The Seattle City Council made progress today towards restoring livability in our city. My opponent Shaun Scott represents the faction advocating policies that have harmed our quality of life.
“Shameful Veto”
Shaun Scott ran for Seattle City Council in 2019. He may have lost the election, but Scott was still influential from the far left with the 2019 – 2023 city government.
In June of 2020, Scott called for repealing “‘Drug-traffic’ and ‘Prostitution-Loitering’ ordinances immediately”. Later that month, the City Council followed suit and repealed these laws. This was a big win for Scott and his radical faction. And they kept pushing.
In November of 2021, the Council voted to defund the police budget by $3 million; cutting 100 officers from the department. The vote disbanded the Navigation Team, which provided an outreach resource to the city’s homeless population. Mayor Durkan vetoed the defund bill. The Council then voted 7 to 2 to successfully override the veto.
Scott was all over the defund opportunity; he advocated strongly for it:
My opponent’s social media thread shows how he stirred support to override what he called a “shameful veto.” This demonstrates the abolish the police ideology Shaun Scott intends to take to Olympia.
Let’s Keep Making Progress
The current Seattle City Council majority are working to undo the damage created by Shaun Scott’s radical clique. Areas like Aurora Avenue and downtown’s 3rd & Pike are hotspots of social problems.
Stay Out Of Drug Area (SODA) zones are Washington State law and used in other cities to fight drug dealers. Seattle’s Stay Out of Area of Prostitution (SOAP) bill targets buyers and traffickers — with the goal to disrupt sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, gun violence and other crimes involving street-walking prostitution.
The Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee are leading us in the correct direction. The committee voted unanimously to pass SODA and SOAP zones towards a full council vote on September 17th. These bills are expected to pass, and I give them my full support.
At the September 10th hearing, Committee Chair Rob Kettle spoke about taking care of people in crisis. He was keen on how the whole community must be considered. This means safe streets for everybody. CM Cathy Moore invited women working in the field of combating sexual exploitation; they offered compelling testimony on SOAP rules helping women and girls escape human trafficking.
I am grateful to CM Kettle and CM Moore for their leadership. Here is the key — they want to help those in need while protecting livability.
As your representative in Olympia, I will work to support these kinds of rules safeguarding our quality of life.
Vote for me Andrea Suarez, on November 5th.