Community Meets Candidates: Seattle Human Services Issues Brought to the Forefront
By Jade Fisher, Communications Specialist
“The new federal budget law HR1 makes deep cuts to safety net programs like SNAP and Medicaid. In Seattle more than half of food bank clients rely on SNAP and food banks cannot make up the gap; for every 1 meal food banks provide snap provides 9. At the same time federal food support is shrinking and food prices are up 30% since 2020. What will you do to protect access to food for Seattle families in the face of these federal cuts?”
This is just one of many burning questions on all our minds that was asked at the Seattle Human Services Coalition (SHSC) Forum earlier this month. With mind boggling statistics woven through, human service providers wrote thoughtful questions for the candidates in the upcoming Seattle elections.
Seattle Human Services Coalition is a coalition of over 240 nonprofit organizations representing a wide spectrum of human services
The questions asked set the very real scene of a disappearing social safety net. Bringing human services issues to the forefront with the hopes that candidates will build future policy with this distressing context in mind. So our future legislators can build policy that prioritizes helping vulnerable people rather than harming them.
This entire forum is available to watch on YouTube. The forum took place at El Centro de la Raza's Centilia Cultural Center in Beacon Hill. Nathaniel Lyon, Ballard Food Bank's Senior Manager of Community Advocacy and Outreach, helped organize the event alongside folks at Chinese Information and Service Center, El Centro de la Raza, Coalition Ending Gender Based Violence, and other organizations working in the human services landscape.
"In thinking about what was unique about this forum versus previous ones I would say it was the makeup of the community that showed up. In previous years the majority of attendees were already very politically engaged. This year we had many people in the audience who were there because they access services. What the candidates had to say would directly affect them." - Nathaniel Lyon
Ballard Food Bank staff attend the forum
The questions asked aren't just hypotheticals, these are the very conditions our neighbors will be living in, applying for housing in, seeking childcare in, searching for healthcare amidst and more. Thank you to the candidates and our community members who joined the forum to bring to light the current issues affecting our neighbors and this field of work.
If both candidates were present, they shared the stage to address pre-written questions and live audience questions with moderator Marcia Wright-Soika (Executive Director of FamilyWorks and co-chair of SHSC's City Budget Task Force.) Each candidate had 90 seconds to respond to a handful of questions ranging from the intersection of human services and public safety, protecting people from harmful federal policies in immigration, championing wage equity for caretakers and other human service providers so they may live in the city they work in, increasing affordable housing, and addressing hunger amidst record levels of food insecurity.
The forum began with the Seattle City Attorney race then went to City Council candidates (starting with position 8, 9, and then 2), a lightning round with all candidates from all races, and finished off hearing from both Mayoral candidates.
Three candidates did not attend the forum: Ann Davison running for Seattle City Attorney against Erika Evans, Rachael Savage running for Seattle City Council position 8 against Alexis Mercedes Rinck, and Sara Nelson running for Seattle City Council position 9 against Dionne Foster.
All candidates agree on a lightning round question
The lightning round allowed candidates to answer yes, no, or waffle - if they're going in between. Starting lighthearted, Marcia asked if anyone's nailed a first-attempt parallel park job in Capitol Hill. Eventually candidates shared their quick-responses to questions like if their families have ever relied on human services to meet their needs, if childcare workers should receive childcare subsidies, do they support providing housing to folks without requirements for sobriety, and will they commit to progressive revenue to fund human services. No one waffled. Each question - aside from a perfect parking job on the Hill - was answered with resounding yeses.
While we cannot endorse candidates we do encourage our neighbors to stay informed ahead of the November 4th General Election. City legislators deeply impact the work we do as human service providers and the lives of our neighbors we serve. We hope you will consider the issues discussed during the forum whilst casting your votes this fall.