By Marsha Kuykendall
Note: This is the last in a series of articles covering last Wednesday’s Southeast Seattle Candidates Forum. To see all of the RVP’s coverage of this important event, go here.
While increased police headcount is vital, Joe Mallahan also favors organized, neighborhood-based policing, but warns this will not be effective unless neighborhood leaders have critical information. “It’s been very hard for you all to get crime stats from the City Hall,” Mallahan told the nearly 300 Candidate Forum attendees. “I’m committed to rapid and free flow of information. He also promised to speed up the City-planned gradual increase in the number of police assigned to Southeast Seattle. “We have about 500 patrol headcounts. The strategic plan calls for 605. I will move to get there much quicker.”
Key to curbing gang violence is building “positive community institutions that bring our youth off the streets and increase livability in our neighborhoods,” said Kwame WyKing Garrett, adding, “Police don’t stop crime, they respond to crime.” Garrett proposed strengthening the City’s Department of Neighborhoods, investing in green jobs, and supporting proven infrastructural projects that hire local residents and solicit youth input. “Let’s pay youth to stop problems, not a bunch of administrators and bureaucrats.”
In addition to working more closely with neighborhoods and increasing police presence, Jan Drago supports more job training and restoring the City’s now-defunct Gang Unit. “I support the Mayor and City Council’s Youth Violence Prevention program, which works with sixth and seventh graders to help them stay out of trouble. But I also support a new program called CeaseFire, which involves people who are actively involved in gangs.” Formed in Chicago in 1995, and replicated in 17 other U.S. cities, CeaseFire is an evidence-based public health approach to reducing gang-related shootings and killings.
“Our kids need mentors,” stressed James Donaldson. “One of the ways we can give back to our communities is by involving [youth] in more positive activities.” He also supports “having our police become a friend to our community again, as it was when we were all children.” Police officers should serve as mentors and role models, working closely with children and youth in schools, on playgrounds, at parks and on the street. “Police should be perceived as heroes and someone children can strive to be like when they grow up.”
“We need more resources in the community,” said Norm Sigler. “Not police resources necessarily, but resources where people who live in the community feel they can enjoy their own community in a safe environment… It’s not about attacking the 800 or so youth who may be the problem, it’s not their fault necessarily. We need to understand the community environment from which they come, so we can create programs where they can earn a living without having to resort to violence.”
Creating opportunity and hope are key elements to tackling youth violence, according to Mike McGinn, “and that’s why it’s so important to put resources toward helping our schools succeed.” Investing in green jobs, making sure businesses hire locally, creating intervention programs to help guide youth in more positive directions, and neighborhood policing are equally important, he added.
Photo/David Mullarkey Images
Who to know, where to eat & what to do in one of America’s most diverse zip codes!
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““We need more resources in the community,” said Norm Sigler. “Not police resources necessarily, but resources where people who live in the community feel they can enjoy their own community in a safe environment…”
Lost me at not police.
Joe Mallahan gets the fact that there should be accessibility to information for the community that is fighting crime. Thank you Joe!
Joe does a good job of telling everybody what they want to hear. I’ve been following his campaign pretty closely, and talked to him several times about this issue. I always get the feeling that he picks up some sound bites from community members and then works them into talking points. Although I agree with his point of making the inforrmation more accessible, I know that just like a few other candidates, he knew that was an issue for south enders. He lucked out by being the one who got to talk first.
He’s learned the talking points, but after talking to him in person, I don’t think he’s learned anything more than that. I want a mayor who can think for himself and can understand the major issues without getting briefed by a few activists.
Law n Order, you nailed it, perhaps a dozen times over.
The Candidates Forum was my first encounter with Mr. Mallahan. I didn’t know him or his positions from Adam. But when he opened his mouth up on stage, I sensed almost at once that Mr. Mallahan had been listening to a faction of Southeast Seattle activists and had nimbly picked up on those talking points — your sound bites — they hold most dear. I’ll hand it to him; Mr. Mallahan has a way of stroking off their hot button issues.
Thank you for confirming my intuitions about Mr. Mallahan — I knew it! — by taking it further and speaking with the man. Sometimes I’m wrong, but I can typically smell a phony from a mile away. A mile wide and an inch deep: Joe Mallahan for Mayor.
Wrong again, Trellis. You certainly jump to conclusions quickly. Of course, you’re not really expecting readers to believe that you’re undecided and that you’ve just helped unmask the real Joe Mallahan? Goodness, what crafty fellow you are. Readers should pay little attention to you as you have not demonstrated that you understand the dynamics of politics in southeast Seattle. You have always held tightly to the party line, supporting the current city administration. Perhaps you’ll share the reason you’re such a staunch supporter of the status quo? Just what exactly do you like about growing gang violence, rising poverty, empty storefronts, and rising crime?
