Position 8 City Council candidate Tariq Yusuf is an electric scooter-riding, cat-rearing tech bro, but don’t click out of this post! He just might be one of the Good Ones.
Yusuf joins two other progressives—homelessness policy wonk Alexis Mercedes Rinck and lefty organizer Saunatina Sanchez—in challenging controversial appointee Tanya Woo, who hopes to win her first election ever to defend the seat her corporatist buddies gave her as a consolation prize after her loss against the council’s only tried-and-true progressive. After even the labor-backed candidates rode the center lane to failures last cycle, the three left challengers feel like a breath of fresh air.
Yusuf told The Stranger that he refuses to sit idly by while the City Council defunds the social services that made his entire life journey possible. Instead, Yusuf will make the tech giants and other big corporations pay their fair share so the City can fulfill what Yusuf said ought to be its primary function, taking care of the people who live here.
Lefty Urbanists, This One’s for You
Yusuf grew up in refugee communities in the New Holly neighborhood. He has seen families priced out of Seattle, but unlike the current administration, he doesn’t weaponize the real phenomena of gentrification to promote NIMBYism. He said Seattle must encourage the development of a variety of housing options throughout the city because we miss out on the “richness” of cross-class communities by pricing out the service industry. He wants to see baristas, teachers, and tech workers all living in the same buildings and neighborhoods.
But don’t get Yusuf wrong. He’s no real estate industry shill. He told The Stranger he’s very concerned about allegations that corporate landlords use RealPage to fix the prices of rental properties. Yusuf wants to see stronger renter protections and more community ownership.
As for those most harmed by the housing crisis, unhoused people, Yusuf said that the City must be more empathetic. He does not support the Mayor’s relentless encampment sweeps and he said he would support a ban on sweeps during extreme weather. He also wants Seattle to give more money to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) to bring people inside.
While Yusuf stands in stark contrast to Woo when it comes to housing and homelessness, he advocates for similar policies as his opponents Rinck and Sanchez. But he’s less versed in the issues than Rinck (who worked for the KCRHA) and has less on-the-ground experience than Sanchez (who comes from mutual aid circles).
Care Not Cops
In his interview with The Stranger, Yusuf could not stop talking about the cops—particularly how much money the City pours into the Seattle Police Department (SPD) while neglecting other departments and services. He does not support the Mayor’s unrealistic goal to hire 1,400 cops, nor would he support any incentive program to that end. He also doesn’t think the cops need any new gadgets, particularly not Spotspotter. As a data privacy consultant, Yusuf thinks the acoustic gunshot locating software is super creepy, not to mention ineffective.
Yusuf said money would be better spent on social services than on cops. The police spend a lot of their time harassing homeless people and he would rather the City pay for more social workers to help homeless people get better-paying jobs and housing instead.
All three challengers seem in agreement with Yusuf’s approach to public safety, but so far he and Sanchez seem to speak the most confidently against SPD, whereas Rinck came off a little more cautious in her interview last month. Still, all of them make Woo look like an absolute bootlicker by comparison.
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But Yusuf thinks it will take more than skimming off the top of SPD’s budget to fill the looming shortfall and beef up social services. That’s why he’s a big proponent of progressive revenue. He’s not into sales tax, he’s not into levies, he’s into taxing the exorbitant profits that big companies make in Seattle.
“Big businesses benefit from us having a cleaner, safer city and they should actually be the ones to foot that bill,” Yusuf said.
Yusuf is so committed to taxing specifically business, that he’s not really interested in an expansion to the capital gains tax because, he said, even though the state version taxes a wealthy few, it still taxes individuals.
Woo’s three challengers may distinguish themselves the most when it comes to taxes. Rinck told The Stranger she supports progressive revenue “with my full heart and everything I am” without caveats like Yusuf. Sanchez does not support imposing new taxes until the City reallocates police funds to other departments. On a council of conservatives, that slightly more nuanced anti-tax stance would probably yield similar results to Woo’s blanket advocacy against new, progressive revenue anyway.
Overall, Yusuf told The Stranger he’s not sure he’s the right guy for the job, but he’s angry enough to try. If he loses to Rinck or Sanchez in the primary, he said he will gladly support them.
“I’m really excited for the race and the conversations we will have in debates because I think fundamentally, we all want to make the City better,” said Yusef. “Or at least I can say that of the three of us.”
Neat, another candidate whose campaign will get more democracy vouchers than votes.
‘…he’s into taxing the exorbitant profits that big companies make in Seattle.
‘“Big businesses benefit from us having a cleaner, safer city and they should actually be the ones to foot that bill,” Yusuf said.’
Yeah, from mid-2018 onwards, Sawant’s Amazon Tax really helped Seattle turn the corner on homelessness. No doubt this will do even better, given the State Supreme Court has been very clear income taxes are unconstitutional in Washington.
@1: What have you against Ace the Architect? 😉
So what’s the method Yusuf will use to tax businesses (seems like a logical follow-up)? I oftentimes suspect progressives like Yusuf are unaware of, for example, the B&O tax (which taxes revenue).
I too wish there was a magical way to pay for all the things we want but unfortunately we’re limited to one form of taxation or another. Any candidate unable to clearly layout their approach is merely grifting from Seatllites (as @2 pointed out, see Ace as the worst example).
Saying that Seattle has a conservative council shows the depth of self-delusion The Stranger is in .
The lesson that the “progressive” candidates/council members need to learn is that being on a city council – and especially a district city council – means having to do more than just come up with ways to tax businesses and complain about zoning. They need to take care of their constituents. All the constituents, not just their base. Make sure the streets are getting cleaned and the trash picked up, and that someone answers the phone and responds to the emails.
Seattle has moved on from virtue signaling progressive ineffective nut jobs. we tried that for the last 1o years I was a disaster for affordable housing and public safety
hard pass
When The Stranger has lost Catalina Vel-DuRay, there’s really no coming back.
Xitiso dear, it’s not that The Stranger has “lost” me. It’s that they refuse to understand how local politics works.
Being on a City Council is first and foremost a civic responsibility, not a platform. The council is responsible for making sure that the city is well run and a good steward of the tax dollars they have been entrusted with. And Seattlites are increasingly demanding when it comes to that. For example, when was the last time we had a two-term Mayor? (answer: Greg Nickels, back in the 00’s). As I said above, you gotta take care of business if you want to be re-elected, not just preach to your base.
Further, the reality of Our Fair City is that it is increasingly affluent/expensive, and that affluence is largely caused by tech and biotech, as well as our old standby Aerospace. That’s not to say that those companies shouldn’t pay more taxes. There’s a conservative argument to be made that since they have caused the growth they should help with things like infrastructure. But you can’t villainize an entire subset of citizens and their employers – especially in such a churlish and childish manner as writers like Our Dear Hannah does – and expect to get a warm reception.
The Stranger has always been the paper of the young hipster. It stole that mantle away from The Seattle Weekly, which had become sedate and self-satisfied (and regarded The Stranger in the same churlish, childish manner). Don’t be a Seattle Weekly, The Stranger.