Hello, everyone.
Welcome and thank you very much for coming for this important event.
I'm simply the thanker and the MC here.
I will turn it over to our new council member for position eight.
So you can ask any questions you would like.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for coming.
I really thank you for your support.
And I used to work in media, so I would love to encourage and have a relationship with you going forward.
And so if anyone has any questions at this time, I would love to hear them.
We obviously covered your campaign to why you're gonna be representing the city as a whole.
How does that change your approach to this position and what you campaigned on?
I believe a lot of the issues I campaigned on were not just unique to one neighborhood or to one district.
I believe the issues of homelessness, public safety, and housing cover every corner of Seattle.
And so I'm really excited to see what has been working and being able to expand that to the entire city.
But even if it says about the direction of the council, I think a lot of people have reported this is a huge ideological swing in the last year.
You campaigned on public safety.
This appears to be a swing with your appointment today.
For public safety, yes.
I think it's first and foremost on most people's minds.
I knocked on several hundred thousands of doors, and that's the paramount question, the importance.
How do we allow people to feel safe and be able to walk to the grocery store without having to worry about their family members?
I think just having that basic need needs to be fulfilled.
So how do you do that with a potential budget deficit?
Yes, it's setting priorities.
The budget is a moral document and we really have to set priorities and without making sure that we really go down the line and have accountability and transparency going forward with the budget process.
A couple of your opponents have said that they're planning to run in November and the campaign effectively starts now.
How are you going to balance the need to campaign to keep the seat and actually governing?
Yes, I campaigned and ran a campaign before, so I think I have that experience.
This will not be a new process for me to be able to integrate that into council work and doing that work at the same time and expanding that to the entire city.
So I have the knowledge, I have the experience, and I'm confident that I can do it going forward.
Will the budget deficit be your first priority?
Oh, I'm going to set up my office first, and then really we'll have the next couple of days to really focus on the issues coming forward.
But I believe both focusing on the budget while focusing on the three main issues of homelessness, housing, public safety, all tied in.
They're all connected.
Council Member Wu, how did you think the process went in terms of the selection?
I know some people had some issues with it.
Council President Nelson brought that up, but I just want to make sure I got your take on how the whole process went.
Yes, I think for me, there was a lot of, it was just trying to focus on what's next, learning about the process, and as well as trying to rise above all the noise and really focus on the issues affecting us, which is public safety, homelessness, and housing, and really trying to bring everyone together and unite despite all of the different groups that we're developing.
Far too many rideshare drivers have been killed.
What is your definition of safety when it comes to rideshare drivers in our city?
Yes, I would love to meet with you and chat further and what we can do to help promote more safety.
We've been to too many vigils, too many funerals, unfortunately, and that has to stop and we have to make sure everybody is safe.
Can we talk about public safety?
You know, as someone from the Central District, born and raised, lots of family there in the South End, it seems that a lot of times the City Council and City Hall are They look for solutions, but they exclude the actual victims.
No one is talking to the victims of crime.
So we got people in other districts here who are concerned about public safety, but we got people in the South End, as you know, in the Central District, who are the actual victims, who are impacted by public safety.
What is your commitment you know what I'm saying, to really get out here.
And yes, you got the whole city, but when you talk about public safety, what is your commitment to actually engage with victims of crime, the people most impacted, the people whose public safety is most hit, and the people who are the least listened to by this city council and city government year after year?
I agree.
And that's one of my main things I'm trying to tackle, is how do we help underserved communities, marginalized communities who have been historically ignored and forgotten?
How do we go out and reach out to people and make sure they're involved in the decision-making process?
And so I agree, we have to do better when it comes to survivor services.
How do we help families?
A lot of times when something has happened after the investigation process, people are left to just try to figure it out and so how do we make sure that we let them know there's resources try to connect people to to what they may need to feel whole again how do we start with the healing process looking at the holistic issue versus just what happened and so i agree with you i think we we need to do better and we should be doing better
remember Jonathan and then two more questions.
John, if you talked about, talk to me about the significance right now being an Asian American female, what this means to the community.
Um, and just this moment historically put it all into perspective for us.
Yes, I remember growing up in the drill team.
And Auntie Cheryl, Cheryl Chow, was on the council at that time.
And she took me to take her daughters to work day, and being able to walk with her in City Hall.
And then I remember that my entire life.
And so we haven't seen an Asian female since Cheryl Chow, Martha Cho.
early 1990s, late 1990s.
And so I hope to involve more youth in the communities to imagine they can actually be here and actually take the seat in the future.
Council Member, a quick follow-up.
There were several council members, three of them, who didn't choose you as their top choice.
How do you work through that now?
How do you potentially build those bridges there for the folks who didn't choose you first?
It's all about communication and collaboration.
And we know we're all in this together.
We're all trying to save, solve, or help make better all these same issues.
And so we can find commonalities in working together and trying to help.
Councilmember, what gave you the confidence to apply to this position so quickly after you ran and lost?
And what do you say to the voters who had the opportunity to vote for you and chose your now colleague, Councilmember Morales?
I think it's great that District 2 will have two representatives to serve that district.
That district has been, you know, South Seattle, been marginalized, and I believe underserved.
It'd be great to get double coverage and to be able to work on these issues together.
So I feel honored to be able to work with Councilmember Morales going forward.
One last question?
Just to confirm, are you definitely running to stay in the seat in November?
Yes, I am running to stay in the seat in November.
Thanks, everybody.
Thank you.