Author: Clay Showalter (Clay Showalter)

Yesterday, I wrote about my amendment to secure funding for Career Bridge. Today I would like to speak to a complementary amendment, calling on Councilmembers to support Priority Hire Pre-Apprenticeship Support. Supporting Priority Hire This past January, after two years of campaigning by over 40 organizations and countless community activists, Council unanimously voted to adopt […]

Over the last two decades, Seattle has seen a massive influx of new workers, particularly in the tech industries. City Hall has gone to great lengths to court specific companies through sweetheart deals to mega-corporations and developers. In the meantime, low income Seattleites and people of color, in particular, have been neglected, and the Mayor’s proposed budget continues this […]

On November 3, 2015, one day after the Mayor issued a Proclamation of Civil Emergency on homelessness, I joined homeless organizers, social justice activists, and social service providers to deliver a statement. I then addressed the Council on the need to produce a response that is in proportion to the crisis. View my speech below. I’m glad […]

On November 3, 2015, one day after the Mayor issued a Proclamation of Civil Emergency on homelessness, I joined homeless organizers, social justice activists, and social service providers to deliver the following statement. Let’s Use the City’s Rainy Day Fund to Seriously Address This Crisis SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant, along with Julia Sterkovsky, the Executive Director […]

Last month, my office was contacted by a group of tenants in South Seattle whose landlord, the notorious slumlord Carl Haglund, was doubling their rents, despite truly appalling living conditions. This was a brazen attempt by Haglund to conduct building-wide economic evictions. After meeting with tenants to see the apartment building, my office joined with […]

Last month, my office was contacted by a group of tenants in South Seattle whose landlord, the notorious slumlord Carl Haglund, was doubling their rents, despite truly appalling living conditions. This was a brazen attempt by Haglund to conduct building-wide economic evictions. After meeting with tenants to see the apartment building, my office joined with […]

Small businesses face overwhelming obstacles just surviving in the modern economy. Big businesses capture not only the lion’s share of profit, they also utilize their capital to exert a disproportionate influence on politics – influence which is used to further corporate interests at the expense of workers and small businesses alike. It is the disproportionate economic power wielded by […]

On October 27, 2015, restaurant and nightlife venue owner Dave Meinert joined K. Wyking Garrett of AfricatownSeattle.com, Paula Lucas of Le Frock, Mike Rodriguez from Restaurant Opportunities Center United, Nate Omdal from Fair Trade Music Seattle, former small business owner Sonia Ponath, and me to introduce a series of initiatives supporting small business, including commercial rent control.  We […]

On September 22, 2015, Councilmember O’Brien and I opposed the passage of a large package ordinance that would expand the City of Seattle’s relationship with the Port of Seattle. For several years, the Teamsters have been trying to organize the Port truck drivers. The Port of Seattle has been denying basic human rights to the drivers, like bathroom access, […]