President Jimmy opened the meeting at noon in deference to the day’s lengthy program. He invited Linda Rough for the day’s song, ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ accompanied by Jevon Powell; and followed by Nick Anderson for the day’s inspiration, ‘while we may share the same vocabulary many times we read from a different dictionary’.
President Jimmy said Seattle 4 has a rich history of providing a forum for candidates for office, as the future economic vitality of our community depends on key leadership. He asked members to submit their questions in the chatbox, and then introduced Mark Wright, KING-TV news anchor and past Seattle #4 president to interview Mayoral candidates, Bruce Harrell and M. Lorena Gonzalez, separately as schedules did not permit them to appear together. For the purposes of this article, responses were grouped together by topic.
Bruce Harrell began his remarks by focusing on his Seattle roots, from honor student at Garfield High School to being mentored at the Rotary Boys & Girls Club and playing football at the UW. He said Quincy Jones introduced his mom & dad at Garfield and that Quincy is honorary chair of the Garfield High School centennial. “While on the city council I created a $100M rainy day fund, increased accountability at City Light, and worked with Seattle Police to increase bias training to prevent racial profiling and put cameras on officers and passed fair employment legislation. As Mayor, I am looking forward to leading as this is one of the most important elections of our time.”
Lorena Gonzalez said she “Won’t apologize for being a staunch advocate for working families. I built my career on fighting on behalf of working families. As a former migrant worker who worked her way through school, "we are dealing with an intersection of crisis from the pandemic to the economic recession,” she said. “My own husband spent half the year on the unemployment rolls. I want to be a mayor who supports the people of the city instead of a few powerful interests that have controlled the city for many years. Small donations are made by working people and small business owners. As Mayor, I will make policy choices that will benefit working people in the city.
When asked about public safety in Seattle, Harrell said he does not support defunding police but wants to improve public safety throughout the city. “Working with Seattle police should not be a divisive conversation but aimed to improve public safety across all socio-economic levels as we all want safe streets and fair enforcement,” he said. “We are going to fund the police department to improve response times, open the books to see what our 911 system receives. We will recruit police officers from those of color, train and certify them so they are well versed in public safety strategies from de-escalation to use of the gun & badge.”
Lorena Gonzalez has a different view of policing. “During my time on the city council we have worked on really important policy issues regarding policing in the city from supporting survivors of sexual assaults to being a leader related to police accountability and reform The SPD staffing plan has been consistently fully funded,” she said, “they have the resources they need to fill that staffing plan. The system that currently exists is designed to arrest people for bad behavior or low-level theft and criminal behavior. I want to create more efficient systems that will be more responsive, like the community service officer program that is better positioned to address these problems”.
Bruce Harrell attributes the loss of officers at SPD to a feeling that the city doesn’t have its back. “It is the mayor’s job and police chief to improve morale and support the police. I am a team person from the beginning. In discussions, I want to hear from everyone. We will make sure the new chief of police has trust and start with the basics from their oath of office. I want a police chief that would push back with the council to say how dare you not take responsibility for the condition of our department. I will look at Chief Diaz and others and look forward to the process. I want a master communicator to change the culture with bold leadership”.
Lorena Gonzalez views crime as a byproduct of homelessness and addiction. “I am running for Mayor to end encampments by bringing inside our chronically homeless neighbors. I support solutions like deep community engagement and pairing that with appropriate available shelter space. The navigation team approach was not providing the outcomes. Fundamentally about a lack of available shelter to identify the kinds of shelters that are needed and what people will accept. My plan rapidly scales up shelter and community outreach to bring an end to having people surviving outside.”
Bruce Harrell supports a countywide and regional approach to addressing homelessness. “I voted for the regional approach while my opponent did not. The city government will never have enough resources, inventory, or assets. We have enough resources to address the problem now,” he said. “We need a more aggressive approach to dealing with encampments. We should have had sites where people can move. We could have had it done, and during my first month as Mayor we will publish a plan.”
"Addiction is one of the root causes of homelessness", said Lorena Gonzalez. “Open-air drug use is not the new normal in Seattle. What is unfortunate is the active divestment from the government to the behavioral health system, substance abuse, and the reality that people are losing their homes and left with no home and increasing substance abuse disorder and any viable treatment options< she said. “I want to identify new investments and resources to invest in behavioral health and meaningful pathways that is not incarceration so they can become stable members of our community”.
Bruce Harrell hopes to restore Seattle’s business-friendly standing vs. the anti-business stance. “We must be able to retain the business of all types and jobs that come from it. We want a strong business environment instead of driving them out. Don’t deny that wealthy individuals and businesses pay their fair share. Make no mistake we must keep jobs here in Seattle”.
“Politics are polarized right now from the national level to city and we all bear some responsibility for that,” said Lorena Gonzalez. “Our tax base and our economy are doing well except tourism and hospitality. I think Seattle can continue to be a place where people want to do business by investing in transportation, parks, and public safety. Workers want to live in areas of urban density and strong commitments to climate and housing justice.”
Bruce Harrell concluded by saying he does not support eliminating single-family zoning in Seattle, putting multi-family housing where it makes sense. He would work closely with the school districts on mentoring/tutoring programs, helping with resources, and the idea of building a school downtown. He touted the value of sports & special events and their positive impact on the city. “Sports, arts, and culture are unifying activities that bring out the competitive spirit and concept of teamwork. Any activity that stimulates creativity and teamwork is a good thing. I am excited about bringing vibrancy back to Seattle”.
Lorena Gonzalez concluded by saying the city has invested in programs such as the Black Brilliance Project as an effort for the city “to invest some money in black-led community organizations” and provide the city with research and analysis in what is needed to address black racism in our community. “What we saw was a survey of thousands of people who articulated their needs and the first part of a broader body of work that will help support the black brilliance project and how the city invests in communities of color for shared responsibility”. “People need local government to work together to meet the most pressing needs of our city,” She said. “it is important to have a strong relationship with the mayor’s office. In my six years on the council, I have served with four mayors and that has created a lot of instability. The reality is the Seattle City Council is working hard every day to meet the increasing demands of our city and those who are being left out. We have a desperate need to provide a safety net because of the inequities in our city”.
Program chair David Fain announced next week’s program as a panel discussion about an initiative to increase diversity and the number of black participants on corporate boards.
President Jimmy ended the meeting, saying he learned more about our candidates and what they think is important. How to disagree without being disagreeable? Can you help me understand what you mean by that? Without being judgmental helps me understand.
Thank you Newsletter reporter Pete DeLaunay!
