SEIU 775 Endorsements

Incumbent Todd Donovan is running for re-election to Whatcom County Council in District 2. Donovan is a professor of state and local government at Western Washington University. He first joined the county council in 2016 and currently chairs the Natural Resources Committee. Additionally, Donovan has served on the Columbia Neighborhood Association board, the Whatcom County Citizens Election Advisory Commission, and as both a member and board chair of the local Washington Conservation Voters chapter.

During his time on the council, Donovan’s top priorities have been protecting Lake Whatcom’s ecosystem and budgeting responsibly so that Whatcom can provide human services. If re-elected, he wants to address the housing crisis that hurts the Whatcom community and economy, combat climate change, reduce incarceration rates while investing in diversion and alternatives, and protect clean water coming from Lake Whatcom and other natural waterways.

Donovan is facing a challenge from Kelley O’Connor, a former first responder and a current health care management student. O’Connor advocates for affordable housing and mental health resources but has not released a detailed campaign to accomplish these goals.

Todd Donovan is the best choice to represent District 2 on the Whatcom County Council because of his progressive track record and strong support from our progressive partners.

Rebecca Lewis has worked as an educator in the Sedro-Woolley district for over 20 years and is the president of the Sedro-Woolley Education Association (SWEA) union.

Lewis' campaign priorities include supporting living wage jobs, updating public utilities, and protecting the environment. As a labor leader, she wants to expand community work agreements, apprenticeships, and prevailing wages. She also wants the county to invest in rural infrastructure with reliable broadband and cell service. Additionally, Lewis states that further development on lakes should be ceased as a way to protect the watershed for 100,000 people in the county.

Her opponent, incumbent Tyler Byrd, is a board member of the Whatcom Business Alliance. Byrd is a conservative candidate prioritizing the needs of businesses above the local community. He was one of two council members to vote against the 0.1% sales tax to help fund affordable housing. On the environment, he voted against the moratorium on Cherry Point shipping unrefined fossil fuels, despite concerns about the cultural significance for the Lummi Nation and environmental threats. Finally, he voted against a $4 million coronavirus relief package last April.

Lewis is the clear choice for Whatcom County Council in District 3 to bring progressive, community-minded leadership to the county.

Incumbent and businesses consultant Ryan Calkins has successfully pushed the port in a more progressive direction during his first term. The current Port of Seattle commissioners have enacted several crucial reforms over the last few years, including ensuring at least a $15 minimum wage for airline catering workers and starting an accelerator mentorship program aimed at increasing access to contracting jobs for women- and minority-owned businesses.

If re-elected, Calkins states that he will continue to lead on mitigating the environmental impacts of the airport and port operations, promoting living wage jobs, improving immigration policy, and more. He has earned broad support from progressive and Democratic Party organizations.

His opponent is Norman Sigler, the owner of a consulting firm that focuses on finding diverse executive leadership. He serves as a precinct committee officer and is on the executive board of the King County Democrats Central Committee. Sigler wants to focus the port on environmental and economic justice, stating that he would invest port profits into improving neighboring communities. He states that he would promote a green economy, work to end systemic racism and keep the port honest, but does not have as detailed of a policy agenda. For example, in a forum for Port of Seattle candidates, Sigler stated that he would seek "putting mandates" on cruises and airlines, while Calkins specifically stated that he would support electric aviation, cleaner fuels, and high-speed ground transportation over short flights.

Calkins has an excellent record on the port and broad support from the progressive community. Calkins is the best choice for Port of Seattle, Position #1.

Incumbent Larry Brown is running unopposed for re-election to Auburn City Council, Position 6. He is the president of the Washington State Labor Council and serves on the Valley Regional Fire Authority governing board. Brown has been a strong advocate for workers and supports increasing wages in Washington. In his second term, he will advocate for more public transit, transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, and growing the local manufacturing sector.

Brown deserves your vote for Auburn City Council, Position 6.

