White Center Now: The blog about White Center

By Tracy Record and Patrick Sand
White Center Now co-publishers

Six of the 11 candidates vying for the open 34th District State Senate seat shared a stage last night in a forum presented by the White Center Chamber of Commerce.

As moderator Aaron Garcia was careful to point out in the early going, it was not a debate – more an opportunity for community-building. Toward that end, no sparks flew; the participants differ more in style than in substance. Those participating were, from left on the stage as seen in our video above:

Sofia Aragon
Shannon Braddock
Joe Nguyen
Lois Schipper
Lem Charleston
Hillary Shaw

Schipper lives in White Center; Aragon lives in Burien; the other four live in West Seattle. All are on your ballot as Democrats except for Shaw, who filed with “no preference” regarding party. They are running to succeed Sen. Sharon Nelson, the Maury Island-residing Democrat who decided not to run for re-election.

The forum was held outdoors at TommySound studios in South Delridge. Note that in our summary below, what you’ll read is not the entire answer each candidate gave, but rather our highlights, noted as it went on, and we paraphrase rather than quote (unless you see something in quotation marks); to get the entire response, watch the video.

This is the only forum we’ve ever seen where candidates were given a test – in this case, to complete one side of a Rubik’s Cube-style puzzle – to determine who would go first. After about five minutes, nobody had done it yet, so Garcia went with whomever was closest – Schipper.

First, each candidate was challenged to include in their opening statement how they would support the Duwamish and Coast Salish people.

Schipper talked about her work as a nurse, her status as the only WC resident on the panel, and said she’s currently working on a program that includes support for Native families. She said her priorities include support for early childhood education.

Nguyen talked about his status as the child of immigrants and a former resident of what is now Seola Gardens. He said health care is one of his biggest concerns, especially with memories of a family crisis years ago. Regarding supporting Native people, he said housing affordability, health-care availability, and economic opportunity are vital.

Braddock – who ran for Seattle City Council three years ago and lost to Lisa Herbold by a handful of votes – talked about her status as a mother of three and longtime community advocate, including work with WC-headquartered WestSide Baby. She has worked in recent years for County Executive Dow Constantine and County Councilmember Joe McDermott. She mentioned support for “reasonable gun laws.” And she voiced concern about the hate-crime attack against Burien’s Mayor Jimmy Matta. She did not address the question about supporting Native people.

Aragon said she is a registered nurse, moved here from the Philippines and attended law school before working as a policy advocate in Olympia. She grew up in South Seattle. Health-care is a major concern for her too, as is inclusivity. She also did not address the Native-support question.

Shaw said she helped found West Seattle’s Fairmount Park Elementary PTA and has often been to Olympia to advocate for public schools. She is concerned about tax reform and school funding. She did address the question about Native support and said that, having worked in schools, honoring the cultures of families and receiving equity training were among her experiences.

Charleston opened by expressing his condolences for the family and friends of the Kent police officer who died this week. He made a point that he is “not a Democratic party insider” and he thinks things can be done better – he was the first to mention the problems of homelessness and drug abuse. He mentioned his background as a minister and said creativity needs to be applied to deal with problems. He did not answer the Native-related question.

First question by Garcia following the opening statements was about how the candidates would advocate for policies to support small businesses in White Center.

Nguyen said he has started businesses and cultural competence is vital to help people doing that.

Braddock opened her reply by saying she realized she hadn’t answered the Native-related question; she said environmental equity would be important. Regarding businesses, recognizing barriers, incentivizing “women and minority-owned businesses” would be important, she said.

Aragon said small-business owners share concerns with other residents – maintaining “a good quality of life,” including good schools, infrastructure, law enforcement. Building relationships will be important, she said.

Shaw said she is a small-business owner (albeit without a bricks-and-mortar storefront) and that tax fairness would be vital.

Charleston said he’s the son of a small-business owner and he thinks it’s important to educate business owners about everything “that’s available to them.”

Schipper suggested that patronizing the small businesses in the community are a vital first step, as would be having the four Chambers of Commerce in the 34th District team up to get things done.

Next question: Should the hotel-motel tax go to help with homelessness or Safeco Field?

Braddock said that the stadium is a public facility and does have legitimate maintenance needs but some money should be bonded for affordable housing.

Aragon talked about the housing crisis in general before saying it’s important to look at who’s benefiting from state fees and how that could be “more fair.”

Shaw said she’s not very familiar with the issue but “at the state level, there needs to be adequate funding for homelessness.”

