Claudia Balducci Details Platform for County Leadership

Campaign Website - Claudia Balducci

[00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I’m your host, Crystal Fincher. On this show we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work, with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what you can do about it.

Well, today, we're focusing on a powerful role that often flies under the radar: the King County Executive. As the top official in Washington state's largest county, the executive is responsible for both delivering vital regional services - like Metro transit, public health, courts, jails, and elections - and managing the day-to-day operations of county government. That means overseeing more than 15,000 employees, proposing a multi-billion dollar budget, setting policy direction, negotiating labor contracts, and leading on everything from housing and homelessness to climate and criminal legal system reform.

If you care about how government works - and whether it works for all of us - the King County Executive plays a central role in shaping that reality.

Today, I'm joined by current King County Councilmember and candidate for King County Executive, Claudia Balducci. Welcome!

[00:01:30] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Thanks for having me - really glad to be here.

[00:01:32] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. We are excited to have you. Well, we're going to begin with a lightning round that gives us the opportunity to learn more about you in short-form format. Most of these are yes-or-no or very short answer questions, so we will dive into it.

Do you own or rent your residence?

[00:01:53] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I own.

[00:01:54] Crystal Fincher: Are you a landlord?

[00:01:55] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I am not.

[00:01:56] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever been a member of a union?

[00:02:00] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No, but everyone else in my family has been or is.

[00:02:03] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever walked on a picket line?

[00:02:05] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I have.

[00:02:06] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever crossed a picket line?

[00:02:08] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:02:09] Crystal Fincher: Is your campaign staff unionized?

[00:02:12] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:02:13] Crystal Fincher: If your staff wants to unionize, will you voluntarily recognize their effort?

[00:02:17] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Absolutely.

[00:02:18] Crystal Fincher: What political party do you identify with?

[00:02:21] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Democrat.

[00:02:22] Crystal Fincher: Have you used the library system in the past month?

[00:02:26] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, yes.

[00:02:27] Crystal Fincher: Nice. It's Adult Bingo Time in the summer - it's a great time.

Have you or someone in your household ever relied on public assistance?

[00:02:36] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Sort of. I'll just say - not government assistance, but through charitable assistance, yes.

[00:02:43] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever been stopped or questioned by police or sheriffs in King County?

[00:02:49] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: For a driving offense - yes. But only that.

[00:02:52] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever worked in retail or a job where you had to rely on tips?

[00:02:57] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes to both.

[00:02:58] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever owned a business?

[00:03:01] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:03:02] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever managed a team of 10 or more?

[00:03:05] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, yes.

[00:03:06] Crystal Fincher: 100 or more?

[00:03:07] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:03:08] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever reported someone's misconduct in your workplace?

[00:03:12] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:03:13] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever fired someone?

[00:03:15] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:03:16] Crystal Fincher: Do you have a favorite sports team you actively follow?

[00:03:21] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Lately, I'm a Thunderbolts fan - minor league cricket - that won the national championship in 2022. They're up-and-comers.

[00:03:31] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe a larger, visible law enforcement presence is the most effective way to reduce crime in King County?

[00:03:39] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:03:39] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe the size of the King County Sheriff's office is too small, too large, or just right?

[00:03:47] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: It is, in some ways, too small.

[00:03:50] Crystal Fincher: Do you support implementation and expansion of non-deputy crisis response teams?

[00:03:56] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:03:57] Crystal Fincher: Do you support the use of automated license plate readers in King County?

[00:04:02] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I don't know. I haven't thought about that one.

[00:04:05] Crystal Fincher: Do you think facial recognition should be banned in county use?

[00:04:11] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: It currently is banned in county use - yes.

[00:04:15] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with that?

[00:04:16] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I voted for it - yes.

[00:04:18] Crystal Fincher: Should King County significantly increase funding for public defender services?

[00:04:23] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:04:24] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe the King County Sheriff's Office budget should be increased in the next biennial budget?

[00:04:31] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:04:32] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe the new transit safety task force legislation will significantly improve safety on King County transit?

[00:04:41] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I hope that it will - it's a work in progress.

[00:04:44] Crystal Fincher: So is that a yes or a no? Or a waffle?

[00:04:49] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: It's too soon to tell - it's a waffle. It's too soon to tell-

[00:04:50] Crystal Fincher: I know it's too soon to tell if it has, but do you believe it will?

[00:04:54] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Well, we haven't decided what we're going to do yet. We're still coming up with a list of recommendations for what we're going to do. So I can't judge whether it will work or not, because I don't know what the full list of recommendations are yet.

[00:05:05] Crystal Fincher: Okay.

Should King County prioritize investment in restorative justice programs over traditional incarceration for nonviolent offenders?

[00:05:14] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I believe it should do both.

[00:05:16] Crystal Fincher: Should King County fund and provide gender-affirming care?

[00:05:20] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:05:21] Crystal Fincher: Should King County cooperate with ICE?

[00:05:27] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Only as required by law.

[00:05:29] Crystal Fincher: Do you support closing the King County Jail?

[00:05:32] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:05:33] Crystal Fincher: Do you support closing the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center, a.k.a. King County's Youth Jail?

[00:05:41] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:05:42] Crystal Fincher: Do you commit to maintain or increase funding for community violence intervention programs?

[00:05:48] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:05:49] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with how former Executive Constantine handled disagreements over homelessness policy and enforcement with the City of Burien?

