The Roundup: Chatting Up Our New South End Elected
From the Editor
What's up, South End?
I don't know about y'all, but I'm happy election day has come and gone!
I'm sure many of you (like myself) have been glued to news, social media, and water-cooler chatter about all the happenings.
So, I'll keep my rundown (as of Friday morning) short and sweet: The pendulum seems to be swinging back to the left.
Erika Evans will be our new city attorney. Alexis Mercedes Rinck will keep her seat on City Council, Dionne Foster beat out Council President Sara Nelson, and the new South End councilmember will be Eddie Lin.
The mayoral and King County Executive races are too close to call, but Girmay Zahilay and Bruce Harrell, respectively, are currently leading those races.
My focus today is District 2. Eddie Lin is our council-elect, and I'm excited to introduce him to Emerald readers. I chatted with Lin about the issues he believes are most important to the South End, how local government can step up to ensure everyone has food to eat, and finished with a few fun rapid-fire questions so we can get to know him a little better.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
MD: Throughout the campaigns, I kept hearing about affordable housing, public safety, and transit as the hot issues. What do you think is the most important issue for the South End, and what is your plan to tackle it once you get into office?
EL: I think affordability, at large, is the number one. Housing is usually the most expensive part of everybody's budget, and is why so many people are getting pushed out of the South End, and why we have neighbors living on the street. So I'd say housing affordability is number one. But, it's really hard to disentangle all of those issues. When we talk about public safety, it is deeply related to housing affordability. And as we plan our city and as we grow, housing and transit and safe streets all go together. So, while housing affordability is certainly top of mind, it really all has to be a priority, and that's going to be the challenge.
MD: You mention challenges, and we have a new one that fell in our lap. SNAP benefits seem to be up in the air. What is the local government's responsibility in ensuring people, especially here in the South End where we have food deserts, have enough food?
EL: I think there's a few things. One, I'm very supportive of the additional funding during this emergency. I think we have to do everything we can, and from a city budget perspective, there is the $8 million that the City Council just passed for food assistance for our food banks. We'll see what happens with SNAP. I think there was just a court order that says it needs to be reinstated, but we know that they're going to drag their feet on all of that. So we have to do everything we can with our budget. We have to also work very closely with our county government, state legislators, and state government to push at all levels. Because this is not just a city issue.
In terms of food deserts, we certainly need to support our food banks. I've been a longtime fan and supporter. When I was back in private practice, I did some work for food banks, including some of the larger groups, like Food Lifeline, which delivers food to the different food banks. And programs like Fresh Bucks can be critical. I know that [Mayor] Harrell proposed expanding the amount. I would love to expand it further. I know food security is a really important issue for Councilmember [Joy] Hollingsworth. I would love to work with her on expanding programs like that, because not only does it support the families, it would also support the businesses to make it feasible.
MD: When you take office, what will you do to make sure you remain accountable to the community?
EL: There are a few things. One is being out in the community as much as possible. Being very accessible and available. And, you know, It'll be hard, because there's going to be a lot of meetings downtown and committee meetings and Council meetings, but it certainly will be a priority to be out in the community, and to hold office hours in different parts of the community to make it easy for people to be able to reach us. And I think it's being as transparent and open with the community as possible. And engaging with critical local media that are providing really important coverage. And, you know, being open to feedback and criticism and knowing that I'm not going to get everything right.
MD: OK, here come the rapid-fire questions. What's your favorite Seattle sports team?
EL: [Laughs] Oh, this one got me last time! I don't go to a lot of sports. I love all of our teams. We have some of the most exciting women's teams anywhere in the country. I'm excited that there's going to be a new women's sports-focused bar down in Columbia City.
MD: What is your favorite South End coffee shop?
EL: I'm gonna say it's between The Station and Empire down in Columbia City.
MD: What's your favorite South End park?
EL: I gotta go with Jefferson. I live on Beacon Hill. I've been here for many years, and I just love the views and all the different things it has. It's got something for everybody.
MD: Bonus question. What's your favorite bar or restaurant, and what is your go-to order?
EL: I gotta say Geraldine's, because we're there every week. We get the avocado omelet.
MD: Now that the race is over, what's your message to the South End?
EL: I'm just so humble and honored and thankful. I've also got to give a big shout-out to everybody else that ran in this race. And the biggest thing is, I hope that people stay involved and engaged. As one councilmember, I'm going to do everything I can to support our community, but really, at the end of the day, it's about supporting each other, staying involved, and holding me accountable.
The Roundup Rundown
Emerald cartoonist Brett Hamil was on the ground for election night. Check out this special midweek edition of Doom Loop, where Brett attends and reports from mayoral candidate Katie Wilson's election night party in Beacon Hill.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids are still happening around the country. Here in Seattle, a group of community members are stepping up to protect immigrant neighbors. And they are doing so as loudly as possible.
Emerald contributor Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero has the details on whistle kits, the cheap and simple way for people to signal when they see ICE.
Emerald editor and columnist Yuko Kodama has a knack for finding interesting stories in the neighborhood for her South End Life column. This week, Yuko has found yet another spot in my (our) neighborhood that I've walked by a million times and never really noticed. There is a lot on Rainier Avenue South and South Weller Street, behind a chain-link fence, that holds history dating back to the 1930s.
And no … I won't spill the beans here. If you want this scoop of delicious South End storytelling, you're going to have to get it from Yuko's column. And, as always, she has some amazing pictures. If I've intrigued you, and you want to know how the past and present converge in this week's column, click here.
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This is an abbreviated version of The Roundup newsletter. To get the entire newsletter, including a weekly list of events to check out and my shout-out to South End Gems, subscribe here. See you next week!
Mike Davis is the newsletter editor and Voices editor at the South Seattle Emerald. Born and raised in Seattle's South End, Mike is a longtime journalist who's covered everything from arts and culture to sports to politics.
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