Neighborhood question for Lisa and Shannon

[thee]

Hello Lisa and Shannon,

I’m a West Seattle voter who, believe it or not, is still undecided. Recently, West Seattle Blog ran an update about a housing/neighborhood situation that seems emblematic of many of the issues surrounding our community. On 36th Ave SW, near Dakota St, there is before the DPD a proposal to replace a triplex with a 4-story, 20-unit, no-parking microhousing structure. https://westseattleblog.com/2015/10/west-seattle-development-comment-time-for-microhousing-at-4122-36th-sw-but-somethings-missing/

What’s your take on this sort of a situation? Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Do you support this or is this something you oppose?

I eagerly await your response.

Thank You!

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[thee]

Eagerly awaiting your response, ladies.

–thee

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[thee]

Happy November Lisa and Shannon,

I do hope you can find the time to respond to this question. I know many of my neighbors are monitoring this post eagerly awaiting your response.

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[EmmyJane]

Who are Lisa and Shannon?

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[miws]

EmmyJane, D1 City Council Candidates Lisa Herbold and Shannon Braddock.

Mike

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[JTB]

thee take time to be informed

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[rw]

You might also go to the candidate’s Web sites and contact them directly from there. I’ve never seen either Lisa or Shannon post on this forum, and with the election just days away my guess is that they are spending every waking hour going door to door and on other in person activities. Their web sites and the videos of their debates would also provide lots of information about each candidate.

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[Diane]

no kidding; candidates have been out door-knocking, talking to WS/SP residents for 8 months; and gone through countless debates/forums, answered countless questionnaires; there is more info provided this election season than any other in history of Seattle City Council elections; and yep; Lisa is just a tad busy, as rw said, “spending every waking hour going door to door and on other in person activities” getting out the vote, which is now only 2 days away

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[Diane]

Lisa Herbold, the BEST candidate for our district; 17 years experience in city hall, and many more years experience advocating for housing equity and workers’ rights; Lisa has provided many detailed positions papers on nearly every topic of interest to voters on a weekly basis; Lisa is the only candidate out of 18 for city council who has provided SO MUCH information for voters re her ideas/positions; there is a wealth of info on her website, including extensive endorsements:

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http://www.district1forherbold.com/endorsements

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see this link for list of nearly 20 position papers, clickable for detailed info on each topic

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http://www.district1forherbold.com/blog

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and ISSUES

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http://www.district1forherbold.com/node/203

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[Diane]

Lisa Herbold sent out this summary of her position papers on Oct 30; no other candidate for any city council seat has provided anything like this:

in her email, there are links at each bullet, to full papers detailing Lisa’s progressive policy objectives, but I can’t get them to stay linkable/live when posting here; can anyone advise how to do that?)

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“District 1 Voters and Friends:

My campaign for Seattle City Council has been about issues that I have supported during my 17 years as Councilmember Nick Licata’s Legislative Aide. But it is also about more than just the issues themselves. It is about whether Seattle is to be a leader in the renaissance of urban governance that is growing in the United States.

An outstanding article in The Nation this week, entitled “How to Build the Movement for Progressive Power, the Urban Way” states the case this way:

“Cities are where the action is these days. Progressive action, political action. From paid sick days to universal pre-K, fossil-fuel divestment to anti-fracking ordinances, police reform to immigrant rights, the country’s urban centers are leading the way, far outpacing the federal government in vision and action.”

I hope you read it. It’s pretty exciting. It’s exciting to me because it describes the work I have been doing, and hope to continue as your District 1 Councilmember.

Seattle has been a leader in this movement. Much work remains. You’ll find Nick Licata’s name in this article and Kshama Sawant’s. And Mike O’Brien’s. And David Rolf’s. And if you think that because these names are mentioned, this article will be “anti-business,” please read further, because you’ll find businessman Nick Hanauer’s name there also.

The common denominator in all of these urban policy advances is that they have been people-powered, in the sense that they have arisen through citizen activism, the same citizen activism that has made West Seattle and South Park bustling centers of civic involvement, the same citizen engagement that I have promoted before I ever went to work at City Hall.

Those citizens include business owners, from “mom-and-pop stores” or food trucks right on up to some of the biggest tech-based corporations and investment firms in the world. The issue is not whether businesses should be part of advances in urban governance—they must be, and they will be. The issue is whether a City Councilmember will bargain with the business community on behalf of the taxpayers, or not.

The overwhelming success of the charter measure to elect City Councilmembers by districts indicates pretty clearly that the voters wanted more of a balance between the downtown establishment and the neighborhoods. I am committed to maintaining that balance—and to being the strongest possible advocate for the communities in District 1.

