Longtime Church Council leader and homeless advocate David Bloom would be an invaluable addition to the city council.
His righteous perspective would be a welcome counterpoint to the council’s current mega-project agenda, which is focused on big investments in neighborhoods like downtown and South Lake Union at the expense of buses in Southeast Seattle and sidewalks in North Seattle.
Bloom’s history of community-based advocacy comes with some provincial positions we don’t agree with—he didn’t support light rail, he supported a viaduct rebuild, and he can be a knee-jerk ‘No’ on development—but with a compass locked to social justice, Bloom’s instincts are a necessity for a council that leans more Whole Foods than Red Apple.
With an actual resume as a community organizer (Deputy Director at the Church Council of Greater Seattle; co-founder of the Downtown Emergency Services Center; co-founder of Common Ground; co-founder of the Seattle Displacement Coalition; co-founder of the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness; and board member and organizer for Real Change), Bloom is the only one in this race who would come onto the council with specific legislation queued up. He wants to reprioritize the budget ($1 billion for South Lake Union?) to create 5,000 additional units of affordable housing above and beyond what’s mandated in this year’s housing levy. He also wants to pass a living wage ordinance.
Just a dreamer who won’t get anything done? Guess again. Bloom got right into this year’s political fight over the housing levy, convincing the council to change the guidelines to ensure the levy would truly serve those in need. Now, 60 percent of the new rental housing created by the levy must be affordable to people making 30 percent of the median income or less, and no more than 10 percent of the rental housing can go to those making between 60 and 80 percent of median ($51,200 for a two-person household).
These sorts of percentages and definitions may be wonky, but they have a real impact on people’s lives. And they’re the exact kind of details the council deals with all the time (the definition of “affordable” housing comes up at least once a year, and the council typically lands at 80 percent of median).
Bloom deals in reality, not just rhetoric. Turning his anti-mega-project pitch into a call for major infrastructure investments in neighborhoods, he rattles off three specific examples of streets he says are “completely deteriorating”: 35th Ave. SW in West Seattle, 15th Ave. NE in the U. District, and 24th Ave. from Montlake to Capitol Hill.
Bloom’s opponent, former King County civil division head Sally Bagshaw, is smart, experienced, and revved-up (something the listless council could use), but her positions on the big issues—yea tunnel, yea Mercer—are in lockstep with the majority of voices already at city hall. While she’s more liberal than you think (a former county prosecutor who’s for decriminalizing marijuana?), Bagshaw won’t bring any new perspectives to the council.
At our endorsement interview, Bagshaw challenged Bloom’s leadership experience, asking him if he’d ever managed a major budget. Bloom acknowledged that he’d only managed a nonprofit (with a budget between “a few hundred thousand and $1 million), but added: “In a lot of ways, Sally, it doesn’t matter. We’re not running to be managers, we’re running to be leaders.”
With years as a community organizer powering his plan to shakeup the city’s priorities, Bloom will be a true leader.
In contrast, when we asked Bagshaw to name any specific proposals she would lead on, she demurred and talked instead about past “viaduct charrettes” and drew staff reorg charts for us on a napkin.
PubliCola picks David Bloom.
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Love the endorsement but just a note: The Freemont Public Association is now Solid Ground
Really…David Bloom? Oh brother, come on.
David’s many supporters thank Publicola for recognizing leadership when they see it. The combination of leadership qualities and a devotion to social justice is exceptionally rare; David’s one of the few who demonstrate that combination locally. He’s already benefitted Seattle unofficially for more than 30 years. We’d be wise to vote him onto the Council so those qualities can be used in a legislative setting.
Just want to come out of my “retirement” to thank Publicola for this thoughtful endorsement.
It means a lot to have a savvy publication that tends to have little patience for easy platitudes (left or right) recognize that David has substantial leadership experience, and that his proposals for a more equitable distribution of city resources deserve people’s attention and support.
Sally has a good resume and seems nice enough but she also seems like the status quo candidate. Bloom at least understands that Seattle has problems beyond what color the next trolley should be.
While I disagree with your endorsement, I’m glad it’s fleshed out and thoughtful. Except the above part – buses are King County, not City, and investing in a neighborhood that has been neglected for years doesn’t effect whether or not King County has buses in Southeast Seattle.
I worry that Bloom’s agenda is too narrowly focused. Affordable housing is important, yes, but do we prioritize new units, above what the housing levy provides, above other issues that Seattlites care about (mass transit, environmental sustainability, job creation)? And, more importantly, when/if the tunnel deal falls apart, do we want someone on the Council pushing for a viaduct rebuild?
I’ve stayed pretty disconnected from this race, but when I met Bloom and told him what group I was affiliated with (a group with an enviro agenda), he quickly dismissed me and said “all those environmentalists hate me.” That’s a lot of the city, buddy.
Nick Licata’s puppet
#8 I fear it’s much, much worse: John Fox’s puppet
/shudder
Bloom is smart. He won’t be anybody’s puppet.