Seattle and King County Primary Voter Guide 2021

James Donaldson is a former NBA basketball player, including for the Seattle SuperSonics. In his retirement, he owned a physical therapy business. In 2019 he started Your Gift of Life, a nonprofit organization that advocates for mental heatlh awareness. He also ran for office in 2019, losing in the primary race for Seattle City Council Position 7.

Colleen Echohawk is the former director of the Chief Seattle Club, which works with Native people struggling with homelessness. An enrolled member of the Kithehaki Band of the Pawnee Nation and a member of the Upper Athabascan people of Mentasta Lake, she’s one of two Native candidates for mayor this year. In addition to her position with the Chief Seattle Club, Echohawk has been an active member in Seattle civic life, including as a member of the Community Police Commission and a board member of the Downtown Seattle Association. 

Here's a story David Kroman wrote when Echohawk joined the race.

In answers to your questions, Echohawk wrote:

Some of Echohawk's emailed replies did not contain details about whether she was responding to a specific question. Her answers are included nearly verbatim, below. 

On homelessness ...

It is unacceptable that we live in a city filled with billionaires, yet see grandmothers, brothers and cousins living on the street. I have dedicated my life to ending Native homelessness. At Chief Seattle Club, we have moved 681 folks into permanent housing since 2018. I will leverage my experience, resources and partnerships to move to functional zero homelessness. I know it’s possible because at Eagle Village, our shelter targeting those chronically homeless, 53 residents exited and none have returned to homelessness. My 22 Point Emergency Housing Action Plan to move everyone inside in 14 months: https://www.echohawkforseattle.com/emergencyhousing

On housing ...

A massive wave of evictions will not benefit anybody as tenants become homeless and suffer more. As mayor, I will extend the eviction moratorium until our communities actually start healing from COVID-19. I will aggressively pursue federal and state dollars, as well as leverage city resources for rent relief. By partnering with BIPOC and neighborhood focused organizations, we can ensure rental assistance is delineated with an equity lens. I support the Utility Discount Program's cost reductions in Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities for income eligible residents. I believe this program should be expanded.

On police and public safety ...

How would you address the power the police union holds over reform and accountability processes?

The current state of the Seattle Police Department — the violence and the unwillingness to work with the city — was not inevitable. Seattle passed landmark accountability reform in 2017, but the Seattle Police Officers Guild contract wiped most of it away. I opposed this contract in my role as a community police  commissioner. It is imperative when the next mayor negotiates the new contract that the accountability measures from 2017 are restored. Transparency and accountability should never be a part of the bargaining process. 

Do you have alternative ideas for addressing mental health crises in Seattle?

I will immediately move to expand innovative programs like the Mobile Mental Health response unit “Health One” citywide with 24/7 service.

On taxes and the economy ...

The impacts of the global pandemic served to exacerbate the economic divide adversely impacting Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander and immigrant communities. Our efforts must focus first on providing access to those furthest from economic justice. My vision for an equitable economic recovery starts with addressing the humanitarian crisis where about 4,000 of our neighbors are living in unsheltered public spaces. As soon as the election results are in, I will begin implementing my 22 point Emergency Housing Action Plan, which will bring everyone on the streets inside within 14 months.

On transportation and urban planning ...

Seventy-five percent of Seattle is single-family zoned, meaning that the vast majority of our city’s zoning code only allows for individual homes, limiting the development of apartments, townhouses and multifamily projects. Missing middle housing allows us to address this reality. Accessory Dwelling Units (detached units on properties), cottage clusters, multiplexes and basement apartments can fill gaps between buildings. Portland’s Residential Infill Project allows up to four homes on any lot and between four and six homes if at least half of them are considered affordable, something Seattle should likewise implement. I’ll work with the city council to repeal exclusionary zoning laws.

Jessyn Farrell is a former state legislator from Seattle. She’s also the former executive director of the Transportation Choice Coalition, which advocates for transit in Seattle and across the state. She later joined the executive team of Pierce Transit, before running for office in 2012. She served as a state legislator until 2017, when she launched her first bid for mayor. She finished a close fourth in the primary. 

Here's a story David Kroman wrote when Farrell joined the race.

In answer to your questions, Jessyn Farrell wrote:

On homelessness:

What is your plan to reduce the number of unhoused Seattleites? When do you anticipate accomplishing that? How will you pay for your plans? Whose taxes will go up?

I’ve laid out a step-by-step plan with a specific timeline so the public can hold me accountable to solving this humanitarian crisis. We will provide over 2,000 interim housing options, including hotel rooms, tiny homes, and FEMA emergency housing in the first year, with 3,500 units of permanent supportive housing online within four years. Working families already pay an unacceptably high percentage of their income in taxes; we know we’ll need more revenue than to accomplish this, and we’ll make sure the wealthiest among us are paying their fair share to solve this problem.

On housing:

Should the eviction ban continue?

Yes, for two simple reasons. First, we know it is far less expensive and less traumatic to keep someone housed than it is to lift them out of homelessness. If we allow this wave of evictions to take place, we are making a policy choice to push people out of their homes during an unprecedented crisis that the people who lost their jobs during COVID did nothing to cause. Second, we still have millions in rental relief to distribute -- our government’s sluggish response to disbursing state and federal aid should not be the reason anyone loses their home.

On police and public safety:

How would you address the power the police union holds over reform and accountability processes?

We must take accountability off the negotiation table, period. We simply cannot compromise on the demand that SPD be held responsible for ensuring its officers do their jobs while respecting the humanity and constitutional rights of everyone in our city. Specifically, we must return to the preponderance of evidence standard for evaluating officer misconduct that was undermined in the last contract, negotiate reasonable constraints to officer overtime hours, and prevent officers from avoiding discipline and decertification through early retirement.

On taxes and the economy:

Do you have a plan for increasing the amount of affordable housing without increasing property taxes for low- and middle-income families?

Yes! My housing plan calls for the construction of 70,000 units of affordable housing as a crucial element of getting Seattle on track to meet its climate goals. More diversity in our housing stock is critical to reducing the time and length of commutes, providing working families with more convenient access to public transit, and reducing the need to drive for local trips like getting kids to school and grocery shopping. With the federal government primed to invest billions in fighting the climate crisis, directing some of that revenue to address our housing affordability crisis is a top priority.

On transportation and urban planning

Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning?

Yes, but zoning reform on its own will not solve our housing affordability crisis. My approach with ST3 for Housing is to ensure that we are scaling up affordability in every single neighborhood while at the same time prioritizing our commitment to racial justice and environmental sustainability. We know that this will take a broad coalition of Seattlites and so our focus must be on the tangible benefits everyone will receive as a result– lower family costs, more complete communities, and a higher quality of life for everyone.

M. Lorena González has been a member of the Seattle City Council since 2015 and is the councila's president. An attorney, she worked briefly in former Mayor Ed Murray’s office as his legal counsel before running for office. Prior to that, she worked in private practice on civil rights issues. Her most notable case was winning a $150,000 settlement against Seattle after an officer threatened to beat the “Mexican piss” out of her client. 

Here's a story David Kroman wrote when González joined the race.

Bruce Harrell served on the Seattle City Council from 2007 through 2019, including as its president beginning in 2016. Harrell went to Garfield High School and University of Washington School of Lawl. Before being elected to office, he served as legal counsel for US West, which was acquired by Qwest and then later CenturyLink. Following the resignation of former Mayor Ed Murray, Harrell served as interim mayor for five days before declining to serve out the remainder of Murray’s term.

Here's a story David Kroman wrote when Harrell joined the race.

Andrew Grant Houston is an architect by training. After moving to Seattle from Texas, he started his own small firm. With business down from the pandemic, Houston worked for six months as an interim policy adviser to Councilmember Teresa Mosqeuda, a position that ended in May.

In answers to your questions, Houston wrote:

Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?

No, I would not continue the hostile terrorizing of our unhoused neighbors. In a city with an affordability crisis, stagnant wages, and mid-pandemic recovery, it is unreasonable and ineffectual to punish unhoused and unsheltered Seattleites for surviving in a problem we refuse to adequately address. The solution is housing. We must fund and build 2,500 tiny homes as an immediate solution to this crisis.

Do you support sweeps even when housing and/or supportive services are unavailable?

