District 2, I’m voting for Ari Hoffman

My last post was my best 3 AM attempt to synthesize all of the voices and put into one holistic map of what’s going on locally in Seattle.  We as humans, myself included, are bombarded with noise all day long - the billboard signs, the yard signs, the Facebook and Twitter feeds, emails, and yes, even getting unsolicited text messages from candidates (not cool = Tammy Morales).  It’s increasingly difficult to find that quiet thinking time. It’s very difficult to figure out who has what incentives, why are they pushing a particular candidate (or not), and what is most important for me and my community.  
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My last post upset some people - even upset some friends.  Hopefully, we can disagree and still like each other.

Here are five additional thoughts on the topic of Ari Hoffman and Civic Discourse:

1. Public servants need to practice stewardship.  Public servants that hold office should hold the idea of stewardship as a core principle; it should be central to the why they get up every day to do the work they do for the community.  Stewardship. Reminder, Mirriam-Webster defines stewardship as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care stewardship of resources.”  Resources like: publicly funded dollars, buildings, roads, the environment, and even people who reside in or work for that particular community.  Ari Hoffman has demonstrated through action, not just words, the principle of stewardship and discipline I expect to see from those that serve the community.  Some examples:
   1. Vandals caused over $230,000 in damages to a local Jewish cemetery, including strewn needles and bottles.  As a board member of this cemetery, Ari went above and beyond. He raised awareness. He went to the news for help. He went to the city for help.  He still has not gotten the support he originally sought. “Hoffman did share photos with KIRO 7 as proof that the cemeteries have been disrespected, needles near tombstones, feces discarded near them or simply left on top of grave plots. He also said empty bottles and discarded drug paraphernalia led him to believe some people were partying near the plots, “people are doing drugs off the tombstones.”  Most people forget the dead and elderly - what I see is a community and a man that shares a forgotten kind of respect for those that came before us.  Ari has a kind of stewardship that I want for our city; someone who will fight for everyone, even those who no longer have a voice to fight for themselves, like the human dead among us.
   2. On safe injection sites - a very political topic in Seattle - again Ari has demonstrated the kind of stewardship I want to see. Yes - there have been many studies that may prove that they work, and there may be a lot of benefits.  And yes, there are studies that show that they may not work (as in a new study in the International Study of Drug Policy). It’s still not actually clear if they work or not given inherent complexities. While seen as completely flabbergasting, Ari Hoffman is doing the right thing by pushing back on safe injection sites.  We should be questioning if what people want is a magic pill to solve the challenges and is that best magic pill, safe injection sites? Who wants the safe injection site down the street from where they live?  Who wants it in the neighborhood where playgrounds, children, and families strive to thrive? Key stewardship point: Ari Hoffman went even further by taking personal time and resources to go check out first hand to understand what safe injection sites are and whether it may or may not make sense.  He went to San Diego. He went to Vancouver, BC. Ari took personal time, and personal resources to go learn about the issue. Has any other candidate done that?   And yes, there are always at least three sides to any story - what he demonstrated again and again, is his willingness to do the hard work to think for himself. He speaks truth to power - even though many of us don’t want to hear it.  That’s stewardship. We may not all agree on his point of views or what he saw or the story he tells based on what he saw, we all have to agree that his kind of stewardship is what the community needs.
2. Is Ari Hoffman conservative? No and Yes. If you mean, what some people call “right-wing, MAGA and NRA loving Republican?  No. Conservative meaning preferring a sober and evidence-based, practical approach to finding solutions to problems?  Yes. How did this idea of Ari Hoffman being an ultra-conservative come about?
   1. The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991. It calls itself "Seattle's Only Newspaper," an expression of its disdain for Seattle's two dailies (the Seattle Times and the now-defunct print edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) and The Stranger's main rival, the Seattle Weekly. The paper regularly covers Seattle City Council politics.  The Stranger is generally very liberal and progressive in its perspectives.  The Stranger has positioned him as "ultra-conservative" - and unfortunately, people have taken that to be truth without actually looking to see if it is true.
