About this transcript: This is a full AI-generated transcript of Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson answers questions on CCTV, housing, affordability from FOX 13 Seattle, published June 6, 2026. The transcript contains 15,930 words with timestamps and was generated using Whisper AI.
"Mayor Wilson, thank you so much for being here. I know you were very busy, you have a lot going on, so we're going to make the best out of it. And I'm glad that you're here in person at an event like this because so many people are here and they have questions for you as well. So I'm going to get..."
[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Mayor Wilson, thank you so much for being here. I know you were very busy, you have a lot going on, so we're going to make the best out of it. And I'm glad that you're here in person at an event like this because so many people are here and they have questions for you as well. So I'm going to get right to my questions. I want to start off with affordability. And yesterday you announced the desire to raise the sales tax in order to fund extra bus routes. And as you know, you know, the sales tax, it's going to go under your proposal at 10.7% rate, total sales tax, if your proposal is approved by voters. That makes it one of the highest in the entire nation for a sales tax. And as you know, you know, sales tax, it impacts affordability directly, especially low income and middle income people. How do you convince those people that they should go and vote for an increase
[00:00:54] Mayor Wilson: into sales tax for the bus routes? Yeah, thank you. And I'm very excited about the proposal that we rolled out yesterday. This will allow us to expand our bus service in Seattle, including adding a lot more frequency and geographic coverage to basically make our transit system way more useful to more people. We have a very challenging tax system in our city and state, as many people probably know. We have a very regressive tax system. And the the options that we are given by the state for how to fund our transportation benefit district are very limited. And so sales tax is really the main one that we have used. And you know, when I think about this, I think about taxes and the affordability impact of taxes. But then I also think about the impact of the services that we are investing in, right? And you know, the impact of this additional sales tax for an average household, I think, is something like $29 a year. Don't quote me on that. I don't have the exact number in my head. But when you compare that to some of the large property tax levies that we've done in recent years, it's actually a pretty modest increase. And then you look at what we're going to be able to do with that in terms of increasing transit access. And it's not just bus service. This program also funds a program in partnership with Seattle Housing Authority where we're able to give free annual transit passes to thousands of Seattle Housing Authority residents. We're going to be expanding that to people who hold housing choice vouchers. And so through this measure, we're going to be able to expand from I think the current about 10,000 to 22,000 people getting free annual transit passes that will give them access to our whole regional transit system for free. So that is really exciting. So we're basically measuring kind of the impact of this tax increase, which is, you know, again, relatively modest, although definitely regressive, against the really significant impact that this is going to have on mobility in our city. And another thing that I think is just really important to emphasize, you know, sometimes people think of investments in our transit system as for transit riders. And of course, that is true. But I think it's also really important to realize that when we're making investments in our public transit system, that is for everyone, right? We have a city and a region that are continuing to grow. And if you are someone who needs to drive or chooses to drive, let me tell you, you don't want those thousand plus people who are arriving in our city every month to all have to own cars and to park on the street or parking their parking places and drive on our roads. And so this is really an investment for everyone. And it's one that I think is well worth making. And of course, we wish that we had a more progressive tax system, we'll continue to push in that direction.
[00:03:37] Speaker 1: And I think it's a really good investment quick follow up to that. When you look at the buses typically just running right now, many times are running with empty seats. So the demand and the ridership isn't quite there yet. So how do you convince somebody who's on the fence about this saying, yeah, it may be $29 or $50 a year, but I don't want to I don't want to pay that. I don't want to pay an extra sales tax to fund bus routes that are not full right now. Yeah, so you know, there's there's different there's different ways to frame our need for transit service.
[00:04:09] Mayor Wilson: We have a need for a lot more frequency and also hours coverage on a lot of routes. And the other thing that we've learned about public transit in our region is it's really build it and they will come right. And so we're still in this kind of recovery from the pandemic, which did a number on a lot of things, but including transit agencies nationwide. But we are seeing steady increases in ridership, especially as we've just opened up some new light rail stations. And so we're, you know, things are trending in the right direction. And the more that we provide that frequent reliable transit that gets people to where they want to go. Like we know from experience that people use it. And so we're expecting to see those ridership numbers continue to climb. I really want to get our transit system back to, you know, surpassing our pre pandemic levels of service because that's really when people begin to be able to make that choice to not drive all the time. And even make that choice to not own a car, to own fewer cars. And we really want people to be able to make that choice. And that's really about affordability too, right? Because car ownership is expensive, right? We're talking about average like $12,000 a year, right? When you think of all of the costs of car ownership. And we know how expensive gas is these days. So this is really about giving people those options. And again, I think it's a good investment. And also I'll say Seattle voters tend to agree. So back in 2020, which was the last time that we had this measure on the ballot, it was like 80% of Seattle voters approved it. And that's really remarkable in retrospect when you think about it, because that was the depths of the pandemic, when a lot of people weren't, you know, going out very much and people still saw the need to really invest in our transit system. So this is something that Seattle voters have told us time and time again that they support.
[00:05:46] Speaker 1: Last year during your campaign, one of your social media posts got a lot of views, right? It was the one where you talked about that expensive $8 slice of pizza. So in your first term, what policies will you implement to bring down those restaurant prices? I mean, Seattle, number two most expensive right now to dine out. How are you going to bring those prices down, mayor?
[00:06:08] Mayor Wilson: Well, since we're on the subject of food, first, I just want to call out that one of the really exciting, this is not the price of pizza, but maybe it is sometimes. One of the really exciting investments that we're able to make through the Families Education Preschool and Promise Levy that I'm very proud of because my team did a lot of work to make this happen is free school meals for all Seattle Public School students. And that means free breakfast and lunch, you know, no stigma. There are thousands of families right now that, you know, qualify for free school meals but aren't actually getting them for whatever reason, including maybe perhaps stigma. And then thousands of families who are above what is actually a very low threshold of eligibility, like 50-some thousand dollars for a family of four, like how far does that go in this city? So we're talking about thousands of families who are really going to benefit from this program. So that's just an aside. You know, sometimes they serve pizza at school. But in terms of food costs, so, you know, the point of that video was really, there was a lot of content packed into it, but it was really explaining how housing costs show up in the cost of your restaurant meal. And so really what we're looking at here when we think about how to bring those costs down are like indirectly, if we can really tackle the housing crisis, that will help. Now, more directly, it's hard, right? It's hard to tackle all the direct costs that a restaurant faces. But because that cost of housing appears in our food costs in so many ways, through the cost of labor, right, the reason why our minimum wage goes up so much every year is because it's tied to the cost of living. So when housing gets more expensive, that means that restaurants are going to have to pay their employees more because the minimum wage is going up. And also, you know, just to recruit and retain a great workforce, you're going to need to pay more. And so we're doing a number of things to try to tackle that housing crisis, right? So on the one hand, partnering really closely with Seattle's new social housing developer, which very exciting, recently announced its first acquisition in Belltown neighborhood. And so this is, you know, publicly owned, permanently affordable, mixed income housing that Seattle voters voted for twice. And our housing developer has a robust revenue stream now and so is beginning to acquire and develop property. And so partnering really closely with them to make sure that that effort is successful. And also announced recently an effort that we're calling Taller, Denser, Faster. I don't know if it's that catchy. But this is basically what can we do to make it possible for the private market to be building more housing around Seattle. And when we look at the reasons why we have this housing and homelessness crisis, you know, there are many reasons. But one of the big ones is that over the last 10 or 20 years, as our region's grown, as we've had, you know, the tech industry exploding here, lots of, you know, high paid workers moving to our region, we simply have not built the housing to match that growth. And so that is part of what has really driven up the cost of housing, both for renters and for homeowners, and has also resulted in the scale of our homelessness crisis. And so looking ahead, it's really important now that we are building that housing in our great neighborhoods all over Seattle. And so what we're doing is just kind of expanding the scope of options that we're going to be looking at when we think about where to build new housing and how to build it. And, you know, really important to make sure that as we're building multifamily apartment style housing, we're not just concentrating that right along our noisy, dirty arterials, which is often the way that we do it now. So this is one effort that we're working on now. And then I'll say another thing that's related to affordability for renters. Often when you're a renter, there's kind of the sticker price of your apartment, but then there's lots of hidden fees that you only kind of learn about when after you sign your lease or when you read the fine print. And so we're working on legislation to regulate or ban some of those rental, quote unquote, junk fees. And that's something we're going to be, yes, you can, you can applaud for that. So that's something that we'll be rolling out soon, which is really about affordability and also just about transparency and fairness.
[00:10:23] Speaker 1: Yeah, you actually brought up the social housing issue and the upzoning and all that. And that was actually for my next thing. So that's a great segue. I do want to just revisit back that question about restaurant meal prices, however, how do you do that? Because when you talk about social housing, that doesn't have a direct impact on restaurant prices per se, right? So what kind of policies would you put in place to help small businesses and also just, you know, everyday families that want to go and not pay $8 for a slice of pizza? What do you do about that?
