigrants and discussed the city’s long-term vision for housing and transportation infrastructure.
In a last-minute addition to the agenda, Councilor Morella Mora sought to cement White Salmon as a city that defends the constitutional rights of immigrants and recognizes their many local contributions. In their homes, on the street, at courthouses, she emphasized how the Trump administration has ripped Latino families apart and caused immense trauma through nationwide deportation raids, policies she views as both inhumane and racist.
“Every day that we allow immigrant rights to be violated is a day we get closer to denying us all our promised freedoms,” said Mora, a Latina immigrant. “For some of our most generative and joyful members of our community, I come to council tonight for support and leadership. I find it to be of the highest importance to give voice to a community that is actively being silenced.”
The resolution acknowledges that no human being is illegal; that Latinos aren’t just a labor force, but rather artists, educators and culture makers; and declares White Salmon as a safe place for all immigrants. It would also commit elected officials to ensuring due process and safety from violencefor the immigrant community.
Mayor Marla Keethler and the four other councilors all endorsed Mora’s resolution, some with teary eyes. In order to gather adequate public comment, though, council delayed approval until their next meeting on July 2 where they’ll hold a formal hearing.
Prior to that, City Planner Rowan Fairfield presented a comprehensive list of the city’s achievements and potential next steps related to White Salmon’s Housing Action Plan. Passed in 2023, the plan establishes a framework for city government to build enough efficient, high-quality housing for a variety of income groups and family types.
Based on projections from its urbanization study, White Salmon will need an additional 602 detached homes, 80 manufactured homes or cottages and 338 multi-family structures by 2043 to keep up with population growth.
Fairfield highlighted several ways the city made progress in recent years: adopting a tenant protection ordinance, capping short-term rentals at 10% of the total housing supply, enacting broad zoning reforms, pursuing several affordable housing projects and more. Much of the following discussion, however, fixated on concerns brought forward during public comment.
“Front and center for me is addressing the infrastructure issue, addressing what happens when we encounter a stumbling block that was not contemplated in all these policies we put forth,” said Councilor David Lindley. “I think people are raising a real question about proportionality.”
Earlier, two residents pursuing small housing projects testified the city is unfairly requiring certain water infrastructure upgrades. They’ve been mandated to install eighth-inch water lines, four times larger than what their engineers advised would provide sufficient flow, and absorb the cost for connecting neighbors, an additional burden of at least $100,000 for each person. Another resident noted that her water bill doubled once she began renting out her accessory dwelling unit (ADU).
Lindley and Councilor Patty Fink were sympathetic to the residents’ concerns, but Keethler reminded council they had increased water rates for ADUs. She also emphasized the city is actively seeking funding to improve the street infrastructure of the two developments in question, and that the city has very little money in its water reserve fund.
“You will whittle away the cash you have on hand if the legislative decisions are reflexive and not rooted in policy that’s founded and core to maintaining the common good and the common interests of how we build out,” said Keethler. “I envision this as a city operations committee discussion ... What I really hope to leave is that there is a shared recognition that we are working on these issues that are more difficult than just a straightforward solution.”
“What I was trying to say is we can’t account for everything in a policy, so I think there has to be some means of flexibility,” said Lindley. “There are some things we might have to be creative about, and that’s not policy, that’s procedure.”
Lastly, Public Works Director Andrew Dirks presented White Salmon’s Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) for the years 2026 to 2031. Essentially an outline, including cost estimates and timelines, of 10 key street and/or pedestrian infrastructure projects that’s updated annually, the only major change in this year’s iteration was putting Church Street improvements as the top priority.
All projects on the list are eligible for state funding, and Council approved the STIP unanimously.
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