I am the most experienced, best-qualified, more progressive candidate in this election. I have served under the administrations of four mayors, and have worked with many more Councilmembers. I need no learning curve. I know what needs doing, and I am impatient to begin.

Look at how many of the policy initiatives the Nation article mentions, that our campaign has addressed already, along with other policy objectives that, when enacted into law, will put Seattle at the forefront nationally in implementing progressive, innovative urban policies:

*Ensuring a preservation strategy for the thousands of units of private, unsubsidized homes that will be vulnerable to redevelopment with the incentive created by the proposed upzones to tear down existing housing (July 16.)

*Proposing to end preferences for tenants employed by select employers. “Source of Income” anti-discrimination laws protect tenants from being discriminated against because their source of income (August 31)

*Supporting collective bargaining for rideshare drivers. Councilmember Mike O’Brien’s bill grants collective bargaining rights to contract employees at ridesharing companies, including Uber and Lyft. (September 3)

*Standing with Seattle’s educators. Our educators deserve fair compensation for the countless hours they put into their jobs and invaluable service they provide to our children and communities. (September 7)

*Supporting gender pay equity Seattle has the widest gender wage gap of the top 50 metropolitan areas—women only make 73 cents for every dollar men make; women of color have an even larger wage gap. Our goal is to make this a city where everyone has an equal opportunity to work with dignity. (September 14)

*Supporting local authority for Seattle. The state legislature must restore our local authority to consider all of the different local options to regulate rent. A rent control law is only one type of rent regulation. (September 17)

*Seeking new, progressive transportation funding sources. District 1 must get the transportation investment it deserves. Impact fees on developers are a proven way, as promoted by the Seattle Times, to ensure that growth pays to mitigate its impacts on our already snarled roads. (September 17)

*Improving food quality and access in District 1. There are still communities in District 1 that lack access to healthy food. Being within one mile of a supermarket—not just corner stores, which often lack healthy food options—is crucial for low income residents who often lack adequate transportation to carry bags of groceries. (September 21)

*Shady and deceptive politics undermine Seattle voters’ goal in passing districted elections. My campaign does not have advertising misrepresenting my opponent’s positions and her record of public service, but I still want voters to be aware of the interests that are trying to buy this campaign for my opponent. (September 23)

*Public safety is important to all the neighborhoods of District 1. I support more police visibility, restoration of Community Service Officers, and increases in police staffing. We must make continued investments to sustain reductions in crime. (September 28)

*Seattle still has a foreclosure problem. HUD should direct the FHFA mortgage foreclosure sales to eligible nonprofits, and away from Wall Street speculators. I will continue to seek more fair housing policy for renters and homeowners, both throughout the City and in District 1. (October 2)

*More tenant protections are needed. Council passage of an important new bill will help tenants with unscrupulous landlords who circumvent tenant protections by abusing their right to raise the rent as much as they like. This practice has occurred in District 1 as well, at the Linda Manor in December. A similar abuse occurred at a Blueprint Development. Renters in District 1 are getting priced out and displaced, and I don’t support the status quo. (October 7)

*Improve public safety through innovation. If elected, a top priority will be to support the objectives of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. This groundbreaking program diverts low-level drug and prostitution offenders to rehabilitation, rather than jail. This program has had extraordinary success in changing troubled peoples’ lives for the better. (October 9)

*Democracy should be for everyone. The vote for District elections was a vote for a level playing field for people to run who are not supported by huge donations from downtown special interests. People who want to serve the public should be able to do so by talking to voters door-to-door in their community, not with unlimited campaign spending. (October 13)

*I am committed to enacting workers’ rights. I support new laws to protect employees from shift scheduling abuses. (October 26)

Codifying a police observer’s Bill of Rights. In light of this week’s news of a woman’s wrongful arrest and two day jail detention, our City Council can and should make clear the rights of Seattle citizens to peacefully observe and record public police activity. (October 27)

These policy initiatives represent the best investment that Seattle can make in our city’s future—an investment in our people. Investing in people is every bit as progressive, as innovative, as “cutting edge,” and as guaranteed to provide a positive return for our city as any other kind of investment it could make. If I am elected to the City Council, I will get us there.

I will get the potholes fixed, too. Count on it. Please vote for me by November 3, and let’s get Seattle moving forward to realize its potential. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Lisa Herbold

Candidate for Seattle City Council District 1″

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[thee]

JTB: Thanks for the link. I watched. The question I’m asking on behalf of my hood in particular and WS in general is not addressed.

RW: I’m sure both women are busy. We are all busy. But these women are asking for our votes. I’ve selected the most popular forum in this community to post a very specific and very important question that will impact a large number of D1 voters. Surely, a few moments to peck out a response is not out of the question when the question is so urgent to this community.

Then again, not answering the question is certainly a way to answer it, isn’t it?