Charleston said, “We teach our kids to get their work done before they go play,” so, applying that, “taking care of a stadium is trumped by taking care of homeless people…. Take care of the homeless people and then go play.”

Schipper noted that the Kingdome wasn’t paid off when it was demolished, and pointed out that three Board of Health members declared a “disaster” related to homelessness. Rather than bonds from tax dollars, money, she said, should be applied to emergency relief to keep people from becoming homeless.

Nguyen said he hasn’t heard any support for “upgrading the suites at Safeco Field” and that doing it is “tone deaf.” But “taking on debt for housing when we already have money” doesn’t make sense to him either.

Next question: Do you support a statewide $15/hour minimum wage?

Aragon said yes, and she doesn’t support staggering it.

Shaw said “a livable wage is super-duper important but it’s important and essential to have a conversation with business owners.”

Charleston said $15/hour isn’t even a livable wage – in this district, he said, a livable wage is about $29/hour, and businesses need breaks so they can pay their employees what it takes to live in Seattle.

Schipper said she supports $15/hour and agrees it’s not enough for livability.

Nguyen said he supports $15/hour and he would eliminate B&O tax for “small and medium sized businesses” so that they could support it. He said he would not take money from organizations that don’t support it.

Braddock said she supports it and also supports making the tax system less regressive, figuring out “how to tax wealth and not work.”

Next question: Annexation. Where do you stand regarding having White Center (and the rest of unincorporated North Highline) being annexed by Seattle or becoming a standalone city or becoming part of another community?

Shaw said it’s not up to her, she would want to help the community discuss it.

Charleston said he’s talked to people in White Center and it has pros and cons. But it’s unsustainable as it is.

Schipper said as she understands it, about half the people don’t want to be annexed at all, the other half support Seattle.

Nguyen said the community should vote “and decide where they want to go.” He talked about gentrification and said it’s making it hard for his relatives to stay.

Braddock said she would support a community vote on annexation; a state role is in providing a tax credit for annexation, and access to that needs to be maintained. She believes the community needs the type of resources that are available through Seattle.

Aragon said displacement needs to be addressed at the state level underlying the community discussion/decision.

Next question was about education funding and the declaration that the state has fulfilled the McCleary requirements – though not everyone agrees they’ve been fulfilled – so what’s your message to educators?

Charleston said people need to lean on legislators. It’s shocking what parents have to buy for their kids that the schools should supply, he said. He also brought up fair teacher pay. “You always get what you pay for.”

Schipper said she’d been a longtime Highline Public Schools parent and teachers aren’t getting what they need, so the McCleary situation isn’t settled yet. Teaching is a tough job and needs a fair wage, she said.

Nguyen said his wife has been a special-education teacher and he also knows what parents are being asked to do. Educators should reflect the diversity of the community; a loan-forgiveness program would help many educators, and he too said teachers should be able to get to a livable wage sooner.

Braddock said she agrees that schools still aren’t fully funded and that teacher salaries and special education funding “need to be addressed.”

Aragon said that changing communities mean teachers need to adjust to those communities’ needs too. She would support talking to school districts to find out what barriers and challenges were getting in the way of implementation.

Shaw said this was her “laser-focus issue” and an issue she could “talk about for hours” and that basic education is “nowhere close to being funded. … Our public schools are the foundation of a healthy democracy and we are failing them.”

At that point, there was a break to hear from Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Steve Strand about last Friday’s deadly stabbing nearby, and other South Delridge crime issues. (That too is included in our video.)

After Lt. Strand spoke, Garcia asked about public safety.

Schipper that she believes guns are at the root of “some of the problems that are erupting.”

Nguyen noted that he and some others put together a forum after a deadly shooting in Burien. He talked about going on a ridealong and seeing that most calls had to do with mental health or homelessness, and that officers need different training to cope with that.

Braddock said that overall, “we need resources for training and tools” to effectively enforce laws.

Aragon said she helped found a racial-equity team among lobbyists when she was in Olympia and recognizes the “need for communities of color to be engaged in the legislative process.”

Shaw said she supports de-escalation

Charleston too but said that as a person of color, he has more concerns about being pulled over than “many of those in the audience.” He serves as a chaplain for public-safety and SPD has ‘reached out to the community’ to try to help “squash the misunderstanding between the blue and the black and brown folks.”

Next question: What specific gun-safety legislation will you author?

Nguyen: Age limit, ban assault rifles/high-capacity weapons, require insurance to buy guns/ammunition. He also said mental-health services are vital because many gun deaths are suicides.

