The final time the town council appointed a brand new member was in 2024, after they stuffed the outgoing Teresa Mosqueda’s city-wide seat by appointing Tanya Woo. This appointment got here proper after Woo’s unsuccessful problem in opposition to Tammy Morales. Regardless of District 2 constituents clearly rejecting Woo as their consultant, the council appointed her anyway.
This time, District 2 residents are hoping for extra affect within the choice course of. On Monday, after a 20-day evaluation, the council will appoint District 2’s subsequent consultant from a pool of six nominees chosen simply over per week in the past.
The issue is that District 2 residents haven’t had an opportunity to get to know the candidates, not to mention type opinions about them. After I reached out to notable neighborhood members, many declined to remark, saying they hadn’t “stored up with the D2 seat” or felt they didn’t have something significant to contribute.
After a number of unanswered calls, I made a decision to be taught extra in regards to the candidates by reaching out to their supporters. Right here’s what District 2 supporters needed to say about Adonis Ducksworth, Chukundi Salisbury, Eddie Lin, and Hong Chhuor. Sadly, although I attempted my damndest, I didn’t join with anybody from Mark Solomon’s or Thaddeus Gregory’s camp—sorry!
Ducksworth
Willie C. Seals, pastor on the Christ Spirit Church, on Beacon Hill shaped a working relationship with Adonis Ducksworth, Mayor Bruce’s Harrell’s transportation operations and coverage supervisor, when Ducksworth did outreach for a Seattle Division of Transportation mission on twenty third Avenue.
“He met with the pastors,” Seals stated. He appreciated how Ducksworth listened to him and different “elders” in the neighborhood.
That wasn’t the primary time Seals met Ducksworth.
“I’ve recognized him ever since he’s been on this planet,” Seals stated. “His mother and pa and I went to high school collectively.”
From Seals’ perspective, Ducksworth has at all times been a standup man with “character and integrity at all times intact,” Seals stated.
Seals’ greatest concern for the district facilities round public security, particularly because the neighborhood’s relationship with legislation enforcement is worried. He desires police to have a greater, nearer relationship with District 2. In final week’s neighborhood discussion board, Ducksworth stated he needed to make that occur, although which may be outdoors his purview as a council member.
Regardless, Seals sees Duckworth as somebody who can deliver his neighborhood’s wants into Metropolis Corridor.
“If Adonis will get in there I’m gonna put on him out,” Seals laughed.
Salisbury
Dominique Davis from Group Passageways is throwing his help behind Chukundi Salisbury, long-time Parks and Recreation supervisor and neighborhood determine.
“I need to help him in that seat as a result of he grew up in that neighborhood that’s been marginalized, disenfranchised, and underserved,” Davis stated. “He is aware of the wants of the neighborhood as a result of he’s the neighborhood.”
This isn’t Salisbury’s first try to symbolize this district in public workplace. In 2020, he ran in opposition to Kirsten Harris-Talley for the thirty seventh Legislative District consultant seat however obtained solely 33% of the vote. Nonetheless, Salisbury has said that if he’s appointed to symbolize District 2, he received’t run for election when the seat’s time period is up. As an alternative, he views it as a caretaking place.
“The largest points I care about on a 30,000-foot stage is institutional racism,” Davis stated. “Then on the subsequent stage is gun violence, unemployment, housing, and stability. I really feel like [Salisbury] could be a powerful advocate to deal with these points to the very best of his capability.”
At a time when Donald Trump is invalidating hard-fought variety and inclusion measures on a nationwide stage, Davis sees Salisbury, who’s Black, as an necessary decide for illustration.
“Typically that voice must be heard in these again corridor conferences,” Davis stated. Having Salisbury on the council would make it so that they couldn’t be “completely racist,” he defined.
Lin
Cameron, a Rainier Vista resident who most well-liked to not use his final identify, is backing Eddie Lin, the Seattle Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace veteran. Cameron stated Lin lives down the road from him and the 2 have labored collectively up to now.
“Eddie is a good neighbor and an incredible pal,” Cameron stated. “District 2 proper now’s each nice and likewise has its challenges. I believe Eddie is somebody who understands a number of truths can exist.”
Cameron defined that Lin can see a “problem” like what’s occurring on twelfth Avenue South and South Jackson Road in Little Saigon, the place violent crime has spiked in latest months, takes nuance to deal with.
“He can consider the wants and issues of enterprise homeowners, residents, and people being preyed upon,” Cameron stated. “He’s somebody who genuinely understands there’s many sides of life and there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer.”
Not solely that, however Cameron believes Lin’s work within the metropolis as nicely his ardour for metropolis points can be a very good match for District 2. His major issues for the district are affordability and pedestrian security.
“[Lin] has the temperament and in-depth data of how the town works, and the human aspect, to deal with these points,” Cameron stated.
Chhuor
Huy Pham, the manager director of the non-profit Asian & Pacific Islander People in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP), commented on his pal and fellow Pals of Little Saigon board member and small enterprise proprietor, Hong Chhuor, through electronic mail.
“Hong’s management stands out as a result of he doesn’t simply perceive the challenges going through District 2—he’s lived them,” Pham wrote. “As a refugee, LGBTQ+ neighborhood member, and legacy enterprise proprietor, he is aware of what it takes to beat systemic obstacles whereas lifting others alongside the best way.”
Pham believes Chhuor’s “unbelievable capability to attach with individuals” can be indispensable on metropolis council.
“He balances this heat with the experience of somebody who has efficiently constructed help and raised hundreds of thousands for important social service organizations, making certain they will thrive and meet the wants of our neighborhood,” Pham wrote. “It’s a uncommon mixture, and it’s precisely what we want in Metropolis Corridor.”
Nobody
Native comic Brett Hamil was the one a type of unique unaffiliated resident calls who picked up the telephone and dished in regards to the council’s impending appointment.
“I don’t like several candidate that this metropolis council supermajority would select and I don’t assume anybody they do select would win on their very own deserves in an election,” Hamil stated.
He believes the nominees are “additional to the best” than the precise politics of the District 2 citizens.
One factor he feels strongly about will not be appointing a nominee who has already misplaced an election on this district. Which means, by Hamil’s metrics, Salisbury and Mark Solomon, the Seattle Police Division crime prevention coordinator, who misplaced handily in opposition to Tammy Morales in 2019, shouldn’t be thought-about.
“Why do we have now these large time losers sniffing round for a free seat? It’s gross, it’s unseemly, it’s not how the system ought to work,” Hamil stated.
Regardless, he doesn’t have a lot religion within the system as established by the present council.
“I’m hard-pressed to choose a favourite [of the nominees] as a result of I do know the council is simply going to seek out the subsequent Tanya Woo,” he stated.
The council will appoint the subsequent council member to run District 2 on Monday at 9:30 am.