No, sweeps are inhumane. It is within the mayor’s authority to stop all sweeps, which I would do immediately and with no exceptions.

Agree or disagree: Efforts by the city of Seattle and King County to combat homelessness are having too little effect on the problem and there’s almost no accountability? How would you measure success?

Agree. Seattle and King County had close to 12,000 people unhoused and over 5,500 completely unsheltered in the latest Point-in-Time Count Report. The number of unhoused neighbors remained the same over the past few years.

Should the eviction ban continue?

Yes. COVID-19 exacerbated the affordability crisis we already had. We haven’t seen the full economic fallout of the pandemic, let alone an adequate recovery, which means many individuals, including myself, still owe insurmountable rent debts.

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

Over the last decade, we doubled our police budget but crime has not decreased at all, let alone by 50%. This excess spending is a detriment to our city. Defunding the Seattle Police Department by 50% means reinvesting those funds into gun-free, effective alternatives to public safety and prevention. This allows us to invest in more efficient and restorative departments.

How would you make police reform efforts more transparent to the public, or get the community more involved?

When we reduce SPD’s budget, those funds will be transparently allocated to alternatives for community safety, with community-led safety contracts as a top priority, and using participatory budgeting.

How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city? (86)

Short answer: We can’t. A progressive tax system is, by definition, taxing the rich. That said, Seattle can legally impose a 1% income tax right now. I will, and my plan to do so is called a Just Transition Tax. This last question is a false dichotomy. Washington State gave Boeing massive tax breaks and that hasn’t stopped them from leaving. Similarly, Amazon said they’d stop a project they had downtown if the HEAD Tax was repealed, but when Council did it, Amazon sold the building.

Would you support establishing or experimenting with a universal basic income? If so, what is your plan and where would the money come from?

Yes. My plan to divest from SPD and invest in community includes a UBI pilot within the list of items to receive investment from that reallocation of funds.

Art Langlie is the grandson of Arthur B. Langlie, the onetime mayor of Seattle and three-term governor of Washington. Langlie’s path has not been in politics, but instead in construction management. He’s currently executive vice president at Holmes Electric, an electrical construction contractor.

Lance Randall is the former director of economic development and interim executive director of SouthEast Effective Development, a nonprofit community development organization that focuses on housing and economic development. Before that, he worked for eight years as the Seattle Office of Economic Development’s business services manager. He’s also the president of a company that sets up sound systems for small to medium events and venues.

In answers to your questions, Randall wrote:

Randall's emailed reply did not contain details about whether he was responding to a specific question. His answers are included nearly verbatim, below. 

On homelessness ...

We must end the undignified neglect of our homeless neighbors by City Hall and our leaders. Over the last decade, the number of houseless individuals has skyrocketed, and actions from city leadership have not supported or stabilized these thousands of individuals. To stabilize our neighbors and get them off the streets, I will establish “Dignity Communities” using surplus city property and leasing private property to create safe places for temporary shelter with service providers on site, amenities to meet basic human needs, support teams and job placement for sustainable earned income. 

On housing ... 

My strategy will focus on creating more equitable policies that will enable more people to live in the city. I will organize a group of industry and neighborhood leaders with city staff to prioritize the creation of a diversity of rental and for sale housing options. This will include: 

1. Review opportunities to create a staggered residential zoning where density limits are responsive to site conditions, land values and desired outcomes.
2. Create more flexibility within the single-family zones, such as reducing the minimum lot size at block ends
3. Establish more opportunities for land trust models

On police and public safety ...

The most important responsibility of our local government is to keep the public safe and protected. To do so, our public safety system must be funded, mutually supported and work together as a team. Based on the recent demands for social justice in our country, it is especially important that our Police Department is motivated to improve.

For mental health crisis, I will adjust the Seattle Police Department budget by reallocating funding within the Police Department to provide opportunities for experts in mental health, drug counseling, de-escalation techniques and crime prevention to accompany police officers on calls where special assistance is needed.

On taxes and the economy ...

To help Seattle’s economy rebound, I am going to act quickly to remove barriers for businesses to start up and recover from the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. I will review the processes for city reviews, inspections and small business permits to reduce the time required for small businesses to start up. To reduce financial barriers, I will create a partnership between the city government and our local corporate foundations to raise money to fund a local grant program to provide significant financial assistance to small businesses.

On transportation and urban planning ...

Transportation is essential to Seattle’s economic growth, and I will prioritize repairing our bridges, including the West Seattle and Magnolia bridges. I will review the transportation priorities that have been identified as a result of the 2015 “Levy to Move Seattle” and the November 2020 Transportation Plan. We will use this review to adjust priorities based upon anticipated funding changes due to COVID-19’s impact on tax revenue. My priorities will ensure no Seattleites are isolated from the city due to infrastructure failures, and I will partner with the federal government to rebuilding our infrastructure. 

Casey Sixkiller is a former lobbyist turned government insider. Most recently, he served briefly as one Mayor Jenny Durkan’s deputy mayors. Before that he worked under King County Executive Dow Constantine as a chief operating officer. Sixkiller, one of two Native candidates for mayor, lobbied on behalf of a wide range of companies and organizations, from the Port of Seattle to Lockheed Martin. He also served as a legislative aide to Sen. Patty Murray. 

In answer to your questions, Sixkiller wrote:

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

The City Council’s cuts to the police have made Seattle less safe. Violent crime and property crime are up double digits. One neighborhood started its own social media page to track shots fired. Meanwhile, 911 response times are going the wrong direction and 250 officers have left, one-third of which identified as BIPOC. Let’s move past slogans and be honest that our residents don’t feel safe. As Mayor, I will hire more cops so we can address crime while focusing on recruiting and retaining officers who share our values and scaling alternatives to fix our broken crisis response system.

How would you make police reform efforts more transparent to the public, or get the community more involved?

We need to turn our words into action. As Mayor I will hire a police chief that is a change agent, someone who shares my vision for a community-based, community-informed, and more accountable police department. I will launch a transparent process for choosing the chief and negotiate a contract with the Police Officers Guild that advances rather than hinders change and holds bad cops accountable. I will expand successful programs like Health One and Community Service Officers, and build partnerships with community-based organizations so they can be real-time alternatives to an armed police response and achieving community safety.

Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning?

Eliminating single-family zoning is a one-size-fits all approach that will not fix the problem it is trying to solve; in fact, it could accelerate gentrification and increase in housing costs we have experienced over the past decade, particularly in our historically BIPOC neighborhoods. We need to first focus on preserving our current housing stock, support families and businesses at risk of displacement, and fine tune existing programs to get the housing production and affordability we want. I will pursue zoning changes where it makes sense while being mindful that we must not make currently affordable neighborhoods suddenly unaffordable.

Would you support establishing or experimenting with a universal basic income? If so, what is your plan and where would the money come from?

Income inequality has been increasing for years with no effective solution coming from City Hall. Today nearly 15 percent of Seattle households make less than $30,000 per year. I have proposed leveraging one-time federal American Rescue Plan funding to pilot a guaranteed basic income program. My plan would provide $500 per month to 16,000 working families to help cover the cost of rent, groceries, childcare, or whatever they determine is best for their family. If we want Seattle to be more equitable then we need to invest in working families so they are part of it.

Do small landlords need specific support from your administration? If so, what does that look like?

Small landlords are not the villains the City Council has made them out to be -- many of them are families trying to earn supplemental income so they can continue to live or retire in Seattle. The City Council’s approach has forced many small landlords to consider selling their properties. As Mayor, I will treat small landlords like the critical partners in meeting Seattle’s housing needs that they are. Rather than choosing sides, I’ll craft practical solutions that keep people housed and ensure small landlords have rental proceeds to pay their bills and keep that unit in the rental market.

We're not going to list or give equal coverage to all 15 mayoral candidates because we simply don't have the staff to do that. For a more detailed explanation of how we decide which campaigns to follow, read the item below under "methodology" but here's the short answer: Candidates who haven't raised any money have virtually no chance of advancing to the general election. There are six mayoral candidates in that category: 

• Clinton Bliss
• Henry Clay Dennison
• Stan Lippmann 
• Don L. Rivers
• Omari Tahir-Garrett
• Bobby Tucker 

In answer to your questions, Mosqueda wrote this:

Mosqueda's emailed reply did not contain details about whether she was responding to a specific question. Her answers are included nearly verbatim, below. 

