Alexis Mercedes Rinck Outlines Progressive Vision for Seattle City Council

Campaign Website - Alexis Mercedes Rinck

[00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review show and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes.

Today, we'll be speaking with a candidate for Seattle City Council Position 8, which is a citywide position that represents all residents of Seattle. Former Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda was elected to the King County Council and Tanya Woo was appointed by the Council to temporarily fill that vacancy and this is the election to determine the permanent replacement, who will serve in the seat for the remainder of the term. There are currently four people running for this position - Tanya Woo, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Tariq Yusuf, and Saunatina Sanchez. The primary election on August 6th will select the top two candidates to advance to the general election in November.

Before we dive into the interview, let's briefly review the roles of Seattle City Council and Mayor and why your vote for councilmembers matters so much. City Councilmembers serve as the legislative branch of Seattle's government, while the Mayor leads the executive branch. Councilmembers’ key duties include proposing and voting on City ordinances and policies, reviewing and approving the City's annual budget, providing oversight of City departments and programs, serving on Council committees focused on specific issues like housing or transportation, and responding to constituent concerns and representing their district's interests. In contrast, the Mayor's responsibilities include implementing and enforcing laws passed by the Council, managing day-to-day City operations and City departments, proposing the initial City budget for Council review, appointing heads of City departments and commissions, and representing the entire city in external affairs. In other words, the City Council is similar to a board of directors setting the overall direction and policies. The mayor, on the other hand, is like the CEO responsible for day-to-day operations and implementing the strategy. If Seattle were a ship, the Seattle City Council would be the navigator charting the course and deciding on the destination, and the Mayor would be the captain steering the vessel and giving orders to the crew. Councilmembers shape the laws that affect residents’ daily lives, from housing and transportation to public safety and environmental policies. They play a key role in addressing the city's most pressing challenges and planning for its future. The Council holds significant power in shaping the city's future, ensuring that your voice is heard in the policies that govern the city. That's why your vote for a City Councilmember is incredibly important and impactful. And why Hacks & Wonks wants to help you hear directly from candidates and equip you with the information you need to make the best decision for you and your community.

Today, Alexis Mercedes Rinck joins us to discuss her campaign for Seattle City Council Position 8 and her vision for the city. Welcome!

[00:03:46] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Good morning - excited to be here. Huge fan of the show and can't wait to get into the policy and everything that's happening.

[00:03:54] Crystal Fincher: Thank you - much appreciated. Well, we will start by getting into a lightning round of questions that are just one-word answers - mostly yes or no - some just one-word replies, just to level set about where you stand on a variety of issues before we get into the more long-form policy questions where we can wonk out. All right.

So starting out, would you vote to approve the current draft of Seattle's Comprehensive Plan?

[00:04:23] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:04:24] Crystal Fincher: Right now, there are only about 8,000 units in King County's system for over 53,000 people experiencing homelessness. Do you support encampment sweeps when there is no shelter space available?

[00:04:36] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:04:37] Crystal Fincher: Will you vote to end single family zoning to address housing affordability?

[00:04:42] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:04:43] Crystal Fincher: Will you vote to approve Initiative 137 to fund Seattle's Social Housing Developer?

[00:04:49] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:04:51] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to oppose the addition of a competing initiative to I-137 on the ballot?

[00:04:59] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Would I vote to oppose a competing initiative?

[00:05:02] Crystal Fincher: If someone wanted to put a competing initiative on the ballot, would you support or oppose it?

[00:05:07] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Oppose.

[00:05:08] Crystal Fincher: Do you rent your own residence?

[00:05:11] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I do.

[00:05:12] Crystal Fincher: Do you own any residences?

[00:05:14] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:05:15] Crystal Fincher: So I guess that answers the next question. Are you a landlord?

[00:05:18] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I am not a landlord.

[00:05:20] Crystal Fincher: Will you vote to oppose any attempt to weaken Seattle's renter protections?

[00:05:27] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I would oppose any measure in weakening our rental protections.

[00:05:31] Crystal Fincher: Would you have voted to support the Connected Communities legislation?

[00:05:35] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:05:37] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote for new progressive revenue if it was put before the council?

[00:05:41] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Proudly.

[00:05:42] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to oppose contracting for jail services separate from King County Jail?

[00:05:49] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I would oppose.

[00:05:50] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to allow police in schools?

[00:05:57] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I would oppose police in schools, would like to have a longer conversation about recent community discussions related to this.

[00:06:05] Crystal Fincher: We will get into that. Lightning round. Do you support allocation in the City budget to increase the pay of human service workers?

[00:06:13] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Absolutely.

[00:06:14] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to increase funding for a civilian-led mental health crisis response?

[00:06:20] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Increase funding for a civilian-led crisis response? Yes.

[00:06:23] Crystal Fincher: Do you support diverting the City budget for forced encampment removals and instead allocating funds towards a Housing First approach?

[00:06:31] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:06:32] Crystal Fincher: Do you support reallocating the unused funds from unfilled SPD positions and putting them towards other non-police priorities in the city?

[00:06:41] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:06:42] Crystal Fincher: Do you support allocating money for supervised consumption sites?

[00:06:48] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:06:49] Crystal Fincher: Do you support increasing funding in the City budget for violence intervention programs?

[00:06:54] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:06:55] Crystal Fincher: Would you have voted for the retroactive SPOG contract that was recently passed?

[00:07:00] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I would not have approved that contract.

[00:07:02] Crystal Fincher: Would you have voted for the expansion of automatic license plate readers on all SPD vehicles?

[00:07:10] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:07:11] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to support shortening the retention time of license plate data?