Small business owner and former renewable energy executive Dexter Borbe is running for Bellevue City Council, Position 2. Born in the Phillippines, he moved to the U.S. to earn his MBA at MIT before going on to work at several technology companies.

Borbe is a political newcomer who wants to bring an outside perspective to the Bellevue City Council. His campaign is focused on transportation, affordability, and economic development. He supports building more housing, particularly in Factoria and Crossroads, along with making the transit and transportation investments necessary to reduce traffic congestion. In addition, this would help alleviate a severe shortage of housing for low-income residents of Bellevue. If elected, Borbe would also push to improve transparency on the council by reducing voice votes so Bellevue residents have a record of how their representatives vote.

Borbe is challenging longtime incumbent Conrad Lee, who is running for re-election to the council position he has served in since 1994. Lee is a Republican who opposed the light rail expansion to the Eastside, which will begin service in 2023. More recently, Lee opposed efforts to expand shelter options for people experiencing homelessness in Bellevue. He is not a progressive choice.

Bellevue is a rapidly growing and changing city that deserves leaders who are ready to tackle a host of new challenges. Dexter Borbe is the best choice for Bellevue City Council, Position 2.

Lynne Robinson is running for re-election to Bellevue City Council, Position 6. Since joining in 2014, Robinson has prioritized supporting small businesses, increasing responsible development, and protecting the environment at the local level. She is focused on addressing the needs of Bellevue families by focusing on education, affordable housing, human services for vulnerable community members, and advocating for local parks and public spaces.

In 2020, Robinson was elected mayor of Bellevue by her fellow council members and has been a moderate voice leading the city. During the COVID-19 crisis, she has focused on addressing food insecurity for community members as well as supporting women and minority-owned businesses with grants. Robinson has supported increasing affordable housing and shelter space, though far more progress is needed in Bellevue and across the region

Robinson is facing Dr. Gina Johnson, the founder of Vital Mind Body. Johnson's platform emphasizes police funding without mentioning much-needed accountability measures or increased funding for community-based alternatives. In addition, Johnson proposes harsh and punitive measures that fail to address the root of homelessness in Bellevue. Finally, Johnson opposes some of the city's basic COVID-19 protections, which are consistent with CDC recommendations and have helped keep our community safe.

Robinson is the best choice in the race for Position 6. Given the other competitive races for Bellevue City Council on the ballot, we hope Robinson will have the opportunity to work with a more progressive council and will support a bolder agenda for the city of Bellevue.

Adrienne Fraley-Monillas is running for re-election to Edmonds City Council, Position 3. Fraley-Monillas serves as president of the Snohomish County Health District, volunteers at the Edmonds Senior Center, and works on the city’s Diversity Commission, of which she was a founding member.

In her three terms as a council member, she has proven her commitment to health care opportunities for everyone and protecting the environment. Fraley-Monillas has supported achieving sanctuary city status through Edmonds' Safe City Resolution, developing public green spaces, and investing in infrastructure to keep Edmonds safe. Going forward, updating Highway 99 and advancing diversity and equity in Edmonds remain her long-term priorities. She is endorsed by a wide range of progressive leaders and organizations in this race.

Challenging Fraley-Monillas is Neil Tibbott, the executive director of a Christian leadership organization. Tibbott’s campaign emphasizes an exclusionary housing policy that would make Edmonds less affordable. He claims he wants to bring “political climate change” to the city council, which would mean cutting community programs and slowing progress on issues facing Edmonds residents.

Fraley-Monillas is the clear choice in this race and deserves your vote for Edmonds City Council, Position 3.

Nigel Herbig is running for re-election to Position 4 on the Kenmore City Council. Herbig has served on the city council since 2014 and was appointed deputy mayor in 2018 and again in 2020. He also works in the state House of Representatives as a legislative assistant.