[00:05:59] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I agree with the substantive positions he took. I might have done the interactions a little differently.

[00:06:08] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever contested a traffic ticket?

[00:06:11] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I have.

[00:06:12] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever served on a jury?

[00:06:14] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:06:15] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever been arrested?

[00:06:16] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:06:17] Crystal Fincher: Have you taken transit in the past month?

[00:06:20] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Many times.

[00:06:21] Crystal Fincher: In the past week?

[00:06:23] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:06:24] Crystal Fincher: Have you ridden a bike in the past month?

[00:06:26] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yesterday - yes.

[00:06:28] Crystal Fincher: I guess that answers - In the past week? Yes.

Do you prefer dogs over cats?

[00:06:34] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Uh, no - I love them both.

[00:06:37] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite season?

[00:06:40] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Fall.

[00:06:40] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe King County should reduce its overall number of employees to cut costs?

[00:06:47] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Uh, not - not just to reduce. We should have the right number of employees to do the job we have to do.

[00:06:54] Crystal Fincher: Wait, short form, short form - Yes or no.

[00:06:56] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Sorry, sorry, sorry. I did so well up to this- uh, uh, not as framed. As just to save money - to save money - no.

[00:07:07] Crystal Fincher: Okay. Do you believe King County relies too much on contractors?

[00:07:14] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Possibly.

[00:07:14] Crystal Fincher: Are you open to privatizing some county services if it proves more efficient?

[00:07:21] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I don't believe that would be necessary - no.

[00:07:23] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe King County government is currently sufficiently transparent?

[00:07:28] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: No.

[00:07:29] Crystal Fincher: Will you provide a base budget analysis of the King County budget in your first year, if you're elected to be Executive?

[00:07:36] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I will.

[00:07:38] Crystal Fincher: Do you support a 0.1% or one-tenth of a percent sales tax increase for King County?

[00:07:45] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes, I don't think we have much of a choice.

[00:07:48] Crystal Fincher: Where should that increase go to?

[00:07:52] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, that's longer than a short-form question. It should go to - may I just give it, one sentence. It should go to make sure that we are not cutting basic services that are on the chopping block otherwise, and it should invest in not just - because it's criminal justice sales tax - it should not invest just in responsiveness, it should also invest in prevention.

[00:08:16] Crystal Fincher: That's a long answer.

[00:08:18] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I know - sorry.

[00:08:19] Crystal Fincher: So-

[00:08:19] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: It's a big question.

[00:08:20] Crystal Fincher: Preventing cuts and criminal justice-related items.

[00:08:25] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Because that's what the tax is for - that's, it's only by law.

[00:08:28] Crystal Fincher: Would you support any modifications to Sound Transit plans that would delay existing implementation timelines?

[00:08:37] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I hope I don't get this wrong because it's a double negative question, but - yes?

[00:08:41] Crystal Fincher: Would you support anything that would delay the current implementation timeline?

[00:08:46] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh - no. No, no, no. I want to go faster.

[00:08:48] Crystal Fincher: All right. Do you support King County issuing more bonds to fund large capital projects?

[00:08:55] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:08:56] Crystal Fincher: Would you support tolling on King County's roads (beyond the existing toll lanes) to fund transportation projects?

[00:09:04] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Potentially.

[00:09:05] Crystal Fincher: Should King County prioritize investments in pedestrian and cycling infrastructure over new road construction?

[00:09:13] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:09:14] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite park in King County?

[00:09:17] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Well, that's a trick answer, because it's got to be Marymoor. It's our best park, and it's in my district.

[00:09:22] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite restaurant in the county?

[00:09:25] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Ooh - probably Tutta Bella.

[00:09:29] Crystal Fincher: What was the last live performance you saw in King County?

[00:09:35] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh my gosh - I don't get out much, Crystal. Last live performance. I am blanking. But it would have probably been a concert at Marymoor.

[00:09:47] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite song?

[00:09:48] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: My favorite song? I don't have one. I'm currently kind of obsessively streaming a song called Little Girl Gone by Chinchilla because it's full of feminine rage.

[00:09:59] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite album?

[00:10:02] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, no, my favorite album. You know, I'm a big fan of - gosh, what's it called? Man, you'd think I would know this. I'm going to take a pass - I love a lot of music, but I can't pick just one.

[00:10:21] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite local artist?

[00:10:24] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: You know, I'm a fan of grunge. I always love the local grunge bands. I'm going to say - Screaming Trees.

[00:10:31] Crystal Fincher: What's the last song you listened to?

[00:10:33] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: It was probably that Little Girl Gone song. I've been listening to it obsessively.

[00:10:40] Crystal Fincher: What was the last sports event you attended in King County?

[00:10:44] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Last sports event I attended - would have been a cricket match.

[00:10:47] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite cafe or coffee house in the county?

[00:10:52] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, um, ooh boy. I love a lot of coffee shops. The - trying to think of one I've been to recently that is, uh, not a big chain. Um, I like, I like DeVita. Cafe - Cafe DeVita. Yeah.

[00:11:11] Crystal Fincher: Do you plan to increase funding for investigations of labor violations like wage theft and illegal union busting?

[00:11:18] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: We're going to have to - because we have new regulations we adopted - figure out a way to enforce them. So yes.

[00:11:24] Crystal Fincher: Do large corporations in King County pay their fair share of taxes?

