Why did moms with no political experience decide to create Moms for Seattle? We live in Seattle and are raising our children here, but we are extremely concerned with the direction of our city. The city council has failed to address the biggest problems confronting Seattle.
So, we decided to build an organization that could help elect accountable people to the city council in this year’s elections. We are convinced that electing a new council is our only opportunity to bring change. We felt compelled to take action because we love Seattle and all who live here.
We have all walked past people tormented by mental illness or sleeping in doorways and have pretended not to see them. In those moments we feel a range of emotions but what our kids see us doing is nothing; they see us ignoring human suffering.
We need to remember that our children are watching us and every day we set the example for compassion and humanity. We want to show our children that there is a better way. When things go wrong in society, they should stand up and work together to bring positive change.
Moms for Seattle has grown to an organization of 2,000 members and over 240 donors. Our message of hope – for Seattle and all who live here – is resonating.
Like many who live here, we have grave concerns about the lack of services available to our most vulnerable residents who are suffering from mental illness, drug addiction and homelessness. Moms for Seattle wants a council that will prioritize services to address individual needs, with wrap-around services needed to rebuild and save lives, and temporary and permanent housing.
What is happening on the streets is not compassionate. This neglect is degrading, dangerous and cruel to the most vulnerable in our society.
We chose candidates based on their experience, and their ability to share plans regarding homelessness issues: housing affordability, mental health and addiction services and their ability to work with others on evidence-based solutions for better and measurable outcomes. And they must commit to being accountable to their districts. Our candidate slate can be found here.
We knew that our city’s political environment is divisive, but nothing could have prepared us for the vitriolic and baseless attacks leveled at us. Moms For Seattle (and its founders) are being called, among other things, “a front group for a conservative, anti-government agenda” by people like former mayoral candidate Jessyn Farrell.
All you have to do is walk through downtown – or Ballard, or the U District, or Capitol Hill and many other neighborhoods – to see that the current city council has failed to make progress on homelessness or improve public safety. Because our detractors cannot logically argue that their strategies and policies are working, they have decided to personally attack us.
We oppose divisive politics. Caring, intelligent people can have different opinions about candidates and policies without having to resort to name calling, bullying, threats, or attacks intended to cause personal harm.
Apparently, our detractors do not believe women are capable of founding and running a Political Action Committee that raised $185,000 in less than 45 days. Or that moms can run sophisticated independent expenditure campaigns, while following the letter of the law.
We are determined to bring a civil dialogue back to Seattle politics. We believe that Seattle has a bright future, so we are working to elect a new city council that is effective, compassionate, and accountable. If you believe in Seattle and want to join us, please consider joining or donating today.
Together, we can create a better future for our children and all Seattleites.
Moms for Seattle
