CAMPAIGN ADDRESS:
P.O. Box 282
Seattle, WA 98111-0282
It has been my privilege to serve as Seattle City
Attorney for the past eight years and I would like to report to
you on my performance. I have had two principal goals: Provide
outstanding legal services to help Seattle achieve its goals and
defend its interests, and; Increase public safety through effective,
efficient and fair enforcement of the law. We've made great progress
and I would like to continue these efforts.
Providing excellent legal services to protect
the public interest and the public purse
In the years ahead Seattle faces tremendous opportunities,
but whatever choices are made legal challenges are likely. If
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in medicine, it
is worth a ton of money in the law. The key to preventing legal
problems is quality, timely legal advice that clients value.
That is the kind of positive attorney-client relationship we've
built at City Hall.
From major public works like Key Arena to relicensing
City Light dams, from crafting new water supply contracts to implementing
growth management, good lawyering has helped good things happen.
We've guided the City through complex environmental laws, protecting
both the environment and taxpayers. We've recovered almost $7
million so far from those who contributed to the problems at the
now closed and cleaned up City landfills. We've provided training
and newsletters to help the City avoid problems and helped modernize
City risk management so that loss prevention becomes a
priority.
Reducing serious crime by taking minor crime seriously
I want to make Seattle's neighborhoods, parks and
business districts, welcoming, pleasant and safer places for everyone,
where the rights of all are respected, and all respect the basic
rules of behavior. This requires taking minor crimes more seriously.
In short - misdemeanors matter. Some are serious like
drunk driving and domestic violence and if we take them seriously
we can save lives. That's why I fought to pass tougher DWI laws
and formed a specialized domestic violence prosecution unit to
hold batterers accountable and increase victim safety. Many serious
criminals commit minor crimes too. We're doing more about their
minor crimes to head off their serious crimes. And we must show
that we care about public drinking and urination, aggressive panhandling,
sitting on busy sidewalks, and graffiti, because these are the
early warning signals of a deteriorating neighborhood and more
serious trouble coming.
I would appreciate your vote. Thank you!
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