Platform

Everyone needs and deserves a healthy, safe and affordable place to live. In King County, that has been growing increasingly out of reach as a severe shortage of housing options makes it too hard for people to choose to live here – from young adults and students renting their first apartments, to seniors on fixed incomes, to working families trying to buy a first home. Too many people simply cannot afford to live in King County. 

That’s why I have made it my mission to expand housing opportunities. As a councilmember and regional leader, I’ve organized city, regional, private and non-profit partners to provide thousands of new homes near light rail via Sound Transit, and to create the capacity for over 200,000 more affordable homes through work done at the Affordable Housing Committee that I founded and chair. 

Although we’ve made progress toward expanding housing, it’s not nearly enough. We know that silos remain, hindering our progress, and at times our efforts are counterproductive – turning the housing spigot to “off” when we should be focused on turning it to “on.” Too often, government adds barriers and costs, preventing needed housing production and resulting in a modern-day redlining, effectively excluding people from being able to live throughout our county.

King County could take a much larger role in coordinating with regional partners to advance housing availability. I will be the housing County Executive, making it my top priority. I will work to expand all types of supply (rental and ownership, subsidized and market rate) with a goal of delivering 44,000 affordable homes in the next five years. I will: 

 

• Increase subsidies for affordable housing, including through:
  • Development funds to build more homes,
  • Acquisition of land for housing using surplus county lands (like Sound Transit staging areas no longer needed after construction of a light rail station),
  • Direct rental assistance to support housing stability for renters, and,
  • Tools like the multifamily tax exemption and tax incentives for affordable accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to encourage production of affordable housing. 

 

• Decrease costs and bureaucratic red tape to accelerate delivery of housing by: 
  • Streamlining outdated codes, regulations and permitting processes to lower the cost of providing housing; examples include:
    • Eliminating parking minimums,
    • Eliminating lot subdivision restrictions,
    • Reducing or eliminating transportation impact fees near frequent transit, and,
    • Eliminating “nice to have” requirements that add unnecessary costs (example: OK to require trash enclosures for public health, no need to require architecturally “fancy” ones).
  • In implementing regulations, adopting a Housing First philosophy.

 

• Expand equitable housing opportunities, including homeownership opportunities for communities of color and other groups, many of whom were directly denied housing through historic and persistent patterns of segregation, and do this work in partnership with groups such as:
  • Proven partners in the public and private sectors who have the experience and ability to deliver housing quickly and effectively.
  • Community-based organizations like Community Roots, El Centro de la Raza, Filipino Community of Seattle, IACS, and MAPS that can provide culturally-competent, equitable housing in underserved communities.

 

• Prioritize housing near jobs and transit by continuing to champion transit-oriented development.

 

• Hold ourselves and partners accountable, reporting publicly on progress and results and applying a continuous improvement approach to stay on track to our goals.

We all deserve to feel and be safe where we live, where we work, where we go to school, and as we move throughout the region, but today, I hear over and over that safety concerns are top-of-mind.

For too long, the topic of public safety has been a political football. It has been grounds for ideological debate more than for pragmatic and inclusive action that brings us together and addresses the real and diverse needs for safety in our communities.  

King County is responsible for services along the full continuum needed to create true public safety: from prevention to intervention to response. King County is responsible for much of the justice system—courts, prosecutors, public defenders, jails and the sheriff’s office—and we must work effectively with cities, Tribes, and our communities to make sure our system is responsive and effective.

As a former public safety professional, I’ve learned firsthand how important it is to have fully-staffed, well-trained public safety agencies that respect and partner with the communities they serve. When people call for help, help should arrive, prevent crime, and keep people safe. At the same time, we will never arrest our way to a healthy community—we must invest in the things that provide hope in the future, opportunities for change, and a path to successful outcomes for everyone. Educational opportunities, job pathways, access to arts and culture and the outdoors, and more— all of these are investments that help to build safe communities. 

If elected King County Executive, I will work everyday to make safety something you can expect anywhere in the County. I will implement a comprehensive approach, grounded in compassion and accountability, that supports prevention, response, and recovery. I will: 

 

• Staff law enforcement and crisis intervention teams, while focusing on training and accountability, expanding recruitment and training pipelines to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of King County, growing the co-responder program, and focusing on training and accountability measures to ensure appropriate public safety responses.

 

• Expand mental health, behavioral health, and addiction treatment, accelerating the development of crisis care centers and expanding mental health facility and treatment options, better coordinating available services, and using every available tool, including emerging effective treatments, to make recovery more accessible and save lives.

 

• Partner directly with communities—especially communities of color, LGBTQ+ residents, and small businesses—to build trust and inform safety strategies to local needs.