[00:10:51] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, so I mean, small businesses around our city are really struggling with affordability too, right? All the pressures that are facing us as individuals and as families are also hitting small businesses. And, you know, the kinds of, you know, the city, we have a lot of great programs to assist people who are trying to start and expand small businesses. And also, right, we need to do more. And some of this is making sure that people have access to the programs that we do have. You know, programs like the storefront repair fund, so if you're, you know, faced with, you know, broken windows or vandalism, right? There's some money to help you out there. And I really think, as I talk to small businesses around the city, public safety and homelessness are really top issues. And if we're looking at how you get more people in the door, and I guess this is actually really relevant to the slice of pizza, right? Because one of the points I was making in that video is that when you don't have a really steady stream of customers, then you have to charge more for your food. And one of the reasons why in really dense, busy neighborhoods, why food can be cheaper is that you just have that steady stream of customers. And so the more we can do to make our neighborhoods safe and welcoming and really address our crisis of unsheltered homelessness, that helps our businesses, right? Enlivening our neighborhood business districts. And that's something that we're going to be working really hard at. And it's obviously, it's been a challenge throughout the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic. But I'm really hopeful that we can make good progress there. And that, honestly, is probably the highest impact thing we can do to help our small businesses and our restaurants is improve the overall kind of livability and environment in our city so that people want to come out and spend time and spend their money at those businesses.
[00:12:31] Speaker 1: Okay, so let's go a little bit more into social housing. You brought that up already. So, you know, this summer, 150 units are going to open near Pike Place Market. The city paid $60 million to buy the existing building. Now, you're in support of maybe expanding that to up to 1,700 units. What do you say, you know, obviously supporters, you don't have to sell this idea to. They love this. A lot of people have been pushing for this for a long time, including yourself. What do you say to the critics, though, that say this is an expensive experiment? What are you going to do to ensure that this isn't going to run into financial trouble? What do you mean by financial trouble? As far as how are you going to make it financially viable? Because you want to open more units. So I know that you, how is the city planning to make up for the funding? Because a lot of the units are going to be subsidized.
[00:13:18] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, so the idea behind this model is that because it is mixed income, you have kind of a little bit of cross subsidy of rents going on. So the idea is that the operations are sustainable, right? So there's some models of low income housing where the rents don't actually cover the cost of operating a building. So you're needing to kind of continually subsidize that. But the idea behind the social housing model is that because you have this kind of mixed income, this mix of incomes, that the operations are actually self-sustaining. And so that is the model that they're working on. And so the assumption is that the, you know, the mix of incomes and rents in a given building, or at least across the portfolio of social housing is sustainable. And it doesn't need that continual infusion of tax revenue.
[00:14:02] Speaker 1: And you also said that part of the plan is, as you were talking about, taller, denser, faster, right? So while addressing those concerns that come up about this, though, time and time again from some people, is how are you going to deal with the livability issues, though? Like, for example, parking, congestion, tree canopy even. And how will you deliver on the faster part of your promise on that issue?
[00:14:25] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, I mean, I think we always have to consider, like, our being able to provide those city services as we're densifying housing. And that's also why I think, you know, one of the exciting parts of this plan is we have new state legislation around transit-oriented development. So we're going to be working to implement that, not waiting for the deadline set for us by the state. But this is really how do we make sure that we're thinking about where we put a lot of new development, making sure that that is, for example, right near frequent transit, so that it's not going to be as necessary to, you know, to add those cars, to add those parking spaces. And I totally get, like, people's concerns about tree canopy. I live on Capitol Hill in an area which is both very dense, lots of apartment buildings. I live in an apartment building and also has a ton of tree cover. It's really beautiful. It's one of the things I really appreciate about my neighborhood. And so part of this is being really smart about kind of the details of how we're doing our land use and zoning laws in ways that incentivize types of building that also allow for green space. And I think there's a really interesting conversation going on right now about the kind of missing middle housing that is being built in our neighborhoods and ways that we can really incentivize not quite so much of that, like, tombstone-style townhomes that often don't leave any green space and more kind of smaller cottage-sized buildings and stacked flats in ways that allows more space for greenery and for trees. And so I think I really want to get into the weeds, so to speak, on that. And make sure that as we're adding this density, we're also preserving that livability.
[00:15:59] Speaker 1: I want to move on to homelessness really quick. So the regional spending on homelessness is several billion dollars in just the last five years. And the count says that year over year, the number of people who are living on the streets, it has increased. So when you took office, what was your administration's estimate of the people living on the streets in Seattle when you took office six months ago?
[00:16:20] Mayor Wilson: So, I mean, the most recent data that we have is from the last year's point-in-time count. Although I believe we'll be getting, you know, so they do the point-in-time count usually toward the beginning of the year. I think in, like, kind of January. And so last year's numbers, I think, put the number of people living unsheltered just in the city of Seattle as over 4,000. And that's about half of our homeless population is unsheltered in the city of Seattle. So that's... 4,000. Over 4,000 people sleeping unsheltered in the city of Seattle.
[00:16:56] Speaker 1: Okay. So that's one statistic. Yeah. That's one. Where is that statistic coming from? I had a different number. I was... What was your number? Well, across the county we were seeing in 2024, there was about 16,000. That's right, yeah. The vast majority is from Seattle.
[00:17:11] Mayor Wilson: So, right. 16,000 would be more, like, the overall number for King County. And then about, you know, somewhat more than half of that would be people who are in Seattle. And then around half of that are unsheltered homeless people. That's kind of a very rough breakdown.
[00:17:28] Speaker 1: And... Okay, so the other 4,000, just trying to clarify the other 4,000... Are in shelter. In shelter. They're still homeless, but they're in some form of shelter. Okay. So, by the end of your term, what will be your metric of success here? How many of those people can you confidently say that they will be housed under your guidance by the end of your term? Could you give us a number? Could you give us a percentage of metric of success here?
[00:17:51] Mayor Wilson: I would say that it's hard to have a high degree of confidence in these numbers because there are so many factors out of our control, right? And there are, unfortunately, a lot of forces right now that are going to be tending to drive up the number of people who are at risk of homelessness or falling into homelessness. I mean, for example, right now, there's a big question mark around our federal continuum of care funds, which is federal grant funding that comes down and that funds a lot of our permanent support of housing, among other things, right? And we know that our federal government's not doing us any favors at the moment. And so we're at risk of losing many millions of dollars. And we're trying to figure out, you know, in partnership with the county and our service providers, like, how would we backfill that? So I'm just saying it is hard to project numbers with confidence because there are so many things out of our control. And, you know, anyway, so just saying that.
[00:18:36] Speaker 1: I do want to go back, though, because you did promise 500 shelter, you know, emergency shelter units by FIFA, by before FIFA came into, you know, comes here. That number is not going to be met, it sounds like, but you want 1,000 units by the end of the year. How confident are you that you are going to deliver the 1,000 that you have promised?
[00:18:57] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, so on the campaign last year, I talked about 4,000 units over four years. And the point of putting out a big number like that was really to talk about the scale of the need, right? To say, like, this is how many people are sleeping unsheltered on our streets. And so we need to be talking at this scale if we are serious about ending unsheltered homelessness in our community, right? And so when I stepped into office, we kind of thought, like, okay, 4,000 units in four years. That means that we should probably aim for 1,000 units in my first year and let's say 500 in the first half of the year, right? And so the point of establishing those goals was really to light a fire under both internally at the city and then all of our partners who are going to need to work with us to try to achieve this. And so we got to work, we got all the city departments together to figure out how can we expedite what is normally a pretty slow process of, you know, siting shelter, doing lease negotiations, you know, contracts with service providers, site development, right? All these complicated processes. And so we are this weekend about to open up the first of our major new shelter sites, which is going to be 75 pallet shelters in Interbay, the Bayside shelter. So that is really exciting. No, we're not going to, we're not going to make 500 by FIFA, right?
[00:20:14] Speaker 1: What about the 1,000 by the end of the year? Yeah.
[00:20:16] Mayor Wilson: I mean, so we're, we're, we're still working toward it, right? And I think the other thing to know is just like, this is not something where we're like, okay, we're trying to get 500 or 1,000. Okay. Like, you know, we got some, we didn't quite make it. Okay. We all go home, right? Like this is an ongoing effort throughout this four year term, right? Okay. And so we're going to keep, we have a bunch more sites that are going to be opening up over the next couple months. And then we have more in the works that we haven't announced yet, because we want to kind of get our ducks in a row. But yeah, really, this is about reducing the number of people who are sleeping on shelter. And of course, moving people from shelter into housing is the other really important part of this, because as soon as you're able to move someone into housing, that shelter unit is vacant again, and you can help someone else off the streets.
[00:20:55] Speaker 1: The King County Regional Homelessness Authority is in trouble, as you know, with audits now showing that up to $13 million, potentially more, unaccounted for, no idea where it went. There are some leaders now saying that KCRHA, which is tasked with, you know, solving the homelessness crisis, that they're miserably failing. So some leaders are saying we need to dissolve it. Are you in support of dissolving KCRHA? Yes or no?