On progressive taxation ...

I’m proud to have led passage of the largest progressive tax in Seattle’s history at the moment we needed to protect our most vulnerable, invest in small businesses and workers, and prevent deep cuts to key services. JumpStart ensures wealthiest corporations contribute their fair share to our city’s prosperity. Through a coalition of small and large businesses, unions, housing and community leaders, we developed a sustainable funding source that invests in COVID recovery and an equitable future. Together, we can build back better through affordable housing, economic resiliency for our downtown and neighborhood hubs, a greener economy and more equitable development.

In answer to your questions, Kate Martin wrote this:

Martin's emailed reply did not contain details about whether she was responding to a specific question. Her answers are included nearly verbatim, below. 

On homelessness ...

My approach to homelessness would be to use a scrum, not waterfall, approach. The Gresham, Oregon, model is the most appealing to me. A small, well-run homeless services department supported by a sea of volunteers and financed largely by philanthropy brought homelessness to functional zero in Gresham. The director is confident that their approach would scale well for Seattle. The beautiful thing is that it’s kind, humane and effective. Basically they met every single person where they were and built the trust needed for people to accept help. By using the Gresham methodology, we can eliminate all camping on public property. Sweeps are not necessary and once we stop funding failed strategies and redirect that money to ideas that work, we’ll see where money is needed.

On housing ...

The eviction ban must end. The eviction ban was falsely labeled as something we needed to do because of COVID. What it turned into was an opportunity for some scammers of the cancel rent movement — people refusing to pay rent and refusing to relocate even though they could afford to pay — to take advantage of their landlord. If it was about not being able to afford rent, the government should have used rent vouchers, not ask private owners to shoulder the costs. Rental property legislation needs to have everyone at the table; otherwise the people not at the table wind up being on the menu. In this case, small landlords are on the menu. Rent control is an idea that falls into the “eating our young” category in that it protects older people at the expense of younger people. Homeownership is the best rent control, so I’ll be proposing lots of ways to get people into ownership.

On police and public safety ... 

I’m for fully funding the police department and continuing to improve it. We’ve made giant strides and we’ll continue to. The consent decree has been evaluated as a grand success. The more recent problems with legitimate protests being infiltrated with rioters and looters were really unfortunate. I think we need to find more ways for people to have freedom of speech and more without stores and cops being the brunt of the action from the bad players. Alternative ideas for addressing mental health crises in Seattle are important, but our police force is, overall, doing a great job in that area. Certainly mistakes are made, but we’re doing well overall. I had a housemate who had a mental breakdown last year who pulled a gun and dagger on me. The Seattle Police Department handled it all flawlessly and I’m grateful for that.

On taxes and the economy ...

I don’t adhere to the finite pie theory that because there are rich people it makes more poor people. More than half of our property taxes go to a failed public education system, where 50% of the kids are not learning to read, write and do math and most students are bored out of their minds. We need the middle class and poor people to have the same opportunity for school choices that more wealthy people have. I propose an “A La Carte” system where families can use their $19,000 per student per year to invest as they see fit in a menu of academic, enrichment, recreation and child care options. Great education systems make for better futures. We could have all the affordable housing we want if we tamp down developer-oriented density in favor of people-oriented density and home ownership.

On transportation and urban planning ...

I am a planning and design consultant, and I’ve made it my mission to prototype flexible shared housing. My prototype has taught me a tremendous amount, and I think we need more of the kind of house that I built. Just one every block or two would solve most of our affordable housing pressures. I support rebranding SF zones to Sustainable Families and Groups. We can incentivize the construction and remodeling of homes so they are built to the maximum height and lot coverage. What we don’t want are bigger footprints because that throws the baby out with the bathwater. We want more dwellers per acre. We can achieve that and not discard the green, safe, family-friendly context of SF zones.

In answer to your questions, Kenneth Wilson wrote this:

Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?
Yes, I would eliminate temporary camping on public property. However, we cannot promote one bad idea with another and force homeless from parks and public properties to the edge of road somewhere else. We need to create permanent facilities at useful public property locations such as the pending obsolete King County Metro transfer station at Northgate with the link light rail station opening. 

How will you increase the supply of housing that costs less than 30% of renters’ income?
Create less regulation, reduced taxes, and reduce rental costs. Tenants may have to be flexible in what they would accept for a fixed 30% of their income, including compromise on location, home size, number of rooms, parking/storage, and added yard maintenance responsibilities to reduce costs, etc. Our City’s regulations of rental properties are overzealous and sometimes based in political theater using extreme examples not applicable to the generic typical situations. This has created added costs and unnecessary impacts to landlords that in turn pass as costs and restrictions to tenants.

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?
Unlike the incumbent Council Member 8, I will not support any defunding of Seattle Police. I agree that the police are called to all individual and community crisis and that additional community response professionals are needed to assist them in responding to homeless, families, and to help promote public order, community engagement, and de-escalation.

How would you address the power the police union holds over reform and accountability processes?
I do not agree that police unions have a hold over reform and accountability. The union’s goals are protection and advocacy of its members.There has also been several very significant changes to law voted into place by the citizens and also recently signed into law by the governor, which are already strongly directing rules for accountability. No further changes in direction is warranted.

Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning? 
No, zoning protects the livability of our City both in the adjacent neighborhood and along the developed arterials.  These important restrictions protected neighborhoods, trees, viewpoints and benefit both the protected neighborhood and adjacent more dense zoned urban areas. 

What letter grade would you give Seattle’s urban tree canopy?
B-, but rapidly diminishing toward a C- through poorly planned development.

Paul Glumaz wrote this on homelessness and public safety:

I am the only candidate willing to discuss the obvious determining reality of homelessness which is the criminal infrastructure of drug trafficking and addiction, and what must be done about it.  When candidates for office in Seattle accept, or do not oppose the claims made by Seattle Attorney Pete Holmes that the "war on drugs has been lost," these candidates are accepting in effect the endless expansion of the homeless problem.  Why?

Drug addicts must acquire the funds to feed their habit.  How are those means acquired if not through criminal activity?  "Low barrier" facilities do not stop the expansion of crime and addiction.  Addicts still need to commit crimes to get their fix whether they are on the street.  Doing so makes Seattle a prime destination for drug addicts trying to find a better place to accommodate their drug addiction.. Compassionate permissiveness does not work.

If elected I would seek to balance strong enforcement of existing statutes with an equally strong "high barrier" treatment approach. These approaches have been used effectively in other cities like Houston which reduced homelessness 54% between 2011 and 2019.

Corey Eichner has worked in public schools since 2004, first as a teacher then an administrator. He’s currently an assistant principal with Seattle Public Schools. 

In answer to your questions, Corey Eichner wrote:

Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?  

While the long-term solution is being transformative in our city infrastructure with more affordable housing and high-paying jobs, there needs to first be an immediate short-term response.  We have to ensure adequate and appropriate support exists while maintaining that temporary housing structures cannot become permanent fixtures in our community.  We must set a regional budget priority, to massively increase the access and availability of rapid re-housing measures to provide safe alternatives to those without homes.  It doesn’t work to have large-scale shelters with beds and bunks.  There needs to be multiple entry points for rapid rehousing including tiny houses, hotels, safe parking lots, etc.  We need to recognize the dignity and needs of our neighbors and ensure that our temporary homes are provided without preconditions such as requiring employment or being free from substance abuse, and that also meet the individual needs of our neighbors without homes.  

Do you support sweeps even when housing and/or supportive services are unavailable? 

No

Agree or disagree: Efforts by the city of Seattle and King County to combat homelessness are having too little effect on the problem and there’s almost no accountability? How would you measure success?  

Priorities in government are represented in how budgets are set.  As a city councilmember, addressing the homelessness crisis would be my top priority.  Out of the nearly 130 million federal COVID relief funds, Seattle earmarked only $49 million for housing and homelessness.  I would have supported a much higher percentage. 

Should the eviction ban continue? 

Yes

Do small landlords need specific support from your administration? If so, what does that look like?

Yes, we have to support individual landlords. We must continue to fund financial support for landlords and look for creative tax exemptions that could be provided to assist landlords struggling to pay mortgage while supporting renters. Legal advice and support must be provided for both renters and individual landlords supporting renters in crisis.