We’ll see, I guess…

–thee

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[JoB]

i am with thee. i would have liked an answer and where better to ask the question than in the midst of their constituency?

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[JanS]

but if they don’t come to the forum, they will not see the question. You are asking for something that is not readily done. And there are suggestions as to how to get your questions answered. If it’s that important, thee, I think you’ll find a way to get your question to them.

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[JanS]

here’s email and phone.voicemail numbers. for Lisa Herbold

http://www.district1forherbold.com/node/218

Shannon Braddocks website does not have email or phone contact.

Hope you get you question answered.

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[rw]

I was surprised by Jan’s statement that Shannon’s Web site doesn’t have contact info, since I used it to ask her a question a month or two ago. So I decided to investigate. You can, in fact, contact her by filling out the contact form on the page: http://shannonford1.com/get-involved/ . I suggest filling in as little or as much contact info as you would like, and ignoring any of the “I’d like to…” check boxes–then put your question in the “Comment & Question” box.

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[JoB]

i am pretty sure west seattle politicians read the West Seattle Blog.. including the forum.

if they don’t their aides do.

we have seen too many responses from politicians who don’t live in West Seattle over the years to believe they are unaware they have been asked a question…

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[WSB]

I’ve been watching this, curious to see if either candidate would eventually turn up to answer.

Yes, candidates are busy.

However, they have lots of help. An intern/staffer for one of these candidates sent me a note recently that I’m surprised they even had the time to bother with (and given what little direct communication there’s been from the campaigns, it was an odd thing to contact us about). If the candidate doesn’t have time to look, surely it can be Intern X’s job to check in once a day until Election Day (TOMORROW!).

Despite the fact we have 100,000 people on the peninsula, it’s not hard to keep track of local online discussion. This is the only West Seattle-based *website* where topical local discussion happens regularly, in the open, in story comments and in this forum (which has been in operation for eight years now).

Yes, you can e-mail a question to a candidate. Your reply might arrive in your e-box only. The point of asking publicly – online or at a forum (we covered them all, and the last one was a couple weeks ago) – is that your reply then is on the record for all to see.

Our policy is not to offer an opinion on a candidate or issue. However, I have to say that I am surprised by the local candidates not participating, or at least monitoring. It IS another way to campaign, and it’s a very visible way. Doorbelling is great but even if you only spend one minute at each doorstep, that’s 60 an hour. Spending five minutes to post a reply here puts you in front of thousands.

On a similar issue, by the way, I did ask a question at one of the forums, regarding the “104 apartments = 14 units” project. If I can find it while writing an Election Eve story today, I’ll link it.

Anyway, my last word … please vote. The ballot drop vans are in WS (stadium) and WC (8th south of Roxbury) again today (10-5) and tomorrow (10-8) and don’t even require you to put a stamp on your ballot.

-TR

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[D1forLisa]

I’m so sorry for the delay in responding. Another District 1 voter recently reached out to me via email with a similar question. Here is how I responded; I think it’s useful for your inquiry as well:

I support high density zoning for development when it makes sense. But as a value, density must be balanced against other public values, rather than sought to the exclusion of all other values. This is one of my foundational beliefs and it has led some to suggest I might not be an “urbanist” or worse, a “NIMBY.” Frankly, these days it seems like if you ask how an upzone might impact tree canopy, open space, sensitive areas, whether there’s sufficient transportation infrastructure, or might result in the demolition of existing affordable housing — then you must support sprawl. Well, I reject that false dichotomy.

The Council recently made changes to the land use code as it relates to microhousing. They are good changes relating to minimum unit sizes (resulting in fewer units in a building), design review, common spaces, and limiting where some forms (congregate housing) can be built. The problem is that many of these projects that are under review/approved now have been in the pipeline for a while and have “vested” under the old laws – meaning they aren’t restricted by the new law.

There are some that want to roll back the microhousing legislation that was passed last fall because fewer projects are being proposed under the new law. I don’t support undoing this good work – that I worked on, in my capacity as Councilmember Licata’s land use policy staff.

Let me know if you have ideas about this project that you want to run by me, I’m happy to investigate further. Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of your community.

Best,

Lisa Herbold

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[timeslid]

Thank you Lisa – good luck tomorrow.