During his time on the council, Herbig has worked to improve government transparency and upgrade transportation options and pedestrian safety. He helped develop the Walkways and Waterways projects, which have already added three miles of new bike lanes and sidewalks to Kenmore.

Recently, Herbig played a lead role in extending Kenmore's eviction ban through January 15, 2021 to ensure that renters can access federal assistance before potentially facing eviction. If re-elected, Herbig plans to continue building progressive momentum in Kenmore towards improving transportation, maintaining affordability, acting on the climate crisis, and making Kenmore a welcoming city for all. He also helped create the Kenmore Cares program that is using federal funding to provide one-time direct cash payments to low-income Kenmore residents.

Also in this race is Bob Black, a former operating engineer and aviation inspector who has run for Kenmore City Council twice before. Black does not have experience in community leadership, and his campaign website and his statement in the King County Voters Guide are copied directly from his 2015 race in some places. In both past and current statements, Black prioritizes conservative economic policy, emphasizing again and again that he would stop any new revenue-collecting measures while simultaneously promising new infrastructure improvements.

Nigel Herbig is the clear choice for Kenmore City Council, Position 4.

Dawn Bennett is an education advocate and the vice president of Paramount Duty, a grassroots group which seeks to fully fund education in Washington. She is the co-founder and executive director of the Multicultural Education Rights Alliance. She has also served families and children in the community as a gang prevention specialist and caseworker in Seattle and as the liaison for African-American families for Seattle Public Schools. In addition, she has been a board member of several organizations, including the Rainier Valley Food Bank and the UW School of Social Work Communities in Action Initiative.

If she is elected, Bennett will bring the same energy she has for community service to the council. She has a long list of priorities, including supporting businesses as they recover from the pandemic, subsidizing child care, and providing options for elder care. On housing, Bennett's policies include providing wraparound services and transitional housing for those struggling with homelessness, addressing the legacy of redlining, and incentivizing housing for residents with middle-to-low incomes. She wants to redefine the role of law enforcement, providing more accountability for bad actors and hiring unarmed public workers who can provide social services for mental health calls.

Bennett is challenging Mayor Dana Ralph, who has served on the city council since 2012 and as mayor of Kent since 2018. She has served in many regional organizations, including as past president of the Sound Cities Association Transportation Policy Board and as vice chair of the South King Housing & Homelessness Partners Board. Ralph points to many completed and ongoing projects in Kent as signs of her and the council's leadership, including securing funding for the light rail expansion to Kent, continuing the trash-clearing Mill Creek Canyon Revitalization Project, and investing in pandemic relief, from vaccination sites to employment retention programs.

However, Ralph has also fought against measures to help the homeless. She sued the county when a temporary shelter was set up in a former Kent motel, which was aimed at helping houseless people recover from sickness. In addition, Ralph joined with Police Chief Rafael Padilla to raise concerns about recently passed laws that increase accountability for law enforcement. At a forum in August, community members accused Ralph of stoking fear in the community by making false claims about the impact of the new laws.

Bennett is the best choice in this race to bring new progressive leadership to Kent.

Incumbent Satwinder Kaur is running unopposed for her current seat on the Kent City Council in Position 2. Kaur serves in many community and advocacy organizations, including the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Advisory Council, King County Domestic Violence Regional Task Force, and the Kentwood PTSA. Since her election in 2018, Kaur has pushed for racial justice trainings and a strategic plan on equity for the city as well as more funding for human services.

Kaur has earned another term on the Kent City Council.

Incumbent Yến Huỳnh was appointed to the Position 2 seat in January 2021 after Jessica Bateman left the council to join the state Legislature. She is a former equity and social justice coordinator at the Washington State Department of Corrections, where she aimed to reduce recidivism and is a former Olympia planning commissioner. She is the only person of color currently serving on the council as well as the youngest member of the council.

Huỳnh's priorities include helping small businesses recover from the pandemic, working with local arts organizations, expanding affordable housing, and improving transportation for all. The council member wants to see public safety reimagined through the input of the community, and wants to see first responders and diverse community members included as part of the city's public safety decision-making process. She is endorsed by a wide slate of state senators, elected officials, city council members, unions, and other progressive organizations.