[00:07:17] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:07:19] Crystal Fincher: Would you support or oppose a ban on the wearing of masks?

[00:07:25] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Support or oppose? Sorry.

[00:07:28] Crystal Fincher: Would you support a ban on people wearing masks?

[00:07:32] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Ban on people wearing masks-

[00:07:34] Crystal Fincher: There are other cities and a state that has moved to do that.

[00:07:38] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No. No. Oh my gosh.

[00:07:42] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to ensure that trans and non-binary students are allowed to play on the sports teams or extracurricular activities that fit with their gender identities?

[00:07:51] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Absolutely.

[00:07:52] Crystal Fincher: Will you vote to ensure that trans people can use bathrooms or public facilities that match their gender?

[00:07:57] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:07:58] Crystal Fincher: Did you agree with the Seattle City Council's decision to implement the JumpStart Tax?

[00:08:03] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:08:04] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to divert or reduce the JumpStart Tax in any way?

[00:08:09] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:08:10] Crystal Fincher: Do large corporations in Seattle pay their fair share of taxes?

[00:08:14] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:08:15] Crystal Fincher: Do small businesses in Seattle pay their fair share of taxes?

[00:08:20] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I do not know enough to go either way - sorry on that one.

[00:08:24] Crystal Fincher: Okay, well - that'll be a waffle.

In order to address staffing shortages throughout the city and county, should we offer financial incentives to key frontline employees like we have for police?

[00:08:35] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, absolutely.

[00:08:37] Crystal Fincher: Are you happy with Seattle's newly built waterfront?

[00:08:42] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Don't know if I have an opinion on that.

[00:08:46] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe more return-to-work mandates are necessary to boost Seattle's economy?

[00:08:52] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:08:53] Crystal Fincher: Would you have supported Councilmember Rivera's Equitable Development Initiative Amendment?

[00:08:58] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:08:59] Crystal Fincher: Would you vote to advance the current draft of Seattle's Transportation Levy to voters?

[00:09:08] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I, I - waffles - I...

[00:09:12] Crystal Fincher: Okay.

[00:09:12] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I have thoughts.

[00:09:13] Crystal Fincher: As a voter, would you vote for the current draft of Seattle's Transportation Levy?

[00:09:19] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:09:20] Crystal Fincher: Have you taken transit in the past week?

[00:09:23] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I don't own a car.

[00:09:25] Crystal Fincher: Have you ridden a bike in the past week?

[00:09:27] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:09:28] Crystal Fincher: Have you ridden a bike in the past month?

[00:09:31] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:09:32] Crystal Fincher: Should Pike Place Market allow non-commercial delivery car traffic?

[00:09:39] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:09:40] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever been a member of a union?

[00:09:44] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No, but tried to.

[00:09:45] Crystal Fincher: Would you oppose any effort to reduce funding and staffing for investigations into labor violations, like wage theft and illegal union busting?

[00:09:54] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I would oppose any effort to reduce that funding - it's critical funding.

[00:09:58] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever walked on a picket line?

[00:10:01] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I have.

[00:10:02] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever crossed a picket line?

[00:10:03] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:10:04] Crystal Fincher: Is your campaign unionized?

[00:10:07] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: No.

[00:10:08] Crystal Fincher: If your campaign staff wants to unionize, will you voluntarily recognize their effort?

[00:10:13] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:10:14] Crystal Fincher: Have you voted in every general election in the past four years?

[00:10:18] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I have.

[00:10:19] Crystal Fincher: Have you voted in every primary in the past four years?

[00:10:22] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I have.

[00:10:24] Crystal Fincher: Have you voted in every primary in the past 10 years?

[00:10:27] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I have - as much as I've been legally able to.

[00:10:33] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote for the King County Crisis Care Centers Levy?

[00:10:37] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I did.

[00:10:38] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote for the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy?

[00:10:42] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I did.

[00:10:43] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote in favor of Seattle's Social Housing Initiative 135?

[00:10:49] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I supported. It's the one election I've missed - I missed my ballot drop off. But I absolutely support.

[00:10:57] Crystal Fincher: Who did you vote for in your district for the 2023 City Council race?

[00:11:05] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I, I do not think I can answer that.

[00:11:09] Crystal Fincher: Which district are you in?

[00:11:10] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I'm in District 3.

[00:11:13] Crystal Fincher: So that was Joy Hollingsworth and Alex Hudson. Do you know which one you voted for?

[00:11:22] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I, I do - I do.

[00:11:25] Crystal Fincher: But you're waffling and not answering.

[00:11:27] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I, I am.

[00:11:29] Crystal Fincher: Gotcha. In 2022, did you vote yes and for ranked choice voting?

[00:11:36] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes, I did.

[00:11:37] Crystal Fincher: Okay, so that would mean you voted yes, you wanted to change the voting system. But also not for approval voting.

[00:11:43] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I voted for ranked choice voting.

[00:11:44] Crystal Fincher: Gotcha. Gotcha. Do you support moving Council elections to even years?

[00:11:49] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Absolutely.

[00:11:51] Crystal Fincher: Would you renew funding for the Democracy Voucher program in 2025?

[00:11:56] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Absolutely.

[00:11:57] Crystal Fincher: If the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission recommends you recuse yourself from a vote, will you do so?

[00:12:03] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Absolutely.

[00:12:04] Crystal Fincher: How are you going to vote on the three initiatives that will be on the November ballot - 2109, 2117, and 2124?

[00:12:12] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I will be voting no on all of these Republican-funded initiatives.

[00:12:16] Crystal Fincher: Who will you be voting for President?

[00:12:20] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I will be voting for Joe Biden.