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[Diane]

THANK YOU Lisa Herbold for taking the time out of this last VERY BUSY day before the election; fingers/toes crossed for the big win tomorrow night

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[Diane]

fyi re ” Yes, candidates are busy. However, they have lots of help”

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Lisa has one paid campaign manager and unpaid volunteers like myself; most everyone is working 24/7 out knocking on doors talking to voters and calling voters and social media communications; Lisa has been available for 8 months to answer any/all questions; she is VERY busy right now going out personally talking to voters, with most people likely voting today/tomorrow; not sure what qualifies as “a lot”, but we certainly don’t have 100’s of volunteers like Kshama; we are doing the best we can to get Lisa elected; we are a scrappy bunch of unpaid volunteers, most of us with other jobs (to pay our rent) that takes up much of our time; GO LISA

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Shannon also has a paid campaign manager and unpaid volunteers; she also has PAID interns, which she can afford with the huge influx of developer/landlord/downtown chamber/rental lobby money to her campaign; Shannon has been bankrolled with A LOT more cash to her campaign than Lisa, thanks to Shannon’s big money donors; that’s in addition to the $209,000 in IE/PAC money buying TV ads on her behalf; so Shannon has a lot more money to buy signs, mailers, and pay interns to reach out to voters

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Total $$$ on Shannon’s behalf $362,000

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Total $$$ on Lisa’s behalf $157,000

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even more important, is the source of contributions

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[Diane]

one very notable contributor to Shannon’s campaign is Paul Anderson, owner of Linda Manor, who economically evicted all the long-term tenants at this Morgan junction affordable apt building earlier this year, causing our seniors/disabled neighbors to become homeless; Mr. Paul B. Anderson has donated $600 to elect Shannon

Total individual contributions to elect Shannon, as of today; $153,847.38

http://web6.seattle.gov/ethics/elections/poplist.aspx?cid=429&listtype=contributors

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[Diane]

most of Lisa’s contributions are from low/middle income folks, unions supporting workers’ rights, and leaders in affordable housing

Total individual contributions to elect Lisa Herbold, as of today; $114,443.12

http://web6.seattle.gov/ethics/elections/poplist.aspx?cid=423&listtype=contributors

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[rw]

Rubbish,Diane.

I reached out to Shannon via email and she told me that her logon to this forum has not been working. (It’s happened to me and others at times.) So I offered to post a statement on her behalf. Here is Shannon’s response:

**********

We need to manage growth in an intentional way with the well-being of ALL our communities in mind. To that end, I would like to establish a process by which communities can engage earlier in the development process – and not just with the current SEPA related design review process. As Tracy mentioned, there are opportunities in situations like this one to ask DPD to hold a special meeting for community input, but these meetings are currently not required. I’d also like to build a step into the design approval process that would require developers to gather input from the community and implement things such as setbacks or landscaping aspects. There may be situations where streamlined design review is appropriate – for example if the developer has built a similar building already in the community. I don’t yet know the best way to do this and there are challenges around balancing affordability and creating housing, but it is something I’ll be focused on if elected.

I support the urban village concept and believe that is where our density should be focused. However, not all urban villages are the same. Until our transit and transportation infrastructure has caught up with our growth, I believe we should have parking requirements appropriate to the neighborhood’s capacity. In West Seattle we are over capacity now and it’s worth revisiting some of the rules related to parking and frequent transit zones. I am not supportive of the up-zoning of single family neighborhoods but I do support the potential of making it easier for homeowners to have attached accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or detached accessory dwelling units (DADUs) as a way to address affordability issues. I like the concept of providing incentives so families can transition garages into mother in law type units – akin to the work being done in Portland, OR. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/garden/grandma-never-had-it-so-good.html?_r=0 Council member O’Brien is exploring changes to allow single family homes to be converted to multi housing units while maintaining the zoning requirements related to height, bulk and lot coverage. I’m open to learning more about this concept to see if it helps to address some of our affordability and neighborhood challenges.

The city is facing a challenge balancing affordability and maintaining the character of our neighborhoods and I think having a District Council member will be a great asset in engaging our communities in this discussion.

I also support developers paying impact fees to contribute to our transportation infrastructure, schools, and parks to help mitigate the effects of growth. Additionally, I support the grand bargain from the Housing Affordability Committee which charges a 3% linkage fee on all new commercial development to go toward an affordable housing fund. Thank you for your question. My email is shannonbraddockford1@gmail.com if you would like to email me directly.

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[Diane]

here’s a big difference between the two D-1 candidates in IE/PAC $$$

Total NEIGHBORS FOR SHANNON Contributions Oct 12 $130,500.00

This includes:

CASE (downtown chamber of commerce) $70,000

Hospitality PAC (those are the folks who opposed $15 min wage) $28,000

http://www2.seattle.gov/ethics/eldata/filings/campaignhome.asp?elcycle=el15a&campuni=489

Total PEOPLE FOR SHANNON Contributions in the Primary $79,036.26

This includes:

CASE (downtown chamber of commerce) $51,500

RHA PAC (rental housing assoc; same folks who attacked Lisa as advocate for tenants’ rights) $10,000

http://www2.seattle.gov/ethics/eldata/filings/campaignhome.asp?elcycle=el15a&campuni=469

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