Saul Spady: Kshama Sawant is the Trump in our midst

Saul Spady’s name is known around Seattle as the grandson of Dick Spady, founder of Dick’s Drive-In. But lately, he’s become known as a local activist.

He was prominent in the effort to defeat Seattle’s head tax, what he calls an Amazon tax. He is vocal on affordable housing issues. He started an online community to discuss solutions called 21st Century Seattle. It all sounds like someone preparing to run for political office. The Seattle City Council perhaps?

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“I can’t really answer that one right now, because I think running for city council … it’s something that should be taken with a lot of thought,” he told KTTH Radio’s Jason Rantz.

“I will say this, I think myself and a lot of other concerned citizens are thinking deeply about what a run for office would look like in the City of Seattle,” he said. “It’s expensive and emotionally draining. Already, with some of the stuff I did on the head tax, I’ve been dealing with what I would call internet bullying … on the other side, we do need leadership. We need those who will step up in our district.”

Saying that Seattle has grown displeased with city leadership, he encourages people to challenge them.

“This isn’t a partisan issue; this isn’t Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “These are individuals who have gotten pretty cocky about their position in the city and they don’t believe they have to listen or respond to the needs of voters.”

Saul Spady and Kshama Sawant

Spady’s district is District 3, currently represented by Kshama Sawant. He argues that she cancels almost 50 percent of her meetings, uses taxpayer dollars to call out the city’s top employer, and squandered an opportunity presented by saving The Showbox. Spady would like to have used developer money to rebuild The Showbox and provide dorm-style housing to musicians and artists. Instead, Sawant butts heads with many in Seattle.

“Kshama Sawant, the Donald Trump in our midst, is burning bridges and making it OK to victimize your neighbors,” Spady said.

“I like to say that she’s the Donald Trump in our midst,” he said. “…we can’t burn down bridges. We can’t call out the people who voted for her in the past and say they are our enemy. This is an incredible opportunity to take the incredible revenue in the city of Seattle, the incredible technological opportunities and companies that are here and build a 21st century Progressive city that we can all be proud to live in.”

Spady further argues that Sawant may even be confused about what she stands for – wanting housing, fighting against developers who would build that housing; talking down large corporations, then siding with AEG to save The Showbox.

“You start to realize that she might be a little confused about what she really cares about,” he said. “Other than we need to lock up all those crooks, throw them away, and burn it all down. I completely disagree. I think the city of Seattle is my home; it’s all of our homes … Some of us don’t always agree on everything. But the requirement to make progress on that is to step forward and have conversations with those who disagree.”

“If you live in Kshama Sawant’s district, or any district, I challenge you to reach out to your city council member and try to have a meeting – that’s step one,” Spady said. “If they won’t have a meeting with you as a resident of their district to talk about the issues that matter, strongly consider voting for someone else. Even if they do meet with you, see if they listen to you. If they are not willing to listen, strongly consider voting for someone else.”

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