[00:11:29] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I don't think so.

[00:11:31] Crystal Fincher: Do small businesses pay their fair share of taxes?

[00:11:35] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, it's a hard question after the B&O increases - maybe? I need to look at some data on that.

[00:11:42] Crystal Fincher: Do you support the rent stabilization bill that passed in the most recent legislative session?

[00:11:46] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:11:47] Crystal Fincher: Do you support stricter rent stabilization measures in King County?

[00:11:52] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Potentially. I'd like to see how this works.

[00:11:55] Crystal Fincher: So that's a maybe?

[00:11:56] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I could - if this does the job, I'd be happy. If it doesn't, I'd support stricter.

[00:12:03] Crystal Fincher: Do you support expanding the "Right to Counsel" legislation for tenants facing eviction in King County?

[00:12:11] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I support making sure people have what they need to be fairly represented. I don't know if that means expanding or just getting it right.

[00:12:21] Crystal Fincher: Should King County continue its current level of funding for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority?

[00:12:28] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: We should increase our funding for homelessness response.

[00:12:31] Crystal Fincher: Yes, no, or maybe - these are yes or no. Come on.

[00:12:34] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: That's a hard one. I just - okay, I came here directly from a King County Regional Homelessness Authority meeting. That is a hard question to answer, yes or no. Generally, yes.

[00:12:45] Crystal Fincher: Do you support using county funds to purchase vacant hotels for immediate homeless shelter?

[00:12:50] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes.

[00:12:51] Crystal Fincher: Do you support King County playing a more active role in regulating short-term rentals like Airbnb?

[00:13:00] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yes, and - we don't have that much regulatory authority, but yes.

[00:13:04] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe King County should require cities to accept a certain quota of affordable housing units?

[00:13:11] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Uh, did you say force?

[00:13:14] Crystal Fincher: Should require cities.

[00:13:15] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Require. So we don't have the ability to require, but they should accept more affordable housing units.

[00:13:22] Crystal Fincher: Do you believe King County should use all available measures and levers at their disposal to require cities to accept, or to encourage cities to accept, affordable housing units?

[00:13:33] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah, we've been working in that direction pretty strongly - yes.

[00:13:36] Crystal Fincher: What's your go-to karaoke song?

[00:13:41] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.

[00:13:44] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite TV show to binge?

[00:13:46] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I've been binging Andor obsessively.

[00:13:49] Crystal Fincher: I've got to start that.

[00:13:51] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: It'll teach you how to start a rebellion - who doesn't need to know that?

[00:13:55] Crystal Fincher: What's the first concert you ever attended?

[00:13:58] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: It was the Beach Boys - but they were very late in their career, I have to say.

[00:14:04] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite Seattle sports moment?

[00:14:08] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, boy. Favorite Seattle sports moment. I don't know - I just, I'm still a big fan of the Ken Griffey moment - sliding home-

[00:14:17] Crystal Fincher: That '95 slide. That's mine.

[00:14:19] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: The smile, the pile on. It's iconic.

[00:14:23] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite comfort food?

[00:14:27] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Risotto.

[00:14:28] Crystal Fincher: Oh, nice.

[00:14:29] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Like my grandma made.

[00:14:30] Crystal Fincher: Are you an early bird or a night owl?

[00:14:33] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Night owl.

[00:14:34] Crystal Fincher: What's a hobby people wouldn't expect you have?

[00:14:39] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: A hobby people wouldn't expect I have? Well, I mean - expect or not, I don't know - my main hobby is bicycling.

[00:14:46] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite neighborhood in the county?

[00:14:50] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Ooh, besides my own - which I love. My favorite neighborhood - I'm a big fan of Beacon Hill.

[00:14:56] Crystal Fincher: Who's a current Seattle-based artist or musician that you love?

[00:15:02] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: So many. Uh, artist or musician that I love. Yeah, I'm not going to be able to pick one - that would be like picking kids.

[00:15:12] Crystal Fincher: What's a book you wish more people read?

[00:15:17] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I'm reading one right now called - oh gosh, man, my memory. I'm reading one right now - I'm forgetting the name of it, but it's a biography of a person who worked on harm reduction in New York in the 80s. And I really wish - even earlier - I really wish everybody would read this. It's a great lesson.

[00:15:40] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite rainy day activity?

[00:15:44] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Going for a walk.

[00:15:46] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite Sound Transit station name?

[00:15:49] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Name? Ooh, it's got to be Symphony Station - I fought so hard for it.

[00:15:55] Crystal Fincher: It's an improvement, definitely.

Have you voted in every general election in the past four years?

[00:16:01] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: And primary, yes.

[00:16:03] Crystal Fincher: Have you made any political endorsements that you regret?

[00:16:09] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I have. I have - and I have made changes when I have regretted my endorsements.

[00:16:15] Crystal Fincher: Who were they?

[00:16:16] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Oh, I don't want to say bad things about people, but I've - okay, I've endorsed people that I knew because of their work in the past and didn't ask enough questions about what they had done recently before I endorsed them. And I changed my mind when I learned that.

[00:16:29] Crystal Fincher: So you unendorsed them?

[00:16:31] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I did.

[00:16:32] Crystal Fincher: Publicly?

[00:16:34] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Well, I mean, these are local type things. I just said - please take my name off your website.

[00:16:39] Crystal Fincher: Interesting.