[00:21:18] Mayor Wilson: Well, I'll say that there is a reason why we are doing the shelter acceleration that we're doing at the city and not through the KCRHA, because we wanted to be able to do that with urgency and with thoughtfulness and really kind of control the way that that was rolled out. In terms of the, as for the future of the KCRHA, you're going to have to stay tuned.
[00:21:40] Speaker 1: So no, yes or no, yes or no. I'm not saying yes or no to that.
[00:21:43] Mayor Wilson: You will stay tuned and you will learn more soon. Okay.
[00:21:46] Speaker 1: We will hold you to it. So LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt recently brought you up specifically saying that the homeless crisis is in a big way fueled by drug addiction. He said, quote, "These people, when I unplug them and say we're not taking them, are tax money anymore. They're all going to Seattle where the mayor will welcome them." What is your response to Spencer Pratt, who, by the way, is looking like he's going to be in the runoff for LA mayor? Yeah. Golly. Was that a cheer? Yeah. What's your response to Spencer Pratt? I mean, you know, about the drug addiction. What do you, do you have a response? Because he specifically brought you up. I think it's only fair that maybe you want to respond to that.
[00:22:28] Mayor Wilson: Well, I'm not going to respond to him, but I will respond to you all. So, you know, I think it's very clear when we look at the data, when we look at different cities around the country and kind of compare the scale of our homelessness issues. What is driving homelessness is housing costs. There is a very, very clear correlation between housing costs and homelessness. And that does not mean that drugs are not a factor. They absolutely are a factor, right? And especially people who have been homeless for a while, right? And struggling with substance use disorder. Helping someone out of homeless is not as simple as putting a roof over their head. And that is why, as we're doing our shelter acceleration, we are being incredibly intentional about pairing shelter with services, with case management, with drug treatment, with behavioral health services, with all of the support that someone might need to get onto a better path. But it is very clear, again, that housing costs are what are driving the homelessness crisis. And drugs make everything worse. And, you know, if you fall into homelessness, very often people become addicted to drugs once they become homeless. There are a lot of reasons for that. Or if they have, you know, a light substance use disorder, that becomes a severe substance use disorder. So drugs are very entangled with the homelessness crisis, but the real driver is housing costs.
[00:23:56] Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, though, because he does bring up a point worth debating at this point in the game, because we're hearing from people in the front lines about this issue. It says, "Is Seattle too lenient on giving people who are addicted to drugs housing first with no requirement of drug treatment and rehabilitation? Why is that not something that is combined together?"
[00:24:14] Mayor Wilson: So I'll say that, you know, people come into homelessness from all kinds of different directions. And people who are struggling with substance use disorder, drug addiction, right, like, everyone has their individual situation. And what works for one person doesn't always work for another. And that is part of why it's really important that we have a variety of shelter options and that we have a variety of, you know, service models. And again, what works for one person doesn't always work for another.
[00:24:45] Speaker 1: Sure, and you've said that to me before in the past, and I totally agree with you, because everyone's different. But I think from just like the reaction that you're getting from this room, we've been at this for more than a decade where it's been a homelessness crisis. And you can see it on the streets. Many of them are addicted to drugs, and it's really sad to see them like that. Yeah. What needs to happen for you to say, "I need to take a stronger stance to get these people into treatment"?
[00:25:14] Mayor Wilson: So what I was getting at is that if you create a model, a high barrier model, where you say, "In order to access shelter or housing, you need to be clean," right? Some people, for, you know, whatever their individual reasons, will get there, right? But what you're doing is you're creating a very narrow funnel. And then what happens to the other people is that they just stay outside. And so, you know, there are people for whom that approach might work. And then there are people for whom a low barrier approach, where you are bringing them into an environment with a lot of support and, you know, nudging, helping to nudge them along a path, but not requiring that immediate cessation of drug use, which is just, frankly, for anyone who, I think, really understands substance use disorder, like, not a practical thing for most people. There's a lot of relapse often involved in recovery from substance use disorder. It's a complicated path. So if you have that low barrier, high service situation, which is what we are trying to create, that is successful for a lot of people. And, you know, I will say, I mean, I think that some of the frustration around our drug crisis comes from the way that, you know, you look at the situation at 12th and Jackson, right? Where we have, like, open air drug markets and a lot of just, like, public disorder and, like, feelings of unsafety that come from the way that the drug crisis is playing out. And I am very sympathetic to that, right?
[00:26:42] Speaker 1: And that area, that area has gotten worse under your watch. Oh, yeah, I'm aware. I've seen it. So what are we doing about that really quick?
[00:26:50] Mayor Wilson: So that's not, there's nothing really quick about that answer. Yeah. But what I will say is that I do think, what I do support is we can't have that, right? And so establishing, like, really clear guidelines for our public space, right, and being willing to enforce those. But being willing to enforce those doesn't mean that we think that just arresting everyone and putting them into jail is going to, like, solve anyone's problems, right? But I do think that in areas like that, we do need to have kind of a collaboration between our police department and service providers that does prevent that kind of hot spot. And especially that, you know, drug market activity from forming and from persisting. So I agree with that. And I'm very sympathetic to the frustration that people have when they're walking down the street and there's people, you know, openly using and selling drugs. And we're working on it. I mean, it's a long-standing problem and it's not going to be an overnight solution, but we're about to launch a new effort at 12th and Jackson in collaboration with the Law and Assisted Diversion Program and our police department. And so we're working with the neighborhood to try to make things better.
[00:27:59] Speaker 1: Mayor, I want to move on specifically to public safety and what's going on Aurora Avenue. We're hearing from residents say there are constant shootings there, bullets going through homes, human trafficking is up, prostitution is up. Desperate residents put up steel planters to block some of the crime. They say it was working, but then the city took it away and said that they need to have a permanent solution so they want to study it. But at what point do you act?
[00:28:23] Mayor Wilson: So we are acting now. So a number of members of my team, I'm looking at Artie here in the audience, were up doing a walk with the neighborhood a few days ago. And we are, so on the, I totally understand why people put the barriers in the streets. The issue is emergency access. And so what we've done for the time being, there's one barrier that's actually still in place, but the other ones we've replaced with what are called chicanes, which is basically not entirely blocking off the street, but basically really slowing movement through it. Right? And residents say that that barrier isn't working. Yeah, I understand. So, so that, that is like a very temporary thing. But again, SDOT is now, and you say study it, and it is true study it, but study it very rapidly. So we are talking about doing a quick assessment of what it would look like to more permanently block off certain streets, but they need to study emergency access. You know, we can't, you know, we just, we need to be able to get emergency vehicles into the neighborhood. So that is what is going on. And so we're going to have more information very soon. And we also have emphasis patrols that SPD is doing right now, the greater presence. We're, we're stepping up the gun violence reduction unit in the area. And these are the immediate fixes, right? Like no illusion that things like this are solving the longer term problem. But we are trying to take immediate action to improve conditions in the neighborhood, because it's unacceptable, right? You shouldn't have just gunshots around your house, like into your house. And so we're taking those immediate actions. And then we're working on a longer term strategy with the neighborhood so that we can begin to address those underlying issues.
[00:29:52] Speaker 1: So soon, maybe they will get an answer soon from the city on maybe what the plan is.
[00:29:55] Mayor Wilson: We're talking to them. We've, you know, we've put the chicanes in. We've got the emphasis patrols going. Like we're doing the immediate things and, you know, continuing to work on the longer term strategies. All right, CCTV time. So you halted the expansion.
[00:30:07] Speaker 1: You have a lot of questions. I do. And I'm only given a certain amount of time. So I need to move on. Yeah. Yeah. I'm on a roll here. So you halted the expansion of CCTV saying a decision on the cameras is TBD. When do you expect to make that final decision? Yeah.
[00:30:23] Mayor Wilson: So that'll be happening this year. So we have the reason why we halted the expansion. And there was qualifications to that, which I'm sure we'll get into. But the reason why we halted the expansion was serious concerns that brought to us by immigrants' rights groups, by civil liberties groups, right, around our data security sharing practices. The fear that this data could be misused, including by federal immigration enforcement. And so we did a quick review, which told us, hmm, we actually need to get some better answers. And so we paused the expansion. We didn't shut off the existing cameras, except for one, which was near a reproductive health facility. But we are conducting an audit, or the NYU policing project is conducting an audit of our data security sharing storage practices.
[00:31:10] Speaker 1: And when do you expect to get that audit and make that decision? That is going on now.
[00:31:13] Mayor Wilson: That is going on now. I don't know exactly the date that it will be wrapping up. But I would say that certainly before the end of the year, we'll be making a decision around continuing the expansion.
[00:31:23] Speaker 1: So it's very likely that during FIFA, when it's just 12 days away, that those cameras are not going to be up and running.
[00:31:29] Mayor Wilson: So the qualification to the pause was that -- so just for anyone who doesn't know, the existing situation, there are cameras in the Aurora Corridor, there are cameras downtown, there are cameras in the Chinatown International District. The planned expansion, which was voted on last year, would have expanded to the Stadium District in the context of FIFA, the Central District in the area around Garfield, and the Capitol Hill Nightlife District. So we have gone ahead and installed the cameras in the Stadium District in recognition that this major global event is happening. So that if there is a credible threat, we can turn those cameras on.