 

• Support victims and survivors, funding critical services for victims and survivors of violence, domestic abuse, and sexual assault; expanding counseling and community violence prevention efforts; including victims and service providers in decisions about service levels and priorities; and, implementing actions from the annual summit on crime survivors.

 

• Reduce gun violence by maintaining and stabilizing funding for the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, expanding behavioral health care, engaging with law enforcement, judges, and experts in violence prevention to ensure that protection order laws are known and followed, prioritizing data collection to deploy and scale interventions, funding public health programs to reduce harm and provide treatment, and fighting for stronger state and federal laws with the bully pulpit of the office.  

 

• Strengthen the functioning of the justice system and reduce case backlogs by fully funding the courts, funding reasonable public defender caseloads, and coordinating across agencies to reduce time to trial, decrease detention stays and provide timely access to justice for defendants and victims.

 

• Invest in prevention and diversion programs, including early childhood and family programs, outreach, and diversion and restorative justice efforts, working with community partners to ensure programs are meeting community needs. 

 

• Maintain and expand community and special courts like drug court and veterans court, which are proven models to improve lives and stop the cycle of recidivism.

 

• Keep transit safe by implementing recommendations of the Transit Safety Task Force, which I am helping to lead in partnership with ATU Local 587, such as increasing security presence, improving infrastructure (lighting, bus stations, etc), and adding fully-enclosed driver compartments on buses.

 

• Maintain safe jail facilities while evolving to changing needs and to provide more supportive services, including planning for the future of the Seattle jail and enhancing programs within the juvenile detention facility to improve outcomes and reduce recidivism.

 

• Make contract city, tribal, and agency relationships a priority, engaging with partner agencies through regular personal and high-level leadership contact, with the commitment to be a responsive and active partner for effective community response throughout King County.

 

• Fill gaps in our crisis response, including adapting the West Wing of the Seattle jail to become an intervention center for community members in crisis to detox and connect to treatment and other services, stopping the revolving door between jail, Harborview, and the street.

 

• Hold ourselves accountable to outcomes, tracking and scaling what is working across our public safety response, and being unafraid to reexamine and change what is not. 

As a lifelong transit rider and regular bus/bike commuter, and as a leader and mom who has seen too many lives impacted by serious injuries or worse on our roadways, I envision a county where getting around is easy, safe, environmentally friendly, and even fun. 

Transit is a critical connection to opportunity, a proven climate solution, and a foundation of regional equity. The best transportation plan is also a land use plan; tying frequent and reliable transit directly to new affordable housing is a proven strategy for equitable economic mobility. Our quality of life and our economy depend on a network of fast, frequent, and reliable transportation options that are accessible to all throughout our county.

King County has an award-winning large bus network, an expanding trail network, and a big role to play as the largest county in our regional transit agency, Sound Transit. But persistent staff shortages post-COVID, an impending budget cliff, and challenges delivering on its capital program have held the work back. We must make well-informed, difficult decisions. 

I’ve been called a transit die-hard, and it’s a badge I wear proudly. I’ve fought for years to bring to life a new vision for transportation in our county, working hard to expand transit options, active transportation, innovative transportation solutions, and to prioritize road safety. I’m proud to have been the force behind light rail on the Eastside (you can ride it now!), as well as investments in RapidRide, bike and pedestrian safety improvements, and regional trails. 

As Executive, I will double down on my commitment to deliver on building a diverse and accessible transportation system that works for all. I will: 

 

• Chart the path to implement our long range bus plan – Metro Connects – which will make frequent transit accessible to 73% of people within walking distance of their home.

 

• Deliver light rail expansions and ST3 projects more quickly and reliably, through leadership at Sound Transit.

 

• Accelerate transit, trail and other transportation projects by reforming project delivery, using lessons learned from the Sound Transit Technical Advisory Group and other best practices from around the country and the world. 

 

• Use the Executive’s influence and appointment authority at Sound Transit to make sure the Board and the agency centers riders’ needs and experiences in all agency plans services.  

 

• Address transit safety by implementing the Transit Safety Task Force recommendations.

 

• Expand and connect our regional trail system to build on the 4-county Leafline Trail Network vision, specifically by completing investments in Eastrail and South King County regional trails and connections.

 

• Continue support for transit-oriented development, expanding beyond Sound Transit properties to Metro Park & Rides, carpool lots, and other opportunities.

 

• Develop a King County Bridges and Roads Action Plan to reverse deferred maintenance, accelerate ADA improvements, and integrate salmon habitat restoration into road projects.

 

• Expand regional rail, including all day service on Sounder Commuter rail and accelerating planning for high speed rail connecting Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. 

 

• Implement a Safe System Approach at King County, not only on our roads, but across King County agencies, including Public Health programs and piloting the use of speed-limiting technology in County fleets to demonstrate how technology can be more widely used to reduce collisions.