Have you made any political donations that you regret?

[00:16:46] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: None coming to mind at the moment.

[00:16:48] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote to approve the Automated Fingerprint Identification System Levy on the April 22nd ballot?

[00:16:54] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I voted to put it on the ballot, and I voted yes - yes.

[00:16:58] Crystal Fincher: In 2024, did you vote for Nick Brown or Pete Serrano for Attorney General?

[00:17:03] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Nick Brown.

[00:17:04] Crystal Fincher: In 2024, did you vote for Bob Ferguson or Dave Reichert for Governor?

[00:17:08] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Bob Ferguson.

[00:17:09] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for President?

[00:17:13] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Kamala Harris.

[00:17:15] Crystal Fincher: Let's see - I think that's actually the last question in our lightning round.

[00:17:23] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: I think what we've learned is that I need more of a personal life.

[00:17:28] Crystal Fincher: That's a surprisingly common outcome after these things. Thank you so much for sharing your responses with us. So now we'll shift into the heart of the conversation with open-ended questions.

Starting off - why are you running and what will your top priorities be if you're elected?

[00:17:47] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah, thank you. I'm running for County Executive because I fundamentally believe - and I've dedicated my career to - the proposition that local government can make people's lives better and that we need to work well in order to do that. I've spent over 20 years in elected office and over 25 years in government. For a long time, I was a government employee - started at the line level at King County, have worked there now for 25 years total. And I've seen what we can do when we do things right. I am very proud of the work that I've done in East King County - which is where I come from - as a city councilmember, as a mayor of Bellevue, former mayor of Bellevue, and as a county councilmember. I'm really proud of the work we've done to fight and win the battle of light rail - and open a light rail system - in a place that really fought back against it. There were some very strong conservative interests that tried to stop that train. I am really proud of the work we did to create the first ever suite of homeless shelters in East King County. They didn't exist, except in church basements and one circulating encampment, tent city. Before I was mayor and worked with other mayors to create a women's shelter, young person shelter, adult male shelter in King County, and the first permanent supportive housing, and pushed successfully for a lot of affordable housing in our county around - especially around transit. I am very proud of the work that I have done to try to make law enforcement better - to try to make it more humane, more equitable, more community focused and servicing people in the way we should - providing service for the people in the way we should. And investing more and more upfront in prevention, in making people successful. Because we will never, ever - I'm a former jail director - and I am here to tell you we will never arrest our way to a healthy community. We have to invest in community, in education and healthcare, and job opportunities. So these are all the things that motivate me. I've been a strong advocate for active transportation, parks and recreation, Open Doors - the big program that we put out for arts and culture - things that bring people together, that knit community when so much really works to tear us apart. And so as County Executive, I would want to work on those things and use all the levers - the significant levers - that the County Executive has to make life better for the people of King County. That's what motivates me and why I would love to do this job.

[00:20:31] Crystal Fincher: At the beginning of this year, the King County budget faced a $150 million shortfall. Counties, unlike cities, have more limited options in their taxing authority - King County electeds and department heads have often spoken of the need for the State Legislature to provide a solution as the county's revenues haven't kept pace with rising costs and population growth. Since the Legislature did not provide a fix to King County's structural budget issues and federal funding under threat has only increased the potential shortfall, how will you construct a County budget that provides services residents can count on?

[00:21:08] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah, thank you for that question. Well the first thing - we're going to have to do that this fall before the voters, or we're going to have to start it before the voters fill out their ballots and complete it by the end of the year. So King County provides very basic, very critically important services - public health, public safety, we do housing, we do transportation, Metro bus system, community and human services - so much of that. And the way we have funded a lot of that is through direct levies. I mean, this is the - this is our challenge in the Eyman era, right? The post-Eyman era, I should say - because we are so limited. We only have two basic forms of taxation - we have sales tax and property tax - those are our big sources. And we're limited in how much we can raise property tax to a level well below inflation - it's 1% plus growth. So our costs, like everybody's, go up at inflation and our revenues stay very flat. This year, the Legislature authorized a new one-tenth [percent] sales tax specifically for criminal justice, public safety-type funding. It's possible to use it - and we will almost certainly adopt it at King County this year because otherwise we're looking at cutting a lot of services. However, we do have a little bit more in that sales tax than we need just to avoid cuts. And we should invest that in ways that help to create a beneficial cycle - more people succeed, fewer people engage in criminal activity or become involved in the criminal justice system, and you start a beneficial cycle of fewer arrests, fewer incarcerations, fewer prosecutions. It saves a lot of money when people succeed. It's both more humane, better for the community, and better for our bottom line. So this is what I'm hoping we will do with this budget in front of us.

Longer term - if I were to be the county executive - we still have that structural problem you described very well. And we have been advocating for years for some relief from that property tax cap, so that our revenues can better keep up with expenses. However, the ultimate solution has got to be more progressive revenue. We are famously the 49th most regressive tax system in the country - 49th only because we passed up Florida when the Legislature adopted a capital gains tax and the voters voted to retain it in the face of attacks. We need more like that. We need to figure out how to build a tax system where everyone pays their fair share, so we're not constantly in starvation mode and constantly at risk of people - rightly - standing up and saying taxes are too burdensome because we're burdening the people who can least afford to pay. That's the path - in my view - to success. And I don't want to answer the question without talking about the expenditure side. We have to look at what we spend money on. We have to be more transparent with the public about what we spend money on. And we have to be ready to say - things that we did in the past that aren't currently serving a lot of purpose, we don't need to keep doing those things - so that our funding is going to where it's needed most today.

