Our planned District 5 debate had to be canceled after one of the candidates came down with COVID. But we got together and blabbed in front of the folks who showed up anyway! Thanks to the National Nordic Museum for hosting us and to everyone who came out.
One of the more surprising things we talked about was how Mayor Katie Wilson’s new homelessness plan is bringing together some strange bedfellows. Homelessness advocates and some downtown business leaders both seem to like it, including Jon Scholes of the Downtown Seattle Association.
The idea is to have outreach workers get to know people living on the streets, figure out what they need, and find them somewhere appropriate to stay. Efforts like this have worked in Seattle before, including in Pioneer Square ahead of the World Cup. But can the mayor pull this off across the city? And will there be enough shelter and housing to make it work?
We also talk about the City Council’s new RV legislation, which would create a permit system for some people living in RVs, require them to accept case management, and impose new parking restrictions. The ultimate goal is to get RVs off Seattle streets. We debate whether this will actually help the people living in RVs or whether the city is creating another complicated program that won’t work in practice.
And we kick things off with the District 5 City Council race between Julie Kang and Nilu Jenks, including where they stand on policing, surveillance cameras, and the problems on Aurora Avenue. We consider what the results might tell us about where Seattle politics is headed in 2027.
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