[00:12:22] Crystal Fincher: Who will you be voting for Governor?

[00:12:24] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I'll be voting for Bob Ferguson.

[00:12:27] Crystal Fincher: And Commissioner of Public Lands?

[00:12:29] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I'll be voting for Dave Upthegrove.

[00:12:31] Crystal Fincher: Superintendent of Public Instruction?

[00:12:34] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Chris Reykdal.

[00:12:35] Crystal Fincher: And Insurance Commissioner?

[00:12:37] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Patty Kuderer.

[00:12:39] Crystal Fincher: Well, that concludes our lightning round - thank you for going through that exercise. So I guess starting off on just our regular questions - why are you running?

[00:12:51] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Well, Crystal, I just want to express how excited I am to be entering this race in this moment. I am a renter, I'm a transit rider, I used to be a waitress, I'm also a multiracial queer person - and I think representation is important and the communities that I'm a part of should be represented on Council. I've also worked and spent my career in public service - from being both a community organizer as well as working in the human services and housing realm. So I've really built a reputation for bringing people together around solutions and making them happen. With that, I also have really cultivated partnerships around the region, working across 39 cities and with over 100 different organizations. And I have really been grounded in just my own lived experience being somebody that was raised by my grandparents - both of my birth parents had experiences with juvenile detention, gang violence, incarceration, substance use disorder, and homelessness. And that has always kind of grounded me in the work and the desire to work on systems change. And if it wasn't for my grandparents, I would have gone to the foster care system. I got the chance to grow up in a resourced community, I got the tools that I needed to heal - and I stand here today as a living testament to when we invest in young people, regardless of their beginnings, we can change generations. And my birth dad's alive today because of a transitional housing program. And so I stand by needing to protect those investments. Our city is in a tremendous budget crisis, and we need to be taking steps to implement progressive revenue so we can address the budget crisis and be able to fully fund our city services. Corporations need to pay their fair share. And with that, I'm just excited to enter the race, represent community, and bring forward my skills in not only budget and policy, but my grounded approach in community organizing. And I'm supported by a lot of incredible leaders in this race and just really excited to get out there and talk about the issues.

[00:14:51] Crystal Fincher: So one of the issues with the current City Council is that many of the recently elected councilmembers are new to government and public office and don't yet have a lot of basic knowledge about how the City operates and how government works. What do you bring to the table in terms of relevant experience in that area?

[00:15:10] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: So I worked with the Sound Cities Association - for those who don't know, it's a membership organization that represents 38 cities within King County - I did work on health and human services in that role. So I was staffing for elected officials - representing all of those communities - on the issues and on committees like the Affordable Housing Committee, the Board of Health, Children Youth Advisory Board, Joint Recommendations Committee, which oversees some of our monies coming from HUD. I've been deep in working on these regional boards and committees, while also monitoring legislation both at the city and the county - not only with my role at the Sound Cities Association, but then also my subsequent roles that I've had working in the homelessness response system. I spent time as the Director of Sub-Regional Planning and Equitable Engagements and helped foster KCRHA's first five-year plan as it was legislatively required. In that role, also worked alongside our Implementation Board and Governing Committee and with our founding ILA to make sure that we were delivering on everything that was legislatively required, but that also necessitated a lot of work with our municipalities around the region. So, I worked over the course of a year with all of our cities, so municipal staff, but then also all of our - not only homelessness service providers, but our system partners, meaning behavioral health, school districts, jail partners, and foster care partners. I could keep going in the sense of really - when we're looking at addressing homelessness, there's so many partners that we need to be coming to the table. And with that, bringing all of those parties together to try and work and really discern what did we want to do to address homelessness. I've also done work related to cultivating our first agreement with five North King County cities. So bringing into the conversation - What does it mean to regionalize our response to homelessness? And working with the five North King County cities of Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, Shoreline, and Woodinville to actually talk through and negotiate and figure out what does that look like? And ultimately what we came to was a unanimously voted agreement from all five of those councils to turn over half a million dollars under the oversight of KCRHA and actually create a bit more efficiency in the system and solidify what does it mean for our government entities to do work together. I hope you don't mind me wonking out just over that. But all of that to say - and I could talk a lot more about the severe weather work that I was able to do and the policy document and protocols that I developed and worked on - but this is to say that I've spent my career working in government, both as somebody who's been staff for elected officials and also as a government administrator. And I have a degree in policy work, so I have a lot to offer.

[00:18:01] Crystal Fincher: So I want to talk about the Comprehensive Plan. And before we get into those plan details, I want to get an idea of your vision. Can you describe the city that your ideal Comprehensive Plan would result in?

[00:18:16] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Thinking about how we can create a Comprehensive Plan that actually is really generating housing opportunities in every neighborhood across the city. How are we actually designing a city that - one, can accommodate for the tremendous amount of growth that our region is expected to experience? I think the current plan underestimates the growth that our region could experience - and I think we should be taking into account that we will be seeing a lot more new neighbors coming into our region, especially as the climate crisis worsens and we look at having climate refugees coming to our community-

[00:18:52] Crystal Fincher: I'm wondering - describe what the end result is. What is your vision for the city that obviously the Comprehensive Plan will help shape? What does that look like? Does it look like today's city? Does it look like examples of other ones? What types of neighborhoods and communities result?

[00:19:09] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I think we need to have increased density in every neighborhood across the city. Looking at how we also connect each of those neighborhoods and expanding our planning for transportation, looking at the specifics of each of the areas with the regional centers - how do we expand our transit-oriented development by a few more blocks to make sure that we're building higher near transit? And then how do we continue to generate a real wealth-building opportunity for communities in the city? And so really looking at how do we have more density, create a better connected city, build in green initiatives around all of that and ensure that we are doing our part to be minimizing displacement and instead keeping communities of color here and invested in.

