Candidate Profile: Bruce Harrell

GSBA has invited all of its members who are running for office to provide a profile to share with the rest of the membership. We have given each of them a set of questions to respond to so that you can get to know them better. We are posting the profiles as we receive them. GSBA does not endorse candidates, but we are happy to let those candidates who are part of our organization introduce themselves to the rest of our growing membership. Don't forget to vote and mail in your primary ballots before August 6!

Councilmember Bruce Harrell
Running for Mayor of Seattle

What are the top 3 reasons why you are seeking to be elected as Seattle’s next mayor?

• Create jobs in Seattle and an ecosystem in which the private sector thrives.
• Make Seattle the most livable city in the world through a focus on public safety, transportation, education, infrastructure, and affordability.
• Build ‘One Seattle’ to provide the pathway to success for all, and where all residents feel valued and respected.

What are your top 3 priorities for your first year in office?

• Implement Proactive Police Plan which includes the hiring of local community service officers who’ll come from your community and will protect your streets.
• Convert community centers to empowerment centers where our next generation will be taught civics, conflict management, environmental sustainability, and provided resources to help them succeed.
• Develop a new college endowment fund to allow every graduate in Seattle Public Schools to attend a local college tuition-free for one year.

What are 3 changes you would make in running the City and/or to the Office of Mayor?

• Refocus the city on core services such as sidewalks, potholes, and synchronizing traffic-lights while also planning for our future.
• Be more proactive and better prioritize initiatives and actions based on long term goals and vision for the city.
• Improve transparency in how we do business and make decisions, to drive efficiencies and restore trust in city government.

What do you consider your 3 most important accomplishments you have achieved in your present office?

• Created "The Great Student Initiative” which will prepare some of our most vulnerable children for the global economy.  This legislation provides a huge discounted rate for high-speed internet access and a computer for all low-income students in Seattle Public Schools.
• As Chair of City Light, I worked with our utility to provide the lowest electricity rates among the twenty-five largest cities in the nation (6.88 cents per kilowatt hour), created a $100 million rainy day fund to protect low income families and small businesses in a downturn, and improved City Light’s financial policies to boost its credit rating which saved $67 million over two years.
• Passed groundbreaking Race and Social Justice legislation that requires our City to recognize the diversity of our city before taking legislative or budget action. Every community deserves respect.

What LGBT issues will you address in your first 6 months in office?

• Securing safe and stable shelter and social services for homeless youth. Recognizing that 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, we need to provide opportunities for these young people to complete school and build pathways to success.
• Improve public safety, particularly in and around Capitol Hill.  Successful communities start with safe communities, and despite progress in marriage rights, violent crime in our city is on the rise.
• Support for the completion of LGBT Community Center on Capitol Hill.