Braddock said, all of those plus safe storage.

Aragon said Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense has endorsed her and that “anything we can do to narrow down the availability and the risk” would be important.

Shaw said she too is a “Candidate of Distinction” as labeled by Moms Demand Action and that she supports “common sense gun laws.”

Charleston mentioned that he served in the US Marine Corps and that he recognized how vital it was to understand a weapon. Society has a “large amount of ignorance” about the dangers of firearms, he said.

Schipper said safety, including gun storage, is what will make a difference. “I’m not (saying) people should have their guns taken away, but they need to be secured.”

Next question: How would you address mass incarceration and do you support the “No New Youth Jail” movement?

Braddock spoke about the importance of keeping youths from getting into the criminal-justice system in the first place. She said she supports the work of the activists ‘because they are making the facility better’ but she said the facility is being built because it’s required by the state, and she said it’s needed because youth who commit serious crimes shouldn’t end up in adult jail.

Aragon said her law school, Loyola, “was the birthplace of youth justice.” She said some places in Chicago are “lawless” and she doesn’t want to see that happen here. She didn’t address her stance on the “no new youth jail” movement.

Shaw said that resources for youth would be important in heading off problems “down the road.” Regarding “no new youth jail,” she wasn’t entirely certain about the movement’s goals.

Charleston said,”If you’ve got the money to build a multimillion-dollar correctional facility for children, you have the money to prevent them having to go to a facility” like that. He said it takes a supportive community “to take care of the kids.”

Schipper said more money for restorative justice is important but she also thinks it’s important to have a facility when youth have to be held, so that they don’t get sent to adult jail.

Nguyen was the only one to declare, “No youth jail. Right off the bat.” He spoke about trauma at young ages leading to trouble for youth and said the money for a jail should be “invested in actual people.”

Next topic: Housing and homelessness. What’s the state’s role and what does each candidate plan to accomplish?

Aragon said she’s on the low-income-housing board and mentioned a trust fund whose budget wasn’t passed in time last year so, she said, the state lost $200 million in funding. She said she supports permanent housing.

Shaw said she helped homeless people as part of a volunteer program in New York but has never seen anything as bad as it is in Seattle now. “We have so many resources, we need to find a solution.”

Charleston said, “If you really want to end homelessness, you need to stop making it a business … it’s big business right now. All the volunteer agencies set up around homelessness cost a lot of money.” Same way that President Eisenhower warned war would become big business, he elaborated. So it needs to be managed, he said.

Schipper said “look(ing) at the drivers on homelessness” is key – such as income inequity, mental and physical health services. She said regional solutions are needed.

Nguyen said he serves on the Wellspring Family Services board, dealing with family homelessness, and that you can’t treat homelessness “like a monolith.” Women often become homeless while fleeing a domestic-violence situation, for example, he said. Seniors, renters, distinct groups need distinct help in staying in their homes.

Braddock talked about building the Housing Trust Fund back up to fund affordable housing. She also supports using surplus properties to build/provide housing. “Treatment on demand” also is needed and can make a difference, she said.

Closing statements:

Shaw said she welcomes having conversations about “how we can improve.”

Charleston took up the Native question that had been asked earlier and said that the Duwamish Tribe needs to be federally recognized. The city named after Chief Seattle “has a whole lot of problems.” But he said it’s good that none of the candidates has been elected before, so they’d be coming in with fresh eyes.

Schipper noted that the Legislature “is a citizen legislature” and pointed out that she’s done work “on the ground” in communities for 20 years – “in the community, with the community.”

Nguyen said, “This community raised me,” helped his family in its time of need, “gave me a voice.” He also noted that the 34th has never been served by a legislator of color, and he thinks what’s wrong is that the people have never been reflected by their representatives.

Braddock said the citizen legislature needs a perspective like hers, “a single mom of school-age kids who works outside the home” She mentioned child-care, education, income inequity, and her experience working with King County government.

Aragon recalled a line from “Hamilton” – “winning a war is easy, governing is harder.” She said she’s seen a lot in her years of advocacy, and she considered the tough work when she was asked to consider running. “A lot of good things can be done.” She, like Nguyen, said she’s proud that she would represent the “diverse community.”

And after more than an hour and a half of Q&A, the forum ended. Again – voting goes until 8 pm August 7th. Ballot postage is now prepaid so if you choose to use the US Postal Service to send yours, no need to use a stamp. Or you can put it in the dropbox at the White Center Library.

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