[00:19:55] Crystal Fincher: So there's lots of conversation about the Comprehensive Plan - there is a current draft, there have been previous recommended drafts through community input. What are your thoughts on the current draft? And what amendments would you be prepared to advance to improve it?

[00:20:14] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: So currently, I think the Comprehensive Plan - and this has been documented and discussed - the plan is underestimating in a few ways the amount of growth our region is expected to experience. As I've talked about, as the climate crisis worsens, we could be seeing a lot more new neighbors coming into our region. And so how do we account for that? The fact that we could see an influx of climate refugees coming here. And so how are we upping those numbers to make sure that we are planning appropriately for the future - so being able to make sure that that topline number is greater than originally expected. Right now, the current growth assumes - what, 5,000 homes per year for the next 20 years - that should be higher. We also could be looking at the fact that we have the ability to create more capacity for each neighborhood across the city. So being able to look at expanding those regional centers, being able to have greater density in different neighborhoods across the city is something that I'd be wanting to discuss and bring back. There were originally a set number that were examined in the draft stages of the plan. The current draft of the plan that we've seen - we haven't seen all of those represented - and so wanting to dig back in and uplift. There were originally 43 neighborhood centers that were initially studied, and so going back and understanding why 19 of those did not go fully through. And so making sure that we also have a city that's on track for our carbon neutral goal for 2050, so we need to make sure that homes are close to jobs to prevent greenhouse gas emissions.

[00:21:51] Crystal Fincher: So do you have a target amount of new units of housing that you want to be able to plan to absorb in this Comprehensive Plan? Do you have a number of new units of housing that need to be added to make you think it would be a satisfactory Comprehensive Plan?

[00:22:08] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I want to honor the work that the Complete Communities Coalition has been doing on this - a good cohort of groups. I want to consult with them to be like - what is the number that we need to be really arguing for? As it stands - I haven't, in recent discussions, discussed like what is the goal number. But as we're talking about amendments to the plan, we'll be working closely with that coalition - again, representing a lot of different organizations, both in terms of from partners at The Urbanist to also partners within affordable housing development.

[00:22:38] Crystal Fincher: So, do want to talk about the budget, which is one of the biggest issues that you're going to have to face, should you be elected. Major, major issue for the city, especially because there is a current projected revenue shortfall of about $230 million beginning in 2025. The City Council is mandated by the state to pass a balanced budget, and the options to address the deficit are either raise revenue or cut services. And there does not appear to be the votes to raise any new revenue at this point in time. Given that, how will you approach creating a balanced budget?

[00:23:16] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Ideally, we're able to get to a place where we're building a coalition and really rallying the support from our full public to make sure that we are making it clear that if we do not act to pursue some progressive revenue, there will be cuts. And being able to really make that case and make sure communities are aware that that's the situation we're in - I hold strong that I think championing that coalition will be helpful in pushing where we are to pursue progressive revenue. As it stands for in terms of balancing the budget - if we're in a place where we are in a place to make cuts, I stand by making sure that we're holding firm our investments into programs that save lives, that protect lives. That communities, especially those communities - our frontline communities that have been deprived of wealth building opportunity, have been deprived from resources historically - we maintain those investments. Beyond that, this is the hardest question of all. How do we look across our full City and evaluate where things get cut? And I think having a truly holistic approach and taking a really attuned approach to also looking at where are we investing in? Are there areas of underspend in the city? But I also say with that - underspend doesn't necessarily mean it should be cut, but rather should come in with curiosity and say, what is happening here? Why are dollars not going out? And what can we do administratively to make sure that is operating appropriately? So being able to look across the full slate of everything that the City's funding, being able to examine and really work with communities, set priorities. You hear my priorities as somebody coming to the race of what I want to make sure that we're maintaining funding for - again, programs that people depend on, our investments into affordable housing, our Green New Deal initiatives, as well as the Office of Fair Labor Standards and the Equitable Development Initiatives. So protecting and trying to maintain that the JumpStart revenue that is coming in stays and remains in those investment areas. And then looking across the board and working with community to see how we can actually move together in addressing this should progressive revenue not be an option to backfill and fully fund all of our City services.

[00:25:24] Crystal Fincher: Okay, so that was an answer that was partially answered with a lot of questions and partially listing things that you're hoping not to cut - and that was actually a really broad set of priorities to eliminate cuts. But at this point in time, it is looking very likely that there are going to need to be cuts made. Even if there's some new revenue, there may need to be cuts made. Without revenue, there will need to be deep and painful cuts made. And although I know that this is not your preference, you are not advocating for this, you are leading with progressive revenue first - I think voters are getting really curious about what specific plans are. We're in a bit of a different position than we were even last year when it wasn't clear where a number of the City Councilmembers would be on this revenue. But this is a problem that you know you're going to have to face and that you have had time to think about, to talk to people in community. And you made the decision to run with this being a really big responsibility that you know you're going to have. So it seems like it's fair to get a little bit more specific and to think in terms of more detail to identify what types of programs or staff or funding from somewhere, you would be looking to prioritize for the cuts. Can you name what would be the lowest hanging fruit for you in terms of cuts to try and get at this humongous budget hole?

