District 2 makes up 12% of the Seattle population but accounts for over 30% of the gun violence in the city. Gun violence recently surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for children and teens. Young black males are disproportionately impacted by gun violence.

Poverty, income inequality, poor education, housing instability, lack of good jobs, lack of affordable healthcare, mental illness, and exposure to violence are all causes for the disproportionate impacts of guns on the community.

We need to work together to end gun violence and:
 

• Partner with proven gun violence prevention advocates to fund and build out programs that are needed to help young people choose different paths in life.
• Partner with the trades to support parents and caregivers with livable wages and meaningful job opportunities through worker retraining programs and apprenticeships.
• Advocate for our fair share of state and city assistance to ensure more affordable childcare and mental health support in Southeast Seattle schools.
• Expand opportunities for kids to get involved with meaningful and engaging activities by completing the construction of the Rainier Beach Skatepark.

According to the King County Regional Homeless Authority, almost 17,000 people in our region are homeless. While Black people only make up about 7% of the population, they account for close to 15% of the homeless population. Our LGBTQ+ community is disproportionately represented in homeless populations.

The Seattle area is one of the fastest growing economies in the United States. However, this economic prosperity has only benefited the highest income earners while low-income families struggle to keep a roof over their heads. The high cost of living and housing in Seattle is one of the main drivers of pushing people and families into homelessness. The lack of effective mental health and substance abuse recovery services exacerbates our homeless crisis.

Work with me to prevent homelessness and let us bring our neighbors inside through: 
 

• Protecting and scaling up funding for Safe Lots, shelter beds, Tiny Homes, and transitional housing
• Advancing anti-displacement strategies that protect our diverse communities, allow our seniors and elders to age-in-place, and maintain generational wealth opportunities.
• Protecting and expanding housing and human services that prevent people from moving into homelessness such as rent stabilization, rental and utility shut-off assistance, and evidence-based mental health and treatment programs.
• Partnering and investing in LGBTQ+ advocates, programs, and services that support, care for, and celebrate LGBTQ+ families and their children.

According to the Puget Sound Regional Council, to accommodate the expected growth over the next 20 years, the region needs to build well over 100,000 housing units. We need to remove the barriers and build housing the region and city needs. 

At the same time, we need to economically empower people so that they can afford to live here. The average rental cost for a 1-bedroom in Seattle is about $2,267 a month. A single parent raising a child needs to make about $53.00/hr to live in Seattle. More than a quarter of Seattle residents spend more than half of their income on rent. These overburdened residents are disproportionately Black and Brown people and families. 

With Washington state, and Seattle in particular, being one of the fastest growing economies, the majority of the new jobs created over the next 5 to 10 years will require a Bachelor’s degree, some form of certification or high-skilled trade. Let’s position our young people now to take advantage of the jobs of the future. 

Let us work together to address our affordability crisis by:
 

• Implementing housing strategies and policies that create opportunities for density throughout the district and along high frequency transit corridors to equitably expand different housing types in Southeast Seattle – workforce, affordable, social, and low-income.
• Streamlining the permitting process and incentivizing construction of affordable housing by relaxing parking restrictions, offering fee reductions and offering tax credits. 
• Advancing anti-displacement strategies that protect our diverse communities, allow our seniors and elders to age-in-place, and maintain generational wealth opportunities. 
• Supporting the Families, Education and Promise Levy and putting our children and young people on a path to graduating from high school and going on to college and ultimately earning a certification, trade, or 4-year degree. 

City-wide fatal and serious injury collisions are up 52% from 2019 to 2023. Outside of the downtown core, the majority of these serious collisions are happening on Rainier Ave S and Martin Luther King Jr Way S in South Seattle. 

There is a lack of responsible driving and understanding of the rules of the road. Travel has become more dangerous for the most vulnerable users of the road. There is a lack of enforcement on our arterials. 

We need to work together to take a safe systems approach to reach Vision Zero by:
 

• Prioritizing and investing 2024 Transportation Levy dollars in improving pedestrian, bike, and traffic safety on Rainier Ave and MLK.
• Scaling up and expediting construction of new sidewalks, curb ramps, and traffic calming devices that stop people from speeding on our side streets in our neighborhoods. 
• Demanding action on the MLK Link Light rail dangers that harm too many people. We need a voice to work with Sound Transit– I’d ask to serve on the Board and bring South Seattle priorities directly to the table– and provide a long-term, structural redesign to at-grade crossings that are simply not safe or sustainable.
• Fighting to protect and enhance Metro service and safety for drivers and passengers. When Route 7 was threatened years ago, our community rallied. We must do the same to ensure that the transit our most vulnerable relies on, is protected, and we do more to ensure that anyone who drives or rides a bus has peace-of-mind on their journey.
• Supporting and expediting more permits for People Streets, Block Parties, and Play Streets so we can safely celebrate each other and our diverse neighbors.

We are experiencing unprecedented attacks on our personal freedoms, community health, and the rights of our most vulnerable neighbors and friends. Many of those engaging in these attacks– from the White House to social media trolls– our national discourse is steeped in racial hatred and bias. We cannot let them win. 

With your vote I will:
 

• Be an unwavering voice for AAPI, Black, Brown, LGBTQ+ and Native people, and women and other communities and populations targeted for assaults on our rights, resources, liberties, and safety. 
• Build coalitions and community support for vulnerable people and populations and ramp up outreach and engagement to inform people of their rights – no one is in this alone, and we all have a role to play in helping our neighbors in times of crisis.
• Lead by example by ensuring city staff in every office and department prioritize city and state laws over the demands from the federal government.
• Be a champion for expanding or bringing forward new resources and funding as federal dollars are illegally halted so that we can continue providing the services that help all people.
• Be an engaged, listening, and committed leader in protecting the people and communities I serve.