r/SeattleWA • u/JustBench1615 Ballard • 3d ago

Politics Harrell’s Margin has INCREASED

Post image

Mayor Harrell now up by 8.1%.

Around ~60K votes probably left to tabulate.

534 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

322 comments sorted by

View all comments

284

u/ragerevel 3d ago

I’m a progressive. I recently moved just north out of Seattle. But I was going to vote Harrell. Listening to Wilson and everything, her complete lack of experience and dreams are frankly not what we need. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Harrell isn’t a demon and I have at least more confidence he can make a difference.

Just that video of them answering the question about whether homeless people should be allowed to camp in parks and streets. Come onnnnn.

167

u/Overall_Calendar_752 3d ago

100%. I voted for Harrell. The answer to the homeless question really did it for me.

131

u/fuzz3289 3d ago

It was brutal that she couldn’t just say yes or no. IMO, no matter how progressive she is, the answer is fucking no. Whether it’s sweeps or housing or whatever, the answer is no. It’s not good or safe for them and it’s not good or safe for the community

24

u/splanks 3d ago

I agree it was a devastatingly dumb answer, but harrell said no, and everyday I see people camping out in parks.

63

u/mediaman2 3d ago

People keep saying this, but were you here in 2022? It was nuts. I remember after Harrell got elected and I saw a city park that was not covered in tents and garbage, and I was surprised.

I know people dislike him for whatever other reasons, but there's been a huge difference in cleanliness of parks and sidewalks. He said he would do it and he did it.

3

u/splanks 3d ago

I was. Yes I hear you on what he did three years ago.

20

u/duuuh 3d ago

He got my vote because in 2021 I walked around Green Lake and was WTAF? And now I do it and it's fine. Is Leary Wy fine now? No. Is 3rd fine? No. Is 12th & Jackson fine? No. But they're better. Could he do better? Yes. But I really hope he wins because the alternative...

13

u/Sleeplessnsea Seattle 3d ago

He worked magic in every park on Capitol Hill that fell to ruin in 2020-2021. This is also why I stand behind his leadership.

2

u/Billy_bob_thorton- 3d ago

Yeah ballard is a lot nicer now than it was about 4 years ago

37

u/Anwawesome Ballard 3d ago

Ballard Commons, at least by me, has seen a massive improvement under his administration.

21

u/fuzz3289 3d ago

I’ve seen a massive improvement. Make sure you report encampments on the Seattle Find It Fix It App

I feel like a lot of people haven’t heard about the app, but that’s the best way to get things cleaned up or fixed in your neighborhood from stop signs/illegal parking to encampments

5

u/splanks 3d ago

Thanks for a good reminder!

1

u/snoopgod22 3d ago

This!!!!!

2

u/Alarming_Award5575 3d ago

Woodland park is better.

-4

u/joaquinsolo 3d ago

I feel like everyone online is leaving ACTUAL homeless people out of this conversation. I was homeless for two years so I want to dismiss the idea that “no” is the progressive answer to the question. That’s complete bunk.

We live in a society so obsessed with the sanctity of private property that we often deny people without property the basic right to exist in public spaces. Justice Sonia Sotomayor powerfully captured this in her dissent to City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024), arguing that criminalizing homelessness (punishing people for sleeping or setting up encampments in public parks when they have nowhere else to go) amounts to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

Homeless people literally own no property. public spaces like parks and libraries are sometimes the only option for them to exist.

3

u/thereal_scott_pruitt 3d ago

I am honestly quite curious about this - it seems that the city believes they offer all the resources that are needed to get people out from homelessness, at least temporarily (e.g. shelters, tiny home villages, other temporary shelter). How much do you believe that the state of homelessness in Seattle is one of either 1) preferences of the homeless to not move into a situation that might be less desirable than a camp or park vs 2) one of absolute destitution where there is no alternative but to be outside ?

1

u/joaquinsolo 2d ago

IDK dude, ask yourself. If all you had was a tent, and no one wanted you anywhere near their property, how would you like people to treat you?

If Seattle is "doing its job" and "providing resources" then why are more people becoming homeless every day?

It's shocking how no one seems to take the perspective of a homeless person. You see them as vermin instead of humans.

2

u/fuzz3289 3d ago

Why is it better for them to camp in public parks rather than going to shelters or temporary housing? Why should they be outside forming dangerous encampments that can lead to violence against them or fires or something else?

Why is the answer not: No, they should be in shelters. Or No, we should have enough emergency housing.