[00:26:57] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: They're fair questions. I would say - as somebody just authentically who spends my day job working in budgets, especially working across academic units at UW, I want to be able to name what are the immediate things off-the-bat just based on good budget process. I'm not ready to do that. I really want to be in the conversation and understand fully how things stand, and where we're at, and the nature of all of our different programs, and look at performance evaluation before making that stand. And I know that's not the biggest, the best answer in this state, but I just really have to hold that we are talking about folks' jobs, we're talking about bodies of work that specific communities depend on - and I'm committed to doing that work over the next couple of months to make sure that we are, if community is asking for that clarity more so on how things stand, I'm committed to making sure that we can be doing that. But as it stands, I'm just not ready to make that claim without talking to more folks and understanding more.

[00:27:57] Crystal Fincher: Understand the desire to approach this with as much information as you can. You did say - Hey, if community does, certainly we have seen and heard a lot of community asking. So would it be fair to say that that means you would be providing more detail by the end of this race?

[00:28:17] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Yes.

[00:28:19] Crystal Fincher: In the primary.

[00:28:22] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I can be working on that also to get clarity before the primary.

[00:28:26] Crystal Fincher: Gotcha. So if it did turn out that, hey, once people look at it and start to come to terms with the magnitude of the cuts that are necessary to close a $230 million budget deficit and potentially growing - maybe that could help move some people to support progressive revenue - thinking, Okay, that may actually be less painful compared to the amount of cuts that would be necessary. So if it is an option, what type of progressive revenue or types would you support and vote for in the City of Seattle?

[00:29:03] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I think looking towards how we can notch up JumpStart, just given that it is something that is in place as it stands. And we saw a recent example of when it was most recently increased to fund mental health supports in schools, which would love to talk about more the importance of that - so there is precedence for that. I would also like to explore how we could deploy some sort of local capital gains, knowing that our statewide capital gains is on the ballot this year as well, but the option to take it up locally would be something else. As it pertains to other progressive revenue options, I know Transit Riders Union has come up with a slate - I believe it's 27 different options of varying types of progressive revenue that we could pursue. However, the legality of those, as it stands, is in a mixed place. And so what can we also be doing with our state partners to create more options for localities to have those kind of taxation options. But as it stands, those two would be what I would be prioritizing.

[00:30:06] Crystal Fincher: So I want to talk about public safety and the City's current approach has been trending more towards a punishment and a punitive approach, as we've seen with this new Council and the current Seattle City Attorney moving away from prevention initiatives. And as this budget problem is presenting itself and having to deal with it, it looks like even more prevention programs and funding may be on the chopping block. What's your approach - when it comes to public safety - to prevention versus response? And how will you allocate funding or prioritize funding between those?

[00:30:48] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I think ideally, we need to be scaling as much as possible our prevention measures - that is where we need to be scaling up our investments. And it just also makes a lot more sense - how we can be making sure that we are preventing situations of violence in our community is something that we need to be making sure that we're investing in. And so scaling our prevention is something that is a priority for me - hearing, especially with our partners through the CD [Central District] - there it was just a CD community safety forum last night put on by a dear friend of mine. And that is just what we continue to hear - we need investment in young people, we need investment in our communities to make sure that basic needs are met, that our communities are housed, our communities are fed - that is more so a priority for me. That being said, I also recognize that as we are trying to - we have limited funds locally, we have limited tools to be able to scale more funding as it stands. And so until we're getting to that place where we are getting the types of funding to address root causes of crime, we will need to have some sort of response system. I'm in favor of scaling alternative responses because not every scenario of safety requires a uniformed officer to arrive. And so how do we scale and create a meaningful strategy around our alternative responses? And then how do we scale and kind of right-size what our law enforcement does look like? And trying to balance those things and really scope and hone in what are the scenarios that we do want a uniformed officer responding to? How do we scale appropriately and have that right scope for those folks? Again, always with an eye towards we need to be scaling prevention in the first place and continuing to invest to address root causes.

[00:32:42] Crystal Fincher: So there's been a lot of conversation about the culture of the Police Department, particularly given several lawsuits against the department - several from women alleging discrimination and harassment from male officers, officers of color alleging racism, retaliation. Just a lot of very unsavory things, in addition to some of the events we've seen in video and have seen reports about that have been very troubling. And this conversation about hiring officers has had some people say - We just need to show more appreciation and show that we value police officers and want them here. And others saying - We have to improve the culture in order to make it a more attractive place for police to be and to ensure that our residents are being treated fairly. So what would your plans be in your position as a City Councilmember to improve the culture within SPD?

[00:33:38] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: This is a question I feel really deeply in this moment - I've spent years working on police accountability as an advocate and namely trying to speak to the issue of police brutality, the culture issues, as we want to call it, that we see across police departments across the U.S. - as someone who's experienced sexism firsthand by police officers. If we're going to have or at least hold that there are scenarios where we are asking for law enforcement to show up, then we need to make sure that we have law enforcement that are not perpetuating harmful, racist, sexist behavior, abusing power, and so on. In terms of what the City could be doing to be working on improving culture, I'm thinking about this search for our new Chief as an opportunity for a reset - cautiously optimistic, but thinking outside the box about what is the right executive to be leading over that department. What are the values we'd like to see them show up in? Do we need somebody with more a background - and I think we should be bringing in somebody with a background actually working on organizational culture shift, organizational change. Maybe it's somebody that doesn't historically come from a law enforcement background, or maybe is more on the administrative side. I know the King County Sheriff Patty Cole-Tindall - she comes from, I believe, worked more in the human resources world before moving into and getting trained up to become a sheriff herself. And so are there alternative candidates we can be looking for to kind of set a different tone than we've historically had in SPD? That also being said, I've been thinking about what is the pool of applicants that we're drawing from as we're looking at hiring? And I think it's important to note hiring across the board has been - for the entire U.S., we're not alone in the hiring challenges, it's something that the entire country is facing. And so in that, what can we do locally to be creating our own pool? And by creating our own pool, I mean, how do we set different types of programs and degree programs that have a set curriculum that really is focused on culturally responsive care, de-escalation, and so on. And I think this is really well exemplified by the fact that the State Legislature this year, just for example, funded the UW School of Social Work to develop a co-responder degree program. And so making that investment upfront to start growing our pool of co-responders - that's cool. What can we be doing to also act locally to start creating a space to grow our own pool and also use that as an opportunity to inform curriculum and what we want to see and how we want those folks to show up in our communities as they're serving in those roles?

