Harrell seeks second term as Wilson calls for change in latest Seattle mayoral debate

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and mayoral candidate Katie Wilson debated each other Thursday night over various Seattle-based topics with the general election just one month away.

Wilson earned nearly 51% of the vote in the August primary, compared to Harrell’s 43%.

“We need a mayor’s office that is responsive and effective, and right now we are failing,” Wilson said during her opening statement. “We cannot have another four years when the rates of unsheltered homelessness go up and up and up. I cannot keep watching families like mine move out of the city because they cannot afford to live here … I know that together we can build a city that we can all believe in.”

Wilson was the co-founder and executive director of the Transit Riders Union, an organization dedicated to improving public transportation and advocating for workers’ rights.

Harrell, who served on the Seattle City Council from 2008 to 2020 before becoming mayor, began by explaining how deeply embedded he is in the city’s fabric, having grown up and attended school in Seattle before assuming a leadership role.

“I need four more years to right the ship, and we’ve laid the foundation for it,” Harrell said.

Allegations of toxic sexism within Harrell’s office

Former Seattle Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell accused Mayor Bruce Harrell of sexism and running a toxic office where sexism was the apparent norm. Monisha is the mayor’s niece.

“Her feedback means a lot to me, and I played a big role in her life raising her,” Harrell said. “So if that was her perception and that’s how she felt, I have to receive that and I have to get better. The fact is, I have the lowest turnover rate in a mayor’s office in 30 years. The fact is, I have more diversity on my team. Nearly half are women and people of color.

“If you talk to anyone on my cabinet, anyone on my team, they absolutely love working for me,” Harrell added. “They have great senses of humor.”

Seattle is facing a business exodus

The debate, co-moderated by Emily Parkhurst, the founder and CEO of Formidable, highlighted several struggles Seattle is facing: a lack of growth with the payroll tax, slowing construction revenue, and the city having the highest office vacancy rate in the country.

Parkhurst asked how each candidate would buck these trends.

“I am very proud of the role that I played in 2020 in designing and passing the Jumpstart Payroll expense tax, which is our city’s landmark tax on wealthy corporations, raising almost $400 million a year for affordable housing and many other things,” Wilson said. “It’s allowed our current mayor to balance the budget for the last four years. Our economy as a whole is in a little bit of a downturn, which I think accounts for the lower-than-projected revenues from the tax, but I want to point out also that it has raised more every single year than the last year. So this is not a declining revenue source.”

“My opponent should not take credit for the payroll expense tax that was done councilmatically, with a supporting mayor,” Harrell countered. “So when you’re on the sidelines, that’s OK to root for something. But these are really tough fiscal decisions that you have to make. The mayor will have to make executive decisions on police budgets or transportation budgets. And so you really have to know dollars and cents and have to be pretty astute on these issues.”

Economic opportunity and affordability

Rachel Horgan, host of the Seattle Weekly podcast, asked Harrell if his policies were to blame for the affordability crisis in Seattle, and what he would change with a second term. Seattle has become one of the most expensive cities in the country in terms of dining out and using rideshare services.

“We have to understand that we are a wealthy city … what we’re trying to do is make sure that all boats rise,” Harerll said after acknowledging that he wants massive Seattle-based companies, like Amazon and Microsoft, to pour money back into the community.

Harrell stated he fought for an “aggressive” minimum wage and for more protections for gig workers.

Wilson’s vision for Seattle, if elected as mayor, includes several new progressive taxes.

“We have a very regressive tax system in our state. What that means is that people in those lowest income brackets are paying far more of their income in state and local taxes than people in the highest income brackets,” Wilson said. “So the idea behind progressive taxes is to ask those at the top to contribute more. And that’s especially appropriate in this moment where the wealthiest are actually getting a big tax break from the Trump administration.”

Housing remains a constant struggle

Seattle is grappling with an ongoing housing shortage as its population continues to grow and affordability continues to decline.

“Under our administration, over my tenure, we’ve had $642 million of a deficit. It’s been a tough hand. But even with that tough hand, my current budget has $350 million to address that,” Harrell responded. “We put in about $11.5 million for rental assistance and other supports so people don’t become homeless. In the housing levy that I proposed, and you passed, we are keeping 9,000 people in their homes so that they don’t become homeless, and we’re building another 3,100 units.”

“Wilson, much of your campaign has centered around affordable housing,” Horgan said. “What would you do for those who don’t necessarily qualify for that and still cannot afford to live in our city?”

“I’m a strong supporter of social housing, which our current mayor opposed. Voters have twice told us overwhelmingly that they want the city to develop permanently affordable, publicly owned, mixed-income housing,” Wilson responded. “So this goes up to 120% of area median income, which is a very large spread. That means that no one’s paying more than 30% of their income in rent. But if you get that raise, that’s fine, right? You can still live in that building. So that’s one of the really wonderful things about that model.”

Seattle voters haven’t reelected their mayor in some time. If Harrell wins, he would become Seattle’s first two-term mayor since Greg Nickels in 2009.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.