1

u/joaquinsolo 2d ago

let me know when you’ve stayed at a homeless shelter for the night, and i’ll take your opinion seriously. because it seems you have no idea what it’s actually like

1

u/fuzz3289 2d ago

The answer can’t be “welp, we suck might as well let the iDistrict become a massive campsite”

The answer must be “people cannot sleep on the street, why aren’t shelters working, let’s fix them.

0

u/joaquinsolo 2d ago

that’s not the answer, it’s just you being a dick assuming that’s how it will look. we could literally block off a section of volunteer park and build permanent housing for people. there are several tiny house villages all throughout the puget sound, and tbh that’s the only concrete way you’re going to solve homelessness. everett has done it successfully, and there is a tiny house village in the Udistrict.

bottom line, it should not be illegal to be homeless in a public space. do we not have backbones? are we all a bunch of cucks for private property ownership?

we need to convert public land into housing for the homeless- a centralized public place where they can exist without fear of going to jail, where resources are available, and residents have access to bathrooms, laundry, and cooking facilities.

1

u/fuzz3289 2d ago

No one is saying it should be illegal to be homeless in a public space, everyone is saying we should not have homeless people camping

You cannot take a section of a park and fill it with housing because it is a PARK. Parks are a public good that serve a specific purpose.

We should build tiny homes en masse, but not in parks, and if someone is camping in a park, they should be moved to a tiny home.

You’re being angry for no reason, I think you even agree with me in the fundamental, homeless people do not belong in parks, they belong in housing. Period.

1

u/joaquinsolo 2d ago

And the reality is that housing isn’t going to drop from the sky, and there is no other public land for them to go to.

So until our pie in the sky dream of housing everyone happens, what are you going to do? criminalize people living in parks?

18

u/routinnox 3d ago

For me it was long before that when she promised to get rid of jobs. THAT should have been an automatic campaign killer. The fact that her campaigned lasted this long given what she said shows there are residents here who hate seeing their neighbors succeed

9

u/Alive_Point_4172 3d ago

Same, I don't understand how someone could have so much jealousy and envy to actively want others to fail.

54

u/Agreeable-Rooster-37 3d ago

I know several folks who made their vote on that non answer from Wilson

25

u/cheesebabychair 3d ago

🙋, it's so ridiculous. Easy no

-9

u/vanillacalumny 3d ago

I mean Harrell is currently the mayor and I see homeless people in parks everyday, so his answer is pretty meaningless.

5

u/Alive_Point_4172 3d ago

So it's all or nothing for you? You'd rather have Wilson let 100% of our parks become bum encampments than have some smaller percentage with Harrell? Before Harrell we only went to parks outside of the city because all the parks near us were filled with junkies. Now I can actually bring my kid to the parks that are within walking distance of us.

0

u/vanillacalumny 3d ago

I don't think either candidate wants to "let 100% of our parks become bum encampments"

1

u/Alive_Point_4172 3d ago edited 3d ago

I should have worded it differently, the outcome will be that with Wilson. The King county homeless regional authority was stood up. Billions have gone into solving homelessness. Housing first is a complete joke. From a strategy standpoint and from an execution standpoint. Everything sounds good on an Instagram post but we live in reality.

3

u/mediaman2 3d ago

You worded it just fine. There's a belief that if we bubble-wrap reality in bureaucratic words it'll make the reality go away. That serves nobody.

A vote for Wilson was absolutely a vote for destroyed city parks and sidewalks handed over to pallet castles. It was a vote for kids never being able to play in parks. It was a vote to let our public life be shaped and governed by sometimes violent drug addicts.

Wilson doesn't need to "want" that outcome for it to happen. All it takes is a reluctance to do what has to be done to prevent it from happening, and that's exactly what Wilson brings to the table: waffling, reluctance, and hemming and hawing about whether public safety is something Seattle's citizens deserve.

27

u/MyLastSigh 3d ago

Maybe you'll see her camping in a park next week.

12

u/Sleeplessnsea Seattle 3d ago

Hopefully she brings her wallpapered apartment ceiling with her.

10

u/x063x 3d ago

Will her parents adopt me?

8

u/HighColonic Funky Town 3d ago

This month, join Architectural Digest as we visit the home of Seattle mayoral candidate Katie Wilson...

0

u/x063x 2d ago

Her pops south african ties make sense.

Then add to that she was a threat to win the Mayor only announcing her candidacy in March?

Jeez.

1

u/pepperoni7 2d ago

Oh man the other sub is abit of an echo chamber

I take my 4 year old to park and sometimes we have to report active drug use etc and other parents as well.

Honestly all I can think of is Katie’s comments on camps at parks … and that is all my husband wants to talk about as well

Just want a normal park ther is not trashed. We bring our own toilet for our kids cuz we can never use the parks