[00:36:23] Crystal Fincher: So there's been a lot of talk about safety in schools across the district after incidences of violence - and particularly gun violence - on and near campuses that have been extremely troubling, that have resulted in the loss of life of students, and that have a lot of people on edge and worried about their own safety, their students' safety. How will you help to ensure a community-led approach to improving safety at schools across the district?

[00:36:56] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I live in the Central District, a few blocks away from Garfield - I'm a neighbor. It's hard not to feel activated about this question, just feeling the loss of a young person - of Amarr - in this community. I've spent a fair amount of time now with students, families, with organizations that have been doing work with Garfield in the aftermath of what has happened - just to authentically listen and show up and support as this community is trying to heal and figure out what our next steps are. Voice at the top - that the resounding theme is we need to be investing in young people. We need to be really wrapping our arms around our young people as it stands because kids are not feeling safe showing up to school - that was heard loud and clear last night at the CD community safety meeting. Young people not only feeling unsafe within school, but also nervous about folks coming in and up into school. And there have been a number of ideas that have come kind of out of those sessions, out of those discussions - some of them were talked about last night, ideas directly from students. There was one idea voiced around having even just women that are security guards, because Garfield - and I believe Franklin as well - do not have any women who are there, and that's something that students want to feel like they can have, especially girl students want to feel like they have an option to connect with. Wanting to see an increased presence and support from like Community Passageways and other mental health resources is a huge, huge demand of our students and our community. And additionally wanting to - just to feel heard in a lot of this. I think we could be doing a lot in terms of making sure that the money that was designated for students to get mental health resources does get allocated and out into community. But I think as it stands, there was also kind of this cry just to be recognized by the broader community that there's a need for healing, that there's a need for us to wrap around our young people.

[00:39:05] Crystal Fincher: Traffic violence is another major public safety issue in the city, with seeing so many incidences of pedestrians, bicyclists being injured or killed by drivers and cars. It's a major problem, it's happening at record rates right now. So what can you implement to reduce the amount of injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists on Seattle streets?

[00:39:31] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I feel this one deeply as somebody who doesn't have a car and very stubbornly says - I can walk that far and I will walk down a sidewalkless road to get there if I have to. One of the things that is encouraging about the proposed levy as it stands is some of the investments into our sidewalk improvements and street improvements, which are needed. We need a lot more. We know that there are many streets across the city that do not have sidewalks. They are not safe. And that is evidenced by people's experience, my own experience, and the subsequent deaths that we've seen. So investing in making sure that we have better signage, there's better visibility, there are just even safe places for pedestrians to walk as simple as a sidewalk - feels like something that we should have done as a city, and yet here we are. And so seeing that the Transportation Levy is going to do a lot in terms of investing in our infrastructure. Community advocates - groups such as The Urbanist, Transit Riders Union, Disability Rights Washington, Seattle Greenways - they'd come together and put forward a slate of the types of investments they'd like to see to truly create the connected city that would allow for equitable mobility. That slate of recommendations had an estimated cost of $3 billion. We know that the Transportation Draft is not $3 billion, so how do we scale to look at how do we fund the rest of that slate? And whether that's through bonding out to - even just for sidewalks - pursuing other fund sources to be able to meet that need is a huge priority for me. And really, it just is needed to create safety and a more equitable community for all of us.

[00:41:11] Crystal Fincher: Do you support automated traffic enforcement of driving speed and behavior?

[00:41:19] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I will speak on the bit that I know in this area and also just kind of from a values perspective - knowing that automated tools such as that can, especially the placement of them, is something that we should be mindful of in which communities receive the brunt of over-policing. I would like to find a way for us to use tools that make our lives easier and help support safety in our communities. And that being said, I also want to be mindful about like, where do those things get placed? And who gets punished as a result? And what are those punitive measures?

[00:41:52] Crystal Fincher: So are you saying that you would like to implement it and put safeguards around it, or that you possibly do not support the implementation?

[00:42:01] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I think with my limited working knowledge, I'd like to be able to implement and put safeguards. But I also will say, I would like to learn a little bit more before making a firm stance on that.

[00:42:15] Crystal Fincher: So in almost every measure, we're behind on our 2030 climate goals, which were set to ensure that we make our 2050 climate goals - while we're experiencing devastating impacts from extreme heat and cold. So what are your highest priority plans to get us back on track to meet these goals?

