Seattle City Council District No. 6

Additional Comments:

Dale Kutzera: Define "civilian led." I believe we need trained social workers to deliver many services that currently fall to the police. Let's keep the police in their lane and create a separate social services department.
Jon Lisbin: Police are not trained for interactions with people with mental health issues and civilian led mental health professionals are.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: This also should be based on expertise. Such services need to be delivered by an accountable social services agency rather than out-sourced to various private enterprises.
Jon Lisbin: I agree with your statement below. As a business owner for 15 years competing for employees in a highly competitive market, I know first-hand how important it is to pay employees competitively; both salary and total compensation.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: I think we need sufficient revenue for services, but that services should be more consistently delivered and results measured. This would give confidence to taxpayers that these funds are spent on effective approaches to these problems.
Jon Lisbin: I think it’s rich (no pun intended) that companies that can afford to pay employees over $150,000 a year are looking to get a three-year break. To keep faith with the voters, it’s critically important that the funds are allocated for their intended purpose, not the general fund, especially because the tax is bringing in much more than projected.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: The housing first approach needs to focus on people who are most vulnerable, the mentally ill and addicted.
Jon Lisbin: This is a core principal of my platform. Housing first is the only proven method of reducing homelessness and sweeping does nothing to help address the issue, especially when people lose their few belongings and IDs while their case workers lose track of them. The exception I have is when there’s a clear safety issue or access to people with disabilities is obstructed.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: We do need more police officers, but they need to stay in their criminal justice lane and out of the public health/social services lane.
Jon Lisbin: Partially. I also support utilizing these funds for annual bonuses based on various criteria, including a public customer service survey. I believe this will improve culture and incentivize the police to police themselves.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: If someone is harming themselves through persistent drug use, they need to be taken into protective custody and placed in safe detox and treatment centers
Jon Lisbin: I ran four years ago and supported supervised consumption sites. My position on this has not changed.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: It's very important to prevent gun violence by making social services available before people resort to guns.
Jon Lisbin: <No additional comments>
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: The only path to affordable housing is to build or acquire housing that [will rented] or sold at below market rates. This is best done (as in many European cities) through a city office rather than outside non-profit builders.
Jon Lisbin: Yes, I am a huge supporter and while in office will make sure the program succeeds and scales. A few of the means of support include:
*Eliminate the MultiFamily Tax Exemption and redirect the equivalent lost property tax to the Social Housing Developer
*Support SSHD’s needs for start-up funds
*Use a portion of the housing levy to purchase rentals, which will help with revenues during the start-up phase of the project
*Offer city-owned land inventory at no cost
*Provide a city staff to act as liaison and facilitate the needs of the SSHD during the start-up phase.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: At the very least, we should study the results of basic income pilot projects in other cities, such as the one in Tacoma.
Jon Lisbin: The pilot in Tacoma has been successful. I need to research this further to understand how effective.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: I can't support a blanket rejection of any possible crime that might come before the council.
Jon Lisbin: The war on drugs was one of the main drivers of homelessness. It’s a failed policy. People who end up incarcerated are 7 to 14 times more likely to end up homeless. I support pre-arrest diversion services such as LEAD, a replacement to the community court in Seattle, and a strong commitment to these approaches as a first step before I would agree to making crimes, such as open drug use, a gross misdemeanor in Seattle.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: Subpoena power seems most appropriate within the OIG.
Jon Lisbin: <No additional comments>
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: The danger is that a civilian unit may have its own bias. What's important is for there to be an investigations process conducted outside the department.
Jon Lisbin: It must be at least 51% civilian.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: <No additional comments>
Jon Lisbin: I would also like to see police funding utilized to improve the police culture, staffing and retention.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Dale Kutzera: At least limiting it so reduce hours in a given weekwork by an officer.
Jon Lisbin: In some cases, such as private-duty traffic direction. The uniform implies that they are on-duty.
Dan Strauss: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Shea Wilson: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Pete Hanning: <Did not complete questionnaire>
Victoria Palmer: <Did not complete questionnaire>

Dale Kutzera

View Candidate Questionnaire

Candidate Website

Candidate Statement

Candidate Campaign Contributions

Free Response Questions

Public Safety is a general freedom of movement about the city without fear. Do people feel comfortable walking down almost any street in the city? Do they feel comfortable riding mass transit?
The biggest gap is the lack of organized social services. We don't out-source fire and police services and we shouldn't out-source social services to various charities and non-profit businesses. A social services department is needed to work with people in crisis. Such a service could deal with many situations that currently fall to the police.
Our police department needs a clearly defined lane. A social services department would enable police to stay in their narrowly defined lane and prevent many incidents in which use of force is deployed. We should avoid procedures like stop and frisk, pulling motorists over for minor infractions, and no-knock warrants. We also need clear policies when it comes to demonstrations and communicate those policies to the public.
Get social services involved in the lives of people who are in crisis or who are living on the economic margins. Engagement and assistance can prevent the loss of homes and jobs and keep people housed.
A social services department with sufficient treatment capacity for a pilot-program. Sufficient police staffing to reduce solo-patrols. Having police patrol in pairs would reduce contentious encounters. Repaving streets is another priority given the lousy condition of our roads.

Jon Lisbin

View Candidate Questionnaire

Candidate Website

Candidate Statement

Candidate Campaign Contributions

Free Response Questions

My idea of public safety is a community where you can walk at night and feel safe. Where you can leave your car or bicycle parked and not have to worry. Where you can ride your bicycle on the Burke-Gilman and not fear for your safety. Where you can get stopped by a cop and not have a gun pulled on you when you’re just trying to have a conversation. Where you can ask for a wellness check for a relative and not worry that you are risking their life. We can’t say that now in Seattle.
Tangible methods are tracking and quantifying different types of crimes and making it readily available to the public. There has to be oversite in those numbers however so that they are believable.
Mental health services, pre-arrest diversion, substance use disorder counseling, and affordable housing are all grossly underfunded. At the same time, the city is wasting money on programs like the MultiFamily Tax Exemption, which exempts over $170 million dollars a year for providing shortterm marginal affordability instead of investing the same funds in permanently affordable housing. I would like to see those funds going to permanent affordable housing for individuals and families at 0 to 60% AMI. Additionally, I would support a city income tax if and when it goes through the courts, a 1% capital gains tax now that it is legal, and a vacancy tax on homes and apartments vacant more than six months.
Obviously, the CHOP protests were a fiasco for policing, and they were the ones who rioted. Night after night of gas drifting into people’s windows is a nightmare. These gestapo tactics are not acceptable crowd control. I think the hiring practices need to be reformed. Hiring primarily exmilitary soldiers results in a warrior mentality. It’s important to move to community policing. Community members want to know their local officers, as do small business owners. Community members want less prostitution on Aurora, but we need to address the wellbeing of the sex workers as well. Towards this end, for my district in the North Precinct of Seattle, I would like to see two new basic precincts built to cover what is over 40% of the city.
● Increased utilization of non-badged community officers
● Improved culture by providing incentives for police to police themselves, like annual performance bonuses instead of off-duty work.
● Community-minded policing with police stations or mini precincts closer to crime areas
● I want to see police as members of the community, not only for the safety of its citizens but for their safety as well.
● Low-income affordable and supportive housing
● Mental health and substance abuse prevention services
● Public safety
● Environmental sustainability