City council candidate Bruce Harrell has taken mutually exclusive
positions on at least two major, key issues in this year’s council
elections: the Alaskan Way Viaduct and police accountability. Harrell is one of two front-runners for the
position being vacated by Peter Steinbrueck, with $143,000 in donations
so far, and an endorsement list that includes the pro-business Alki
Foundation, three Democratic legislative organizations, and several
labor organizations.
On August 2, in front of the Seattle Alliance for Good Jobs and
Housing for Everyone (SAGE)—a group that has been very supportive
of expanding council oversight over the Seattle Police
Department—Harrell came out strongly in favor of additional
oversight. “We need to have tight, clear laws,” Harrell said. “I want
us to have subpoena power. I’ll make sure as a city council member that
we have it. We cannot have anyone be a victim of police
misconduct.”
However, at another forum held just a few weeks earlier by Hate Free
Zone, a civil-rights group that advocates for immigrants, Harrell tried
to shift the focus away from accountability. “[Police oversight]
shouldn’t be a priority for the city council. There is a crisis in our
city of affordable living and affordable housing, people…. This issue
will be taken care of. So I want to refocus it.”
And at The Stranger‘s editorial endorsement meeting,
Harrell was even more specific, arguing that “the council doesn’t need
[to have oversight over the chief of police]. The council needs to set
the law and make sure it works and monitor it. The council does not
need to be a fact finder in any process.” Asked to clarify his position
on whether the council should have the authority to reconfirm the
police chief every four years, Harrell continued: “I don’t really
understand every four years—what is that really going to do? I
don’t think it’s going to accomplish very much.”
Although the two positions are not mutually exclusive, it is
troubling for a high-profile candidate to oppose additional police
oversight at two interviews and then support it, vehemently, at
another. Harrell did not return calls requesting an explanation of the
apparent flip-flop. While The Stranger and Hate Free Zone both
support additional accountability, police oversight is a central, key
issue for SAGE—predisposing Harrell, perhaps, to change his tune
on the accountability issue.
Harrell’s views on replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct have been
slippery as well. Back in May, Harrell told the 46th District Democrats
(of north Seattle) that he voted “no and no” on the tunnel and elevated
options for viaduct replacement, and that he “wants a surface
solution,” according to the meeting minutes. (His leading opponent,
Venus Velazquez, also supports the surface/transit option.) One week
later, he told the 36th District Democrats (of northwest Seattle) that
he was “agnostic on [the best] approach” to replacing the viaduct,
according to the meeting minutes. A month after that, he told the 43rd
District Democrats (of central and north Seattle) that he would
“possibly be interested in a surface/transit solution,” adding that a
deep-bore tunnel might be a better solution.
Why do candidate flip-flops matter? Because a candidate with squishy
positions on important issues will become a council member with squishy
positions on those same issues. More importantly, a council member who
tells people what they want to hear isn’t a council member with firm
convictions.
Bruce Harrell may indeed have firm convictions on many issues
(affordability, green space, diversity). But so far, his positions on
two key issues have made him seem more like a candidate with his finger
in the wind. 