[00:42:36] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: You said a key word there, Crystal, which is - What does it mean to be on track? I want to applaud the Office of Sustainability for having some really helpful data maps and getting into some of the details where you can see across the city where emissions are happening and some good data. And we know our 2050 goal of being carbon neutral. And yet - I, as a candidate in this race, as a community member, could not tell you where we stand today in terms of meeting our goals, and what is our short-term goal for the next five years? And what are the action steps to get there? That is concerning for me and something that I'd like to prioritize in this race. What are our short-term goals? How are we dashboarding against those goals? And what do we need to be doing? We could be doing a lot of work in terms of having a robust transportation strategy that incentivizes use of public transit and working towards electrifying our public transit is a way that we could be reducing our emissions that are coming from vehicles. Further, we could be looking at the fact that I believe a third of greenhouse gas emissions come from residential buildings. So what are we doing to be implementing heat pumps to be bringing down our emissions coming from buildings as well? And then how are we garnering that into our other strategies related to growth? And so, both on the front of what are the measures related to transportation - again, incentivizing public transit, electrified public transit, and creating connected corridors. How do we also expand and connect our buses to light rail and expand east-west connections? All of those things to be getting folks out of cars, onto buses, onto bikes, walking safely as a pedestrian. And how do we also look at how we're building in the city - increasing density and making sure that we're taking steps to incentivize and swap out for heat pumps? Those are some of the biggest priorities that I have related to this area, as well as making sure that we actually have a plan and we're being clear with community about how are we doing and what are our immediate steps in the next couple of years to be working towards those larger milestones and goals.

[00:44:48] Crystal Fincher: What can be done to improve the business climate in the city, and particularly to support small businesses who may not be in the Downtown core?

[00:44:59] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I love this question because I have talked to a number of small business alliances, and I think it's important to note that the resounding theme that I've heard is just that business is down. For some small businesses that feel like they're navigating the administrative processes well and working with the City and so on, their resounding theme is business is just down and that's just hard. Folks aren't just coming out to eat or get a drink these days. And that's because times are hard, inflation is up. We're, as working people, facing so much in our community in terms of high rent, high cost for groceries, everything related to the cost of living locally. And so - what can we be doing to make it easier for working people? What are the steps that we can be taking to invest in working people so folks are able to have a little bit more money in their pockets and go out and enjoy small business, enjoy nightlife, and so on? I think looking at that in terms of how do we really address livability for all people in the city - we will see then in turn more folks going out with their friends to enjoy the small businesses across the city. I would close by saying we can also be looking at what are we able to do administratively related to commercial rent. We know commercial rent can be challenging for very small immigrant-owned businesses. And so can we be looking at things like commercial rent stabilization to be able to create some degree of predictability, especially for small businesses - that can be really challenging for those businesses.

[00:46:31] Crystal Fincher: So should you be elected, you would be one of several members on the Council with the majority of your colleagues maybe not aligned with you on the majority of policy that you are going to be voting on. But there still is the need to work together to get things done. What will your approach be to working with colleagues who may have a range of opinions and ideologies that may not always be aligned with yours?

[00:47:00] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: So as I mentioned at the top, I worked for the Sound Cities Association - again, a membership organization - 38 cities, and representing all of the elected officials, worked with folks across the board. My job in that role was to be bringing together folks who got positions on committees like the Children and Youth Advising Board, like the Regional Affordable Housing Committee, like the Board of Health. And we would have caucus meetings - so you might have eight different people - each representing a different city, each in a different place ideologically. And my job was to work with our chair to wrangle those folks and really figure out - Where are we agreeing, where are we disagreeing? Can we get this caucus to come to some position on something? Is that possible? That is a fun and fruitful exercise - and it is also, I think, at times like the heart of the work. We had a lot of candid conversations and we had a lot of moments of disagreement in that work, but the tools that I learned in facilitating those sessions have been really helpful as I've gone into working as a government administrator with municipalities - talking about how do we want to regionalize our response to homelessness? How do we want the five-year plan to look? I've had a fair amount of experience now in this area working with folks across the political spectrum. I hold firm in my values in this race as a progressive in what I'm coming on board to represent and having the skill set to say - Okay, we need to move forward. What are the things we can agree to? Our communities are expecting us to act, so what are we going to do together in service of that? And where are the points that we're going to hold firm on? And is there any room to find agreement? And so this is an area that I feel like I could offer tremendous value in - just having done a lot of work facilitating dialogues with folks who definitely do not agree.

[00:49:00] Crystal Fincher: Among especially the new councilmembers, they have articulated some of their own priorities, initiatives, things that are important to them. Are there any in particular that you look forward to working with those new City Councilmembers on?

[00:49:15] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: Priorities to work on - I mean, truthfully the biggest elephant in the room is the budget. And just want to acknowledge finding an equitable way to address our budget crisis - that's coloring everything. And so putting that aside for a second - that's number one priority, how do we do that - and I think there's a lot we could be doing on the administrative side to be looking at. Again, how are we making progress on climate and digging into - what are our plans, how are we going to track, what are we going to agree to be doing? Working on also how are we investing across the city to be building more affordable housing, looking at - we just approved the Housing Levy and the Office of Housing is going to be working and using those funds and making sure we are creating real wealth building opportunity, working on homeownership initiatives, and working on development of affordable housing. And finding ways, again, to make sure that we also are protecting the rights of workers across the city. So making sure the Office of Fair Labor Standards has what it needs because workers protections are really important. So from the standpoint of elevating - how are we working on a meaningful strategy to be addressing climate locally, working on our focus on what are our housing investments, and then reexamining what are things like the Connected Communities Bill that - it did not go forward, which again would not have had an immediate fiscal impact to the City, but would have created more opportunities for us to be able to lean into our goals for housing. What are more things we can do along that realm to be working on equitable development, while also keeping an eye towards - we have to find a truly just way to address the budget crisis.

[00:51:06] Crystal Fincher: Is there anything that we haven't talked about that is important to address or that's not on people's radar, but you think is really critical?