   2. Ari Hoffman also has accepted all and ANY invitation for an interview.  This is NOT a politically accepted thing to do, especially if you are a candidate running for office.  Surprising to me, because in theory, isn’t it a good thing to be willing to have a conversation with every person (no matter what their beliefs are)?  What I’ve learned is that if you’re running for office in Seattle, you decline an interviews with the NRA for example. You decline to even have a conversation.  Ari didn’t. He thought for himself and went, that doesn’t make any sense. Isn’t it a good thing to have honest conversations, despite differences?  
   3. The topic of safe injection sites again.  In district two of Seattle, one of the most racial diverse, progressive districts here, most people are very liberal and very progressive - leaning towards “democratic socialism”.  It’s literally “not cool” to question if safe injection sites actually work. As one person wrote on my facebook page regarding Ari, “he is actively sharing opinions and his new video that is very much out of alignment on current best practices and research based approaches for homelessness. “  It hasn’t been proven yet.  How many of the folks that support safe injection sites want one  across the street from where they live? Then is the idea to support progressive ideas as long as they are placed “somewhere else”, not in our neighborhood?  Let’s be honest here.
3. Civic discourse is when people communicate with one another about the political, social, cultural or economic issues that their community face to begin a conversation or debate.  Today, in Seattle and beyond, most of us are afraid and wary about sharing our true thoughts about anything. A lot of people are hard-wired with all kinds of triggers and hence, a ready-to-wear angry emotional reaction to whomever or whatever source made the disagreeable statement.  This is not how civic discourse happens. We’re Democrat or Republican - ready to shut the other side down without even trying out a thought experiment to really consider what they are trying to say. Hey, remember, most of us don’t have all the right words and don’t know how to say something “the right way”.  We’re all trying. And while many of us are being re-trained to embrace diversity - diversity of color, race, sexual orientation, and more - most of us are absolutely hardwired to distance ourselves and reject ideological diversity. What’s wrong with learning more about the other very different person? What’s wrong with meeting with a die-hard NRA loving person to share disagreements and to talk about it?  What’s wrong with asking the “stupid question”? In business, it’s supposedly encouraged. What about in community and in politics?
4. We all live in bubbles.  There have been warnings here and there that say especially because of media and the social media algorithms, we are primed to exist in “bubbles” of only similar ideology and like-minded folks we agree with.  Every “like” in Facebook means you’ll see even more posts from that person or entity you already agree with. How do we combat bubbles? We have to actively seek opinions, media, and posts that are different than the ones you agree with. For example: Are you a die-hard Democrat?  Follow some die-hard Republicans.  
5. Character matters when I vote.  Safety for me is top of mind because of all the violence my family has personally experienced in the past couple of years.  I’m also looking at behaviors that indicate character. I’m looking at actions that demonstrate discipline and respect. I’m looking to find commonalities - like family orientation and having had children.  I’m looking at length of journey to date - I do NOT want someone who’s in the moonlight years of their career, I want candidates who have some life experience, have some good work experience, and are looking to leave a mark still in the world.  I want someone who will get up again and again after they’ve fallen. I want candidates that will speak truth to power, speak truth period, even if it is not the “PC” thing to say or do. Again, this is why, I’m voting for Ari Hoffman in District 2.  He’s a little flamboyant in his delivery and presentation. He’s a little bit like a bull in a China shop with his political skills. He’s like a gorilla who’s charging through brick walls and bashing down twine that’s in his way. That’s who I want in Seattle Council - fighting for safety, fighting for respect of our green spaces and parks, fighting for a little bit of common sense and practicality in finding the right kind of humane solutions for everyone.

At the end of the day, whether a person is old/young, white/black/yellow/green, Democrat/Republican, white collar/blue collar, citizen / immigrant - we are actually far more alike than different.  We are all human. If we start with that as the foundational place for any discussion, any disagreement, any kind of civic discourse - we’ll find that generally: 

• We ALL want and consider ourselves to be good people.
• We all want safe spaces for ourselves, our children, and our families.
• We all want safe, clean neighborhoods.
• We all want better lives for the poor, sick, and weak.
• We all want access to decent schools, education, and a way to grow.
• We all want access to reliable public/private transportation, roads, and more.
• We all want access to affordable, good homes.

We are all human.  Likely, we all want the same things for ourselves and each other.  Let’s start there, in the name of humanity -- and then work to figure out the details, the different approaches and ideas, and get there, together. 

​--Arry