[00:32:12] Speaker 1: But how do you know if there is a credible threat? What if it happens and then you don't catch it?
[00:32:16] Mayor Wilson: So, you know, this again, we're kind of balancing competing priorities here, right? Concerns around data security and potential abuse of data versus the utility of the cameras in solving crime. And, you know, to be clear, in general, my read of the situation is that cameras are generally helpful in solving crime, less so in general in preventing or deterring crime. But, yeah, I mean, you know, a credible threat is if we get information, as our law enforcement agencies often do, that someone has the intention to cause harm to people or property or, you know, to a large event like that. And we believe that they have, you know, it is believable that they might be able to carry it out, right? That is a credible threat. So if we get that information, which is something that happens, then we can turn those cameras on and that's what we're doing.
[00:33:08] Speaker 1: Yeah. Quick follow-up to that as far as is there room to be hyper-local on this issue? And the reason why I ask is because you're going to have some people in the community who support what you're doing as far as not expanding the CCTV cameras because they're worried about privacy and so you've got that side.
[00:33:23] Mayor Wilson: But then I've also heard from several people who yell at me a lot because I haven't turned all the cameras on. Right. No, exactly.
[00:33:30] Speaker ?: Just to be clear.
[00:33:30] Speaker 1: So I will acknowledge that. I mean, this is a very hard topic for you because you have lots of people with different opinions about this. So you're in a hard place for sure. But there are also people who have reached out to me from, you know, the Central District, for example, who, you know, want those cameras turned on. And also recently you had somebody who basically said that, you know, there is a lady in South Seattle, Rainier Beach PTA, who basically was quoted in one of the local newspapers saying that it is critical evidence that the CCTV gathers in violent crimes, especially involving young people, especially when there is not, you know, people willing to come up, you know, and talk about a crime that happened. She's asking for those cameras to go on. And sometimes these are communities who are seeing an increase in gun violence in their community. So is it fair to turn off the cameras in areas where people are asking for these cameras and treating it that way? Or should you just be hyper local and say, I'm going to treat, you know, this neighborhood different from this neighborhood and engage the community more?
[00:34:33] Mayor Wilson: I mean, I would say that there's a diversity of opinion about cameras in pretty much every neighborhood. So it's not, it's not as clear cut as like, I mean, yeah, if there was a neighborhood where 100% of people were just like, we want these cameras, then that, you know, that would make it a little easier, right? But I think that people are really divided on this for some really good reasons. I think they're just like really legitimate feelings and arguments on both sides. And so that's why, and that's the challenge of this issue. Not just the feelings, but I think that there are real impacts on both sides, right? And it's hard because you're weighing, you know, an actual utility of the way that these cameras are used to solve crimes against risk, which is, you know, sometimes really hard to quantify. And it's just, it's just a tricky issue. And that's why we're taking this like somewhat complicated, but I hope balanced approach where we're pausing. We're not saying that we're not doing this, but we're trying to really assess our practices. And I'll say there's not just the, not just our data security and storage and sharing practices audit, but there's also a larger evaluation, because this is a pilot program, right? We didn't have the CCTV cameras at the real-time crime center before last spring. So this is, this whole thing is a pilot. And so there's an evaluation that's taking place this year to really just evaluate, like, how are we using these cameras? How useful are they? You know, what kinds of crimes are, you know, is the police department using them for? So that is going to give us some additional information to go on as we consider the future of this program. And the other thing I want to say that's relevant to the World Cup and the stadium district and in general is that, you know, there are also lots of private cameras around, like businesses have cameras, you know, buildings have cameras. And when a crime occurs, police very often call on those private entities to share footage, and that is useful. So just want to like, you know, these are not the only cameras that would be in the stadium district.
[00:36:23] Speaker 1: Mayor, I want to move on to businesses. You made national news recently for comments made about businesses. I was going to say, don't ask me about the millionaire tax. Well, made about businesses and the rich. Let's start with Starbucks. Do you still support a boycott of Starbucks?
[00:36:37] Mayor Wilson: You know, I had the pleasure of visiting the Pike Place Market Starbucks a little while ago, and I ordered a, I think it was a blueberry muffin latte. That was like a staff creation. So I guess I broke my boycott. Okay. And yeah, but I, you know, I don't know. What do you want me to say about that?
[00:36:56] Speaker 1: So you don't, you support them? I absolutely support unions and I support workers. So that question from the crowd. Yeah. So we'll move on for now. Other people will have a chance to talk to you about that.
[00:37:10] Mayor Wilson: I went to the store to talk to the workers there who are organizing a union. Okay.
[00:37:14] Speaker 1: So also too, in April, you also made a statement saying millionaires leaving Washington was overblown. And for the ones who, who laughed, you kind of gave a dismissive by and you, you got on social media for that. I don't remember this. Yes. So today, today, do you still feel the narrative of the rich leaving is still overblown?
[00:37:35] Mayor Wilson: So I still think that claims of a large exodus of rich people due to our statewide millionaire tax that the legislature passed this year are overblown. I do believe that. And I think what I'll say just since you've given me a chance to reflect on those two incidents is that, you know, what I think is really interesting about how all that played out is that this very loud national, even internet, you know, global narrative was spun out of these two things that I said, which were frankly just like things that I said. And, you know, when I think about the last five months and the things that I and my administration have done to build bridges with the business community, the narrative that was spun around those things is very, very out of step with the reality. So at the same time as -- The reality of what do you mean by reality? The reality of the relationship of me and my administration to the business community. So just to give an example, you know, we're going to be opening a little later this summer, a 90 unit tiny house village in South Park called Cloverleaf. And that is funded in part by $3 million in philanthropic contributions that we raised through Challenge Seattle. And that is coming from drum roll, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and John Stanton and Terry Gillespie. And so these are all like -- so this narrative that, you know, it's like Seattle's socialist mayor versus Starbucks. Like, well, then why are they donating a million dollars to our shelter site? So, you know, the attitude that I have tried to come in with into office toward the business community is, look, we're not going to agree on everything, right? Like, I am who I am, right? I was a community organizer who organized around progressive taxes. Proud of the work that we did to pass the jumpstart tax, which is our progressive tax on corporations. Organized around renter protections, raising the minimum wage, right? And, like, that's who I am. That's not going to change. And there's going to be things that we disagree on. However, I'm the mayor now. And I know that we face challenges as a city that we can only solve together. Everyone wants to see really meaningful progress on homelessness. Everyone wants to see really meaningful progress on public safety. And we need the kind of relationship where we can work together in good faith to tackle these challenges. And we can disagree sometimes. But we need that kind of working relationship. And I will say that we've had, like, I've had a ton of really good productive conversations with folks in the business community. And, you know, you can go and ask them. I believe that, in general, that feeling is reciprocal. And that's why we've been able to make this progress on, you know, philanthropic support for homelessness. And, you know, also just proud to have announced today that we're able to give, you know, 1,400 free tickets to youth and caregivers to World Cup games. And that also is, you know, a lot of philanthropy involved in that. So, just my reflection on that whole episode is that, you know, just, like, pause before you believe, like, the hype. Because that narrative is really not reflective of the actual work that we've been doing on the ground every day. And we will start our Q&A now.
[00:41:02] Speaker 3: Mayor Wilson, thank you so much for coming on behalf of the board. So, I took the E-line here. And I hope to get back safely. But I am all for taxes when the system is working. But I'm not sure if I'm going to get home safely tonight. Because on the way here, I already had two incidents where I should not have looked around and got next to another person carefully.
[00:41:27] Speaker ?: Question?
[00:41:28] Speaker 4: Is there a question in there?
[00:41:29] Speaker 3: Yes. What can we do to make sure public safety is ensured as we are expanding transit riders? Because I want to go home safely. And your name? Julie Kang. Yes.
[00:41:40] Mayor Wilson: Is this working? Oh, come on.
[00:41:42] Speaker ?: I'm on the edge. I'm on the edge. I'm on the edge.
[00:41:45] Mayor Wilson: Oh, wait, wait, wait. I see if you can light. Hello. Okay. We're back on. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I mean, safety, as a, as a, as a, inveterate transit rider myself, and you know, I spent the last few years, I mean, now I get driven around by my security detail. But, um, uh, as a, as a transit rider, especially with a young daughter, um, riding the bus and the train almost every day for the last few years, right, definitely hear the, the safety and security concerns. I've definitely had experiences that were uncomfortable, you know, to say, to say the least. Um, what I'll say is a few things. So, first of all, um, this is part of why we're spending in my administration so much energy on meaningfully addressing the homelessness crisis, right? Because we know part of our, um, safety issues on public transit have to do with the fact that we have thousands of people sleeping unsheltered, often with, um, you know, complex needs related to substance use disorder, mental illness. Um, and when people have nowhere to go, they often end up using our buses and trains as shelter. And, um, you know, if they have unaddressed, uh, problems, then that can spill over into, um, unsafe situations, right? Um, so, you know, the, the big answer is we need to address that crisis. Because it's not a public transit problem, it's a public space problem, um, and a, and a housing crisis problem. Um, and the other thing I'll say, specific to transit, though, is, um, a, a, a process kicked off after the murder of Metro operator Sean Yim, um, uh, about a year and a half ago. Uh, there's a regional, uh, Transit Safety and Security Task Force that I participated in in my pre-mayor life through the Transit Riders Union, but now the city is also continuing to participate in. So Metro and Sound Transit and our law enforcement agencies and city and county, right, are all collaborating on, um, hopefully better approaches to safety on public transit. And so that's just an ongoing effort that, um, that's really important.