[00:24:26] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. What will you do to make housing more affordable in both incorporated and unincorporated King County?

[00:24:35] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: This is one of my top issues. If I could pick one issue - if I had to, if you forced me, one issue you can work on, only one - I would say it's got to be housing. Because if people can't afford to live in our county - near where they work, near where they want to be, school, services, connections - then we're not an open and inclusive community that we say we want to be. And it really - we struggle to succeed for everyone. You know, when you are - the people like to talk about where your nurses come from, or your teachers. Our police chief in Bellevue used to have to live way over on the other side of the mountains because he couldn't afford to live here. And so do most of the public servants - have to live far away and travel a distance to come to work in our county, in different parts of our county. It's - it doesn't work for anyone. So we got to fix it.

There are three big approaches that we have some role in at King County. And you'll hear the three S's - supply, subsidy, stability. Supply is about land use and regulations, and just allowing housing to occur. You might say - ending apartment bans. So we have places where people can only build one house on a lot that could fit more housing. And the more we constrain that - and King County's got a big role in this because of our role in comprehensive planning - the more we constrain that, the more you end up with smaller, older homes getting knocked down and built into huge homes. No new capacity - you've got one house, you end up with one house. And it goes from being expensive to being exclusive. This is the story of my district. It's that it's going from being an expensive place to a place where people truly cannot afford to live. So supply is important. The state has stepped in and said - You must plan for and accommodate affordable housing, cities and counties. And they've had things like the missing middle bill - so that's moving in a pretty good direction. But we've done a ton of work with our cities to get them to plan for affordability at every level - from emergency shelter through low, you know - housing that's affordable for people with very low incomes, all the way up through market rate housing. It's a bit, it's - and these are moving in the right direction. I know, I know, that you talk about the comprehensive planning that's going on - it's really going to make a difference. All 39 cities are working on this right now. But we also need subsidy - because given the cost of land in our very successful county, the market will never build housing that is affordable to people who most need it - and that's where government comes in. We have relied on federal credits for a lot of that housing subsidy. Obviously, we can't rely on the federal government for much these days. And so we need to start talking about what do we do to fund housing? There is some discussion about borrowing money, bonding. We do that all the time - it's a very powerful tool if you have the revenue to pay back, right? So we really need to think about what can the locals do? What can the state do to help us with that subsidy? We need more funding. And-

[00:27:55] Crystal Fincher: Can I ask - what role does social housing have in this whole process?

[00:27:59] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Social housing is a really interesting approach that is about having a particular developer whose job is to provide housing in - it's a public developer, so there's no profit motive. And it sort of steps aside from the way traditional, non- not-for-profit housing has been developed - with the idea being that you invest some money and then there's kind of a circular thing where the rents that the social housing developer collects helps to maintain affordability and pay into the system, and it grows. I'm very fascinated to see if that experiment, that approach in Seattle works. Because if it does and it can scale, it could be a big part of the solution. So that's - I think it's a very important activity that is going on in Seattle right now, and I want to see how that works. At the same time, nonprofit affordable housing providers and the housing authorities still have a huge role to play and we need to support them in doing what they do because they provide tens of thousands of roofs over heads at all times. One way that we subsidize is with land - it's not just money. So, very proud of the work we've done at Sound Transit - when we build a light rail station, we have to have a nice, flat, large piece of property next to it where you park everything and stage the construction. When the construction is done and the station's up and running - beautiful piece of property that housing can be built on, right next to light rail, where we know it's proven to provide access to opportunity. And so we've been turning those, through a program that started since I've been on the board, into affordable housing. And have created, I want to say, over 3,000 homes that way - with many more to come. So we've got these kinds of programs and what the County Executive can do is scale that up. When I first arrived at King County, we had a relatively small housing unit that basically did pass-through funding that we got from the state. Now we do policy, we do advocacy, we do coordinating all of the cities together in a committee that we started. We can do so much if we work together and we're, and we work in partnership with the state. If I were able to, I would want to be the housing County Executive. Because we can't be the kind of community we want to be if people can't afford to live here.

[00:30:25] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. So now, homelessness is up 25% over the last two years, despite the work of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and other county initiatives, leading many to question whether the money that has already been spent has been worth it, and whether investments are being made on the right things. As Executive, how will you evaluate the effectiveness of the KCRHA and county initiatives, and what specific changes would you propose to the county's approach to better address the homelessness crisis?

[00:30:57] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah, thank you for that question. So I just want to start by saying, I think the fundamental principle behind KCRHA - the two principles behind it - are the correct ones. And principle one - homelessness is a regional problem, it does not know borders, and we need to work together in order to truly make a difference. Principle two - we, the elected leaders, professionals - if we don't fully engage with people who are having or have had lived experience of homelessness, our solutions are unlikely to really meet the problems. Because we need to - so it's not just consult, it's not just table - it's bring that lived experience into our work in a way that is ongoing and real and informs it. So, absolutely. The implementation has been challenging. We're still - the way I see it - we're still struggling to truly launch what KCRHA's promise was, and that is to - it's mainly a contracting entity, as was the city's program, as was the county's program before we put it into the KCRHA. And that means we get county money, city money - and we pay for services through nonprofit contractors. But our contracts are a quilt that's got overlapping sections and holes. And what we want is a quilt that sort of just covers the ground evenly and doesn't have holes in it. So - and that, we've never gotten to that part - which is re-procuring the contracts and making sure we are doing the things that are needed to be done. Not too much of anything, not - simple to say, hard to do, has not launched yet - that needs to happen.

