King County Councilmember Balducci defends protesting in front of her home

Groups of individuals, typically part of Everyday March Seattle, have recently been going to the homes of lawmakers and city employees to demand action on policy positions that they hold.

While KTTH host Jason Rantz does not believe this is an appropriate form of protests, King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci believes it is, at least in some circumstances.

Balducci was visited by a crowd at her home in recent weeks. She recognizes that not everyone whose home the crowd visited had the same experience she did, but she had a conversation with them and later referred to the crowd as “deeply impressive.”

“I want to just say up front that setting things on fire, violence, intimidating, harassing people are not OK, obviously,” she said. “But that’s, again, not what I experienced here in my neighborhood when the marchers came to visit our house.”

“All I can say is that you’ve got a group of people, many of them appear to be young people to me, who are trying to keep a spotlight on real issues, really important issues, … they’re not making things up, right?” she said. “They’re not making up that there has been racial violence in this country that, you know, the death of George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, and others that have sparked this national movement. And the demands that they’re trying to shine a light on are real demands, regardless of whether you agree with them or not. They’re real demands that are meant to address racism in our country.”

Councilmember Balducci says protests have long been a way to bring attention to issues, particularly of racial justice, but have never been welcomed.

“We like to tell ourselves now that back in the sixties and seventies, there was kind of this heyday and we were all very happy to be protesting, and it was all about reaching the mountaintop. But that’s not true at all,” she said. “I mean, the protests of the 1960s that I think we recognize today were for the right purposes and achieved good ends were not welcomed in their time.”

“Again, I’m not going to try to justify intimidation, harassment, violence. But if conversation is what people are seeking, and that is what they sought when they came here, I’m willing to have that conversation,” Balducci added.

She admits it’s not her favorite way of being contacted by constituents, but she is fine with being slightly inconvenienced when there are important conversations to be had.

“I think when people are protesting, whether it’s in my neighborhood, on my street, whether it’s in the streets of downtown Bellevue, as happened earlier this year, … if it’s on important issues, if it’s on meaningful issues, yeah, we should engage with them,” Balducci said. “Our police chief engaged with people in the streets of Bellevue. And so I do think it’s important.”

She is open to engaging on important topics and any issues brought to her by her constituents.

“I represent the Eastside. When people contact me and they have constituent issues, I respond to them whether they’re happy or not, whether they use unpleasant language, call me names, or not. I feel like … I’ve got to respond to those people, they’re my constituents,” she said.

As to who gets to determine what issues are “important,” Balducci says it’s probably up to her if it’s people showing up to her house.

“I didn’t invite people to come have a meeting at my home. … My neighbors didn’t run for office. My family didn’t run for office. I ran for office,” she said. “So it’s definitely not my most favored form of being contacted, but I think we’re going through something really historic right now. I think we are going through a discussion that could potentially set off a wave of changes that will help to bring us closer to true racial equality, … and I do consider that a very important issue that I’m willing to engage in conversation. So I guess if it’s my house, it’s my decision what’s an important enough issue for me to engage on.”

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