In lower than every week, the Seattle Metropolis Council will select one in every of six finalists to fill Councilmember Tammy Morales’ seat and signify District 2, which spans from the Chinatown-Worldwide District to Rainier Seashore. With such a brief timeline, there’s little time to get acquainted with the D2 hopefuls.
Sadly for all concerned, final night time’s solely scheduled candidate discussion board, which happened final night time on the Columbia Metropolis Theater, was a confused, biased catastrophe.
Final Friday, the council narrowed the record of 20 candidates by permitting every councilmember to appoint one individual. Councilmember Bob Kettle selected to not nominate anybody, and Councilmember Cathy Moore was absent from the assembly. Thus, we have been left with six: King Donuts proprietor Hong Chhuor (nominated by Council President Sara Nelson), Bruce Harrell’s senior transportation coverage and operations supervisor Adonis Ducksworth (nominated by Councilmember Dan Strauss), land use lawyer Thaddeus Gregory (nominated by Councilmember Pleasure Hollingsworth), long-time lawyer within the Metropolis Lawyer’s Workplace Eddie Lin (nominated by Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck), Parks and Recreation worker and neighborhood organizer Chukundi Salisbury (nominated by Councilmember Rob Saka), and Seattle Police Division neighborhood crime prevention coordinator and failed District 2 candidate Mark Solomon (nominated by Councilmember Maritza Rivera).
All these males (sure, they’re all males) gathered for Tuesday’s occasion hosted by Seattle CityClub and moderated by Tony Benton, Rainier Avenue Radio’s studio supervisor.
The primary query Benton posed was about which of Morales’ insurance policies the candidates agreed or disagreed with.
Chhuor acknowledged that he did not want to call any particular insurance policies as a result of he plans to lean on council workers who really know coverage, however his aim was for Seattleites to have the ability to be pleased with Seattle. Ducksworth mentioned he would “present up” since, in keeping with him, Morales by no means did. As somebody whose residence was damaged into twice, he had a powerful emphasis on public security. Gregory desires to pursue coverage that unites the district. Lin was the one one that really cited precise laws Morales supported in her time on the dais. He mentioned he was an enormous supporter of the Jumpstart payroll tax and her equitable growth initiative (EDI) to provide extra space for neighborhood organizations in mixed-use developments. Salisbury plugged his web site, the place he talked about all of us might discover footage of him and Morales. He supported EDI, however claimed he’d differ from Morales by being extra current. Solomon famous that he had a great working relationship with Morales, however could be stronger on public security.
Are you sensing a theme?
The subsequent query is the place issues began to get a bit… wacky.
Studying off his telephone, Benton posed two variations of the identical query to the candidates. First:
“The pedestrianization of Lake Washington Blvd has been a protracted working debate. Provided that South Seattle has much less entry to park area than the North finish, do you suppose the road needs to be closed to automobiles?”
After which:
“Making Lake Washington Blvd solely accessible to pedestrians and bikes isn’t one thing folks in D2 need. Bike lanes have been put in in D2 with out widespread neighborhood enter or warning. Will you decide to preserving Lake Washington Boulevard open to automobiles?”
Given these prompts, the candidates responded. Unsurprisingly, all of them mentioned they might not shut the road all the way down to automobiles.
Ducksworth, who’s a transportation man, praised the “superb” new waterfront “the place you may have automobiles, you may have bikes, you may folks strolling, and you may have entry to the water.” Whereas the waterfront mission is an enchancment over the Alaskan Approach Viaduct, the bustling multiple-lane freeway nearly undermines the people-centered design of the remainder of the mission.
“Why can’t we get collectively and do this on Lake Washington Blvd?” Ducksworth mentioned.
Lin identified that not everybody can get round with no automobile, citing his half-paralyzed father-in-law—who doesn’t even stay in Seattle—for example. Salisbury inspired everybody to go to his web site earlier than stating his agency dedication to preserving automobiles on Lake Washington Boulevard, noting that town had already pedestrianized the realm by banning automobiles in Seward Park. Solomon mentioned if the individuals who stay there do not need to shut the road to automobiles, then that is all that issues. Chhuor agreed. Gregory did, too, however then added he knew the road might be unsafe and that Seattle ought to pursue Imaginative and prescient Zero objectives of lowering pedestrian deaths.
