Message from Seattle doorsteps to Council candidates: City Hall isn't listening

District 3 candidates, from left, Logan Bowers, Zachary DeWolf, Ami Nguyen and incumbent Kshama Sawant particpate in a candidate forum hosted by the King County Young Democrats, Sunday, April 28, 2019 at the Washington State Labor Council. less District 3 candidates, from left, Logan Bowers, Zachary DeWolf, Ami Nguyen and incumbent Kshama Sawant particpate in a candidate forum hosted by the King County Young Democrats, Sunday, April 28, 2019 at the ... more Photo: Genna Martin, SEATTLEPI Photo: Genna Martin, SEATTLEPI Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Message from Seattle doorsteps to Council candidates: City Hall isn't listening 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Hitting Seattle doorsteps after a lengthy absence from politics, ex-Seattle City Council member Heidi Wills is hearing a message.

"There have been a lot of missing conversations: It (City Hall) tends to be insular and people listen only to those who come to City Hall," Wills told a marathon candidates' forum held Sunday by King County Young Democrats.

Dan Strauss, a fellow District 6 candidate, took the mic and said: "The city has lost compassion for its neighbors because we have not dealt with growth in a responsible way."

"I've lived here long enough to know where the obstacles are, but not long enough to cause them," added Strauss, best known for his work with the Alliance for Gun Responsibility and retiring Council member Sally Bagshaw.

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Wills and Strauss are among 14 candidates running for the Northwest Seattle seat of retiring City Councilmember Mike O'Brien.

The field of contenders is so full that Young Democrats' chairman Derek Richards did culling to keep the forum to three hours and 40 minutes. Yet people turned out on a sunny afternoon and stayed, as they have at forums sponsored by Speak Out Seattle.

Interest in this election is high, in part because public mood toward City Hall is low. Mayor Jenny Durkan speaks incessantly about building a glorious "city of tomorrow." But the "Seattle Squeeze" is squeezing the city's citizens in taxes, traffic, housing and high visibility homelessness.

And there's a chance to do something about it. Seven districts will elect councilmembers this fall. Four incumbents are not seeking reelection.

The race has drawn highly qualified candidates: Watching the trio from District 7 (downtown, Queen Anne Magnolia) -- Jim Puget, Andrew Lewis and Michael George -- was to wish all three could be on the Council.

But that might get taxing. "I am for the streetcar," said George, speaking of the Central City Connector a project that has ballooned more than $100 million in cost. People have "a right to be concerned" about cost ($286 million at latest estimate), but "we need to get people through the city."

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The divisions of Seattle can be witnessed in who is on stage at candidate forums.

In District 2 (Southeast Seattle), candidates of the left -- community organizer Tammy Morales and City Light employee Christoper Peguero -- were no-shows at a well-attended Speak Out Seattle forum earlier this month.

But District 2 candidate Ari Hoffman, a vocal critic of the city's homeless response, was not invited to the YDs' forum on Sunday. It could have used him. The District 2 lineup (including Morales and Peguero) showed far less savvy about city issues than their counterparts from District 3.

The marquee race of the fall is in District 3 (Central Area, Capitol Hill, Madrona, Mt. Baker), where militant socialist Council incumbent Kshama Sawant is seeking re-election. She denounces Democrats, but has been showing up for Democratic meetings.

Sawant is the equal of Donald Trump in using catch phrases, e.g. "vulture capitalists." The 2019 election is a referendum on whether the city will be controlled by "Amazon and corporations or ordinary working people," she said, decrying the "complete lack of courage by the City Council" in backing off from an employer head tax.

"Our movement lead by my office" had blocked the "nickeling and diming of public services, Sawant argued. She is known for fielding what's known as the "Red Army," a phalanx of supporters who pack City Council chambers and rudely treat those who differ with them.

Challengers stressed moving solutions rather than building a movement. "We're doing a lot of great things in our city, and a lot of not-great things," said Seattle School Board member Zachary DeWolf, who jumped into the race earlier this month.

Logan Bowers, businessman and pot shop owner, argued: "Easily half the job of a councilmember is oversight." Citing shelter dwellers treated at Harborview Hospital for scabies and lice, he argued: "We have to provide services at a humane level that is better than living on the streets."

City Council elections have a way of spotlighting longshot candidates, who may not make it this time but deserve a future in Seattle's public life.

An articulate young public defender, Ami Nguyen, fits the bill. A District 3 candidate, she spoke movingly on Sunday of the immigrant experience in Seattle, homeless children in the city's schools, and the distance of government from governed. "I know what it feels like not to be represented. Not to be heard," she told the forum.

The race in District 4 (Wallingford, U District, Laurelhurst, Windermere) saw the sharpest in candidate contrast.

Alex Pedersen, whose resume includes stints at HUD and working for former Council member Tim Burgess, talked about paths to affordable housing, universal high quality pre-school, and made the point: "The City Council has enormous oversight powers and does not use them as it should."

By contrast, Shaun Scott, a democratic socialist and veteran of the Black Lives Matter movement running in District 4, sounded as if seeking to make Sawant look like a vessel of restraint.

"District 4 was the district where Charleena Lyles was murdered by the police in 2016," he said, referring to a shooting in which no one has been charged, tried or convicted. He blamed the city's housing crisis on "racist and classist laws put on the books," and said it's time for Seattle to confront its "ugly white supremacist past."

He too, a a vocal supporter of the downtown streetcar.

The forum featured unusual questions, such as when panelist Hanna Brooks Olsen asked: "Talk to me about public restrooms and whether we should be revisiting them."

Well, when you have to go . . .