Halei Watkins
Halei Watkins was a 2015 candidate for the Position 5 seat on the Seattle City Council in Washington. The primary election took place on August 4, 2015.
Biography
Watkins earned a B.A. in political science and history from the University of Washington in 2009. Her professional experience includes the following:
- 2013-Present: Regional field organizer, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest
- 2013: Project manager, Win/Win Network
- 2013: Field organizer, Hawaii United for Marriage
- 2012: Regional field director, Washington United for Marriage
- 2011-2012: Field organizer, Human Rights Campaign
- 2011: Operations coordinator, Win/Win Network
- 2010: Program assistant, Win/Win Network
- 2010: Summer fellow, Washington Bus
- 2009: Political communication intern, King County Labor Council[1]
Campaign themes
2015
Watkins' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[2]
Affordable housing
- Excerpt: "My husband and I are renters. One of the reasons I'm running is to help new families like ours and seniors who have lived here their whole live not get priced out of our city. Affordable housing is a huge and complex problem facing our city and region. I believe that we need to balance the building of new units and increasing the overall housing supply with maintaining older buildings, which tend to offer lower rents."
Reducing crime
- Excerpt: "In nearly every conversation with our neighbors, I hear about safety concerns. In 2014, crime went up 9% overall in our city while car break ins went up a staggering 44%. That is one of the largest single year increases in crime in the last several decades. That’s unacceptable. Our neighborhoods deserve better. We deserve to feel safe in our homes. "
Fixing inadequate infrastructure
- Excerpt: "In North Seattle, we lack have lacked basic infrastructure for decades. Much of our district is without sidewalks, the stormwater drainage system is woefully inadequate everywhere from Broadview to Maple Leaf, and our schools are busting at the seams. One of my opponents supports asking neighborhoods to tax themselves to pay for these improvements. This is double taxation and the wrong approach. Our neighborhoods should not have to pay for these basic improvements that other neighborhoods received from the City many years ago. I will advocate tirelessly with you so our neighborhoods receive the services that other parts of Seattle received from the beginning. "
Equal pay for equal work and family leave
- Excerpt: "I will push wholeheartedly for an Equal Pay Ordinance that requires transparency and prohibits retaliation. The City of Seattle needs to ensure that all city contracts go to companies that prove they pay women the same as men. The City also needs to collect data to ensure that employees know which companies provide equal pay for equal work. "
Transportation
- Excerpt: "With the light rail coming soon to North Seattle, we have an opportunity to ensure greater access to transit for many of our neighborhoods. I support adding an additional light rail station at 130th St, designed to serve the Lake City and Bitter Lake communities and act as an east/west hub for bus service. I also support expanding light rail to Ballard and West Seattle to ensure that North Seattleites can get to our other great neighborhoods, not just downtown."
Elections
2015
The city of Seattle, Washington, held elections for city council on November 3, 2015. A primary took place on August 4, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was May 15, 2015. All nine council seats were up for election.[3][4] In the Position 5 race, Sandy Brown and Debora Juarez advanced past Debadutta Dash, Mercedes Elizalde, Kris Lethin, Hugh Russell, David Toledo and Halei Watkins in the primary election on August 4, 2015. Juarez defeated Brown in the general election.[5]
| Seattle City Council Position 5, General election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Debora Juarez |
64.3% | 15,058 |
| Sandy Brown | 35.1% | 8,224 |
| Write-in votes | 0.54% | 126 |
| Total Votes | 23,408 | |
| Source: King County, Washington, "City of Seattle Council District No. 5", accessed November 3, 2015. | ||
| Seattle City Council Position 5 Primary Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Debora Juarez |
39.3% | 6,635 | |
| Sandy Brown |
19.9% | 3,360 | |
| Halei Watkins | 14.4% | 2,431 | |
| Kris Lethin | 7.7% | 1,307 | |
| Mercedes Elizalde | 5.8% | 985 | |
| Debadutta Dash | 5.7% | 968 | |
| David Toledo | 5.7% | 959 | |
| Hugh Russell | 1.4% | 231 | |
| Write-in | 0.2% | 27 | |
| Total Votes | 14,718 | ||
| Source: King County Elections, "Official primary election results," accessed August 12, 2015 | |||
Endorsements
2015
In 2015, Watkins' endorsements included the following:[6]
- Cascade Bicycle Club
- Sierra Club
- National Women's Political Caucus of Washington
- United Food & Commercial Workers Local 21
- SEIU 775
- SEIU 1199NW
- SEIU Local 6
- SEIU 925
- Transit Riders Union
- The Urbanist
- 46th District Democrats
- King County Young Democrats
- Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest
- Representative Gerry Pollet
- Representative Joe Fitzgibbon
- Seattle City Councilmember Jean Godden
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Halei Watkins Seattle. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Seattle, Washington
- Seattle, Washington municipal elections, 2015
- United States municipal elections, 2015
External links
- Official campaign website
- Halei Watkins on Facebook
- Halei Watkins on Twitter
- City of Seattle - 2015 Candidate List
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Halei Watkins Profile," accessed July 22, 2015
- ↑ Official campaign website of Halei Watkins, "Issues," accessed July 22, 2015
- ↑ City of Seattle, "Law, Rules and Information for Filers," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ City of Seattle, "Seattle City Council Districts," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ King County Elections, "Official primary election results," accessed August 12, 2015
- ↑ Official campaign website of Halei Watkins, "Endorsements," accessed July 22, 2015
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