Do you support rent control? 

Yes

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?  

I do not support the broad "defunding the police" campaign.  Police and first responders are necessary as part of safety and security in our city. Reform is needed and this conversation needs to be around priorities. We should be looking at where our needs are to provide culturally responsive problem-solving and safety/security in our community and then reallocate funds accordingly. Our goal must be to provide support and services that focus on providing basic needs to our community. This happens by growing and systemizing our alternative response that utilizes Restorative Justice. Programs like LEAD or other existing CBOs provide an add-on to our first responders that can be used as part of the safety and security of the city. We have to re-commit to Community Policing in our neighborhoods so when law enforcement is needed, officers are connected with our local neighbors.

How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city?

Our reliance on sales tax and many local levies exacerbates our already regressive tax system. This leaves those making the least giving more proportionally back to the community than our highest income earners and large corporations. We need to be transformative in our thinking that links taxation fairly to income and ability levels. 

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?  

We must continue to fund grants and financial support for local businesses with additional rent control, creative tax exemptions, guidance and mentoring with the business associations, and a review of exclusionary zoning.  We have to incentivize new business growth that encourages new startups throughout the city that promotes the arts and community engagement.

How will you balance the city budget, while being transparent about how the money is spent?  

I support a participatory budgeting model to ensure priorities of the City Council match what citizens want and expect.

Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning? 

No. Broad rezoning does not take into account long-term planning, or the additional challenges our city's infrastructure faces. Rezoning also allows corporate developers to recreate the city at a considerable profit, starting first with our most vulnerable communities, without necessarily addressing the real problem at hand.  We must utilize density with mass transit as the guide to develop along our current and future transit lines to give access to affordable housing, jobs, schools, parks, and public resources. 

Some readers are concerned about congested roads and commute times while others advocate for building more bike lanes, public transportation and housing density.  Which group do you expect to vote for you and why? 

Our highest priority must be to invest more into an eco-friendly comprehensive transit system that interconnects our city neighborhoods.  We will not solve our transportation problems until we recognize the inter-connectedness of Seattle to our surrounding cities and suburbs.  Our regional transit system must work in concert with each other to travel with ease throughout the city and have quick access in and out along our highways and interstates. Additional bike lanes, walking paths, and protected streets can be added to help ease traffic congestion. 

Do you support free public transit? 

Yes

Sara Nelson is the co-founder of Fremont Brewing, which she and her husband founded in 2009. Before that, she served as a legislative aide to Richard Conlin, former member of the Seattle City Council. This is the second time Nelson has sought a seat on the council with the backing of the business community, losing in the primary in 2017.

In answer to your questions, Sara Nelson wrote: 

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

We must keep everyone safe while ensuring our officers treat the people they serve with dignity and respect and holding them accountable for all forms of misconduct. We must reform the police to meet these objectives and fund accordingly. Defunding the police by an arbitrarily chosen percentage without a plan to keep community safe is misguided. The average response time for Priority 911 calls is currently 14 minutes, largely due to understaffing, so hiring to adequately meet our public safety responsibilities is important. I would restore funding to the community police teams in order to support a community policing model, which improves policing and builds trust between the Seattle Police Department and community.

How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city?

The way to reduce income inequality is by offering opportunities for intergenerational wealth creation. My proposal to create city-funded trust accounts for every child born into a low-income family is a start. Before we talk about new revenue, we have to talk about leadership. Council just passed the largest tax increase in Seattle’s history (JumpStart), the Legislature just passed the capital gains tax, and Washington state has received millions of federal dollars in COVID relief. I’ll want to see how effectively this new revenue is spent through 2022 before calling for a new tax as we emerge from the pandemic. 

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic? 

• Put more money into neighborhood Public Development Associations to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses, purchase or renovate their buildings, etc. 

• Provide low-interest loans or grants.

• Increase OED staffing to provide technical services to start-ups, including support in developing a business plan, identifying and applying for sources of capital investments.

• Facilitate community-based partnerships modeled on King County’s Communities of Opportunity to prevent displacement. 

• Suspend collection of B&O taxes for hardest hit sectors for at least one year.

• Make the permit for restaurants to create outdoor seating permanent.

• Fix broken permitting/licensing processes.

• Improve public safety and reduce crime. 

Nikkita Oliver is an attorney and educator, whose activism around criminal justice has made them a well-known figure around Seattle, especially in progressive circles. Oliver is the executive director of Creative Justice, a youth and "arts-based healing-engaged space for youth.” A leader in the protests to defund the police and halt the construction of a new youth jail, Oliver ran for mayor as a co-founding member of the Seattle People’s Party in 2017. They finished a close third place in the primary.

In answer to your questions, Nikkita Oliver wrote this:

On homelessness:

1. Do you support sweeps even when housing and/or supportive services are unavailable?
2. What is your plan to reduce the number of unhoused Seattleites?
3. Agree or disagree: Efforts by the city of Seattle and King County to combat homelessness are having too little effect on the problem and there’s almost no accountability? How would you measure success?

Stop the sweeps; repurpose the funds to provide our unhoused neighbors with housing, supportive services and radical accessibility. Disrupting the small bit of stability people have self-generated exacerbates our public health and safety crises. Our solutions for housing affordability and homelessness have failed to respond to root causes. We need short term, mid-term and long-term solutions; including radical accessibility, tiny house villages, parking programs, hoteling, and building green, social, affordable housing. The Jump Start Tax has allocations for housing; which is a top priority. There are progressive revenue options such as a vacancy tax, speculation tax, and raising the REET.

On housing:

How will you increase the supply of housing that costs less than 30% of renters’ income?

First, we preserve pre-existing housing that costs less than 30% of a renter's income. We then end single family zoning. Our current zoning pattern has bifurcated the city; ⅔ of residential land is inaccessible to all but those with the highest incomes. We need a mix of housing and residential patterns including an urban infill strategy. We partner with local non-profits through community land trust and consider a housing trust fund to establish ongoing, publicly funding sources for affordable housing. We will maximize our return on the Multifamily Housing Tax Exemption to incentivize more private developers to build affordable units.

On police and public safety:

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

Our city deserves better options than violent policing and mass incarceration as our only choices for public safety. I support defunding the police and investing in housing, transportation, basic needs supports and cash assistance, community schools with counselors, restorative justice coordinators, and health services, culturally responsive youth programs, community mental health supports, community-based options for survivors, restorative and transformative justice responses for those who cause harm, civilianized 911, drug user supports, thriving wage employment, and immediate investments in mobile mental health and crisis support teams so we can get the right care to people experiencing emergencies when they need it.

On taxes and the economy:

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?

Prosperity Now found in their report, “The Racial Wealth Divide in Seattle” that the value of white-owned businesses in Seattle are about 12x the value of Black-owned businesses. BIPOC communities are those most impacted by the housing affordability crisis and the racial wealth gap. The COVID-19 crises have exacerbated these pre-existing conditions. Our plans to support small business recovery must follow the Race and Social Justice Initiative to ensure racial justice and equity are centered. We should maintain commercial rent control post the crisis to help small businesses not simply stabilize but have the opportunity to thrive in place.

On transportation and urban planning:

1. Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning?
2. Do you support free public transit?

I support free transit, ending single family zoning and protecting industrial lands. Urban villages cover a small percentage of Seattle’s land but handle the majority of growth--leading to displacement. We have allowed the costs of growth to fall on marginalized communities. All areas of the City should receive growth, so everyone can access urban benefits--a walkable city, high capacity, rapid, public transit, services, childcare, and affordable housing. Aligning with our goal to build accessible transportation connecting our city, 75% of the new Vehicle Licensing Fee revenue is dedicated to investments in neighborhoods facing higher risk of displacement and lower access to opportunities. 

Brianna Thomas, an aide to Seattle City Council President Lorena González, works on issues of public safety, labor and criminal justice reform. She also briefly worked for Seattle Office of Inspector General, a new office that issues recommendations for improving policing. Prior to working for González, Thomas was a political field director with the Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund. Thomas previously ran for city council in 2015. 

In answer to your questions, Brianna Thomas wrote: 

Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?