[00:51:15] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I remain concerned about - and I imagine this is on some folks' radar - but related to workers' rights as they stand and worker protections. We are seeing in real time an attack on minimum wage for delivery drivers and I think we should take these actions very, very seriously and as a sign that - what does this mean for working people across the city? As a region, we have a pretty high union density comparative to many other areas in the country. How do we keep it that way? How do we make sure that we are protecting the rights of all workers around the region? And so I just want to take a moment to really shout out and say that I think we should all be concerned to see this type of attack on minimum wage. And making sure that we rally around our delivery drivers and make it clear that we are united in this, so as to make sure that we don't see any continued attacks on other types of minimum wage legislation as well. I know this has been kind of another headline that has come up - but something that I think is deeply troubling that we need to have a longer term solution to - but addressing how new arrivals come into our community. And this is most evidenced by the asylum seekers that have been in Tukwila and then in Kent. I think in many ways, the situation as it stands until the state funds kick in - as I think we're all thankful that the Legislature is able to bring forward funding to address housing for those individuals. However, up until now, it has not been meaningfully addressed. This is a failure in our community - that we have not fully had all partners come to the table and created a meaningful way for how we bring in new arrivals into our community. And I say that as somebody who worked in the homelessness response system - and we know the ways in which the homelessness response system, despite a lot of good work by good people trying their best - it's not a fully resourced system, it's not a system that also has all of the tools to help navigate just, for example, immigrants and refugees who are trying to work through the asylum process. And so, seeing again another system failure. And so what is our, frankly, statewide solution and partnership to be addressing that intersection of folks who are coming into our region and fully wrapping around to make sure all healthcare, housing needs are met and folks are getting the type of legal support that they need as they're trying to garner residency.

[00:53:50] Crystal Fincher: As we get ready to close this conversation today, there are a lot of voters trying to figure out who they're going to vote for - wondering what the difference is between you and the other candidates. And so as they're trying to evaluate that, what do you tell voters about why they should vote for you over your opponents?

[00:54:10] Alexis Mercedes Rinck: I bridge a lot of different experiences together. I've been the waitress - I used to work in Queen Anne. I've been a canvasser - I used to canvass for Planned Parenthood. I've been a community organizer - I've stood for police accountability, getting money out of politics, organized a thousand-person protest, organized many direct actions in criticism of the Trump administration, whether it be for the Muslim travel ban, the practices related to family separation, having stood outside the Northwest Detention Center in protest, and so much more. But paired with that, I also have been working and spent my career in health and human services, housing. And have functionally brought together, done the work of actually bringing together cities around solutions. That's proven by my work in getting unanimous vote records - look it up - and actually doing that work to have true partnership between cities. Paired with that, I've also worked in the realm of developing and putting together an actual plan to address the needs of our unhoused neighbors as we're experiencing increased climate situations, inclement weather from severe heat, smoke, and snow. I'm someone who is always taking initiative - when I see something that needs to get done, I go and do it quietly. And then I bring people to the table to make sure that we are doing that work together and doing that hard work of trying to figure out where do we agree, where can we partner, and where do we also disagree? And so I'm proudly endorsed in this race by unions - shout out SEIU 1199, UFCW 3000 - but also a number of progressive leaders and have done a full sweep on all of our Democratic legislative districts within the city of Seattle. We have received the sole endorsement of every legislative district. And with that, I just want to voice that I'm really honored to have the support of our diverse community, of a number of progressive leaders in this race, and I'm ready to deliver.

[00:56:15] Crystal Fincher: Well, thank you so much, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, for joining us today, having this conversation, and helping to inform voters about where you stand and what your plans are. Thank you so much.

Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is produced by Shannon Cheng. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on every podcast service and app - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes.

Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Councilmembers' key duties include:

• Proposing and voting on city ordinances and policies
• Reviewing and approving the city's annual budget
• Providing oversight of city departments and programs
• Serving on council committees focused on specific issues like housing or transportation
• Responding to constituent concerns and representing their district's interests

In contrast, the mayor's responsibilities include:

• Implementing and enforcing laws passed by the Council
• Managing day-to-day city operations and city departments
• Proposing the initial city budget for Council review
• Appointing heads of city departments and commissions
• Representing the entire city in external affairs

In other words, the City Council is similar to a board of directors, setting the overall direction and policies. The Mayor, on the other hand, is like the CEO, responsible for day-to-day operations and implementing the organization's strategy. If Seattle were a ship, the City Council would be the navigator, charting the course and deciding on the destination, and the Mayor would be the captain, steering the vessel and giving orders to the crew.

Councilmembers shape the laws that affect residents' daily lives, from housing and transportation to public safety and environmental policies. They play a key role in addressing the city's most pressing challenges and planning for its future. The council holds significant power in shaping the city's future, ensuring that your voice is heard in the policies that govern Seattle.

The primary election that includes this Seattle City Council race will end on August 6th, and the top two finishers will advance to the general election that ends on November 5th, 2024.

Ballots will be mailed for the primary election on July 17th, and ballots must be postmarked by August 6th or returned to a ballot dropbox by 8pm on August 6th. You can find 24-hour Ballot Dropbox locations in King County here and the locations of Accessible In-Person Voting Centers in King County here. 

Register to vote or update your voter registration online at https://VoteWA.gov. For the August primary election, the deadline to register to vote online or update your voter registration online is July 29, 2024. You can register to vote or update your voter registration in person at the county elections office until 8pm on election day. 

After sealing your ballot in the return envelope, don’t forget to sign and date in the designated section on the outside of your ballot! Get more information about how to fill out your ballot and vote here. 

We highly recommend tracking your ballot and signing up for voting alerts, which you can do here. 

If you were convicted of a felony in Washington or another state, your right to vote will be restored automatically as long as you are not currently serving a sentence of total confinement in prison. Once your right to vote has been restored and you wish to vote, you must register (or re-register) to vote. Learn more here. 

Did you never receive or lose your ballot? Get info on replacing it here.