She is running against Robbi Kesler, the former general counsel for the Confederated Tribes of Chehalis, and a member of the Skokomish Tribe in Mason County. In the primary, Kesler's initial answers on homelessness in local interviews did not point to an effective strategy, with an overemphasis on private property. Kesler has since significantly expanded her platform, providing more details on her plans to address homelessness, handle waterfront development, and support collective bargaining. However, Huynh's solid track record on the council and support from the progressive community still makes her the best choice in this race.

Incumbent mayor pro tem Clark Gilman is running for re-election to his seat on the Olympia City Council, where he has served since January 2016. Previously, Gilman worked as a clean energy advocate at Climate Solutions and an organizer for the carpenters union. Currently, he works as a paraeducator at South Sound High School.

Gilman's top three campaign priorities are protecting the city's environment and natural spaces, engaging residents in city planning, and encouraging a sense of cooperation in the community. While on the council, Gilman has been an advocate for affordability requirements on tax-incentivized development, which keeps more homes and apartments affordable for all. He also worked to pass renter protections for people falling behind on payments due to COVID. Gilman and the council have also supported reverting Capitol Lake back to an estuary to support salmon populations.

His opponent is Candace Mercer, who says that she is a 'progressive' who voted for Donald Trump. Much of her writing focuses on her decision to embrace right-wing advocates and ideals. Her secondary focus is on homelessness and addiction, with a stronger focus on the latter, though the measures she suggests are largely punitive. Mercer states that the city should aggressively prosecute drug dealing and sex work, build privatized urban campsites, and push for substance abstinence.

Gilman's agenda is far more comprehensive and actually progressive, addressing the city's biggest issues at the source with services that help struggling families and prevent people from falling into poverty in the first place. Clark Gilman is the best choice for Olympia City Council, Position 4.

Carmen Rivera is running for Renton City Council, Position 2 to leverage her professional background in social services for the people of Renton. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University's Criminal Justice Department, where her coursework incorporates a racial equity lens. Previously, she worked at the state's Department of Children, Youth, and Families at Echo Glen's Children's Center, counseling and providing treatment plans for struggling youth. She has also worked at Youthsource, where she engaged young people who had dropped out of school.

As a social services advocate, Rivera wants to prioritize updating Renton's Community Needs Assessment for Human Services, which would help provide the community access to food, shelter, and living wage jobs. She also wants to update Renton's 2011 Clean Economy Strategy, bringing it in line with today's standards on clean water, air, and reduced pollution. Additionally, Rivera will work hard to provide low-cost job training and emphasize the need for affordable and mixed-income housing.

Her opponent, Ben Johnson, runs a small IT business and has worked with the North Renton streets project, as well as serving on the City of Renton Airport Committee. His priorities include funding the police and fire departments, making neighborhoods attractive, and ensuring that Renton expands its transportation options through Sound Transit and the state department of transportation.

Rivera has overwhelming support from progressive organizations across the spectrum, from unions to housing advocates to educators. Her dedication to the community and progressive and bold vision for the city earns her our recommendation for Renton City Council, Position 2.

Mohamed Egal is a job developer with the state's Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) who is running for SeaTac City Council, Position 4. Egal immigrated to the United States decades ago and has lived in SeaTac for more than 10 years. He served as a job developer at Hopelink before transitioning into similar work with the Somali community at Career Path Services (which operates within the DSHS). Egal's campaign is focused on helping his community overcome the many challenges exposed by COVID-19. He wants to expand affordable, multi-family housing, bring in more jobs that pay strong wages, and improve human services.

Egal is running against incumbent Councilmember Clyde "Fuzz" Hill, who works as a manager at T-Mobile. Hill is not progressive and has not released a detailed campaign platform. His statement in the King County Voters Guide does not reflect the need for reforms in public safety that the community is asking for.

