As Seattle heads toward the upcoming mayoral election, The Stranger remains committed to helping readers sift through the avalanche of campaign rhetoric, ideological furor, and implicit media bias that has already begun to corrupt the process. In that spirit, we present our newest community engagement feature: "Who Said It?" in which we pair the actual words of candidates with those of noteworthy historical figures, the better to allow the voting public to make up its own mind.
WHO SAID IT: Jane Birkin (English/French actress/model/musician who came to prominence in the 1960s for her work with then-spouse Serge Gainsbourg) or Jenny Durkan (former US Attorney for Western Washington and current Seattle mayoral candidate)?
1. "I'd rather live on my own than live with a face that looks at me with the wrong eyes."
2. "In fact, the cost of satisfying Washington, DC, will reduce the ability of every US Attorney to address the greatest threats in their communities."
3. "If I were mayor, I'd invite everyone to have free boat trips on the river and free balloon rides over the city. I'd let the elderly in residential homes wander free."
4. "You have a pretty finite and limited budget and resources to address pretty widespread problems... To prove that someone is in the business of selling guns is very, very difficult."
5. "Les gens aiment toujours des choses qui semblent exotiques."
6. "I will listen, I will learn, I will lead."
7. "My mother was right: When you've got nothing left, all you can do is get into silk underwear and start reading Proust."
8. "We are the city that gave you coffee on every street corner."
9. "Any film I see at two o'clock in afternoon with my mother seems to cast a strange spell that means we both come out sobbing."
10. "The causes of homelessness differ depending on the person who is homeless, and so we can't have a one-size-fits-all approach."
ANSWERS Birkin: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. Durkan: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
Want to hear more from Jenny Durkan? Come to Neumos on Tuesday, July 11, at 8 p.m. for Candidate Survivor, a forum hosted by The Stranger and Washington Bus. Candidate Survivor is the biggest, bestest, and sexiest candidate forum in Seattle.
As the August 1 primary draws near, Candidate Survivor will give Seattleites a fresh look at the top eight mayoral candidates. Candidate Survivor gives you the power to decide who stays onstage and who goes. That’s right, the audience will be voting, via text, to determine which mayoral candidate will survive. Tickets are free and the event is all ages. More info at thestranger.com/candidatesurvivor. 
