Riding Motorcycles, and Addressing the 'Elephant in the Room,' With Jamie Fackler

This is the third of four profiles, running this week, on candidates for Seattle City Council District 2. Profiles will run in alphabetical order based upon the candidate's first name. To break the mold of traditional candidate interviews, I tagged along with each to do something they like that isn't related to their campaign.

You can learn more about each candidate at the South Seattle Emerald Primary Candidate Debate on Monday, July 21, 6:30–8 p.m., at the Rainier Arts Center, where you’ll hear each candidate share platform ideas in person.

As a motorcycle enthusiast, I don't understand riding in a group. You can take in some nice scenery, sure, but unless you've got expensive Bluetooth helmet mics, you can't really talk to each other. But maybe the fun isn't so much the ride, but the little treats along the way? The morning coffee, the snack somewhere scenic, the post-ride beer, all of that.

Meeting with Jamie Fackler, which involved more yapping over delicious Flora Bakehouse pastries than riding, nudged me closer to that viewpoint. At a picnic table outside of Flora Bakehouse's South Beacon Hill location, Fackler held forth on everything from land use to policing to elevator interiors.

Yes, elevator interiors, specifically the ones in the Seattle Municipal Tower, where he works as a building inspector for the city. The wood interior of the elevators was peeling, he remembers, and, instead of refinishing the aging wood panels, he claims the city opted for a photo veneer sticker made to look like wood.

"That's really indicative of how the city's solving its problems," he said.

When it comes to big, thorny Seattle issues like homelessness, housing, and transportation, Fackler definitely leans towards refinishing the wood.

Asked about the dangers posed by at-grade light rail on MLK Jr. Way South, he said we need to raise the rail, no matter the cost. Sound Transit, he noted, maintains a budget to pay for damages from train collisions with vehicles and pedestrians.

"They've got a room full of Band-Aids to fix the problem," he complained. "They spend a lot of money on these Band-Aids, but the reality is people are getting killed by light rail. Someone in a wheelchair got hit by a light rail train. People's lives are ended and permanently disrupted by the light rail. I think it's worth continuing to push and advocate for longer-term solutions that address it."

On affordable housing, he isn't satisfied with the Mandatory Housing Affordability program, insisting we need full inclusionary zoning to keep Seattle liveable for lower-income families. On homelessness, he wants us to go all-in on LEAD and co-LEAD (programs that divert people who engage in illegal activity away from law enforcement), citing them as proven solutions. On policing issues, contrary to criticisms he received from The Stranger, he wants to play hardball in negotiations with the union, making firm demands around accountability and civilian alternative response.

Fackler, 52, definitely falls on the progressive side of the Seattle political spectrum, and perhaps even left of that. But the thrust of it, he said, is simple: getting government to do more things for more people.

"I feel — and I think a lot of people feel — like government should meet people's needs, right?" he said. "It should be for the people."

As if on cue, an old construction buddy of his popped over to say hi. Eric, with whom Fackler had worked on a project in Ballard "when we were thinner," was thrilled to hear about Fackler's campaign, although I suspected they didn't share the same politics.

"I mean, fuck, I'm called a Trumper because I'm pretty center," said Eric, adding that "It's bad rhetoric in our city to keep demonizing the center."

Fackler, whose phone case sported "Fight Like Hell" and "Fuck Trump" stickers, looked a little uneasy, but the conversation ended up proving Fackler's point. Eric agreed to sign over his four democracy vouchers and was eager to volunteer for Fackler's campaign. Eric was none too satisfied with our city's current government and wanted to see someone like himself — "not some polished politician," as Fackler's motto has it — trying to get in there and get things moving.

After the two posed for a quick photo in front of Fackler's metallic green, second-gen KLR650, we mounted up for a quick ride down Airport Way South and up the back side of Beacon Hill. Fackler took point, his bike framed beautifully between the railroad and Boeing Field, with Mt. Rainier looming majestically in the background. From there, we looped around on Boeing Access Road to MLK Jr. Way South, which took us to the light rail station we'd discussed earlier.

Waiting to turn left in front of the Polynesian grocery, we had enough time to open our helmet visors and agree that, yes, the station's design really does leave a lot to be desired. After a quick ride, we stopped at Benefit Playground to snap a couple more photos before Fackler rode off into the sunset. Well, actually, to an anti-ICE rally.

All told, it didn't feel like the working-class, cool motorcycle guy shtick was a shtick. He's got a functional, unfussy bike — someone once wrote that, "After the apocalypse, it will be roaches and the KLR650" — and similarly understated riding gear. Politically, he's louder, but mostly when it comes to calling out what he sees as empty promises and meaningless platitudes.

He also wasn't afraid to address the elephant in the room: that he's the one white guy running in the city's most diverse district.

"I want to talk about class, because race is something that's used to divide the working class," he said. "All the stuff that's coming to divide us, all the -isms, that's the stuff that the bosses use and folks in positions of power [use to separate us]."

Noting that District 2 has the highest concentration of union membership in the city, he added, "District 2 is working class. We need a true working-class advocate that understands those problems that's going to push back against all of that."

He's that advocate, he said, touting his work as a shop steward, where he fought bosses over incidents of racism, sexism, and ableism in the workplace; with the Thurgood Marshall PTA, where he worked to make sure Black students were given equal access to highly capable learning programs; and with King County Metro, which he helped convince to preserve bus service for a local community of visually impaired people.

Fackler, who got an out-of-the-gate endorsement from former District 2 Councilmember and progressive icon Tammy Morales, did not get The Stranger's nod. However, he holds the endorsement of the MLK Labor Council, the largest labor group in local politics and a significant force in voter mobilization. Could that, plus his spotlessly progressive politics and killer slogan (#GiveAFack), help him break the two-paper endorsement blockade?

It's anyone's guess, as we've yet to see a poll in this race. But if you join our District 2 primary debate on July 21, you can see how he stacks up against the other three candidates.

Up next: A profile of restaurant-industry vet Jeanie Chunn (Friday, July 18). And join us Monday, July 21, to hear from all four candidates, live and in person, at our District 2 Primary Debate at the Rainier Arts Center, 6:30–8 p.m.

As a 501(c)(3) organization, the South Seattle Emerald™ cannot endorse candidates or political campaigns.

Tobias Coughlin-Bogue is a writer, editor and restaurant worker who lives in South Park. He was formerly the associate editor of Real Change News, and his work has appeared in The Stranger, Seattle Weekly, Vice, Thrillist, Thrasher Magazine, Curbed, and Crosscut, among other outlets.