Secondly, there's not nearly enough funding for the need - and so we need to figure out how, you asked earlier, is there enough shelter? We need more shelter. We need more services for people in shelter. We need to fund solutions like the homelessness Encampment Resolution Program that just recently took a haircut at the state. If I may just say - when I first heard the term "encampment resolution," I thought that that was a euphemism for sweeps. But as I learned more about it, it is not. Because a resolution, unlike a sweep - people come who are outreach workers, helpers. They develop relationships. They don't show up one day and say - Now you must move, here's a place you might go. They develop relationships over a period of time until people trust that we are there to help. And then, they're able to say - Here's a place you can go. And when you do a resolution that way, the encampment goes away - something like 90% of the people who are approached do go into the housing that's offered. And I believe the number was like 70% a year plus later were still in housing. It works. It works because it's patient and it's putting caring first, as opposed to moving first. But we need to fund those sorts of approaches.

About KCRHA - a couple of the challenges there. It's never really been a full partnership. There are reasons why this is so, but 38 of the 39 cities in King County - ah, that's not true - there's a few northern cities that pay in some. Most of the cities in King County don't yet contribute. But they're paying for their own emergency homelessness approaches, so that coordination just hasn't fully happened yet. I believe that the agency has to show it can work and provide value, and then we get the cities to come in and all contribute together - so it's more of a partnership, less just King County and Seattle. And you said - what is the metric of success? Fewer people in unsheltered homelessness - that's got to be our goal. More people housed, fewer people on the streets, more people getting the treatment and services they need. It's not hard to report. It's hard to do. And something that I think elected officials sometimes want to back away from - because it seems so hard to succeed - we've got to lean all the way in. We cannot be afraid to really be in the middle of it - as unglamorous, as politically fraught as it can be. Humanity - it's a shame on our society that we allow this level of homelessness. We have to help people to get stabilized in housing.

[00:35:27] Crystal Fincher: How can we move beyond opposition to crisis care centers?

[00:35:33] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Okay, so I'm going to go way back to start this answer. And that is - I first started in politics because my city was trying to upzone our neighborhood shopping center to allow some housing around the outside of it in order to make it be successful - because the market had changed and it was dying. My very first public meeting I ever went to in my life was one where most of my neighbors stood up and said - Oh, no, we can't have housing here in this residential neighborhood. Where else are you going to put it? But they thought that that would be a really big problem - there'll be traffic, there'll be crime, there'll be like - I don't know that you can stop people from objecting to site things where you site them. Every step along the way in my career, I have had to overcome siting objections. But the way you overcome it is - first of all, you commit to doing the thing you're going to do because it's the right thing to do. And then you make it not negotiable. I'm not going to not do this because people don't like it. Then you say - Okay, although we're going to do the right thing here, your concerns are valid. Your interests are valid. We will work with you to address your valid interests. If you want better lighting in the area - better lighting. If we need a fence between the backyard of this thing that the city is doing or the county is doing and the school - we put in a fence. There's things we can do. And then you maintain the relationships with the community over time. And you've got to be honest with yourself because problems do occur. We sited homeless shelters, as I said earlier, here in East King County. There can be problems and you have to respond to those and you have to address them. You don't back off providing the housing that people need because a person caused a problem. You deal with the problem and you keep in relationship with the community you're in, so you're a good neighbor. And when it works, it's beautiful. I've seen people go from, you know, speaking very angrily at public meetings to volunteering at the thing they didn't want because they came to see the value and their part in it. That's the goal, ultimately.

[00:37:43] Crystal Fincher: That makes a lot of sense to me. How do you define public safety and how do you plan to make the county more safe for its residents?

[00:37:51] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah. Public safety means that people can go about their business - doing what they do, no matter who they are, no matter what their housing status is, their immigration status, their gender identity, their race - and feel safe and comfortable and not have to worry. Not have to worry about being attacked, not have to worry about losing things, not have to worry about people coming at them. And it's kind of all of our jobs, right? Like, there's a little bit of a social compact here that we treat each other with respect and we respect each other's space. What the government's role is - is, to the extent possible, protect people who are engaging in lawful activities. Interestingly, sort of going back to the last question a bit, the fear that comes out of these siting discussions is fear that if you put that social service here, the people who are being served - people in homelessness, people in need - they're going to endanger my community. When we know that people in homelessness are most likely to be victimized by crime. And so public safety means protecting those most vulnerable along with everybody, right? And so what can King County do? We need to, we need to provide the basic responsive services. I've always - so I worked in the jail for many years and I have to say - I, I, it is not something, people like to see, there are really big challenges that we have to address - racial disproportionality is real. If you work inside a jail, you don't need to look at a spreadsheet - you can see it just walking down the hallway. So we have to figure out why is that happening? And invest upfront - as a community and as a government - in people's success, and target those investments to where the disproportionate outcomes are.

[00:39:23] Crystal Fincher: Why is that happening?

[00:39:44] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Why are disproportionate outcomes happening?

[00:39:46] Crystal Fincher: Yep.