No, there are publicly held lands that could be put to work, and we can’t pretend that sweeping people around the city is a “solution.” A return to city-sanctioned encampments that provide onsite wrap-around services, autonomy and have a collective sense of community moves us in the immediate right direction of stabilizing folks coming out of concurrent traumas. During the COVID-19 crisis we saw a substantive uptick in people living in vehicles across the city. Until we are able to provide those folks a safe place to park, make repairs to their vehicles and get assistance with things like updating tabs and accessing individualized recovery plans, then we must use every tool in our toolkit, including using public land in every corner of the City. 

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

I stand by the council’s decision to reallocate money from the police budget into community-based resources. However, I do not believe in dissolving police departments entirely, and believe that the transition from the current model of policing to a network of integrated community-based responses will take time. In the meantime, we need to decrease response times for priority one calls, while ensuring constitutional policing for ALL of our neighbors. I also believe that undergirding this whole conversation is the need to 1. Get into full compliance with the consent decree. 2. Bargain a contract that embraces the 2017 Police Accountability Ordinance. 3. Continue to improve the tripartite civilian oversight system established in 2018. As the first chief of staff for the Office of Inspector General, I know how much work we have in front of us to accomplish these three things, and I’m up for that challenge.

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?

Hundreds of Seattle businesses have permanently shut their doors, including many owned by BIPOC and multigenerational entrepreneurs. I will propose a temporary abatement of B&O taxes for new small businesses, so we quickly fill empty storefronts. With the viaduct gone, we have a unique opportunity to build new ground-floor retail downtown, and I look forward to working on this. The council should continue to simplify and improve permit processes for businesses, as we saw with the extension of outdoor dining and Safe Street permits. 

The council can also more adequately fund the OED, which is currently understaffed, but an incredibly important resource to support the viability of our small business community. To fund this recovery, we need to pursue progressive revenue streams that address the upside down nature of our tax structure.

Ann Davison is an attorney whose private practice focuses on sports, business, employment and “other general civil areas,” according to her campaign website. She previously worked in the front office of the Seattle SuperSonics, from 1996 to 2001. In recent years, she has  become a frequent candidate for office. She ran for Seattle City Council in 2017, failing to advance past the primary. In 2020, she ran for lieutenant governor as a Republican.  

Pete Holmes is seeking his fourth term in office. He was first elected in 2009 on a platform of moving away from hardcore law and order justice. He was among the first attorneys to stop prosecuting marijuana arrests. He now faces challenges from both his right and left — for not cracking down enough on low-level crime or cracking down too much. 

Nicole S. Thomas-Kennedy is a criminal defense attorney who, until recently, worked for the King County Department of Public Defense. She left that position to take on pro bono activist defense work and to volunteer with the National Lawyers Guild while still doing contract public defense. A graduate of Seattle University Law School, Thomas-Kennedy describes herself as an abolitionist. 

We gathered several hundred responses from our readers about questions they want candidates to answer. We then took those questions and created a questionnaire for candidates to answer.

Here's what we asked candidates about homelessness: 

• Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?
• Do you support sweeps even when housing and/or supportive services are unavailable? 
• What is your plan to reduce the number of unhoused Seattleites? When do you anticipate accomplishing that? How will you pay for your plans? Whose taxes will go up?
• Agree or disagree: Efforts by the city of Seattle and King County to combat homelessness are having too little effect on the problem and there’s almost no accountability. How would you measure success?

On housing: 

• Should the eviction ban continue?
• Do small landlords need specific support from your administration? If so, what does that look like? 
• How will you increase the supply of housing that costs less than 30% of renters’ income?
• Do you support rent control? 
• What letter grade would you give renters’ protections in Seattle and why? 

And here's a column opinion writer Joni Balter wrote about "Compassion Seattle."

Not all candidates have yet responded. We will update this section as we get more replies. We only edited for typos, otherwise answers are pasted verbatim. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name. 

From the mayoral candidates:

From Colleen Echohawk, candidate for mayor

Echohawk's emailed reply did not contain details about whether she was responding to a specific question. Her answers are included nearly verbatim, below. 

On homelessness...

It is unacceptable that we live in a city filled with billionaires, yet see grandmothers, brothers, and cousins living on the street. I have dedicated my life to ending Native homelessness. At Chief Seattle Club, we have moved 681 folks into permanent housing since 2018. I will leverage my experience, resources, and partnerships to move to functional zero homelessness. I know it’s possible because at Eagle Village, our shelter targeting those chronically homeless, 53 residents exited and none have returned to homelessness. My 22 Point Emergency Housing Action Plan to move everyone inside in 14 months: https://www.echohawkforseattle.com/emergencyhousing

On housing...

A massive wave of evictions will not benefit anybody as tenants become homeless and suffer more. As Mayor, I will extend the Eviction Moratorium until our communities actually start healing from COVID-19. I will aggressively pursue federal and state dollars, as well as leverage City resources for rent relief. By partnering with BIPOC and neighborhood focused organizations, we can ensure rental assistance is delineated with an equity lens. I support the Utility Discount Program's cost reductions in Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities for income eligible residents. I believe this program should be expanded.

From Jessyn Ferrell, candidate for mayor

What is your plan to reduce the number of unhoused Seattleites? When do you anticipate accomplishing that? How will you pay for your plans? Whose taxes will go up?

I’ve laid out a step-by-step plan with a specific timeline so the public can hold me accountable to solving this humanitarian crisis. We will provide over 2,000 interim housing options, including hotel rooms, tiny homes, and FEMA emergency housing in the first year, with 3,500 units of permanent supportive housing online within four years. Working families already pay an unacceptably high percentage of their income in taxes; we know we’ll need more revenue than to accomplish this, and we’ll make sure the wealthiest among us are paying their fair share to solve this problem.

On housing:

Should the eviction ban continue?

Yes, for two simple reasons. First, we know it is far less expensive and less traumatic to keep someone housed than it is to lift them out of homelessness. If we allow this wave of evictions to take place, we are making a policy choice to push people out of their homes during an unprecedented crisis that the people who lost their jobs during COVID did nothing to cause. Second, we still have millions in rental relief to distribute -- our government’s sluggish response to disbursing state and federal aid should not be the reason anyone loses their home.

From Andrew Grant Houston, candidate for mayor:

Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?

No, I would not continue the hostile terrorizing of our unhoused neighbors. In a city with an affordability crisis, stagnant wages, and mid-pandemic recovery, it is unreasonable and ineffectual to punish unhoused and unsheltered Seattleites for surviving in a problem we refuse to adequately address. The solution is housing. We must fund and build 2,500 tiny homes as an immediate solution to this crisis.

Do you support sweeps even when housing and/or supportive services are unavailable?

No, sweeps are inhumane. It is within the mayor’s authority to stop all sweeps, which I would do immediately and with no exceptions.

Agree or disagree: Efforts by the city of Seattle and King County to combat homelessness are having too little effect on the problem and there’s almost no accountability? How would you measure success?

Agree. Seattle and King County had close to 12,000 people unhoused and over 5,500 completely unsheltered in the latest Point-in-Time Count Report. The number of unhoused neighbors remained the same over the past few years.

Should the eviction ban continue?

Yes. COVID-19 exacerbated the affordability crisis we already had. We haven’t seen the full economic fallout of the pandemic, let alone an adequate recovery, which means many individuals, including myself, still owe insurmountable rent debts.

From Lance Randall, candidate for mayor:

Randall's emailed reply did not contain details about whether he was responding to a specific question. His answers are included nearly verbatim, below.

On homelessness:

We must end the undignified neglect of our homeless neighbors by City Hall and our leaders. Over the last decade, the number of houseless individuals has skyrocketed, and actions from City leadership have not supported or stabilized these thousands of individuals. To stabilize our neighbors and get them off the streets, I will establish “Dignity Communities” using surplus city property and leasing private property to create safe places for temporary shelter with service providers on site, amenities to meet basic human needs, support teams and job placement for sustainable earned income. 

On housing: 

My strategy will focus on creating more equitable policies that will enable more people to live in the city. I will organize a group of industry and neighborhood leaders with city staff to prioritize the creation of a diversity of rental and for sale housing options. This will include: 

1. Review opportunities to create a staggered Residential Zoning where density limits are responsive to site conditions, land values and desired outcomes.
2. Create more flexibility within the Single-family zones, such as reducing the minimum lot size at block ends
3. Establish more opportunities for Land Trust models

From Casey Sixkiller, candidate for mayor: 

Do small landlords need specific support from your administration? If so, what does that look like?

