This piece originally appeared on Seattle magazine’s website.
This is the second in a series about the Seattle City Council candidates running in the August primary election—the first true test of Seattle’s new district election system. Here’s a quick look at who’s running in Districts 6 and 7.
District 6 (Northwest Seattle)
Mike O’Brien
The two-term council incumbent and national Sierra Club board member is under fire from neighborhood activists who say he has done too little to address homeless encampments, RVs, and drugs while focusing on national issues like climate change. Opponents also disagree with O’Brien’s work to implement the city’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda, including legislation he sponsored to make it easier for homeowners to add basement apartments and backyard cottages. O’Brien has said he is taking the next month or two to decide whether he plans to seek reelection. If he doesn’t run, this race could get crowded.
Kate Martin
Neighborhood activist and 2013 mayoral candidate who also ran an unsuccessful campaign for a ballot measure that would have preserved the Alaskan Way Viaduct and turned it into an aerial park.
Jonathan Lisbin
A business owner and activist with Seattle Fair Growth, which led efforts to stop the city’s proposed Mandatory Housing Affordability plan, Lisbin is seeking the District 6 seat for a second time; the first time he ran, in 2015, he was knocked out in the primary with 13 percent of the vote.
District 7 (Pioneer Square, Downtown, Queen Anne, Magnolia)
Jim Pugel
He’s a former interim police chief and department veteran who advocated for police reform and harm-reduction strategies (like the successful Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, which provides alternatives to prosecution for low-level offenders) during a time when the city was under a federal consent decree for excessive use of force and allegations of racially biased policing. Pugel, who has been endorsed by several prominent police-reform advocates, is the best-known contender in the race so far and a likely frontrunner for this position.
Elizabeth Campbell
Magnolia activist and 2009 mayoral candidate best known for challenging city policies in court. Most recently, Campbell sought to prevent a “tiny house village” homeless encampment in Interbay and to thwart plans for affordable housing at Fort Lawton, near Discovery Park.
Michael George
Senior project manager at commercial real estate firm Kidder Matthews and first-time candidate who is raising a family in downtown Seattle and started the Parents for a Better Downtown Seattle nonprofit several years ago, after his first child was born, to advocate for “family-oriented infrastructure” downtown. He says the city needs to do a better job of supporting the work of the Seattle school district by funding early childhood education and wraparound services for families struggling to stay in the city.
Naveed Jamali
Navy reserve intelligence officer and TV news analyst whose platform includes hiring more police officers, implementing “good government” strategies, and better growth management. Jamali, who lives in Queen Anne, also opposes supervised drug consumption sites.
Andrew Lewis
Lewis, who managed campaigns for former city council member Nick Licata and now works as a deputy city attorney for Seattle, says he would commit to building 5,000 new units of affordable housing in three years and would work to expand and reform the city’s Navigation Teams. Lewis also says he’d advocate for a complete replacement of the unsound Magnolia Bridge and for moving Sound Transit’s planned light rail line to Ballard closer to Magnolia.
Daniela Eng
A Magnolia resident who was “born and raised” in the neighborhood, Eng says she decided to run because “property crime continues to go unaddressed in the city, with small business and law-abiding citizens bearing the cost.”
Isabel Kerner
A Queen Anne resident and former Garfield High School student who is currently suing the Seattle Police Department for allegedly mishandling a police report she filed about an assault she experienced on Capitol Hill. She’s promoting the use of shipping containers as a solution to homelessness
O’Brien and Rob Johnson used their power on the PLUZ committee to push through raising MFH parking to 1 spot per unit, citywide, if it’s parking for a bike. Doesn’t matter where in the city, how many folks use the (typically not-very-secure) bike rooms, or how many folks actually will pay for the bike parking resource, the city made a new building code mandate. They also mandated that new light rail stations have a lot more bike parking, to a level where even Sound Transit had sent comments saying it had concerns, but the council kept their proposed increase and then granted SDOT’s director the power to require more.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/7vhdzg/seattles_new_bike_parking_requirements_show_how/
You got that right Sarajane. The concept is a good one. The execution is flawed and can be significantly improved. As you said, the plan needs true neighborhood input to address unique needs and to get the support of the communities being impacted.
City Hall in general can benefit by taking more active feedback from citizen groups. Particularly in D6 where, as EB noted, anger has swelled against the incumbent. It may not be policy so much as an emotional response from feeling stifled. And Jonathan is perfectly fine thank you!
Regarding “Jonathan” Lisbin, his website says he uses Jon. He is a former tech business owner who led efforts to obtain a fair and complete MHA Environmental Impact Statement. Nowhere does Seattle Fair Growth say it wishes to stop upzones. We oppose one-size-fits-all upzones without neighborhood input. The MHA is deeply flawed. We are one of many groups now working to improve it.
thanks for that, now I know to actively vote and campaign against him!