Egal is the best choice for SeaTac City Council, Position 4.

Iris Guzmán is a social worker with Highline Public Schools who is running for SeaTac City Council, Position 6. She has lived in SeaTac for nearly 15 years and has a master's in social work. Guzmán wants to bridge the gaps between housing, food, and other basic needs for communities in SeaTac, and she understands the experience of working families firsthand.

Guzmán is challenging incumbent Councilmember Pam Fernald. Fernald is a block watch captain who participated in the CItizen's Police Academy. She is conservative and, as of mid-October, her campaign website has not been updated since 2013.

Guzmán is the clear choice for SeaTac City Council, Position 6.

This is a complicated race for Seattle voters with two controversial candidates. After evaluating the candidates carefully, we believe that public defender Nicole Thomas-Kennedy is clearly the better choice.

Thomas-Kennedy is a managing partner in her own practice and she has volunteered with the National Lawyers Guild, completed pro bono defense work for local organizers, and worked extensively as a public defender.

There are many reasons to vote for Thomas-Kennedy. First, she is campaigning for common-sense justice reforms aimed at focusing on serious harms and crime prevention while stepping away from prosecuting people for poverty and mental illness. Second, her opponent switched parties to join Donald Trump’s party and run for lieutenant governor as a Republican in 2020. Third, Fox News and Tucker Carlson are attacking her for challenging their racist, conservative myths about reducing crime.

As a public defender, Thomas-Kennedy has witnessed many people get caught in the criminal legal system because of a lack of supportive social services. She wants to focus on using services to prevent crime by addressing the root causes and keep people from being entangled in the justice system. By emphasizing prevention, taxpayers improve safety and save money on law enforcement and the criminal justice system, which are by far the biggest costs of city and county governments.

There has been controversy about her use of the term abolition and some ill-advised tweets she posted after getting tear-gassed with her daughter during last year's protests. Although we don't condone her tweets, conservatives are drumming up fearful messaging about Thomas-Kennedy to distract us from the need for new approaches to fixing a failing system with urgent problems. In our interview, she defined abolition in a very sensible way as a slow process of building up the community so that we don’t need to rely on police, courts, and prisons as the catch-all solution for so many social issues.

If elected, Thomas-Kennedy wants to build a victim advocate unit and end qualified immunity in order to hold the police accountable. She also proposes strengthening the civil unit of the office in order to fight wage theft, take exploitive corporate landlords to court, and hold fossil fuel companies accountable for environmental harm which affects us all.

Thomas-Kennedy's opponent is Republican Ann Davison. Last year, Davison ran for lieutenant governor because she wanted to serve as a check on the Democrats in Olympia. Thankfully, Davison lost that primary election and Democratic lawmakers passed the most ambitious progressive agenda in decades this spring.

Davison is now running for Seattle city attorney echoing many of the same conservative Republican talking points from her previous campaign. Her divisive platform demonizes those experiencing homelessness and she doesn’t believe additional funding is needed to connect people with housing or services. During debates and in her campaign literature, she has displayed a lack of understanding about the role of the city attorney and how the office functions.

Thomas-Kennedy has faced misleading attacks from Fox News and right-wing radio hosts during this campaign. During our interview, she displayed a strong understanding of both the city attorney's office and the criminal justice system. We believe Thomas-Kennedy is the best choice for Seattle city attorney because of her experience representing marginalized Seattleites, her strong support from progressive advocates, and her commitment to pursuing justice for all Seattleites.

Naghmana Sherazi is running for Spokane City Council, District 1, Position 2. Since immigrating from Pakistan, Sherazi has become very active in the local community. She is a member of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Refugee Connections of Spokane, and Greater Spokane Progress.

