Compromise? It’s the question at heart of Seattle council election

How voters respond could determine the next citywide representative on the council: Sara Nelson, Nikkita Oliver or Brianna Thomas, the top three candidates, all of whom span the spectrum from Seattle’s left to more left-wing politics. And everyone approaches the question of compromise – of “bridging gaps” or “bringing people to the table” – differently.

Nelson, co-founder of Fremont Brewing and former advisor to former councilor Richard Conlin, and Thomas, an advisor to Council President Lorena González, refer to this as key to breaking the deadlock that has dominated Seattle politics of late. Well done, compromises can lead to stronger policies, they say.

Thomas points to her work for González in which she says she pushed behind the scenes to get “those big 9 and 0” unanimous votes. González leaves her council seat to run for mayor’s office.

Thomas describes himself as someone who can build consensus “on behalf of the whole city, not niche groups,” she said. “I’m best positioned to hear from both abolitionists and small business owners,” she said, an indication of the perceived core groups of her opponents.

Nelson said the battle lines in town hall had created widespread frustration among voters and the council’s low popularity, which was consistently reflected in polls. “The ideological rhetoric between the US and them is putting people off,” she said. “What people want to hear are solutions.”

For Oliver, a lawyer best known for police and criminal justice activism, compromise is a kind of abdication that is inappropriate for our time.

“There are people who are willing to compromise on solutions that we know we need badly,” said Oliver. “I think our camp represents a deep commitment to doing the work to find solutions that are appropriate to the crises we are facing.”

A recent survey by the Northwest Progressive Institute confirmed Oliver as the front runner by a comfortable margin, although half of those polled said they weren’t sure.

This tension between compromise and commitment is not new at City Hall; The frustration of Councilor Kshama Sawant’s refusal to give in is often felt by her peers on stage. That is why it is so popular for the backers of the combative socialists. But at a time when pressing issues stack up – homelessness, climate change, economic recovery, house prices – the debate about whether City Hall is too ideological or not ideological becomes more important. It will be put to the test again in the race for the ninth seat of the council.

Thomas ran for city council in 2015 and “and rightly lost,” she said. “At the time, I didn’t know what job I was applying for. Now I am painfully aware of it. “

What Thomas made conscious, she said, is the work she has done since then. As González’s adjutant since late 2015 for all but six months, Thomas mainly focused on drafting guidelines for police, public safety and labor. The years in town hall taught her that the choice is often not between everything and something, but between something and nothing, she said.

“Governance is not about striving for perfection,” she said. “It’s about serving the people as quickly as possible.”

Now Thomas is trying to run a campaign that reflects what she would be like as a member of the council – someone who knows the basics of town hall and how to translate big ideas into workable politics. But getting that message across is not an easy task, she said. “It’s one of the most divorced job interviews from what the job actually is,” she said. “Are you showing me that you know what happens when an amendment is brought up in committee? That is the job. What do you think of your colleagues on the [public safety civil service commission]? That is the job…. You absolutely need visions, but also know-how. It is both / and. “

This is also the second time Nelson has run for the council; In 2017 she finished third. Since then, she has said in Seattle, “everything has changed and nothing has changed”. “The only thing that has changed is that we still have some advice that cannot handle the challenges of the day,” she said. “But everything has changed because many sectors of Seattle’s economy are struggling, especially small businesses.”

Nelson’s campaign is the clearest referendum on the current Seattle City Council, which she sees as disconnected from the needs of local residents. Nelson said she believes the city is at a turning point and needs change. But she is also skeptical about moving forward with this urge to change, with no further steps in between. “It’s not an either / or for me,” she said. “But I think we ignore the immediate at our own risk.”

As the owner of Fremont Brewing, she has taken on the mantle of the “business” candidate. But having business acumen isn’t an argument for running the city like a business, she said. Rather, it is an experience that gives her a deeper look into how politics are implemented in daily Seattle life.

Compared to the current advice, she said, “What is different about me is that I really care…. It is important to me to make plans that actually help, and I take care of what happens to companies and their employees on site. ”

When Oliver ran for mayor’s office in 2017, they narrowly missed the general election after The Stranger surprisingly backed another candidate. Their campaign has often been referred to as the radical one – one that spoke of cutting police budgets long before “defuse the police” became a national slogan. But after the assassination of George Floyd and the protests that followed, the situation for many voters has moved closer to that of Oliver.

As a result, Oliver said, “I think we are actually able to have a much more nuanced and deeper conversation with people than we were in 2017 because I just think people are much more ready for these deeper solutions, there are causes to be found instead of just reacting to symptoms. ”

In an election year in which many candidates present themselves as the best equipped to compromise, Oliver argues differently: This compromise has brought Seattle to where it is today.

“I just don’t think we have any more room to compromise,” they said.

When Oliver hears that you have to get everyone around the table to make a decision, they wonder if that really means what people are saying. Some people are not even in the building and therefore miss an invitation to this table.

“The reality is that often when we use these types of feelings, we tend to actually perpetuate the injustices that already exist,” said Oliver.

Private polls show that voters are ready for change. The candidates know this – although Oliver and Nelson are ideologically at odds, they all use the same argument that if you like the way things are going now, you will vote for their opponents. But the kind of change voters want, especially after a year like 2020, has yet to be defined. With three clearly Seattle candidates on the ballot, the race for ninth position on Seattle city council could be the cleanest test yet.