Group advocate Tanya Woo earned The Occasions’ endorsement when she sought a Seattle Metropolis Council seat final 12 months.
After falling quick, Woo utilized for and received an appointment to a vacant place on the council. Now, as an incumbent, she is in search of election to citywide Place 8.
In a crowded main, Woo continues to rise to the highest.
Woo grew up on Beacon Hill, works within the Chinatown Worldwide District and lives within the Rainier Valley. She has the sort of hands-on expertise that makes her an efficient council member.
As lead volunteer with Chinatown Worldwide District Group Watch, Woo supplied meals and different help to individuals dwelling unsheltered. She has administered the overdose prevention drug Narcan and distributed fentanyl testing strips.
Her household renovated, and he or she managed, the Louisa Lodge within the ID, which incorporates reasonably priced residences and retailers. As anybody who has attended group conferences across the metropolis is aware of, Woo exhibits up.
“My workplace focuses on three prime priorities,” she informed the board. “The primary one is affordability. Quantity two is public security. And we now have to deal with homelessness. I really feel like we’ve been failed by KCRHA [King County Regional Homelessness Authority]. Whereas our regional method is the fitting method, we have to make it work, and we have to produce outcomes.”
The Metropolis Council faces an approximate $260 million funds hole that have to be mounted. Whereas tax revenues elevated lately, metropolis spending accelerated even quicker.
A ballot by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce revealed 76% of Seattleites agreed with the assertion that town ought to reprioritize governmental fundamentals earlier than contemplating elevating taxes. Solely 23% supported the notion that town ought to keep present spending and lift new taxes to cowl the deficit.
Woo was the one candidate of the 4 interviewed by the editorial board who agreed with the vast majority of ballot respondents.
“I don’t assume we should always increase taxes,” she mentioned. “As a small-business proprietor, as somebody who has constructed reasonably priced housing, we now have to make it work and make actually exhausting selections. We’ve to prioritize.”
When requested concerning the significance of a uniformed police officer to public security on a scale from 1-10, Woo responded with an 8. The opposite candidates gave solutions starting from 1 to five.
Contemplating the alarmingly lengthy response occasions to emergency calls attributable to understaffing, rebuilding the Seattle Police Division should proceed to be a prime precedence for the council. Woo will get this.
Lastly, Woo helps amending the Tree Safety Ordinance, laws handed final 12 months that town’s personal City Forestry Fee doubts will put Seattle on monitor to fulfill its environmental objectives.
“I grew up on Beacon Hill, dwell within the Rainier Valley. We’ve tree deserts and warmth islands. We’re not attending to our metropolis objective of 30% tree cover by 2030. We’re not going to have the ability to make that. We have to prioritize bushes.”
Different candidates within the race embody: Tariq Yusuf, Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Saunatina Sanchez.
For probably the most half, the opposite hopefuls symbolize a throwback to earlier councils, with positions on taxes and regulation enforcement that appear out of step with the vast majority of voters’ considerations.
Woo dealt with herself effectively in her quick time on the council. Residents ought to elect Tanya Woo for Place 8.