Small landlords are not the villains the City Council has made them out to be — many of them are families trying to earn supplemental income so they can continue to live or retire in Seattle. The City Council’s approach has forced many small landlords to consider selling their properties. As Mayor, I will treat small landlords like the critical partners in meeting Seattle’s housing needs that they are. Rather than choosing sides, I’ll craft practical solutions that keep people housed and ensure small landlords have rental proceeds to pay their bills and keep that unit in the rental market.

Responses from City Council Position 9 candidates

From Corey Eichner, Council Position 9 candidate: 

Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?  

While the long-term solution is being transformative in our city infrastructure with more affordable housing and high-paying jobs, there needs to first be an immediate short-term response.  We have to ensure adequate and appropriate support exists while maintaining that temporary housing structures cannot become permanent fixtures in our community.  We must set a regional budget priority, to massively increase the access and availability of rapid re-housing measures to provide safe alternatives to those without homes.  It doesn’t work to have large-scale shelters with beds and bunks.  There needs to be multiple entry points for rapid rehousing including tiny houses, hotels, safe parking lots, etc.  We need to recognize the dignity and needs of our neighbors and ensure that our temporary homes are provided without preconditions such as requiring employment or being free from substance abuse, and that also meet the individual needs of our neighbors without homes.  

Do you support sweeps even when housing and/or supportive services are unavailable? 

No

Should the eviction ban continue? 

Yes

Do small landlords need specific support from your administration? If so, what does that look like?

Yes, we have to support individual landlords. We must continue to fund financial support for landlords and look for creative tax exemptions that could be provided to assist landlords struggling to pay mortgage while supporting renters.  Legal advice and support must be provided for both renters and individual landlords supporting renters in crisis.

Do you support rent control? 

Yes

Agree or disagree: Efforts by the city of Seattle and King County to combat homelessness are having too little effect on the problem and there’s almost no accountability? How would you measure success?  

Priorities in government are represented in how budgets are set.  As a city councilmember, addressing the homelessness crisis would be my top priority.  Out of the nearly 130 million federal COVID relief funds, Seattle earmarked only $49 million for housing and homelessness.  I would have supported a much higher percentage. 

From Nikkita Oliver, Council Position 9 candidate:

On homelessness:

1. Do you support sweeps even when housing and/or supportive services are unavailable?
2. What is your plan to reduce the number of unhoused Seattleites?
3. Agree or disagree: Efforts by the city of Seattle and King County to combat homelessness are having too little effect on the problem and there’s almost no accountability? How would you measure success?

Stop the sweeps; repurpose the funds to provide our unhoused neighbors with housing, supportive services and radical accessibility. Disrupting the small bit of stability people have self-generated exacerbates our public health and safety crises. Our solutions for housing affordability and homelessness have failed to respond to root causes. We need short term, mid-term and long-term solutions; including radical accessibility, tiny house villages, parking programs, hoteling, and building green, social, affordable housing. The Jump Start Tax has allocations for housing; which is a top priority. There are progressive revenue options such as a vacancy tax, speculation tax, and raising the REET.

On housing:

How will you increase the supply of housing that costs less than 30% of renters’ income?

First, we preserve pre-existing housing that costs less than 30% of a renter's income. We then end single family zoning. Our current zoning pattern has bifurcated the city; ⅔ of residential land is inaccessible to all but those with the highest incomes. We need a mix of housing and residential patterns including an urban infill strategy. We partner with local non-profits through community land trust and consider a housing trust fund to establish ongoing, publicly funding sources for affordable housing. We will maximize our return on the Multifamily Housing Tax Exemption to incentivize more private developers to build affordable units.

From Brianna Thomas, Council Position 9 candidate:

Would you eliminate all camping on public property? If so, how?

No, there are publicly held lands that could be put to work, and we can’t pretend that sweeping people around the City is a “solution”. A return to city sanctioned encampments that provide onsite wrap-around services, autonomy, and have a collective sense of community moves us in the immediate right direction of stabilizing folks coming out of concurrent traumas. During the COVID-19 crisis we saw a substantive uptick in people living in vehicles across the City. Until we are able to provide those folks a safe place to park, make repairs to their vehicles, and get assistance with things like updating tabs and accessing individualized recovery plans, then we must use every tool in our toolkit, including using public land in every corner of the City. 

Back to top

We gathered several hundred questions from our readers about questions they want candidates to answer. We then took those questions and created a questionnaire for candidates to answer.

Here's what we asked candidates about taxes and the economy:

• How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city?
• What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?
• How will you balance the city budget, while being transparent about how the money is spent?
• Do you have a plan for increasing the amount of affordable housing without increasing property taxes for low- and middle-income families?
• Would you support establishing or experimenting with a universal basic income? If so, what is your plan and where would the money come from?

And here's a story our opinion columnist Katie Wilson wrote about guaranteed income.

Not all candidates have yet responded. We will update this section as we get more replies. We only edited for typos, otherwise answers are pasted verbatim. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name. 

From the mayoral candidates:

From Colleen Echohawk, candidate for mayor:

Echohawk's emailed reply did not contain details about whether she was responding to a specific question. Her answers are included nearly verbatim, below. 

Seventy-five percent of Seattle is single-family zoned, meaning that the vast majority of our city’s zoning code only allows for individual homes, limiting the development of apartments, townhouses, and multi-family projects. Missing middle housing allows us to address this reality. Accessory Dwelling Units (detached units on properties), cottage clusters, multiplexes and basement apartments can fill gaps between buildings. Portland’s Residential Infill Project allows up to four homes on any lot and between four and six homes if at least half of them are considered affordable, something Seattle should likewise implement. I’ll work with the city council to repeal exclusionary zoning laws.

From Jessyn Farrell, candidate for mayor:

Do you have a plan for increasing the amount of affordable housing without increasing property taxes for low- and middle-income families?

Yes! My housing plan calls for the construction of 70,000 units of affordable housing as a crucial element of getting Seattle on track to meet its climate goals. More diversity in our housing stock is critical to reducing the time and length of commutes, providing working families with more convenient access to public transit, and reducing the need to drive for local trips like getting kids to school and grocery shopping. With the federal government primed to invest billions in fighting the climate crisis, directing some of that revenue to address our housing affordability crisis is a top priority.

From Andrew Grant Houston, candidate for mayor:

How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city? (86)

Short answer: We can’t. A progressive tax system is, by definition, taxing the rich. That said, Seattle can legally impose a 1% income tax right now. I will, and my plan to do so is called a Just Transition Tax. This last question is a false dichotomy. Washington State gave Boeing massive tax breaks and that hasn’t stopped them from leaving. Similarly, Amazon said they’d stop a project they had downtown if the HEAD Tax was repealed, but when Council did it, Amazon sold the building.

Would you support establishing or experimenting with a universal basic income? If so, what is your plan and where would the money come from?

Yes. My plan to divest from SPD and invest in community includes a UBI pilot within the list of items to receive investment from that reallocation of funds.

From Lance Randall, candidate for mayor:

Randall's emailed reply did not contain details about whether he was responding to a specific question. His answer is included nearly verbatim, below.

To help Seattle’s economy rebound, I am going to act quickly to remove barriers for businesses to start up and recover from the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. I will review the processes for city reviews, inspections and small business permits to reduce the time required for small businesses to start up. To reduce financial barriers, I will create a partnership between the city government and our local corporate foundations to raise money to fund a local grant program to provide significant financial assistance to small businesses.

From Casey Sixkiller, candidate for mayor:

Would you support establishing or experimenting with a universal basic income? If so, what is your plan and where would the money come from?

Income inequality has been increasing for years with no effective solution coming from City Hall. Today nearly 15 percent of Seattle households make less than $30,000 per year. I have proposed leveraging one-time federal American Rescue Plan funding to pilot a guaranteed basic income program. My plan would provide $500 per month to 16,000 working families to help cover the cost of rent, groceries, childcare, or whatever they determine is best for their family. If we want Seattle to be more equitable then we need to invest in working families so they are part of it.