[00:43:29] Speaker 3: I just want to clarify, Eli is the one that goes from North Seattle to downtown.
[00:43:34] Mayor Wilson: Yeah. I know. Very familiar. Hi, Mayor Wilson.
[00:43:38] Speaker 5: I'm Rudy Pantoya, and I'm a Chicano. I've lived in North Seattle since the late '60s, and the cameras, we have a camera on 100th and Aurora, and I don't know if they were working at the time of the shooting between Burger Master and 9800. I encourage you to take a look at that footage, and it'll help explain, give you some understanding of why the neighbors feel the way they do. And us small business people that work along that corridor, it was absolutely insane. Um, my truck was stolen. The license plate reader helped me find my truck over by Northwest Hospital. I support that. And just because we're Mexican-American doesn't mean that, that, uh, uh, we're afraid of cameras and stuff like that. If we can find some sort of justice to hold people accountable for their actions.
[00:44:33] Speaker 4: So, so the question, what's the question here?
[00:44:36] Speaker 5: The question is, we'd like you to take a look at those. Can you, have you seen the cameras? Have you seen the video footage of that shootout?
[00:44:45] Mayor Wilson: Um, I have not seen the video footage of that shootout.
[00:44:55] Speaker 6: Hi, my name's Genevieve Courtney. Um, I wear many hats, but the one I'll say today is that I'm a volunteer park steward for the Dr. Jose Rizal Park. I bike commute, um, from right next door to the park into, um, First Hill every day. So we're right through 12th and Jackson. And I've been doing that for the last 10 years. Um, in those 10 years, I have seen three shootings and a stabbing on, um, 12th and Jackson or surrounding areas right in the middle of the day. So as you know, this is a very severe, um, problem in this area. Um, what I've seen that started with the last mayor and is continuing is, um, that I think it's a couple times a day. Um, the city comes and power washes people, um, from the little Saigon neighborhood. And now those people are being pushed up into the North Beacon Hill neighborhood. Um, and now that those people have been pushed up into the North Beacon Hill neighborhood, they are, um, coming around. We did this big community meeting. Eddie Lynn was there. And now we have services coming around and offering these folks services who are living in the park and dying of addiction, frankly. Um, what I would ask is when will the power washing stop? When will you accept that this isn't working? It's just moving the problem around and we've spent enough money on it. My second question is when there's a group of people, there's some people who are going to accept services, but there's some people who might need mandated treatment. Are you willing to mandate treatment to any of these, any people, any of these residents to help them and to help the community? Yeah.
[00:46:24] Mayor Wilson: Yeah. So, um, as I mentioned, we're about to kick off, um, kind of a new approach to 12th and Jackson, which, you know, I'm hopeful is going to start to improve conditions there. Right. Um, and so that's not power washing, right? We're talking about a deeper collaboration between, um, our police officers and the law enforcement assisted diversion program, and also the, um, fire departments, um, testing my, my acronyms here, um, mobile integrated health unit. Um, and so we're going to be making a really concerted effort to, um, to basically assist the folks around 12th and Jackson. And there's also a law enforcement component, especially when it comes to the active dealing behavior and the, um, illicit street vending. Um, but the, the, the intention is to really, um, be able to, um, get people the, the help that they need. Um, and, uh, you know, I will say that the, the law enforcement assisted diversion approach, right? This is, um, you know, part of, part of basically enforcing norms of public space is making it clear that at some point there are consequences, right? And then, um, lead is basically an alternative to arrest or, you know, to booking or to arrest, um, or to jail where, um, uh, people are accepting, you know, services with case management. And so that, that's part of this approach that we're looking at. Um, I, I don't believe we have the, the power locally to do involuntary treatment, regardless of whether, you know, we think that's going to be an effective approach. Um, but that's, that's where we're at right now. And, and I'll say I, I totally understand, um, very aware of the North Beacon Hill situation. And I think part of my hope here, um, you know, again, we're just about to start opening a bunch of new enhanced shelters with, um, with supportive services. So very hopeful that we're going to be able to navigate, start navigating far more people, um, from encampments, um, into, um, actual shelter with services, right? Right now we don't have a lot of options for people, which is part of why it feels like we're just moving people around because in a sense we are.
[00:48:22] Speaker 7: Uh, Mayor Wilson, Thomas Goldstein, good to see you. Uh, New York City is experiencing the lowest murder rate in its history. It is, uh, a city that now has half the murders per capita that Seattle does. They have, uh, NYPD has 18,000 integrated cameras that they use to solve crime. So if we're looking to New York City as a lead, I think they've already answered the question. They care a lot about data in New York City. What do 8 million New Yorkers know that we don't?
[00:48:58] Mayor Wilson: Um, well, I would love to see a, okay. Let's hold, let's hold the applause, please.
[00:49:05] Speaker 4: We've got to get through a lot of questions.
[00:49:07] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, so, I mean, what you were suggesting is that the reason for New York's lower, um, murder rate is their cameras. Um, I'm not going to take that, I'm not going to take your word for that. I would love to see, um, a larger analysis. Um, but yeah, I mean, I think what we're trying to do right now is really assess the efficacy of our, um, CCTV camera pilot, um, as well as, um, the, the data, the data picture, um, to inform our decisions moving forward about the appropriate use of surveillance in Seattle. So, try and take a, you know, evidence-based, um, approach to that and, um, the, the conversation will continue. Thank you.
[00:49:48] Speaker 8: Mary Wilson, my name is Gus Ringo. Oh, right here? Yeah. Oh yeah, thanks. Um, my question for you is, there is a person kidnapped by ICE at the Lake City exit, uh, near where I live, two weeks ago. Um, with more cameras being put up for the World Cup, even though some of them will be turned off for now, how will you prevent the Seattle Police Department, which had the most attendees of January 6th, out of all the police departments across the country, from providing ICE access to these cameras?
[00:50:18] Mayor Wilson: Um, so, we have in Washington, the Keep Washington Working Act, which prohibits, among other things, um, local law enforcement from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement, and we, so, you know, we are, um, working with SPD, making sure that they are not, uh, sharing information with ICE. So, that is, that is the policy, um, and, uh, certainly, uh, want to make sure that that doesn't happen.
[00:50:50] Speaker 3: Hi, Katie, my name is Neat, and I have an easy one for you. What religion are you?
[00:50:55] Mayor Wilson: Um, my, uh, my parents are, um, evolutionary biologists and, um, atheists, so I did not grow up in a religious household. Um, I, I suppose I would consider myself, um, spiritual in some aspect, but I'm not part of any organized religion. Thank you.
[00:51:14] Speaker ?: All right.
[00:51:17] Speaker 9: Hi, Mayor Wilson. My name is Saul Spady. Uh, my grandfather started Dick's Drive-Ins. I really appreciate your commentary.
[00:51:23] Speaker 10: Oh.
[00:51:26] Speaker 9: Everybody loves the burgers. Uh, brings us together. Um, I, I appreciate your commentary on low, like, improving public safety to, uh, be able to lower the cost of businesses. Uh, I, I don't work for the businesses. There's more feedback on the last couple years when I was there, but we were having to put increasingly large amounts of revenue into, uh, private security, which you see because the Seattle police wouldn't come in time if any of our customers were assaulted. Do you have any plans to be able to lower that burden on businesses? Because we, you know, spend 10% of your revenue on private security. That's like an extra sales tax. And, uh, we got a lower cost somewhere, right? Yeah.
[00:52:02] Mayor Wilson: So, I mean, again, again, this is why we're putting a lot of attention on the homelessness crisis. I'll say, um, we're also trying to figure out how, um, operationally SPD can, um, be really creative and effective in how we're using our police force to provide in neighborhoods that, um, really need a more consistent, visible police presence. How we can achieve that. Um, as you might know, we have some, we haven't really talked about this, but we have some really severe budget problems at the city of Seattle right now. Um, we have a, a very large budget deficit, which has been, you know, a structural deficit that goes back years, but it's been kind of papered over a lot of one-time fixes. We're running out of tools. So there are challenges ahead. Um, and, um, but anyway, trying to figure out how we can use our, our force as effectively as possible.
[00:52:48] Speaker 1: Jillian, just a quick follow-up only because you brought it up, budget deficit. It's more than what was initially projected. You inherited the budget deficit and it's going to be half a billion dollars over the next several years. That's one way to put it. What, what are you, you have talked about taxes in the past with me personally. So are you going to expand the payroll tax to pay for this?