Sherazi is running to increase representation and investment in Northeast Spokane and to push for stronger police reform. She wants to empower the city's Ombudsman's Office to hold police officers accountable and improve safety for all residents. In addition, she would like to shift some 911 responses to mental health crisis responders instead of armed police officers. Sherazi supports extending the eviction moratorium and increasing affordable housing options in Spokane. 

Sherazi is facing Jonathan Bingle, a small business owner running on a conservative platform. Conservative developers and realtors are spending record amounts to elect him and he is endorsed by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and other local Republicans. His campaign priorities are focused on helping businesses and supporting the police, instead of looking at investing in community services that would be more effective and keep our community safer.

Sherazi would be a strong addition to the city council and is the best choice for Spokane City Council, District 1, Position 2.

Victoria Woodards is running for re-election to be the mayor of Tacoma. She had a long track record of public service before becoming mayor in 2017. Woodards supports working families and is committed to maintaining safe and healthy neighborhoods across Tacoma. She also crucially understands the importance of addressing institutional racism and has a demonstrated history of working within communities of color and building diverse coalitions to address the problems facing Tacoma. In her time on the Tacoma City Council, Woodards worked on establishing Tacoma’s Office of Equity and Human Rights.

While Woodards previously supported the proposal to build a highly polluting liquefied natural gas facility in Tacoma because it would have created jobs, she has since emphasized she does not support any new fossil fuel facilities in the Tideflats.

Woodards faces a challenge from Steve Haverly, a first-time candidate who works in construction and land management. Haverly does not have a detailed campaign platform. While he claims to be nonpartisan, what little campaign information he does have available demonstrates his priorities would not align with what Tacoma's communities need as we come together to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Woodards has earned broad support from our Progressive Voters Guide partner organizations and numerous elected officials. Woodards is the best choice for mayor of Tacoma.

Kiara Daniels is running for Tacoma City Council, Position 6. She is a small business owner and former Fuse fellow with strong progressive values. Daniels' campaign platform includes a holistic response to public health emergencies like COVID-19 by providing financial support to vulnerable families, workers, small businesses, and all others who have been severely impacted. She wants to invest in after-school programs for students and fight for seniors and other community members to have the stable housing and resources they need. Daniels is very involved in the Tacoma community and would bring a great progressive perspective to the city council.

Also in this race is Brett Johnson, a business owner and member of the Sound Transit Citizen Oversight Panel. He previously ran for city council in 2019 and has expressed support for a radical policy of "gifting" everyone a single "lifetime discretionary abortion." Johnson is neither progressive nor qualified for this role.

Daniels is the clear choice for Tacoma City Council, Position 6.

Incumbent De'Sean Quinn is a capital program manager at King County Metro. He volunteers in several capacities, including on the board of conservation organizations Forterra and as a member of the Strong Communities Fund.

Quinn has led the community on one of those most pressing issues of the last year - police accountability. Quinn serves on the state's Criminal Justice Commission and has made a point of speaking out about the murder of George Floyd and the need to make systematic changes to law enforcement. Over the past five years, use-of-force by the Tukwila Police Department has dropped by nearly 80 percent as de-escalation training increased, and specifically in Tukwila, community representatives review every use of force.

If re-elected, Quinn wants to continue the progress and create an opportunity fund to build resident coalitions to address safety and infrastructure needs. In addition, he supports rent and landlord assistance for those struggling in the pandemic, improving broadband access, diversifying transportation infrastructure, and continuing to support small businesses.

Opposing Quinn is Jay Stark, who is running as an independent. He volunteers for the Tukwila Community Oriented Policing Citizen’s Advisory Board and was the third-place finisher in last year's three-person race for Position 1 in Legislative District 11. As of late September, Stark has not added any specific policy priorities to his website, but his official voter's guide statement for 2020 says that he is concerned with bureaucracy and regulations on businesses.

Quinn has served the community well and has earned your vote for Tukwila City Council, Position 7.

Anne McEnerny-Ogle was elected to the Vancouver City Council in 2013 and was elected as mayor in 2018, making her the first woman elected to the position in the city's history.

