Fuse WA Endorsements

Joe Todd is running for Renton City Council, Position 1 to bring new solutions and community perspectives to city hall. He currently works as the King County Deputy Chief Technology Officer.

In our interview with Todd, we were impressed by his thorough knowledge of city affairs and his dedication to serving the community. Todd pointed out that the city cannot reasonably solve the issue of homelessness on its own, and that a regional approach and improved relationship with the county would create better outcomes for all residents. He wants to use his technological expertise to help law enforcement track the issues they are responding to so the city can allocate resources most effectively. Todd also wants to launch something similar to the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, OR, which can dispatch trained caseworkers instead of police officers to help those experiencing mental health challenges. He supports both thorough police training and redirecting some funding from policing to human services to build stronger communities and prevent crime.

Todd is running against James Alberson and Sanjeev Yonzon. Alberson has served as a Renton Planning commissioner since April 2020 and is a former board chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. Alberson states that if elected, he will prioritize ensuring a strong business climate, reducing homelessness, and increasing housing affordability, among other priorities. However, in our interview with Alberson, we were disappointed that part of this proposal to address homelessness was mandatory participation in city programs. This focus on putting people in jail or building a new regional facility is a costly proposal that fails to address the root causes of homelessness and further isolates people from their support networks.

Yonzon is a civil service commissioner of the Renton Regional Fire Authority. A former civil contractor with the U.S. military in Iraq, Yonzon states that his harrowing journey escaping civil war in Nepal has led him to a life of assisting others. He wants to represent those who are less fluent in English see that they can better the community, expand affordable housing, and improve traffic, though he does not have more concrete policy proposals on his website as of mid-July.

Todd's in-depth insight and commitment to Renton would be an incredible benefit to the city. We enthusiastically recommend Joe Todd for Renton City Council, Position 1.

Jake Simpson is an organizer and cook running for SeaTac City Council, Position 2. He wants to make SeaTac a city that welcomes everyone and serves all people equally, and he wants to work with employers to find outcomes that benefit both workers and businesses. Simpson wants the city to focus on delivering basic services as well, including emergency responses, efficient transportation, and helping small businesses thrive. As the father of a young daughter, he wants everyone in SeaTac to be able to enjoy quality parks and walkable neighborhoods.

Also in this race are incumbent Stanley Tombs, EL'ona Kearney, and Tiniell Cato. Tombs is conservative and re-joined the council in June 2020 after Councilmember Amina Ahmed passed away. He said upon rejoining that he would be a placeholder until the next election but is now running for re-election. Neither Kearney or Cato have campaign platforms or policies available on their websites as of mid-July. 

Simpson will bring needed progressive change to the SeaTac City Council and is the best choice for Position 2 on the council.

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 almost 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.

Also in this race are incumbent Councilmember Pam Fernald and Kong Lefeau. Lefeau does not have a strong platform or campaign presence as of mid-July. Fernald is conservative and her campaign website has not been updated since 2013.

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

Teresa Mosqueda is running for re-election to Seattle City Council, Position 8. Previously, Mosqueda worked at the Washington State Labor Council as a political campaigns director and served on the board of Fuse Washington.

Mosqueda was first elected in 2017 and has distinguished herself as a progressive leader on the Seattle City Council. She sponsored the Jumpstart Seattle legislation that will fund affordable housing through a tax on high earners at large corporations. In addition, Mosqueda supported efforts to expand paid sick leave and establish minimum wages for gig and other workers who have often been left behind in our economy. Her campaign priorities include addressing our housing crisis with greater urgency, including re-zoning housing across Seattle, as well as providing assistance to renters and investing in health citywide.

Mosqueda is a strong progressive and the clear choice for Seattle City Council, Position 8.

Zack Zappone is also running for Spokane City Council, District 3, Position 2. Zappone is a creator of after-school programs and a former teacher. He previously challenged Republican Rep. Mike Volz in the 6th Legislative District and narrowly lost.

Zappone's campaign priorities include ensuring everyone has the training they need to enter the workforce, a housing-first approach to homelessness, worker protections, and creating a more equitable tax system for lower-income residents. He highlights his experience in logistics through his volunteer work with the Spokane Food Fighters, who are delivering meals during the coronavirus crisis. Like Hill, he supports expanded protections for renters, incentivizing more housing density, and demilitarizing the police.

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.

