Eddie Lin Outlines Vision for Seattle City Council District 2
Eddie Lin, running for Seattle City Council in District 2, shares his stance on housing affordability, public safety, transportation, and more while emphasizing his government experience and commitment to community-driven solutions.
What a City Council Member Does and Why It Matters
A Seattle City Councilmember plays a powerful but often overlooked role in shaping life across the city. They write laws, approve the city budget, and decide how Seattle addresses issues like housing, public safety, transportation, and climate change. Councilmembers also oversee city departments to ensure policies are working and funds are spent responsibly. They help shape land use and development, serve on regional boards, and represent either a specific district or the entire city.
In Southeast Seattle’s District 2, which includes neighborhoods like Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, and the Chinatown–International District, local representation matters. Council decisions influence everything from where affordable housing is built to how safe it feels to walk or take the bus. Councilmembers also assist residents in navigating city services, respond to community concerns, and bring that feedback into City Hall.
Why Lin is Running for Council
Eddie Lin, who has worked for six years with the City's Office of Housing as an assistant city attorney, is running for Seattle City Council District 2 primarily to address what he calls the affordable housing and homelessness crisis.
"So I currently, for the past six years, have been working full-time with the Office of Housing," Lin explained. "I'm running to primarily address the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. ...it's been a state of emergency for 10 years, and we have not made sufficient progress."
Lin also cites his government experience as a key motivation: "Having worked in the City Attorney's Office since 2017, I feel like I have a strong understanding of how government works and how often it doesn't work, especially for residents and businesses of District 2. And I believe our district deserves a strong representative."
He emphasizes his approach to representation in the city's most diverse district: "District 2 is the most diverse district in our city, in terms of race and ethnicity. We have a lot of migrant, immigrant communities. I am the son of an immigrant myself. And… no one person can represent the entire diversity of District 2 based on their own lived experience. And so for me, the most important thing is whoever represents District 2 is out there doing the work, is a good listener, and fighting to uplift the voices - the diverse voices - of District 2, and especially the most marginalized voices."
Housing Crisis and Homelessness Solutions
Lin frames housing as the central issue driving Seattle's homelessness crisis, citing national statistics showing that "when rents go up $100 per month, that homelessness on average increases by 9%." Despite the city's efforts to build affordable housing through his office, Lin argues that skyrocketing rents over the past five years have outpaced construction.
"We need to just build a lot more of all types of housing - market rate, subsidized social housing - and to help get those costs down," Lin said, emphasizing that the recently passed rent stabilization bill is "only one sort of piece of the puzzle."
His comprehensive housing strategy includes updating the Comprehensive Plan to allow much more density, "getting rid of design review," drastically reducing or eliminating parking requirements, and expediting the permitting process. Lin also advocates for expanding shelter and transitional housing capacity, noting that the city moved away from this approach during COVID but needs to "vastly increase our shelter capacity."
Despite record high encampment sweeps involving police, homelessness has increased over 25% in the last two years, with nearly twice as many people as available shelter beds. Lin argues the current approach isn't working and calls for addressing both immediate shelter needs and long-term housing affordability.
Public Safety and Gun Violence Prevention
Lin identifies gun violence, particularly among youth, as District 2's top safety concern, pointing out that "District 2 has the largest number of gun incidents in this city by far. And youth gun violence is at an all-time high," referencing recent shootings including one involving a Franklin High School student and a drive-by shooting at Be'er Sheva Park that injured an 8-year-old girl and 70-year-old woman.
Rather than supporting the current council's shift toward punishment over prevention, Lin advocates for "dedicated long-term funding to address youth gun violence,” specifically targeting the mayor's proposed $46.6 million in the upcoming FEPP Levy for school safety toward south Seattle and the Central District.
"[We need to work] with the community-based organizations that have already been doing this work, that are doing intervention," Lin explained, citing groups like Community Passageways and Urban Family that often receive only one-time funding. "This type of work requires dedicated, long-term [funding] so that people can hire and plan accordingly."
Lin also calls for reimagining the criminal justice system: "We need to lean in much heavier into rehabilitation and diversion programs. … there's really no rehab right now - or very little, at least, in our jail system. And so it shouldn't be a surprise that we have recidivism rates that are through the roof."
Transportation Safety and Infrastructure
District 2 faces significant transportation safety challenges, with dangerous corridors along MLK and Rainier avenues. Lin attributes much of the danger to road design: "when you have two lanes traveling, vehicles - a road that's two lanes wide - vehicles speed up."
His transportation safety priorities include raised walkways, narrowing roads to slow traffic, and traffic cameras as interim measures. Long-term, Lin envisions reducing vehicular traffic through road diets and increasing electrified bus service.
"Long term, we have to transition away in our community from vehicles being such a dominant use of our right of way," Lin said, advocating for reimagining public spaces through projects like pedestrianizing commercial cores where there's already significant foot traffic.
Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
Life expectancy in parts of District 2 is up to 10 years shorter than in wealthier Seattle neighborhoods, largely due to pollution from highway and major street proximity. Lin cites air quality issues from traffic and recently learned concerns about leaded fuel use in smaller planes at King County Airport.