Responses from City Council Position 9 candidates

From Corey Eichner, candidate for City Council:

How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city?

Our reliance on sales tax and many local levies exacerbates our already regressive tax system. This leaves those making the least giving more proportionally back to the community than our highest income earners and large corporations. We need to be transformative in our thinking that links taxation fairly to income and ability levels. 

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?  

We must continue to fund grants and financial support for local businesses with additional rent control, creative tax exemptions, guidance and mentoring with the business associations, and a review of exclusionary zoning. We have to incentivize new business growth that encourages new startups throughout the city that promotes the arts and community engagement.

How will you balance the city budget, while being transparent about how the money is spent?  

I support a participatory budgeting model to ensure priorities of the City Council match what citizens want and expect.

From Sara Nelson, Council Position 9 candidate:

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?

• Put more money into neighborhood Public Development Associations to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses, purchase or renovate their buildings, etc. 
• Provide low-interest loans or grants.
• Increase OED staffing to provide technical services to start-ups including support in developing a business plan, identifying and applying for sources of capital investments.
• Facilitate community-based partnerships modeled on King County’s Communities of  Opportunity to prevent displacement. 
• Suspend collection of B&O taxes for hardest hit sectors for at least one year.
• Make the permit for restaurants to create outdoor seating permanent.
• Fix broken permitting/licensing processes.
• Improve public safety and reduce crime.

How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city?

The way to reduce income inequality is by offering opportunities for intergenerational wealth creation. My proposal to create city-funded trust accounts for every child born into a low-income family is a start. Before we talk about new revenue, we have to talk about leadership. Council just passed the largest tax increase in Seattle’s history (JumpStart), the Legislature just passed the capital gains tax, and Washington state has received millions of federal dollars in COVID relief. I’ll want to see how effectively this new revenue is spent through 2022 before calling for a new tax as we emerge from the pandemic. 

From Nikkita Oliver, City Council Position 9 candidate:

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?

Prosperity Now found in their report, “The Racial Wealth Divide in Seattle” that the value of white-owned businesses in Seattle are about 12x the value of Black-owned businesses. BIPOC communities are those most impacted by the housing affordability crisis and the racial wealth gap. The COVID-19 crises have exacerbated these pre-existing conditions. Our plans to support small business recovery must follow the Race and Social Justice Initiative to ensure racial justice and equity are centered. We should maintain commercial rent control post the crisis to help small businesses not simply stabilize but have the opportunity to thrive in place.

From Brianna Thomas, council Position 9 candidate: 

What can we do to help small businesses recover from the pandemic?

Hundreds of Seattle businesses have permanently shut their doors, including many owned by BIPOC and multigenerational entrepreneurs. I will propose a temporary abatement of B&O taxes for new small businesses, so we quickly fill empty storefronts. With the viaduct gone, we have a unique opportunity to build new ground-floor retail downtown, and I look forward to working on this. The council should continue to simplify and improve permit processes for businesses, as we saw with the extension of outdoor dining and Safe Street permits. 

The council can also more adequately fund the OED, which is currently understaffed, but an incredibly important resource to support the viability of our small business community. To fund this recovery, we need to pursue progressive revenue streams that address the upside-down nature of our tax structure.

Responses from City Council Position 8 candidates

From Teresa Mosqueda, council Position 8 candidate:

How can Washington and Seattle build a more progressive tax system to address income inequality without an income tax? How would you make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay more of their share without driving them out of the city?

I’m proud to have led passage of the largest progressive tax in Seattle’s history at the moment we needed to protect our most vulnerable, invest in small businesses and workers, and prevent deep cuts to key services. JumpStart ensures wealthiest corporations contribute their fair share to our city’s prosperity. Through a coalition of small and large businesses, unions, housing and community leaders, we developed a sustainable funding source that invests in COVID recovery and an equitable future. Together, we can build back better through affordable housing, economic resiliency for our downtown and neighborhood hubs, a greener economy and more equitable development.

Back to top

We gathered several hundred questions from our readers about questions they want candidates to answer. We then took those questions and created a questionnaire for candidates to answer.

Here's what we asked candidates about policing:

• Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?
• How would you address the power the police union holds over reform and accountability processes?
• How would you make police reform efforts more transparent to the public or get the community more involved? 
• Do you have alternative ideas for addressing mental health crises in Seattle? 

Here's a story David Kroman wrote about the role this issue could play in the election.

Not all candidates have yet responded. We will update this section as we get more replies. We only edited for typos, otherwise answers are pasted verbatim. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name. 

From the Seattle mayoral candidates

From Colleen Echohawk, candidate for mayor:

How would you address the power the police union holds over reform and accountability processes?

The current state of the Seattle Police Department — the violence and the unwillingness to work with the city — was not inevitable. Seattle passed landmark accountability reform in 2017 but the Seattle Police Officers Guild contract wiped most of it away. I opposed this contract in my role as a community police commissioner. It is imperative when the next mayor negotiates the new contract that the accountability measures from 2017 are restored. Transparency and accountability should never be a part of the bargaining process. 

Do you have alternative ideas for addressing mental health crises in Seattle?

I will immediately move to expand innovative programs like the Mobile Mental Health response unit "Health One" citywide with 24/7 service.

From Jessyn Farrell, candidate for mayor:

How would you address the power the police union holds over reform and accountability processes?

We must take accountability off the negotiation table, period. We simply cannot compromise on the demand that SPD be held responsible for ensuring its officers do their jobs while respecting the humanity and constitutional rights of everyone in our city. Specifically, we must return to the preponderance of evidence standard for evaluating officer misconduct that was undermined in the last contract, negotiate reasonable constraints to officer overtime hours, and prevent officers from avoiding discipline and decertification through early retirement.

From Andrew Grant Houston, candidate for mayor:

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

Over the last decade, we doubled our police budget but crime has not decreased at all, let alone by 50%. This excess spending is a detriment to our city. Defunding the Seattle Police Department by 50% means reinvesting those funds into gun-free, effective alternatives to public safety and prevention. This allows us to invest in more efficient and restorative departments.

How would you make police reform efforts more transparent to the public, or get the community more involved?

When we reduce SPD’s budget, those funds will be transparently allocated to alternatives for community safety, with community-led safety contracts as a top priority, and using participatory budgeting.

From Lance Randall, candidate for mayor:

Randall's emailed reply did not contain details about whether he was responding to a specific question. His answer is included nearly verbatim, below.

The most important responsibility of our local government is to keep the public safe and protected. To do so, our public safety system must be funded, mutually supported and work together as a team. Based on the recent demands for social justice in our country, it is especially important that our Police Department is motivated to improve.

For mental health crisis, I will adjust the Seattle Police Department budget by reallocating funding within the Police Department to provide opportunities for experts in mental health, drug counseling, de-escalation techniques and crime prevention to accompany police officers on calls where special assistance is needed.

From Casey Sixkiller, candidate for mayor: 

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

The City Council’s cuts to the police have made Seattle less safe. Violent crime and property crime are up double digits. One neighborhood started its own social media page to track shots fired. Meanwhile, 911 response times are going the wrong direction and 250 officers have left, one-third of which identified as BIPOC. Let’s move past slogans and be honest that our residents don’t feel safe. As Mayor, I will hire more cops so we can address crime while focusing on recruiting and retaining officers who share our values and scaling alternatives to fix our broken crisis response system.

How would you make police reform efforts more transparent to the public, or get the community more involved?

We need to turn our words into action. As Mayor I will hire a police chief that is a change agent, someone who shares my vision for a community-based, community-informed, and more accountable police department. I will launch a transparent process for choosing the chief and negotiate a contract with the Police Officers Guild that advances rather than hinders change and holds bad cops accountable. I will expand successful programs like Health One and Community Service Officers, and build partnerships with community-based organizations so they can be real-time alternatives to an armed police response and achieving community safety.

Responses from City Council Position 9 candidates

From Corey Eichner, candidate for City Council:

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?  

I do not support the broad "defunding the police" campaign.  Police and first responders are necessary as part of safety and security in our city. Reform is needed and this conversation needs to be around priorities. We should be looking at where our needs are to provide culturally responsive problem-solving and safety/security in our community and then reallocate funds accordingly. Our goal must be to provide support and services that focus on providing basic needs to our community. This happens by growing and systemizing our alternative response that utilizes Restorative Justice. Programs like LEAD or other existing CBOs provide an add-on to our first responders that can be used as part of the safety and security of the city. We have to re-commit to Community Policing in our neighborhoods so when law enforcement is needed, officers are connected with our local neighbors.