Benton then ad-libbed a “wild card” query.
“That is only for me and my fellow neighborhood members who stay very close to Lake Washington,” Benton mentioned. “When Lake Washington is shut down for automobiles…, that’s cool, besides all these automobiles park in our neighborhood and take our parking areas and don’t respect the property.”
He waited a beat after which turned to Chhuor.
“Hong, what do you concentrate on that, man?”
The candidates responded as anticipated. It felt like improv, everybody “sure and-ing” off of one another. Yay automobiles, boo outsiders taking curb-side parking that residents shouldn’t have a divine proper to. Whereas a lot of them in all probability did imagine what they have been saying, it was laborious to inform what was real about what they mentioned as a result of the moderator’s preferences influenced their responses.
Don’t fret, it acquired worse.
Benton then requested, “What’s your place on the specter of Sound Transit to companies and neighborhood members to Chinatown?”
Behind the coded language (um, menace??), Benton is referring to the talk about the place to put a brand new station for the required second tunnel to broaden mild rail all through town and make good on Sound Transit 3 guarantees.
The general consensus was that the long run council member would wish to “interact with neighborhood” on the problem.
On questions on tips on how to “rehabilitate” drug customers, the candidates recycled the previous canned responses about main with compassion and wrap-around providers. None acknowledged how they might fund any of those lofty objectives. Lin no less than cited a selected county levy geared toward serving to present rehabilitation.
When requested how they might be aware of constituents, everyone assured the room they’d be accessible at voters’ beck and name. Salisbury mentioned he would give individuals who referred to as into his workplace a “monitoring quantity” and guarantee he talked to them in 48 hours or much less.
Everybody talked about public security as their prime precedence for the district. Chhuor mentioned he wished to guard small companies as a result of in any other case a spot just like the CID would simply be stuffed with “Paneras.” Lin mentioned the One Seattle Complete Plan as a driver for him since D2 is “at-risk of displacement.” He continued, “We’d like to verify to proper the wrongs of the previous, the redlining that has robbed our communities of wealth constructing alternatives, we have to change that,” he mentioned.
Benton then requested a query from three companies within the space: “What is going to you do to assist small companies like these in Columbia Metropolis which are combating points corresponding to crime, police response time—
He interjected, “That’s an actual factor, we don’t even name the police.”
Then continued, “—and elevated value associated to the brand new minimal wage? On Friday, [the businesses] mentioned they could have to shut.”
Lin was the one candidate to challange the asseration that the “new minimal wage” is main companies to shut, saying, “I assist our employees, [they’re] struggling as properly.” He mentioned inexpensive housing was the important thing. He additionally mentioned he’d assist cuts to taxes and rules to assist small companies.
Ducksworth, Gregory, and Chhuor mentioned they might direct police to “stroll a beat” in these areas so folks really feel safer. Fast reality test: Town council doesn’t have the ability to do this.
Following this, Benton opened up the discussion board to impromptu viewers questions, one thing the discussion board hadn’t deliberate.
The primary query got here from his godmother, former state Rep. Daybreak Mason.
“I need to know this: How do you actually perceive being a council member? A lot of the solutions you’re giving sound such as you’re working to guide a non revenue group,” she mentioned.
Nice query. Duckworth, Lin, and Salisbury defined that their work with the Metropolis has given them perception into the position. Gregory mentioned his expertise working with the council on land-use points means he understands the job. Chhuor acknowledged he would depend on council workers for steering however sees himself as “the bridge” between the general public and the council. Solomon mentioned he believes the position is all about “listening.”
After listening to their solutions all through the discussion board, it is nonetheless unclear what, if something, any of them really stand for. Maybe the perfect indicator comes from who on the council nominated them—or, in Salisbury’s case, from his web site.