His environmental justice approach includes raising awareness about pollution sources, advocating for state level legislation to ban leaded fuel in smaller aircraft, and "moving away from so much vehicular traffic" through road diets and electrified public transportation. For immediate relief, Lin suggests "assisting our low-income residents with air filters if they live in areas of high air pollution."
When asked about balancing development needs with air pollution concerns along transit corridors, Lin emphasized that “the health and safety of residents needs to be the priority.” He advocates for diversifying development locations by building “deeper into what used to be single family neighborhoods” rather than concentrating all new housing along corridors with the highest pollution.
Budget Crisis and Revenue Solutions
Seattle faces a $244 million budget shortfall, with recent fixes being temporary measures like diverting JumpStart funds. Lin supports new progressive revenues, including a capital gains tax and potentially increasing the JumpStart payroll tax, while emphasizing community engagement in budget decisions.
"The budget is a moral document," Lin said, identifying homelessness and public safety as top priorities while emphasizing protection for communities "being attacked by Trump right now - our LGBTQ and immigrant communities."
Lin strongly supports returning JumpStart funds to their original purpose: affordable housing, the Equitable Development Initiative, and Green New Deal programs. He also notes that housing development generates revenue through sales tax, excise tax, and mandatory housing affordability fees, suggesting that incentivizing development could provide additional city revenue.
Civil Liberties and Surveillance
As the son of an immigrant from Taiwan, Lin emphasizes the importance of protecting immigrant and LGBTQ communities from federal attacks. He supports increased funding for legal representation, including expanding beyond the proposed $300,000 for immigrants facing deportation proceedings.
"We need to be very careful about how we communicate things with our communities - that we're giving timely information, that we're not raising undue alarm, but that we're communicating correct and timely information," Lin said, emphasizing the need to listen to affected communities about what support they need.
Lin opposes the City Council's signals to weaken the existing surveillance ordinance, which requires public review of the costs and benefits of new surveillance technology before the city can acquire it, particularly to protect civil liberties and prevent disproportionate harm to marginalized communities. Lin is especially concerned about data being weaponized by the federal government under the current administration.
While supporting limited surveillance like traffic cameras for safety, he emphasizes the need for "strong protections and deletion policies" and potentially "shorter retention policies" to prevent federal access to collected data. "We need to ensure that we have strong protections and deletion policies. And… potentially we might need to look at strengthening those - basically having shorter retention policies to make sure that we don't… inadvertently have data that could be used by the feds," Lin said.
Ethics and Government Accountability
Lin opposes the City Council's proposed weakening of ethics rules on conflicts of interest, particularly regarding recusal requirements. "If there is a conflict, I don't see why recusal is not the standard," he said, expressing concern about perceptions that ethics changes are being made to facilitate landlord-tenant law modifications. He believes the proposed changes send "the wrong signal to our community and particularly to renters" as the city considers potential changes to tenant protections.
"You know, perceptions matter," Lin emphasized, suggesting the timing of the ethics rule changes appears designed to allow conflicted councilmembers to vote on issues where they could receive a direct financial benefit.
Lin also supports maintaining limits on public comment restrictions, opposing proposals that would allow public comment time to be limited without prior notice.
Social Housing and Tenant Protections
Lin voted for Proposition 1B, which received 37% of the vote, over the successful Proposition 1A for social housing, which was supported by 63% of Seattle voters. Lin cited concerns about the organizational capacity and market competition for higher income affordable housing as reasons for his vote. However, he says he now supports the Social Housing Developer's success through early funding, zoning updates, and integration into city planning efforts.
On tenant protections, Lin is listening to feedback from affordable housing providers about their desire to weaken some of Seattle’s current landlord tenant laws while also desiring “deep engagement with renters” before voting for potential any changes. "Renters make up more than 50% of our households," he noted, calling for careful consideration of any modifications to tenant protections.
Small Business Support and Economic Development
Recognizing challenges facing District 2’s small businesses including increased rents and insurance costs, Lin proposes several support measures. He suggests creating "a more robust support system" for businesses impacted by broken windows or retail theft, including assistance with window repairs.
Lin also advocates for reducing regulatory burdens on small businesses, particularly through minimum revenue thresholds. "If you don't raise at least a million in revenue, then you kind of get a blanket exemption so that you don't even have to pay for the accountant or pay for the lawyer to file the paperwork," he explained.
Looking ahead to the World Cup coming to Seattle, Lin opposes repeating past approaches that increased police presence and encampment sweeps before major events. Instead, he supports expert recommendations for "truly welcoming cities" that "prioritize basics like bathrooms, seating, transit, and activating public spaces."
Lin emphasized the importance of working with community organizations like Seattle Chinatown International District PDA, noting they "just hired somebody to specifically work on this." He criticized past events like the MLB All Star Game where "they didn't even have maps that showed how to get to Seattle Chinatown International District."