[00:39:47] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Because - systemic racism, poverty - people who start out with fewer chances in life end up with fewer choices. And then they end up disproportionately making bad choices, right? Because they don't have good choices. And so to me, the challenge really is - when somebody has shot a gun at somebody else, I can't pretend that didn't happen. The criminal justice system, the public safety system has to respond to that - to try to stop the shooting. Wouldn't it be better if we prevented it in the first place? I was talking to a former state representative who's trying to create a ranch program for young Black men. And it's with horses and all this sort of thing - it's a summer program. And what she said to me was - If you've got reins in your hand, you can't have a gun in your hand. And I'm like - Okay, that's great. You know, like, we can't do a whole lot of horsey programs. But let's - what can we do to get people hope and jobs and education? Because if you're happy in your life, you're not gonna go break into the local store. You don't, you know, so I feel like this is so obvious, but yet we tend to have debates at government about - Do this, or this. And that's not the answer. It's - Do this, and this. And ultimately, you drive down crime, you drive down victimization. I was at a summit last week that was put on for the first time with crime victims. And you hear those stories - hear the stories of moms who have lost their teenage children, or women who have been badly beaten. Nobody wants that. We have to, we have to try to reduce violent crime, but the way you reduce it isn't by responding after the fact. The way you reduce it is by investing beforehand.

[00:41:34] Crystal Fincher: So does that mean that we should expect to see a shift from response to prevention in your budget when it comes to public safety?

[00:41:43] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: That is a great question. I don't think we have enough resources for the responses that we need today, so you could expect to see more of both. But I want over time to see the shift, because that is what ultimately gets us to a sustainable place. The Best Starts for Kids Levy was on the ballot the first time when I was running for this seat. And I felt like I was campaigning for myself and for Best Starts for Kids, because I talked about it everywhere we went - that's exactly the sort of thing we need, and we need more of it.

[00:42:15] Crystal Fincher: How do you plan to mitigate attacks on civil rights, particularly those targeting trans people and immigrants?

[00:42:22] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Well, as an elected official, I have a really important role in standing up and speaking out and always being 100% aligned with the community whose rights are under attack. I think that's true of all elected officials at every level of government - that we should make it very clear that we stand for those rights and we are going to protect them. You imbue that in the organizations that you run. I want to make sure that all of our staff, including police, but also anybody who works for King County - I don't care if you're writing a permit or working in a parks program or doing anything - we set up our system so people are welcome here. And we partner with trusted community organizations. I've been really proud of the partnerships that we've built in East King County over time because those are places where community members can feel safe to go. If I'm having a problem in my home - let's say it's domestic violence - and I am an immigrant, I might not want to call the police right now. I might not want to call 911 right now because who knows what's going to happen. By the way, I think the most pernicious thing - among many pernicious things - that the Trump administration is doing with ICE is targeting people who are doing what we want them to do. Come to court for your hearing. Oh, and then we're going to arrest and deport you. We want people to go to the courts for their hearings, go to work, go to your job - and we're going to come down there and sweep you up. Like, we want peaceful people working jobs, right? So we need to make sure that we are sort of defending those to the extent possible. I've found it's very helpful to have some of the - there's some really good tools that have been created about not allowing ICE within your buildings. If you don't, you know - you can put up certain signs and you can stand on your rights - we should do that at county buildings. I was proud - when I worked for the executive branch - to work on our policy that we wouldn't honor ICE detainers anymore, which was just kind of made up forms that they use to say - Hold somebody in jail after they've been released, after the court said they can be let go, or they've served their sentence. Just hold them for a few extra days, you know - totally violating people's right to freedom so that we can come and decide whether to deport them or not. We don't do that. We don't do that - because it's not our job and because they should follow the law. They should do what they do, and we do what we do. I think there's a lot we can do to protect people. It starts by being very, very clear that we believe in people's rights and we stand for people's rights.

[00:44:57] Crystal Fincher: You have influence over Sound Transit and control of Metro. What can be done to expand service and deliver more reliable and safe transit?

[00:45:08] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Well, one of my favorite topics. A few years ago, we went through a real downturn. Well, COVID - we went through COVID. And Sound Transit lost a lot of fare revenue when people started staying home. But many people, not the people - we learned - who were transit-dependent and our essential workers, kept using it all along. But many others stayed home. And so the revenue took a dive at Metro as well. And immediately, the powers that be within the operations started telling us - Well, we should delay. We should delay the projects because we can't afford them, and we'll finance them over a longer period of time. And I just found that so unsatisfying. I pushed really hard to try to - and I'm not a transit professional, I'm a labor lawyer - and so we brought in, at my urging, with the support of the board, experts from around the country and a couple from overseas, to tell us how can we speed things up? And if you speed it up, it's cheaper - you can do more, right? So we have come up with this really interesting program. We've been reforming the agency structure. We brought in a person who is, you know, that is responsible for capital delivery - not just the silo - but everything that goes into capital delivery. And we're trying to speed things up. For example, implementing a project management software, which we didn't really have before that enabled - like, enables tracking and timing and performance management of decisions. Let me point at myself here. At the board, we hold on to a lot of decisions, and then we want to think about it. And again, if somebody comes and says - I don't like that decision - oh, well, let's take a few more months to think about that. We just sort of really fall into delay very easily. We are, through this program, forcing ourselves to - What is delay going to cost? What is it going to do to the overall delivery of the project? And we've stopped easily making delays - I was so proud of my committee last week. Somebody was proposing - for a really good reason - let's take one more month. And they all said - No, we don't do delay. I was like - Yes, we don't do delay. So it's a little bit of culture, a lot of good management, and we've got to build towards our next transit measure. It's been a while since we did our last transit measure. Once Metro is kind of back, you know, post-COVID staffing levels and reliability, it's going to be time. And as executive, I want to have that discussion. What's the next infusion of funding? And how do we expand our service so that it all works well together - so you have light rail fed by buses and people can get around. It will be a powerful system when it's all built out.

