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-Hi.
I'm Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis.
As a recent parent,
I am more determined than ever to build a Seattle
we can be proud to pass on to the next generation.
In my first term, I brought together
unlikely coalitions to deliver results,
and I'll continue that work if re-elected.
On public safety, in my first term,
I increased our park ranger program
from 2 to 28 rangers,
fully funded the police hiring budget each year,
passed an ordinance protecting firefighters from harassment
in the line of duty, and worked with Mayor Harrell
to create a civilian behavioral health response
in lieu of police involvement.
If re-elected, I'll increase these alternative responses,
continue the shared commitment of the Council and Mayor
to recruit and retain police, and support community programs
proven to reduce repeated criminal behavior
and gun violence.
On housing and homelessness,
we need to get people out of encampments
and into stable housing immediately.
Working with Mayor Harrell, my office helped create
the Unified Care Team -- a one-stop, no-excuses shop
to navigate people experiencing homelessness into shelter
and resolve encampment locations.
Encampments have been reduced by 42%,
but much work remains.
Over the next four years,
I'll increase enhanced shelter options like tiny houses
so people experiencing homelessness
have a stable shelter,
rather than being displaced to another encampment,
and I'll also work with city partners to build
and acquire social and non-profit housing
so more people can afford to live in our community.
We are running out of time to combat climate change,
and Seattle must confront the emergency with housing planning
that emphasizes dense, walkable communities,
electrification of buildings,
and safe, reliable public transportation.
I'm proud to have a rating of "strongly aligned"
from the Downtown Seattle Association and to be endorsed
by the Martin Luther King County Labor Council,
the 36th and 43rd District Democrats,
the Alliance for Gun Responsibility,
Attorney General Bob Ferguson,
and King County Executive Dow Constantine.
I hope to earn your vote.
Thank you for your consideration.
-Hello.
My name is Bob Kettle,
and I'm running for Seattle City Council
because I share your frustrations
with the lack of progress that our city has made
on the critical challenges
of public drug use, public safety and health,
and homelessness.
I'm a first-generation American,
stay-at-home dad, and civic leader,
having retired as a naval officer
to support my wife's work as a civil rights attorney,
including the landmark case with the ACLU of Washington
overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
I volunteer with several
neighborhood-level public safety organizations,
including the West Precinct Advisory Council,
the Queen Anne Block Watch Network,
and before that, as chair of the Queen Anne Community Council's
Public Safety Committee.
We cannot solve our public safety issues
without addressing public health.
With increasing shelter space,
it's time to restore our public spaces.
Encampments are an inhumane and inexcusable solution.
We need leadership able to partner
with county, state, and federal authorities,
and must also prioritize funding only programs
and service providers shown to actually work.
The truth is that my opponent's inaction and failure
have led to the current crisis.
More than 20 people are dying on our streets every week
from fentanyl overdoses,
in large part due to my opponent's vote
to essentially decriminalize public drug use.
Further, pledging to defund the police by 50%
was irresponsible and undercut our public safety
and our ability to implement reform.
I support allocating additional resources
to recruitment and retention, training,
community policing, including non-police responders.
I'll partner with the mayor to implement a pragmatic
and compassionate drug ordinance,
including funding addiction treatment centers.
I'll focus Seattle government
by working with city council colleagues
and partnering with the mayor on saving lives,
keeping the vulnerable safe,
and restoring our beautiful city.
We can do this, Seattle.
I'm Bob Kettle, and I ask for your vote.
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