Seattle City Council District No. 1

Working directly with people in crisis, I have accompanied law enforcement and first responders into places where all skill sets are needed: police to reduce violence and arrest those who prey on the vulnerable, firefighters to revive and transport those with acute of life threatening needs, and social workers to de-escalate, build relationships, and end cycles of harm. These hands-on experiences are the foundation for my approach to public safety:

● Hire additional police officers to meet the needs of our city– consistent with best practices in similar sized communities. Emphasize hiring and training officers from Seattle, to serve Seattle– this will take time and trust, but is critical to building pride and ground-level relationships that will reduce crime.

● Move forward on “third department” plans to build out responders who can help engage with people and situations before a crime is committed, or when an officer with a badge and gun may only heighten tensions.

● Increase programs and outreach to youth and impacted communities to reduce gun violence, including additional outreach to help people identify unsafe situations and utilizing state “Extreme Risk Protection Order” laws for the safe seizure of firearms.

● Greater discussion among community stakeholders to address crime and disorder, including honest assessment of root causes such as social inequities and poverty, persistent antisocial behaviors, predatory and exploitative criminal trends, as well as the proliferation of property destruction and graffiti, and concerning expansion of the illicit drug market. Addressing crime needs to be simultaneously addressed up-stream and in real time in order to effectively close the existing gap and ensure durable gains in creating safe and healthy communities.

● Work to accomplish a healthy balance of accountability and clinical intervention—recognizing the unique complexities of each individual’s clinical history as they interface with the judicial system, and to fully utilize Seattle’s Community Court for those persons ready to commit to positive changes.”

I will work to ensure over the next two years we are able to hire 200 police officers for the City of Seattle. We will also work on building out our crisis response teams to ensure we avoid sending out armed officers when only a clinician and/or case manager was needed to respond to someone in a psychiatric crisis. We will also build out Health One–the mobile crisis response run by the Seattle Fire Department that is tasked to respond to those needing attention that do not have life-threatening medical emergencies.

I have deliberately chosen social work to help society’s most marginalized and I will continue this line of care with those that have been historically underserved and impacted by racial bias. I will work on building out our crisis response teams to ensure we avoid sending out armed officers when only a clinician and/or case manager was needed to respond to someone in a psychiatric crisis. I will work with diverse organizations and experts to address these challenges. For example, I am honored to be awarded the 2023 Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction. This recognizes my advocacy for gun violence prevention and making a commitment to govern with gun safety in mind. I will work with third party organizations to ensure transparency through this process and results. We must continue to review the complaints, come up with a meaningful, effective course of actions, such as expanding police training. We must attract the best of the best police force in the City of Seattle and I will work towards high quality enforcement every step of the way.

I will work on building out our crisis response teams to ensure we avoid sending out armed officers when only a clinician and/or case manager was needed to respond to someone in a psychiatric crisis. We will also build out Health One–the mobile crisis response run by the Seattle Fire Department that is tasked to respond to those needing attention that do not have life-threatening medical emergencies.

➢ Addressing safety throughout the city with appropriate funding and with the public safety plan outlined in this questionnaire.

➢ Investing in infrastructure and transportation - Upkeep of our city infrastructure is critically important. Aging roads and bridges pose a significant risk, as they can become structurally compromised over time, endangering public safety and hindering efficient transportation. I am committed to:

● Repairing and maintaining the roads and bridges essential to upholding the integrity of our transportation system.

● Upgrading our electrical grid to accommodate the increased demand for electric-based transportation options, such as personal vehicles, buses, and trains.

● Facilitating the widespread adoption and expansion of clean energy solutions, like wind and solar farms to further the green transition for industries located in Seattle.

● I will work toward reducing the delays in Sound Transit. I will request a reconsideration (conduct a feasibility study) for the South King County High Capacity Transit Corridor that would run from the Alaska Junction, through White Center, through Burien, and link to the Tukwila light rail station.

➢ Increasing the affordable housing stock throughout the region. Housing unhoused individuals and ensuring the most vulnerable are given resources to become stable and thrive.

● Transitional housing, Single-Room Occupancy, and affordable housing units need to be quickly built out. It is unconscionable that people continue to die in the street unhoused. In the context of keeping those experiencing homelessness housed, I will help develop standards that would be adopted by housing providers to ensure that individuals with significant psychiatric needs receive support and clinically appropriate placement in order to avoid a return to homelessness or cycle back into psychiatric instability. I will work to ensure there is a dynamic response to building out our housing options–this may include passing legislation and funding reducing the timelines for permitting, design review, and increasing staff to process construction projects.