The floors are swept and the half-finished drinks have been cleared from the bars and hotel conference rooms that held throngs of eager supports as initial election results came in last night. Moods were high at the Mike McGinn party at The War Room where he clung to a 910 vote lead. Around the rest of the city some candidates were busy making concession calls to their opponents, while others were celebrating all but certain victories.
The Seattle political landscape has changed and leaves us wondering where the most vulnerable of our city will stand in the eyes of our newly elected officials. City Attorney Elect Pete Holmes has promised to be aggressive in seeking out alternatives to incarceration. We hope this means that he will seek to stop the cities trend of prosecuting the homeless that has lead to a general criminalization of poverty. At the very least he is hard nosed against the jail and will do everything in his power to prevent its construction. Although I-100 failed to make the ballot, it did not fail to make ripples in political circles.
Tim Burgess has said he will bring his anti-panhandling legislation before the City Council later this year. With a shake up in the executive office Burgess knows he needs to get his legislation through before the end of this council’s session. The balance of power of those influenced by the Downtown Association probably wont have any sort of swing, but there is definitely a sense of urgency about blocking what he considers a slam dunk.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of these daily releases of results will play out. As of the latest count McGinn lost a little bit of ground and now leads by only 462 votes. Even after this madness is over it is still unknown how the candidates policies on homelessness will play out. Either way, I hope we will be better off than we were with Nickels. Although, it will be up to us to make sure that the voice of the people is heard and that our new representatives are fully versed in their opinions of the homeless sweeps and the criminalization of poverty.
Posts Tagged ‘Election’
Election Day +1
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Electing Listeners
Thursday, October 8th, 2009On Tuesday night the Miller Community Center was full of workers, volunteers, advocates, and community members eager to hear the candidates compete in a Who Can Say Nicer Things About Human Services Competition. In theory, it appears that all of the candidates, in one form or the other, want to invest in people and basic services for the poor and vulnerable.
Sometimes the most difficult job for voters, and the greatest skill, is the ability to weed through rhetoric and political pandering and see how talk on the campaign trail will translate into actions in office.
There is a lot of great work going on in this area, and while I do believe that the candidates are sincere in their wanting to help people, when they are faced with political realities and pressures it becomes easy to pander to the powerful.
You get candidates like Sally Bagshaw when faced with questions about what to do about food banks and daycare shout “Fund it. Increase the supply,” while at the same time saying we don’t need to make choices between downtown interests and neighborhood interests. Well the fact is choices will need to be made and priorities will need to be set. This is most especially the case in this budget cycle where every department fights for its fiscal lives.
While it would be wonderful if we could throw money at ever initiative and project the fact remains that we are going to have decide what is most important to us as a city. Are going to invest in projects or people?
The real question becomes which candidate is going to keep their ears tuned to the cries from the community and the people whose voices may often be stifled but are never quiet. I am still waiting for a public official to stop using buzz words, be honest, and say, “I don’t know everything. I’m not an expert on every issue, but I am ready to learn.”
For me the sign of a great leader is those who know how to surround themselves with the greatest minds and listen to what they have to say. Not just listen, but be truly objective to special interests and do what is just.