[00:53:09] Mayor Wilson: Uh, so we're looking at options now. Um, and it's a, it's a very large deficit, like you said. Um, I think we're looking at about $175 million, um, for next year. Um, and so, yeah, we are looking at new revenue options. I'll say like nothing's like off the table. I mean, I don't think we all want to look at what $175 million of cuts to our core public services look like. Um, so, um, yeah, the answer to that is right now we're looking at options.
[00:53:36] Speaker 1: Really quick. What about capital gains? Are you going to implement a local capital gains tax?
[00:53:40] Mayor Wilson: Uh, again, options are on the table.
[00:53:42] Speaker 11: Okay. Hi, I'm a small landlord from Ballard and part of a network called Seattle Grassroots Landlords. And I wanted to ask you about rental housing regulations. I know in addition to transit, that's a big part of your political reputation. And you've been very successful working with coalitions to pass a multitude of very experimental new laws in Seattle over the past decade. Uh, I'm not sure why you're. Well, I'm not, I'm not sure how experimental they are, but go ahead. Well, they, we have a lot of laws that are not in place anywhere else, like first in time and the roommate law, some of our eviction laws. There's a lot of absolutely experimental laws on the books and probably about two dozen new regulations just in the last 10 years that very much have made it riskier, more complicated, more costly to be able to offer rental housing in the city. I know the fellow behind me wants to ask about affordable housing, uh, for workforce, uh, people. And so my question during your campaign, you were highly critical of Bruce Harrell for even considering looking at amending or repealing revising any existing laws and talked only about wanting to pass more laws and more punitive oversight of landlords. So we definitely need a very fair, you know, stable, affordable housing. But do you stand firm in your position that you think we should have no, um, changes to any laws? Because there's huge impacts for the success of social housing, for our affordable housing providers, for all levels of housing.
[00:55:12] Mayor Wilson: Um, yeah, and I'll, and for context, I'll say, um, you know, last year, um, I was involved in organizing with the coalition that was pushing back against some proposed rollback of Seattle rental protections, um, that were being, um, advocated for by, um, some, some of the affordable housing providers, I will say.
[00:55:30] Speaker 11: Or was it moving them forward to evolve them?
[00:55:32] Mayor Wilson: I, I will say that the, the, the tenant advocates, uh, uh, of, of which I was one perceived it as a rollback. So I will say that in the affordable housing, so some of the motivation behind, um, I think the push to, again, roll back some tenant protections were some very real issues, especially in the affordable housing sector. Um, and, and I think those issues are very real, um, and, uh, and those --
[00:55:55] Speaker 11: The affordable housing sector or for all -- I mean, I think the most --
[00:55:58] Mayor Wilson: Let's let them answer the question. Yeah, I think, I think they're most acute in the affordable housing sector. Um, and, uh, and so I will say that, um, I, um, uh, my office is, is talking about what it would look like to, um, convene stakeholders around a bunch of challenges that the affordable housing sector is facing, um, and looking at what are the best way to address those challenges. Um, I, I would not, like, totally take, um, changes to our landlord-tenant law off the table. Um, but I would say that, um, and I would be very, very cautious about making those changes, um, because the goal, in my mind, is to improve housing stability, um, for renters. And some of the changes that were being proposed, even if there were maybe some good reasons behind them, could have some significant, maybe unintended but negative consequences for renters across the private rental market. So I'm gonna say, not 100% no ever to any changes, willing to consider changes, but I'm gonna be very cautious about, about changing things in ways that could, um, harm housing stability for renters.
[00:57:01] Speaker ?: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[00:57:03] Speaker 12: Thank you. Thank you. Hi, Katie. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm a local business owner. The question is about your commitment to higher, more denser, and faster. I'm curious, how can we rezone the five, five block area around Seattle's light rail stations for 20 stories to build where it makes sense to get density, while preserving single family neighborhoods that make Seattle so special?
[00:57:29] Mayor Wilson: Um, so I, I'm not gonna speak to the, like, specifics, number of floors, you know, et cetera, um, but, you know, I do believe that we need to do more in terms of, uh, zoning for dense transit-oriented development, right, around our frequent transit. Um, but I do also believe that, um, we need more density in our neighborhoods around Seattle, and we need to be, you know, sensitive about how we're doing that, but, um, I don't believe that we should be, um, leaving our, uh, single family neighborhoods, without additional density.
[00:58:04] Speaker 10: Hi, Howard Gale from Lower Queen Anne. Um, before I ask my question, I do want to mention in terms of cameras, I do appreciate what you've done so far with cameras, and I think everyone needs to take into account, we had an incident last summer in Wallingford, where because of a camera, an Asian man was profiled and actually arrested, and it turned out he was not the proper suspect. So there is a downside to cameras. But my question is, um, right now I'm attending the inquest, King County inquest, of Derek Hayden, who was killed in 2021 in a health crisis and murdered by Seattle Police Department. We had another case like that. We've had 14 cases in less than 12 years of that. Someone has only a knife or no weapon, they're in crisis and they get killed. That happened just last year in West Seattle. So my question is, what steps will you take to try to change this? This doesn't happen in England, it doesn't happen in Japan, it doesn't happen in a lot of other places.
[00:59:06] Mayor Wilson: So, I mean, I'm committed to police accountability and to, you know, we have several, um, agencies in Seattle, our, um, Office of the Inspector General and our Office of Police Accountability and, um, they, you know, don't, don't work perfectly, as I'm sure you will, you will explain to me, but, um, I think as we are, um, moving forward, especially into negotiating our next police contract, improving accountability will be a priority.
[00:59:33] Speaker 13: Uh, Mayor Wilson, thank you for all the hard work you've been putting in. I know it's not an easy job. Uh, my name is Nancy Connolly. I'm a physician. I've been working with the homeless, uh, for the last six years or so. And I appreciate what you said about moving people from shelters into housing. I wonder if you could expand on, it's easy to say services. People need a lot of different kinds of services and some of that requires quite a lot of capital investment. I'd love to see more services for people moving out of shelters. And I'd love to hear more about your plans for that. Thank you.
[01:00:07] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, I mean, I think the high level answer to that is just to say that, like, I recognize that it's very important that, um, as we're moving people out of shelter and into a permanent housing situation that we're really matching the serve their needs with the situation that they're going into. And I think we definitely have a problem in the affordable housing sector right now where, um, often people with pretty high needs are in housing that is, you know, maybe affordable, but it doesn't really have, um, the services and the support that they need. And that causes some of the problems that we're seeing with behavioral health issues that can impact other tenants and staff, um, and, you know, et cetera. So, um, just to recognize that there is a big problem there. And, um, I mean, I don't, like, I don't have the solution because, you know, part of the problem right now is, um, you know, permanent supportive housing is under threat. And we actually need to be investing more in making sure that we have, like, on-site, um, services for people and instead we're kind of playing defense and trying to make sure that that doesn't get defunded by, by the federal government. So, um, I think the best I can say is that, um, we're gonna try to be really intentional about how we're navigating people into permanent housing, uh, to try to make sure it meets their needs. And I, and I guess one part of this, like, one thing that we've discussed, um, as a possible model is looking at, um, given that there, we still do have, um, some affordable housing buildings with pretty high levels of vacancies, um, how can, can, could the city, for example, buy down rents to make those more deeply affordable and then identify people in our shelter system, um, who don't have high needs, um, who could move into those units and be successful there in a way that opens up space, um, that is appropriate for people with higher needs coming out of homelessness. So I think there's some of that just better coordination between service providers and housing providers that the city can, um, can help to lead on. Um, and it is just a, a really hard challenge, especially in a, uh, environment where we don't have all the resources we need.
[01:02:00] Speaker 13: Leaning on successful programs like Union Gospel Mission and Oxford House and things that exist that are successful and could be expanded could be an option.
[01:02:11] Speaker ?: Um, I think that's a really hard challenge.
[01:02:13] Speaker 14: Um, I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. That's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. Um, I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. I think that's a really hard challenge. Um, I work in mobility technology, uh, for Seattle, not the city of Seattle, as the transit city expert for Google and Google Maps, um, at my company. Um, I'm a TA for the director of the Office of Planning and Community Development, RICO, career Dango. And last night we were all discussing the tragedy of the Ballard Link Line 3 being denied at council. Um, I won't express my concerns. Um, however, I wanted to ask what are your plans for mobility having this bill being prolonged until the end of your term?