From Sara Nelson, council Position 9 candidate: 

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

We must keep everyone safe while ensuring our officers treat the people they serve with dignity and respect and holding them accountable for all forms of misconduct. We must reform the police to meet these objectives and fund accordingly. Defunding the police by an arbitrarily chosen percentage without a plan to keep community safe is misguided. The average response time for Priority 911 calls is currently 14 minutes, largely due to understaffing so hiring to adequately meet our public safety responsibilities is important. I would restore funding to the community police teams in order to support a community policing model,which improves policing and builds trust between the Seattle Police Department and community.

From Nikkita Oliver, candidate for City Council:

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

Our city deserves better options than violent policing and mass incarceration as our only choices for public safety. I support defunding the police and investing in housing, transportation, basic needs supports and cash assistance, community schools with counselors, restorative justice coordinators, and health services, culturally responsive youth programs, community mental health supports, community-based options for survivors, restorative and transformative justice responses for those who cause harm, civilianized 911, drug user supports, thriving wage employment, and immediate investments in mobile mental health and crisis support teams so we can get the right care to people experiencing emergencies when they need it.

From Brianna Thomas, council Position 9 candidate: 

Seattleites have many different views on how to address policing and police violence — from defunding the Seattle Police Department partially or entirely to hiring more officers to address crime. Where do you fall on that spectrum, and how would you use your role to make changes?

I stand by the council’s decision to reallocate money from the police budget into community-based resources. However, I do not believe in dissolving police departments entirely, and believe that the transition from the current model of policing to a network of integrated community-based responses will take time. In the meantime, we need to decrease response times for priority one calls, while ensuring constitutional policing for ALL of our neighbors.  I also believe that undergirding this whole conversation is the need to 1. Get into full compliance with the consent decree. 2. Bargain a contract that embraces the 2017 Police Accountability Ordinance. 3. Continue to improve the tripartite civilian oversight system established in 2018. As the first chief of staff for the Office of Inspector General, I know how much work we have in front of us to accomplish these three things, and I’m up for that challenge.

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We gathered several hundred questions from our readers about questions they want candidates to answer. We then took those questions and created a questionnaire for candidates to answer.

Here's what we asked candidates about transportation and urban planning: 

• Would you support citywide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning? 
• What letter grade would you give Seattle’s urban tree canopy?
• Some readers are concerned about congested roads and commute times while others advocate building more bike lanes, public transportation and housing density. Which group do you expect to vote for you and why? 
• Where would you get new sources of infrastructure money? What projects would you prioritize?
• How will you deal with the Magnolia, Ballard and West Seattle bridges?
• Do you support free public transit?

So far, few candidates have responded to these questions. We will update this section as we get more replies. We only edited for typos, otherwise answers are pasted verbatim. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name. 

From the Seattle mayoral candidates

From Colleen Echohawk, candidate for mayor:

The impacts of the global pandemic served to exacerbate the economic divide adversely impacting Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander and immigrant communities. Our efforts must focus first on providing access to those furthest from economic justice. My vision for an equitable economic recovery starts with addressing the humanitarian crisis where about 4,000 of our neighbors are living in unsheltered public spaces. As soon as the election results are in, I will begin implementing my 22 point Emergency Housing Action Plan, which will bring everyone on the streets inside within 14 months.

From Jessyn Farrell, candidate for mayor:

Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning?

Yes, but zoning reform on its own will not solve our housing affordability crisis. My approach with ST3 for Housing is to ensure that we are scaling up affordability in every single neighborhood while at the same time prioritizing our commitment to racial justice and environmental sustainability. We know that this will take a broad coalition of Seattlites and so our focus must be on the tangible benefits everyone will receive as a result– lower family costs, more complete communities, and a higher quality of life for everyone.

From Lance Randall, candidate for mayor:

Transportation is essential to Seattle’s economic growth, and I will prioritize repairing our bridges, including the West Seattle and Magnolia bridges. I will review the transportation priorities that have been identified as a result of the 2015 “Levy to Move Seattle” and the November 2020 Transportation Plan. We will use this review to adjust priorities based upon anticipated funding changes due to COVID-19’s impact on tax revenue. My priorities will ensure no Seattleites are isolated from the city due to infrastructure failures, and I will partner with the federal government to rebuilding our infrastructure.

From Casey Sixkiller, candidate for mayor:

Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning?

Eliminating single-family zoning is a one-size-fits all approach that will not fix the problem it is trying to solve; in fact, it could accelerate gentrification and increase in housing costs we have experienced over the past decade, particularly in our historically BIPOC neighborhoods. We need to first focus on preserving our current housing stock, support families and businesses at risk of displacement, and fine tune existing programs to get the housing production and affordability we want. I will pursue zoning changes where it makes sense while being mindful that we must not make currently affordable neighborhoods suddenly unaffordable.

Responses from City Council Position 9 candidates

From Corey Eichner, City Council Position 9 candidate:

Some readers are concerned about congested roads and commute times while others advocate for building more bike lanes, public transportation and housing density.  Which group do you expect to vote for you and why?  

Our highest priority must be to invest more into an eco-friendly comprehensive transit system that interconnects our city neighborhoods.  We will not solve our transportation problems until we recognize the inter-connectedness of Seattle to our surrounding cities and suburbs. Additional bike lanes, walking paths, and protected streets can be added to help ease traffic congestion. 

Do you support free public transit? 

Yes

Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning? 

No. Broad rezoning does not take into account long-term planning, or the additional challenges our city's infrastructure faces. Rezoning also allows corporate developers to recreate the city at a considerable profit, starting first with our most vulnerable communities, without necessarily addressing the real problem at hand.

From Nikkita Oliver, City Council Position 9 candidate:

1. Would you support city-wide upzoning to eliminate single-family zoning?
2. Do you support free public transit?

I support free transit, ending single family zoning and protecting industrial lands. Urban villages cover a small percentage of Seattle’s land but handle the majority of growth--leading to displacement. We have allowed the costs of growth to fall on marginalized communities. All areas of the City should receive growth, so everyone can access urban benefits--a walkable city, high capacity, rapid, public transit, services, childcare, and affordable housing. Aligning with our goal to build accessible transportation connecting our city, 75% of the new Vehicle Licensing Fee revenue is dedicated to investments in neighborhoods facing higher risk of displacement and lower access to opportunities. 

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King County executive:

• Dow Constantine
• Johnathon Crines
• Joe Nguyen
• Bill Hirt

RESULTS: See results for Seattle and King County primaries here. 

Metropolitan King County, Council District No. 3

• Joe Cohen
• Kathy Lambert
• Sarah Perry

RESULTS: See results for Seattle and King County primaries here. 

Metropolitan King County, Council District No. 7

• Lydia Assefa-Dawson
• Pete von Reichbauer
• Dominique Torgerson
• Saudia J. Abdullah

RESULTS: See results for Seattle and King County primaries here. 

Metropolitan King County, Council District No. 9

• Ubax Gardheere
• Chris Franco
• Reagan Dunn
• Kim-Khanh Van

RESULTS: See results for Seattle and King County primaries here. 

Voters approved the first "Best Starts for Kids" levy in 2015, which expires Dec. 31, 2021, unless renewed by King County voters. Voters are being asked to increase their property taxes by 5 cents per $1,000 in assessed value over the previous measure.

About half of the money raised by this tax levy pays for services for families with children under 5. About 37% pays for services for children, youth and young adults aged 5 through 24. And the rest will be used to address homeless prevention and food insecurity.

The ballot measure ordinance establishes a first-year levy rate of 19 cents per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value, or about $114 per year for a median-priced King County home, and limits annual levy growth to 3%. 

The levy renewal is expected to generate approximately $811 million.

The county offers more details about he levy and the programs supported on its website.

• Vivian Song Maritz
• Herb Camet Jr.
• Laura Marie Rivera
• Erin Dury

District No. 5

• Dan Harder
• Crystal S. Liston
• Michelle Sarju