INCREASE AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACCESS TO ALL SEATTLE RESIDENTS

As a social worker who works every day to re-house and find stable housing for veterans and other vulnerable populations– and a working class person struggling with the high costs of living in Seattle, I am committed to housing solutions for all of us:

• Increasing housing options and access for low income residents, working people,  and middle income families.
• Diversification of housing/property ownership through land trusts, cooperative models, and other publicly funded home ownership options.
• Reducing or ending restrictions  that prevent or inhibit construction of family sized housing like duplexes and triplexes,

SAFE COMMUNITIES WE DESERVE:

Working directly with people in crisis, I have accompanied law enforcement and first responders into places where all skill sets are needed: police to reduce violence and arrest those who prey on the vulnerable, firefighters to revive and transport those with acute of life threatening needs, and social workers to de-escalate, build relationships, and end cycles of harm. These hands-on experiences are the foundation for my approach to public safety:

• Hire additional police officers to meet the needs of our city– consistent with best practices in similar sized communities. Emphasize hiring and training officers from Seattle, to serve Seattle– this will take time and trust, but is critical to building pride and ground-level relationships that will reduce crime.
• Move forward on “third department” plans to build out responders who can help engage with people and situations before a crime is committed, or when an officer with a  badge and gun may only heighten tensions.
• Increase programs and outreach to youth and impacted communities to reduce gun violence, including additional outreach to help people identify unsafe situations and utilizing state “Extreme Risk Protection Order” laws for the safe seizure of firearms.
• Greater discussion among community stakeholders to address crime and disorder, including honest assessment of root causes such as social inequities and poverty, persistent antisocial behaviors, predatory and exploitative criminal trends, as well as the proliferation of property destruction and graffiti, and concerning expansion of the illicit drug market. Addressing crime needs to be simultaneously addressed up-stream and in real time in order to effectively close the existing gap and ensure durable gains in creating safe and healthy communities.
• Work to accomplish a healthy balance of accountability and clinical intervention—recognizing the unique complexities of each individual’s clinical history as they interface with the judicial system, and to fully utilize Seattle’s Community Court for those persons ready to commit to positive changes.”

INCREASING EFFICIENCIES IN HOUSING UNSHELTERED NEIGHBORS:

As a clinical social worker that has worked 12 years in substance use disorder treatment, inpatient psychiatric settings, outpatient mental health clinics, and with homeless programs I will ensure that a more robust clinical lens is applied at the City Council to address this citywide– and regions– crisis.

• Ensure that those who get housed remain housed in clinically appropriate and adequately resourced sites, with performance standards to help improve programs and outcomes for those transitioning out of homelessness and for those transitioning from inpatient or residential settings.
• Establish career ladders and professional advancement opportunities for caregivers, along with living wages to create a stable resource of dedicated clinicians caring for our most vulnerable populations.
• Demand greater participation and resources from regional, state, and federal patterns to avoid gaps in coverage, care, and safety– while ensuring Seattle doesn’t carry a disproportionate share of responsibility for addressing and funding housing and behavioral health solutions.
• increase collaboration with the County to ensure Behavioral Health Crisis Teams and First Responders are adequately resourced, funded, and have responsive access to a durable pool of Designated Crisis Responders.

Being the designated council member for District 1, you can expect me to hold regularly occurring meetings in the community where we have respectful dialogue. My role is to facilitate discussion amongst all community members—ensuring all have an opportunity to share their concerns. My experience as a clinical social worker over the past 12 years has lent me the skills to help facilitate a safe space for these important conversations to occur. I am confident that real and durable solutions can be obtained by creating these safe spaces for community dialogue.

MENTORING, APPRENTICESHIPS, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• Summer programs that incorporate additional learning opportunities for school-age children, that also include the development of pro-social behaviors through mentoring, and provide nutritional meals will be expanded at community centers and parks throughout Seattle.
• Apprenticeships
  • in order to meet workforce needs of future, we need apprenticeships across different trades and industries– including behavioral health
• Family Wage Jobs:
  • hold agencies accountable to train and retain quality case managers and frontline workers

BUILDING A RESILIENT ENVIRONMENT:

• As climate change continues to negatively impact our region we must aggressively expand the urban tree canopy with tree species that are drought resistant.
• Expand and preserve sensitive habitats and incorporate these areas into learning labs for local schools.
• Expand horticultural and forestry programs for high schools in Seattle, to include increasing the number of teaching programs that have at a minimum modestly-sized greenhouses. Greater educational opportunities specific to environmental stewardship will encourage the next generation of youth to continue to develop creative ways of building out urban environments that incorporate innovative practices of maintaining vegetation and tree cover.

CREATING DURABLE, RAPID, & EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS:

• Accelerate, where possible, the build-out of the Sound Transit Light Link.
• Increase fleet of electric and clean energy vehicles for public transportation and movement of freight.
• Build out more efficient road networks that are shared by freight transport and public use—to include road improvements/efficiencies around the Port of Seattle.