[01:02:58] Mayor Wilson: Um, so you're asking about Ballard Link Extension. Well, I'll just say, so, I'm a member of the Sound Transit Board. And so, what you're referring to is the Sound Transit Board just recently, um, uh, passed our, uh, enterprise initiative resolution, basically, about how we're gonna move forward with our regional light rail system. I'm really proud that I was able to offer an amendment to get Graham Street Station into that affordable plan. Um, that, uh, neighborhood has been waiting for a very long time for that station. And so now that is on track. Um, and what I'll say is that now that that's on track, I can devote my full Sound Transit attention into making sure that we get to Market Street as fast as possible. Um, and, um, I am hopeful, um, because, uh, you know, we are charging ahead, full steam ahead with the planning and design work for Ballard all the way to Market Street that will allow us to start to find those cost savings. Um, and at the same time, um, going to back to Olympia to get 75-year bond authority, uh, there's some other finance tools, other things, many other things that the Sound Transit Board will be plowing ahead with that should be able to bring more of those stations into affordability. Because we absolutely do not want to stop at Seattle Center. That is not a good terminus. So, um, I am, I am determined and hopeful, um, that we can do that work so that by the time, um, Ballard Link Extension would be at the point where we'd want to be putting shovels in the ground, we will have the money to get to Market Street. So my goal is no actual delay. Um, so even though it looks like what we, um, voted on was, um, deferring, my goal is no actual delay. We get to Market Street as fast as we possibly can.
[01:04:35] Speaker 4: So we have time for at least one more question, possibly two, so I'm going to ask you to come on up. Hi, Mayor Wilson.
[01:04:42] Speaker 15: My name is Simon Thornton, friends at Denny and Blaine. You've been a vocal ally of the queer community. And in February, your office introduced a resolution affirming Denny and Blaine Park's status as a historic LGBT gathering space, following the steps of the Washington State Heritage Registrar. Do you still support this resolution? And if so, how can we get this post past the finish line for a Pride Month signing?
[01:05:02] Mayor Wilson: Um, so getting the resolution past the finish line? Uh, where, where is it in the, is it, hasn't passed?
[01:05:10] Speaker 15: It is currently sitting on Deborah Juarez's desk in the Parks Committee. And has been since March.
[01:05:16] Mayor Wilson: Um, I'll get back to you on that.
[01:05:23] Speaker 16: Thank you. Thank you, Katie Wilson, for being here. Maria McDaniel, born in Seattle, South Seattle, Lake Washington Boulevard, closure all weekends this summer. Let's get back to Bicycle Sunday and make it equitable for everyone. That's a scenic route that I've used for years. So is it the goal to close it permanently?
[01:05:41] Mayor Wilson: Um, it is not the goal to close, you mean like all the time, all year round, all the time? Um, no. If that's your question. All right.
[01:05:52] Speaker 4: Okay, we have one more question. You, you, we, we're not able to get through all of our questions. I'm sorry guys. Um, we have a limited time and the mayor has been incredibly generous with our time. I understand. So we can either get one more question in or we can close out the event and I'll ask you all to be respectful. Do you want me to say?
[01:06:18] Speaker 1: Yeah. Jillian, the mayor says that she's lying. Okay. I'll take the questions. We can take a couple more questions.
[01:06:23] Speaker 4: Okay. Come on. Stand up.
[01:06:26] Speaker 17: Okay. Hi there. I am Jay from Roosevelt, Seattle. A neighborhood that's currently dotted with at least 10 empty lots. So my question is what policies can the city implement to make it more financial advantageous for developers to build on empty properties and more costly to leave those lots vacant? And how can activating these vacant lots catalyze a broader positive impact on issues like empty storefronts, struggling businesses and neighborhood safety?
[01:06:52] Mayor Wilson: Um, yeah, I mean, that's a good and complicated question. And I know that vacant, vacant lots, um, and vacant properties are obviously an issue in many places in the city right now. So, um, the kind of tools that I think are worth considering, um, some cities including San Francisco have a vacancy tax, um, then that's really mostly applied to storefronts based on storefront footage. That doesn't necessarily help, um, I mean, I could see reasons for that, um, and, and, and, like, I'm very open to that. I will say that we're in an environment where in terms of, like, development, it's really hard to assemble capital to do development with really high interest rates, um, and also just, um, uh, you know, for example, high rates of office vacancy rates not really, it's, it's hard to, to be like, yes, I'm gonna build an office building, right? Um, and, uh, so there, we might need to look at other tools, so it's not just about kind of the, the, I guess the vacancy tax is kind of like the stick approach, right? Um, like, ah, if you don't develop this, you're gonna get fines. Um, but, uh, but I think, um, we might have to look at other approaches to kind of incentivize development. Um, I mean, also we can look at, uh, I don't know, this is a complex question, but, like, just to acknowledge it's a problem.
[01:08:00] Speaker 1: Just to clarify, because I think someone might listen to that answer and businesses might be confused. So right now there's a 36% office vacancy rate downtown. Are you saying you're gonna tax those businesses? No, that's not, that's not what I'm saying. You're talking, what are you saying?
[01:08:13] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, I mean, he was asking a question about vacant lots in Roosevelt. Um, and I was kind of brought in some different causes and maybe different solutions. Um, so I was, yeah, anyway, not, sorry, not a very coherent answer. But, um, there's, I think there's also, I mean, for, for downtown, there's a whole different suite of possible solutions and like, how can we get tenants into these buildings? How can we be creative about, you know, repurposing buildings for housing potentially, right? Um, or, um, uh, you know, art space, right? So there's, like, a lot of things we can think about there. But just if you're talking about, like, developing, getting a private, uh, owner to develop a vacant lot. Um, it's hard in an environment where it's just hard to come up with the financing to develop something there. Um, but, uh, definitely, like, interested in figuring out options. I know land value tax could be a good option, but that's not something we necessarily have to... ...the power to do without a change in state law. So, anyway.
[01:09:16] Speaker 18: Oh, cool. Sorry. Yeah. All right. Hi, uh, Robert Spring, a Capitol Hill resident and, uh, from Schenectady, New York. Uh, so, Mayor Wilson, the, uh, statewide non-compete ban arrives in 2027 and in places like California. Freeing up talent that way has historically fueled new company formation. Uh, with tech layoffs across the region showing no sign of slowing, they give Seattle a real opening to deter... ...to turn displaced workers into business owners or founders who might otherwise go... ...otherwise go elsewhere, right? Um, because the city leans on sales and BNO tax rather than an income tax, actually growing and retaining that local business base is critical to our city's finances. Not just our overall economy. Uh, what steps does your administration plan on taking to encourage small business and startup formation given that... ...we have this window, it goes into effect next year, so you have some time to actually plan?
[01:10:12] Mayor Wilson: Um, can you, sorry, that was like a winding question, so can you start, can you just... There's a, there's a ban on non-competes coming next year.
[01:10:23] Speaker 4: Uh-huh. Do you plan on taking any steps in that interim leading up to that to kind of help incubate, um, entrepreneurial climate and tech workers...
[01:10:32] Mayor Wilson: ...maybe forming their own businesses, stuff like that?
[01:10:33] Speaker 4: Interesting.
[01:10:34] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, that's not something that we've explored. I mean, we're looking at a, a bunch of options for just how we can, um, think creatively about economic development and entrepreneurship. But happy to take ideas, so reach out, reach out to my office if you have thoughts about that.
[01:10:47] Speaker 18: Cool, will do. Thank you. Hello, thank you.
[01:10:53] Speaker 19: My name is Shannon Smith, Belltown resident. Lots of hard questions for thanks for doing this. I'm reminded, um, around our justice system and the blindside killer. And I'm just curious, you know, he assaulted two women, he kicked one lady when she was gardening. How can we feel safe as residents when he sent, uh, spent 12 months in prison, I believe, got out and did a crime spree. So how can we feel safe when that kind of justice system is happening and there's not a lot of accountability?
[01:11:22] Mayor Wilson: Um, yeah, I mean, uh, I would say that very much sympathize with people's feelings of lack of safety. Um, and, you know, I will say that our, our rates of violent crime are, are too high. Um, they're also, like, relatively flat. Um, and I, I just, I think it's important to both recognize that we need to do better. Um, and also not to kind of catastrophize on how, you know, dangerous things are, right? Um, and, I mean, if you're talking about kind of sentencing laws, um, you know, that's, uh, I think a complex conversation. Um, but, yeah, I don't know, it's, it's, uh, we want everyone, everyone deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood. And, um, that's kind of a complicated mix of how we deploy our law enforcement and, um, our justice system and how we also have, you know, alternative response for, for other kinds of crisis calls. So, it's a, a work in progress.
[01:12:35] Speaker 20: Thanks. Hi, uh, I'm Paula Steeves, also live on Capitol Hill, and I have yet another question regarding the surveillance cameras. Uh, I think it's something you actually brought up during the mayoral debates, and that's a possible withdrawal from the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Um, my understanding is that if any of the SPD officers on that task force, um, they get an FBI email address, they're not subject to, uh, the new law you mentioned, you know, they're not subject to any sort of Washington public disclosure laws. So, I'm wondering, are you still considering a possible withdrawal from that agreement?
[01:13:12] Mayor Wilson: Um, not actively considering that, but, uh, would love to learn more about the data security concerns that you just brought up.
[01:13:19] Speaker 20: I think you mentioned it, so.
[01:13:21] Mayor Wilson: Well, I, I mentioned, I mentioned that on the basis of a news article about a couple of other cities that have withdrawn, um, but, you know, would love some more information.