[00:47:50] Crystal Fincher: So life expectancy in some parts of King County is up to 10 years shorter than in other parts of the county - largely due to pollution, highway proximity, and historic disinvestment. What would you do to address these health disparities and environmental injustices?

[00:48:06] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah. I just want to claim a little bit of credit - not for myself, but for former King County Executive Ron Sims and a little bit for Executive Constantine. Some of that work around life outcomes based on race and place was pioneered at King County Public Health. And we know, we learned so much and it just opened our eyes. Because at every step, every life milestone you can think of - from birth weight through infant mortality, all the way through life expectancy - there is a clear disparity based on race and where you live. And it's about, a lot of it is about what you pointed out - it's about underinvestment. And underinvestment turns into pollution, heat islands, not having green, healthy spaces to be, dangerous roads, you know, things that just sort of add up. As County Executive, I would want to continue this work and take it from - We know that bad things are happening to we're investing through things like Best Starts for Kids and other programs we have that are intentionally taking an anti-racist, pro-environmental justice, pro-justice lens. And sort of double down on that. Make sure that we are putting in the time, the effort - with community again, because lived experience matters, making sure that we are working with the communities we serve to hear their needs and to make sure we're funding them. I believe in direct funding. I believe in making sure that we are putting in investments - so working along the Duwamish, making sure that we're cleaning up the waterfront there. That's a big investment that's happening right now. And along those lines, we can do a lot more.

[00:49:54] Crystal Fincher: How would your management style be different than Dow Constantine's, and what strengths do you bring to the role? And what prepares you to manage the county and its departments and people?

[00:50:06] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah, thanks so much. Well, of course, everybody's a little different, right? Just as a side note, I would be the first elected woman executive, and I think that comes with a different style. I am proud of the fact that I know how to push for results. I know how to not take no for an answer. But I also have the patience to sit down with people and hear them out and build coalitions - working with everybody, even people I disagree with, even people I may not really have a lot of patience for. But you have to bring in everyone. So I'm very proud of the work we did around housing with all of the cities of King County, with big employers, smaller businesses, housing providers, housing advocates. We pulled together a whole committee that meets regularly and has been working toward this, toward improving how we provide housing, especially affordable housing. That's what I love to do. I love to build coalitions. I love to work with community groups. I love to work with employees - hearing them out. Our line staff - they know a lot, they know how to get things done, they know what's getting in their way, for sure. And so being somebody who is willing to really listen to people, take the time it takes to launch something, and then make sure it goes right. You know, that taking time to get something right doesn't mean taking forever - it means getting it right so that we have results once we launch. I think that's something that I would bring to this job.

I am a former director of a large department. This is a CEO job, after all. And I have, I have run a department with over 600 employees - I think more than that if you count Jail Health. And a very large budget and very sensitive subject matter. And we were able to do reforms. I remember hearing that we were using too much isolation housing in the jail. And we were able to find a way, working closely with our line staff, to reduce it to almost zero - this is for psychiatric patients in the jail. We were able to do away with it - virtually. And that was - you can make a huge difference for people if you are willing to say as the leader, We're going to fix this, But then listen to the people who really understand how to do it. Yeah, I would, I think that in this time when so much of government is struggling and some of it is directly under attack, having somebody who knows how to keep the wheels on the rails, but also isn't afraid to take on big fights - is somebody you want in leadership. And I hope I would bring those qualities.

[00:52:54] Crystal Fincher: As we come to closing this interview today, and you have voters trying to make a tough choice between you and other candidates - particularly Girmay Zahilay. How do you differentiate yourself from him, other candidates? And what do you say makes you the right choice for the job?

[00:53:14] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Yeah, I will say we do have two really good candidates in this race, and I'm proud to be one of them. The thing that really distinguishes me is my experience. I have been working in this field for a long time, and I've been able to deliver results - real things that you can see in the world. As I said, thousands of new homes, shelters in East King County where there were never shelters before, an entire light rail line where there was never light rail. And in fact, there was a massive effort to stop it. I know how to deliver. I know how to fight tough fights and I've done it - and I've won them many times over. I know how King County works. It's a very big, complex county. I know a lot about it. I know how to move it. And I have the will to do it. And so I think that's what you vote for if you vote for me - and I hope that your listeners will seriously consider it.

[00:54:11] Crystal Fincher: Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Claudia Balducci, King County Councilmember and candidate for King County Executive - we really appreciate you taking the time to share your priorities and your experience with us. Thank you so much.

[00:54:26] Councilmember Claudia Balducci: Thank you so much - it's been a delight to be here.

[00:54:28] Crystal Fincher: Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is produced by Shannon Cheng. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Bluesky @HacksAndWonks. You can find me on Bluesky at @finchfrii - that's F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on every podcast service and app - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com.

Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.