Shannon Braddock

Published July 24, 2015 – video interview below

Shannon Braddock, 45, an Admiral resident, is chief of staff for County Councilmember Joe McDermott, who is elected by district – not the same boundaries as the new city districts, but West Seattle is the overlap.

FIRST WSB REPORT ON HER CANDIDACY: February 11th announcement

WHY SHE IS RUNNING: After Councilmember Tom Rasmussen announced he wasn’t running, she said, some people in the district asked if she was thinking about giving it a go, including Councilmember McDermott. While considering it, she recalled reading something along the lines of “Men will apply for a job if they’re 30 percent quailfied, women won’t unless they have 100 percent of the qualifications” and realized she was responding in a stereotypical way, so she said to herself, “Why would I NOT run for this office? I love this community, I’ve been really involved, I have good family support, the stars have aligned … So I went for it.”

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: This is something she mentioned early, four years on the West Seattle Food Bank board (starting in 2008, which was the first mention we found of Braddock in WSB archives), plus time on the Lafayette Elementary PTA, and now on the WestSide Baby board.

WHAT HAS SHE LEARNED FROM NONPROFIT VOLUNTEERING? She didn’t realize previously how much support nonprofits get from local businesses. She also learned about the reasons why people don’t avail themselves of the services that are available. While she was at the Food Bank, she was the board member in charge of reviewing its Strategic Plan, “realigning our mission and our values.”

WHAT IS SHE HEARING WHILE OUT DOORBELLING? She says transportation issues are at the top of the list, followed by “growth and development.”

BEING INVOLVED WITH GOVERNMENT NOW, WHY HASN’T SHE FIXED EVERYTHING ALREADY? She’s hopeful that, if elected, she can work to have the city and county partner more, especially on transportation issues.

WILL SHE VOTE FOR THE ‘MOVE SEATTLE’ LEVY? Yes; she believes there’s “enough” in it for District 1.

WHAT ABOUT COMPLAINTS THAT GOVERNMENT’S USING TOO MANY LEVIES? “It’s really hard for progressive people to get more progressive revenue options … Eventually people might start voting no on the levies and we’ll find ourselves in a pretty rough spot.”

HOUSING AFFORDABILITY/DEVELOPMENT: Our interview was one day after the mayor’s action plan came out. Her first-line reaction: “It feels like a pretty good compromise. … I support accessory dwelling units as a way for families to stay together,” and she had a positive reaction to mandatory inclusionary zoning. Regarding density, she says she understands why it’s been a “shock to the system” because growth as come so fast, and the transportation infrastructure hasn’t kept up. “That said, the growth is here, and we have to figure out the best way to manage it. What I’m hearing from people is that they’re more concerned about the characteristics of neighborhood …” commercial as much as, even more so, than residential.

TECHNOLOGY: Braddock brought up this topic, voicing support for municipal broadband, and saying she thinks we should be able to have better apps tying, for example, all our transit systems together.

HOW DID SHE WIND UP IN WEST SEATTLE? They were in Belltown, and she was pregnant, and wanted to live somewhere else. A realtor suggested West Seattle. She balked at the bridge – but wound up in Admiral, and loved its walkability, to grocery stores, restaurants, etc. “I grew up in Bellingham and it reminds me a lot of Bellingham.”

WHY VOTE FOR HER? “I’m very good at building relationships … I am very straightforward, which I think (would serve) a body like that very well … Knowing when to do the work and not worry so much about getting credit, as long as you get the work done …” She also feels it would be important to bring a “working parent with kids in school” perspective to bring to the council.

SEE HER INTERVIEW WITH US: We first asked how the reality of campaigning compared to the work she does interacting with constituents on behalf of her boss.