Also in this race are Jamika Scott and Steve Haverly. Scott has worked as a domestic violence advocate at YWCA Pierce County and mentored students with AmeriCorps at Peace Community Center. She is also a co-founder and organizer with the Tacoma Action Collective and a board member with the Tacoma Public Library Foundation Board of Directors. Scott is very progressive and her platform includes advocating for rent control, bringing a restorative justice model to Tacoma, and meeting the transportation and social service needs of people experiencing homelessness. Haverly is a first-time candidate who works in construction and land management. Haverly does not have a strong or progressive campaign platform and while he claims to be non-partisan, 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.

Anne Artman is running for Tacoma City Council, Position 5. She is the founder and executive director of the Tacoma Recovery Center and previously served as the program manager of the Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center.

Artman's campaign priorities include dealing with the affordable housing and homelessness crises, increasing behavioral health and social services, bringing more women- and Black-, brown-, and Indigenous-owned businesses to the community, and supporting Tacoma’s small businesses. She is also emphasizing social and racial justice and will work for more accountability, transparency, and equitable opportunities for all communities. Artman has been endorsed by progressive leaders like House Speaker Laurie Jinkins and Rep. Melanie Morgan and groups including the Stonewall Democrats and the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Also in this race are Joe Bushnell and Treyvon Dunbar. Bushnell is a Tacoma Public Utilities board member and Marine Corps veteran. He is running on a platform that focuses on addressing homelessness and creating jobs. However, Bushnell's orientation toward helping downtown businesses has raised concerns among local labor unions. In addition, he is more focused on improving law enforcement response times than making meaningful police reforms that will keep our community safe.

Dunbar is the sergeant-at-arms and former treasurer for the 29th Legislative District Democrats as well as the treasurer for the Pierce County Young Democrats. His campaign priorities include affordable housing, police accountability including de-escalation training, and ensuring local construction benefits the community instead of a few developers.

Artman has earned strong support from our Progressive Voters Guide partners, as well as progressive elected and community leaders. Artman is the best choice in the race for Tacoma City Council, Position 5.

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 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 brings the unsheltered community, service providers, and developers to the table. She believes that a community that invests in communities of color can strengthen the entire city, and 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 Glen Yung and David Gellatly. Yung, a building contractor, waged a public fight against the Westside Bike Mobility Project. Unlike Perez, he has focused on private car usage over reducing climate emissions and clean air that investing in public transportation could provide. He uses the term equity frequently but seems to be focused on geographical equity, not the racial or economic equity that would help bring Vancouver together.

Gellatly is the former chair of the Clark County Republican Party as well as a current executive board member of the party. 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 conservative activist group Activate Republicans, Gellatly is likely to continue to push backward 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.

Educator Melissa Bedford is running for Spokane School Board, Director Position 3. Bedford currently works as an assistant professor at Eastern Washington University and has worked as a public school teacher as well as served in institutional leadership positions. Outside of teaching, Bedford volunteers with after-school programs and local organizations like the Spokane Public Library.

Bedford is running to make education more accessible, equitable, and inclusive. She believes that the pandemic highlighted the existing inequities within the state’s school system. If elected, Bedford wants to work to get broadband internet and other technology to all students, to promote the social and emotional health of students, and to make sure that all students feel welcome in the classroom. She has written about teaching civic engagement in the classroom and wants to bring the voice of an educator to the school board.

Bedford is facing several candidates in this race, including Republican Daryl Geffken, a financial advisor and parent of two children in the district. If elected, Geffken would bring conservative values to the school board including supporting the reactionary, Trump-led conspiracy theory about critical race theory. He also opposes same-sex marriage, inclusive classrooms, and multicultural curriculums.

There are five other candidates in this race. Kenneth Cameron is a small business owner who wants to have a voice in the turning point in public education in District 81. Cameron has experience serving on a couple of human and animal rights boards but lacks a notable campaign presence in this race. Jake Leadingham, another challenger, has worked as a tutor. He does not have a working website but aligns with the conservative, conspiracy-driven agenda regarding critical race theory. Karina Hernandez identifies herself as a mother interested in promoting individualized education for Spokane students. She has no campaign website.

The final two candidates, Richard Cangelosi and Andrew Mendez, submitted no information to the Spokane County Voters Guide and have no campaign presence.

In this crowded race, Melissa Bedford is by far the most qualified and progressive choice.