She has a long record of service to community causes such as Daybreak Youth Services and the Assistance League. While she served on the council, McEnerny-Ogle was an advocate for improving transportation options through development grants and enhancing green spaces like the Shumway Neighborhood Park. As mayor, she helped coordinate the city's COVID-19 response, including organizing a food bank and vaccination clinic at Tower Mall. She has also supported the inclusive Heights District housing project.

Her opponent is Earl Bowerman, who has challenged U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler because he thought she wasn't loyal enough to former President Donald Trump. In 2019, while Bowerman was the Clark County Republican Chair, his own party sought his resignation because of his failure to act against a committee chair who had been convicted of inappropriate behavior with a teenage girl.

McEnerny-Ogle has earned re-election as mayor of Vancouver and is the best choice in this race.

Kim Harless is a program manager at a paint recycling nonprofit and a Clark County Review commissioner. She has served in several roles oriented towards feeding the community, including as the president of Slow Food Southwest Washington, vice president of Urban Abundance, and treasurer of Clark County Food System. She also worked for nearly a decade as an environmental operations specialist with Clark County planning recycling systems, providing oversight on contracts.

Harless states that as an Indigenous and Chicana single mother, she intends to center equity in both her campaign and her tenure on council if elected. She will lead with housing-first solutions to the homelessness crisis, which means securing shelter for people so that they can safely address any health, social, or economic issues they may be facing. In our interview with Harless, she said she wanted to provide technical expertise on creating a much more robust climate action plan. She believes police reform should be intentional and focused, and that emergency services should evolve so that a more diverse suite of services is available for residents who call 911 for disputes or mental health crises. Harless emphasized that, overall, city government must address the needs of marginalized communities so that Vancouver is truly welcoming and healthy for all.

Her opponent is John Blom, a real estate broker and former Clark County council member from District 3. On the county council, Blom served as a fairly moderate voice in his first term, which he ran for as a Republican; he later ran with no party preference. He serves on the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Washington and The Historic Trust.

Blom acknowledges that the homelessness crisis is entangled with many other issues, including lack of mental health services, surging costs of living, medical emergencies, and job loss. He also states that law enforcement should provide more options for alternative responses for those who need help with behavioral or mental health. While Blom mentions that the best way to ensure public safety is to provide educational and economic opportunities for people to thrive, he is not specific about whether that would include shifting funding into community-based services.

Harless has worked hard to bring together the government and public to work on issues that the community cares about most. Harless' forward-thinking agenda and support from a wide range of organizations make her the best choice in this race. We recommend Harless in this race for her fresh perspective, strong progressive values, and the technical expertise she could bring to the city council.

Diana Perez is the founder of the local League of United Latin American Citizens. Perez has been highly active and awarded in the community for her civil rights and policy work. She was appointed by Gov. Inslee as a commissioner for Washington State Parks and Recreation and serves as a board member of the Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program, which provides law clinics for underserved communities.

Perez's campaign is focused on improving life for all residents of Vancouver. She wants to incentivize mixed-income communities that have access to public transportation, and create bold solutions for affordable housing that bring the unsheltered community, service providers, and developers to the table. She believes that investing in communities of color can strengthen the entire city, and she would focus on removing discriminatory language in housing deeds, center living wage jobs, and look to help small businesses recover post-pandemic.

She is running against David Gellatly. He is the former chair of the Clark County Republican Party and is now a member of the party's executive board. He states that his top priorities would be homelessness and supporting businesses in the city. Gellatly was cited last year as one of the organizers of pro-Trump rallies in Vancouver during protests and after the shooting of Kevin E. Peterson, Jr. As the head of a conservative activist group, Gellatly is likely to continue to push regressive policies on the council on social and racial justice, environmental reform, and more.

Perez has worked tirelessly both professionally and on a volunteer basis to bring community-oriented solutions to Vancouver. She deserves your vote for Vancouver City Council, Position 3.

