WHY IT MATTERS:
Each year we see that our courts send our poor and minority to jail more often and for longer sentences. In response, instead of making a system of real justice in our courts, we decide to stop prosecuting criminals, which creates even more injustice and a progressively less civil society. We need public safety and criminal justice.
In response to this ongoing injustice we have decide to stop prosecuting crimes which makes everyone less safe, particularly those who rely on public services for safety.
In response to this ongoing injustice we have decide to stop prosecuting crimes which makes everyone less safe, particularly those who rely on public services for safety.
Start a protected peer review process for police officers:
Police Officers in particular need to have each other’s back and this is part of the value of the ‘thin blue line’ that keep officers from saying negative things about each other in public. However, police officers need a forum that is not open to the public where they can discuss errors and take actions for improvement. This same process is used in healthcare to foster education and quality improvement and for peers to manage physicians who exhibit substandard care or unethical behavior.
Make Seattle governance more representative of voters:
One of the biggest complaints of the original american colonies of England was that they had taxation without representation. If we value minority viewpoints, we must create a system of governance where we have representation even when our candidate loses. One way of doing this is to have a parliamentary system of government. In our current system, if the green party or the libertarian party or the socialist party gets 10 percent of the national vote, they get no seats in congress and no representation in governance unless one of their members happens to get a majority of the vote in a district which is very rare. This is what we call throwing away our vote.
One way of making sure that every vote counts is a parliamentary system where if your party gets 10 percent of the national vote, your party gets 10 percent of the seats in congress/parliament. The way this works is even if none of your party’s candidates wins a majority, the top vote getters in your party are awarded seats until your party has 10 percent of the seats. This parliamentary system of electing legislators is vastly superior to our current system of government. It fosters minority viewpoints, takes away the spectre of having to choose the lesser of two evils, gets rid of the concept of throwing your vote away, and fosters minority viewpoints and most importantly, it gives every voter the opportunity for representation in our government.
Note that while ranked choice voting is an improvement over our current system of voting as it removes the problem of throwing your vote away on a candidate that you really would prefer not to vote for, it still has the other drawbacks of our current system
While we can’t change our country overnight, we can start the change in Seattle by changing the way we vote for our elected officials so that everyone’s vote counts.
One way of making sure that every vote counts is a parliamentary system where if your party gets 10 percent of the national vote, your party gets 10 percent of the seats in congress/parliament. The way this works is even if none of your party’s candidates wins a majority, the top vote getters in your party are awarded seats until your party has 10 percent of the seats. This parliamentary system of electing legislators is vastly superior to our current system of government. It fosters minority viewpoints, takes away the spectre of having to choose the lesser of two evils, gets rid of the concept of throwing your vote away, and fosters minority viewpoints and most importantly, it gives every voter the opportunity for representation in our government.
Note that while ranked choice voting is an improvement over our current system of voting as it removes the problem of throwing your vote away on a candidate that you really would prefer not to vote for, it still has the other drawbacks of our current system
While we can’t change our country overnight, we can start the change in Seattle by changing the way we vote for our elected officials so that everyone’s vote counts.
Make our city streets safe.
End the practice of enabling addicts and inviting criminals into our city. I support arresting and trying criminals. I believe all criminals should be held accountable for their behavior, rich or poor, and believe that everyone has a right to equal representation and a fair trial.
Stop littering.
This goes along with offering people appropriate housing. Living on the streets is unsanitary for all.
Stop unrestricted graffiti.
While some graffiti is artistic, we have not designated our buildings, bridges, and roadways as a canvas for any and all. I support cameras at hot spots and giving community service to offenders to remove graffiti such as tags or images that are not invited or wanted by the owners or stewards of private and public spaces.
End the war on drugs
The war on drugs is a failure and waste of our precious resources. We cannot keep people from using drugs, they just turn to the black market and that fosters crime and violence. That being said, if we unilaterally end the war on drugs in Seattle, we will quickly become a drug distribution center with rival suppliers going to war to claim supremacy. Ending the war on drugs needs to be done at the national level but I support it wholeheartedly