[01:13:30] Speaker 20: They don't solve, you know, the immigration concerns while still addressing the public safety needs. So, look into it. Thanks.
[01:13:37] Mayor Wilson: Thank you.
[01:13:38] Speaker 21: Hi, Mr. Katie Wilson. My name is Donita Sinclair. I'm the mother of Horace Lorenzo Anderson that was murdered and chopped Chaz in 2020. Okay. We're talking about defunding the police again. So, we want to know what are you going to do to keep us safe in our community, not re-traumatize us, right, with, um, public safety. You're talking about gun violence and it's not at the top. We helped you campaign and you forgot all about us. I'm just keeping it real and asking you. Two other questions I want to ask you. As a mother that survived, I'm not on addiction. I don't have any substance use. I can't afford to live in my home. What are you going to do to help us stay in our home without being a part of a treatment, without being in a shelter, without being in type of, uh, encampment? So, what are we going to do to stay alive and free?
[01:14:24] Mayor Wilson: Yeah. Um, gun violence is a very, very high priority for my administration, right? We've seen too much gun violence already this year. Um, we saw the tragic shooting of two youth in Rainier Beach. Um, we've seen shootings in the Chinatown International District. So, um, we're, we are actively working on, um, how to improve the cities and it's not just the city, right? In collaboration with the county, um, and community partners, how to improve our, um, approach to gun violence, both in terms of how we present, uh, prevent it from happening in the first place and then how we respond to it. So, this is a very high priority. Okay.
[01:14:59] Speaker 21: So, the last question is, are we allowing re-offenders to get back out, just like on the camera, uh, uh, immigration, whoever he is, assaulted a lady, 77 years old, and you guys let them right back out. So, we're asking, are you supporting us and helping us? Are you allowing offenders to keep re-offending and hurting our people in our community?
[01:15:17] Mayor Wilson: Yeah. So, I mean, again, like, the, these are larger issues related to our criminal justice system, which is not just a city, a city law issue, but I, I hear you. I hear the, I hear the concern and we need to keep working at it.
[01:15:33] Speaker 22: Hi, my name is Angela Rosen. Um, I own four businesses in the state of Washington and three in Seattle. And, um, we recently had a community meeting in Mount Baker. I live in Mount Baker and I, I've worked in downtown Seattle and own, own a business for 19 years. Um, my solution lately has, I have 45 employees here in downtown Seattle, is to buy whistles. So, we work in, yes. So, in my community, I bought a hundred whistles for the, for, for Mount Baker. We wear them around our necks because it's a community sign that we're in, we're not safe. And I also bought them for my employees. Do you know that almost 25 employees have had to use that whistle? They're not safe in downtown Seattle. And I just wanted to know, so I've worked in between Seattle, New York and San Francisco for 10 years. And, you know, San Francisco was kind of way worse than here, but they have a really good new mayor and he's making, he's, he's really making strides. He, in, in less than a year, he's brought 67% of the homelessness off of the city streets of San Francisco. Are you willing? I'm willing to have you meet with him, make an appointment and learn from what he's doing because we don't have time. This is going to turn into Detroit, you know, so what is your plan on bringing back downtown Seattle? And what is your economic plan for not having 37% vacancy rate? So, so I think your questions there were a couple.
[01:17:12] Speaker 4: Are you willing to meet with the city of San Francisco to take some notes potentially on their progress? And what are you, what is your overall crime reduction plan? Is that the question? Right.
[01:17:23] Speaker 22: Yeah. Right. First of all, like, you cannot, like, I'm so sorry, but.
[01:17:28] Speaker 4: We gotta, we gotta let her answer the question. She has a family too. Lots of, lots of, lots of questions.
[01:17:32] Mayor Wilson: So, first of all, my, my, my team's already in touch with San Francisco team. We're talking with a lot of cities around the country, trying to make sure that we're, that we're, you know, figuring out our best approaches and learning from other cities. Yeah, I mean, downtown is a, you know, multifaceted challenge and one that we are, like, absolutely committed to continue to make progress on. And I will say there are some, like, good springs of hope, right? I mean, we just saw Barnes and Noble open up downtown, right? We have, you know, FIFA's coming. And there's, there's a, there's a lot of, there's a lot of, I think, hope coming up. And we have a long way to go, especially in terms of our homelessness crisis downtown and public safety and drug use. And so, we're going to continue to work on those things, you know, and I think we've talked about that tonight. In terms of office vacancies, I mean, this is partly about how do we get more companies to come and locate downtown. And that's something where my administration's having a lot of conversations with folks in the business community about. How can we really figure out just our larger plans for economic development, especially with a lot of uncertainty in the tech sector. That is not, frankly, just about Seattle, right? Like, we're seeing layoffs sector-wide in the tech sector. There's a lot of uncertainty about its future, which means uncertainty for Seattle. So, can we, can we think really intentionally about how we diversify our economy? Can we get, you know, clean, the kind of clean energy economy going here? We have a lot of assets in thinking about that. And how we, how can we do that in a way that's really focused on downtown and addressing some of that vacancy. Also, collaboration with our arts and culture sector, right? And some of that's already happening, right? There's a building downtown that's being repurposed as art space and artist housing. And can we do more of that, right? So, we're, we're working on this stuff, right? It's, nothing's a quick fix, but it's really all hands on deck. So, like, invite you to reach out to my office. We're looking for creative strategies and we're going to keep working on it together. You know, there's some city people here today.
[01:19:25] Speaker 22: So, you can talk to Artie? This guy right here. He's in my office right here. I mean, like, the Rolex rent is, you know, $467,000 for a student.
[01:19:29] Mayor Wilson: I mean, it doesn't have a good. And you could have just rented it.
[01:19:31] Speaker 4: You know, we gotta, we gotta keep these two questions. Okay.
[01:19:33] Speaker 22: So, and, and. Thank you. Mayor, do you, it is 8:05, 8:06. Do we have time for one more question? Yeah, we got, we got, I'm here. I'll be here till midnight. Keep asking questions. Okay.
[01:19:41] Speaker 4: Well, and I think, I think that deserves a real round of applause because she has a family, too. And she's given us so much more of her time than she promised. So, this is the last question. And then I'll have our board member close us out. That's fine.
[01:19:52] Mayor Wilson: I, I, I, I think that deserves a real round of applause because she has a family too.
[01:19:55] Speaker 4: And she's given us so much more of her time than she promised. So, this is the last question and then I'll have our board member close us out. That's fine.
[01:20:00] Speaker 23: I, I, I think, listening to this conversation, my biggest frustration is there is no answer. So, talking about bringing new businesses into vacant properties, when you have dis, we have so many businesses leaving because we have not embraced them. We have not supported them. We have Starbucks leaving. We have Amazon leaving. So, why in the world would you build a new building to put a business in downtown Seattle when there's 36% vacancy that is only going up? There's absolutely no incentive to be here. It's unsafe. It is filthy. And until we decide to take actual action and not just talk without any steps that are actually concrete, this will never change. I lived in Seattle for 20 years. And until Lori came in and actually stood up and said, we're going to take concrete change and nothing happened. I have not heard one concrete answer tonight to safety. You want to defund police. There is no safety. I'm not sure when I said that I wanted to defund police. I wanted to defund police.
[01:21:17] Speaker ?: I wanted to defund police.
[01:21:17] Speaker 23: When are you going to come with concrete responses to the issues that will solve the problem?
[01:21:29] Speaker 4: Okay, guys. Let's keep it cool. Let's keep it respectful, please, and let the mayor answer.
[01:21:33] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, so I mean, I think we've been talking about some concrete actions, also recognizing that these are challenging issues. So I don't believe that I have called for defunding the police when I've been sitting up here. So I've said that we are working very closely with our police department on how to improve, especially our on-the-ground visible presence in downtown and other neighborhoods around the city. And we're also working really hard on how to improve coordination between our police department and the care department and other service providers, service providers that provide kind of alternative response for crisis situations. So we're doing a lot of work to try to improve that on-the-ground experience for people, again, both downtown and neighborhoods around the city. And yeah, do you want to keep going?
[01:22:16] Speaker 23: One more question, because all of this costs money, but when you are pushing out the tax base from a corporate standpoint and then all of the tax burden is going to be pushed to the individual, then individuals can't afford to stay here. So it's a mismatch of the money that we have and the issues.
[01:22:37] Mayor Wilson: Yeah, no, no, I am very, believe me, as the mayor, I am very acutely aware of how much our tax base and our ability to provide high-quality public service services depends on really on growth and on a thriving economy, frankly, with high-wage jobs, right? And so that is something that our city needs in order to be able to fund the public services that we depend on. Yes, every time a downtown office building goes down in value, that property tax burden is pushed onto residents. That is a truth, right? And so it is very important that we are figuring out this larger picture of economic development and how we are creating good, high-paying jobs in our region and how we're making it more affordable for people, because that also is -- it's also bad for businesses, right, when their workforce can't afford to live in the city. So all these things are connected, and we absolutely need to make this a great place to work, live, raise a family, start a business, run a business, grow a business. That's the goal.