Mallahan gets it. He’s honest. He has integrity. He wants to restore the voice of neighborhoods in city politics, taken by Greg Nickels. Recall the first person Nickels fired on the day he was sworn into office —Jim Diers? Jim Diers was ‘Mr. Neighborhood’ and he was the most popular man in city government. Nickels fired Diers because he was so popular and so good at his job. Diers wrote a book about his experience building neighborhoods from the grassroots and he’s traveled the world teaching other cities how to spread democracy and build communities. Diers liked people and he liked neighborhoods. Nickels doesn’t like people. Nickels sees people as an impediment to implementing his unpopular policies. Nickels only likes wealthy developers. Look around the city, look at what developers have done to Fremont and Ballard. Shall we entrust our city to four more years of Nickels? Nickels has had his 2nd chance and he’s screwed up everything. Sorry, but I’m not going to reward a failed 2nd term with a 3rd term.
I hope everyone will take a good close look at Joe Mallahan. He’s self-made. He doesn’t need the money or the power that Nickels craves. Mallahan is his own man and won’t be beholden to special interests. Mallahan will be a good Mayor.
Of course, if you’re happy the way are then you should join Trellis and vote for Greg Nickels.
Last Thursday the Municipal League of King County honored Joe Mallahan with a rating of OUTSTANDING, giving him their highest possible recommendation and making him the highest ranked candidate for mayor – higher than even our current mayor. That’s on top of previous endorsements from the 37th and 36th District Democrats and The Metropolitan Democrats Club board.
Joe Mallahan’s supporters outnumber his critics by a wide margin. Ignore the negative naysayer’s.
Mayor Nickels? No. My thinking hasn’t coalesced around any candidate yet, including Mayor Nickels.
@Law n Order seems to be a straight shooter. Read his post about Mr. Mallahan again carefully. I am surprised by how in-tune his (or her) observations of Mr. Mallahan are with the gut feeling I developed when I listened to the candidate myself. I, too, am for transparent access to government data, but when Mr. Mallahan voices his support for it, it feels like a beginner politician — which Mr. Mallahan is, having no experience in elective office — pandering for votes.
I saw Jim Diers last night. We had a good conversation about neighborhood activism and activists, among other things. You haven’t quite said that Jim Diers is a supporter of Mr. Mallahan, but are laboring mightily to give readers that impression. I’ll ask Jim what he thinks of this Mr. Mallahan.
I’m glad that Joe Mallahan took the time to reach out to people within SE Seattle before the debate. He was able to articulate the issues and actually showed up to the debate. I think some other people are running just to get their name out there or riding on other coattails…
Anonymous, I must point out what seems to me to be obvious:
That whoever you’re supporting is the wrong candidate for anyone but you and yours.
When you say “Great Candidate!!!”, I’m not sure who’ll I’ll vote for, but I’m sure who I won’t vote for. Thanks for the tip!
I’m not saying that Joe is dishonest or lacks integrity. My concern is that he doesn’t fully understand the issues facing Seattle. He’s good on certain talking points because he has a good consultant, who’s sent him on a listening tour of the city. That’s fine–everybody does a little bit of that. But what was concerning was he was completely oblivious on BASIC issues at the beginning of the campaign. All he would talk about was being a manager, and being upset about the snow. It’s one thing to talk to the community and learn about their issues, it’s another to let a subset of the community dictate your policy. I do not want a mayor who can’t lead without learning his talking points from certain activists, or whose opinion is based solely on theirs.
Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s uneducated on City issues, considering the fact that his own voting record is less-than-stellar. http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/politicsnorthwest/2009/05/04/seattle_mayoral_candidates_les.html
“All he would talk about was being a manager, and being upset about the snow”
I wish I knew more about him, but the fact that he spews this stuff that the disaffected eats up bothers me. He can’t possibly govern effectively by pandering to the DISAFFECTED.
He needs the normal people, too. But that won’t be such a nice thing for the SSCPC, now would it?
They want more snow/katrina type things to work with.
What they want is a candidate that can’t possibly win with normal people, so that they can continue with the “why me/us?” track.
That will feed the Southend for a good many years to come.
@Anon
“Joe Mallahan gets the fact that there should be accessibility to information for the community that is fighting crime. Thank you Joe!”
As much as I hate to say it, I can’t let Anon’s support keep me from looking into this guy. The fact that he seems perfect for South Seattle shouldn’t mean automatically that he’s wrong for me or the rest of Seattle.
It’s a bad sign, but not a deal breaker.
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