Joyce Shui is an attorney and founder of the Purple School who is running for the Bellevue School Board in District 3. Shui is currently the lead senior legal counsel for a software company and has previously served on the boards of the Washington Women Lawyers and the American Lung Association of Washington. She has also volunteered at a legal clinic in the International District providing legal services to community members with low incomes.

Her campaign is emphasizing equity and empathy, as well as increasing opportunities for all students. She wants the community to be involved in school board decision-making and pledges to be a transparent leader on the board. Shui is endorsed by progressive leaders including Rep. My-Linh Thai and groups including the 41st and 48th Legislative District Democrats.

Shui is facing Faye Yang, a dietician and nutrition service director. Yang's campaign is focused on criticizing the Bellevue School District's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is also strongly opposed to the district's efforts to promote racial equity and reduce the opportunity gap.

Yang has faced extensive criticism during the campaign for racist remarks she made about Black and Latino students. In a shocking email to the Bellevue School Board in 2018, Yang said that the lower graduation rate of Black and Latino students was due to the "genetic disparity between the races when it comes to IQ scores." This extremely racist and factually inaccurate statement harkens back to the worst of the Jim Crow era and segregated schools.

One out of every six students in the Bellevue School District is Black or Latino. Yang has clearly demonstrated that she is unqualified and uninterested in providing them a quality education. Her racism has no place in our schools or any elected office.

Shui is the clear choice for Bellevue School Board in District 3.

Jane Aras is running for the Bellevue School District Board of Directors in District 5. She has experience teaching special education and has spent the past 19 years volunteering in Bellevue schools. She is active in the PTSA, created a math and reading club for students, and introduced before-school computer programming for 4th- and 5th-grade students.

Aras understands the toll COVID-19 has taken on students and staff. She wants to prioritize bringing students back with proper support while addressing pre-pandemic issues including closing academic gaps and encouraging everyone to consider a variety of options after graduating. Aras’ campaign also focuses on equitable access to high-quality education for all, giving every student the tools they need to thrive.

Aras is facing Gregg Smith. He owns a broadband business and has been a Parent Student Teacher Association vice president. Smith has two children who he pulled out of Bellevue public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and enrolled in private schools to receive in-person education.

Smith has been active with a small group of conservative Bellevue parents who has been spreading divisive conspiracy theories about Bellevue schools. Classrooms should be a place where kids develop their understanding of the world, but some politicians like Smith are trying to make our kids’ classrooms into political battlegrounds. Part of Smith's campaign strategy is scaring parents by spreading lies about the lessons being taught instead of supporting a historically accurate education. Like Faye Yang, Smith has also been a vocal opponent of the district's efforts to promote racial equity and reduce the opportunity gap for students of color.

Smith's track record indicates he would be a divisive and inflammatory voice who would unnecessarily politicize the school board. Aras’ experience, strong platform, and endorsements make her the clear choice for Bellevue School District Board of Directors in District 5.

Korey Strozier is running to retain Tacoma School District, Director Position 3. He works as a program manager overseeing King County's vocational rehabilitation program for young people and was appointed to this seat in 2020. Strozier has focused on ensuring equity has been centered in the decisions of the school board as well as being a voice for disenfranchised students. If elected, he will continue his work on closing access, opportunity, and achievement gaps in the district.

Strozier is unopposed in the race for Tacoma School District, Director Position 3, and deserves your vote.

Chelsea McElroy is running unopposed for Tacoma School District, Director Position 4. McElroy is the vice-chair of the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council and the assistant treasurer of the Pierce County Democrats. She has spent 10 years as a pre-school teacher and launched her own program, Vision Step Team, in 2016. McElroy's priorities for the school board include transparency, consideration of all students and parents when making decisions, and increasing accessibility including bringing translators to meetings.

McElroy is running unopposed for Tacoma School District, Director Position 4, and deserves your vote.