Lin's Message to Voters
As voters evaluate candidates in District 2, Lin emphasizes his experience and approach to governance over differences with opponents. "I typically don't like to… focus on the differences. I'd like to focus on sort of what strengths that I think I bring to the campaign or would bring to this seat," he said.
Lin highlights his housing expertise and his role as an assistant city attorney: "Obviously, again, housing experience is top of mind. And the other thing that I talk about is… my job right now is an assistant city attorney - I don't do policy, but what I do is I empower the departments and my clients… to achieve their goals. And so I would want to bring that same skill set to representing residents and businesses in District 2."
He positions himself as someone who can bridge the gap between residents and city government: "I'm a strong listener. …I have a strong understanding of how our government works, how our city works. And so I would really want to bring, empower them through… giving them the information they need to advocate, and then taking their priorities to City Hall."
About the Guest
Eddie Lin
Eddie is the son of a Taiwanese immigrant who came to the U.S. for a brighter future and who met Eddie’s mom, a single parent at the time. His parents faced prejudice as an inter-racial couple married only a few years after Loving v. Virginia legalized it. As a young child, his parents spent long hours at work and often lived apart as they struggled to bridge their cultural differences, so his older brother mostly raised him. Both Eddie and his brother worked in high school and college to help make ends meet. Eddie worked as a house painter, a janitor at a local church, and a bike messenger. Still, financial aid and scholarships were needed to pay for his education.
Growing up in the south, Eddie stood out. There was not a larger Asian American community near him, and at times he felt ashamed of his different ethnic background because of the discrimination he faced. Eddie wanted to raise his kids where they could be proud of their heritage. Eddie and his wife Jennifer, a public school teacher, found that place on Beacon Hill, a diverse and thriving community that welcomed them and made them feel safe.
Like too many families, depression and alcoholism have taken a toll on Eddie’s family and friends. He lost his older brother to alcoholism and a close friend to depression. In college, Eddie struggled with depression himself, dropping out of school for a short time. Eddie has seen that mental health challenges and substance abuse affect all of us, regardless of race or class, but those with the fewest resources are most likely to fall through the cracks and end up on our streets.
Early in his career, Eddie got a job as a secretary at a law firm focused on representing labor unions. Their work supporting labor negotiations, holding big businesses accountable for violating worker protections, and ensuring the fundamental right to organize, inspired Eddie to go to law school at Seattle University. As a law student summer intern at the Washington Education Association, he was able to continue that dream supporting teachers and staff working tirelessly for our kids. He is beyond proud to be married to a life-long educator and union leader. Together they raise their kids to instill union values, bringing them to rallies, and to Olympia to lobby for school funding. Eddie is proud to be part of a union household and believes that unions are critical to uplifting the working class, defending democracy, and creating a more equitable City.
Resources
Podcast Transcript
[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.
Seattle City Councilmembers make decisions that shape nearly every part of daily life in the city - from housing, policing, to transportation and parks, public utilities, and how our tax dollars are spent. They pass laws, approve the city budget, and oversee city departments. They also play a key role in setting long-term plans for growth and development, negotiating labor contracts, and holding agencies accountable to the public.
In other words, if you care about the cost of housing, how your neighborhood is changing, how public safety is handled, or how easy it is to get around Seattle - you should care who sits on the City Council.
District 2 includes the neighborhoods of Beacon Hill, Brighton, Chinatown International District or the CID, Columbia City, Dunlap, Genesee, Hillman City, Lakewood/Seward Park, Little Saigon, Mount Baker, New Holly, North Beacon Hill, Othello, Rainier Beach, Rainier View, Rainier Vista, South Beacon Hill, and Yesler Terrace. This race will help determine not just the future of the district, but the direction of the city as a whole.
So we're talking to candidates to see where they stand, what they've done, and who they are - not just as policymakers, but as people.
Today, we are excited to welcome Seattle City Council District 2 candidate Eddie Lin to the program. Welcome!
[00:01:52] Eddie Lin: Thank you.
[00:01:53] Crystal Fincher: Well, as you know, we start with a lightning round here on Hacks & Wonks to help everyone get to know you a little bit better. These are quick yes-or-no, or quick answer questions. We'll have plenty of time to elaborate in the general answer period, but this just helps people to begin to get to know you a little bit better.
So just starting out, do you own or rent your residence?
[00:02:19] Eddie Lin: Own.
[00:02:20] Crystal Fincher: Are you a landlord?
[00:02:21] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:02:22] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever been a member of a union?
[00:02:26] Eddie Lin: No, but before law school, I worked for three years as a secretary at a law firm representing unions. And during law school-
[00:02:34] Crystal Fincher: Wait, wait, wait. Lightning round.
[00:02:36] Eddie Lin: Okay, sorry.
[00:02:37] Crystal Fincher: That's a no.
[00:02:38] Eddie Lin: Got it. No.
[00:02:39] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever walked on a picket line?
[00:02:41] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:02:41] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever crossed a picket line?
[00:02:43] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:02:44] Crystal Fincher: Is your campaign staff unionized?
[00:02:47] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:02:48] Crystal Fincher: If your campaign staff wants to unionize, will you voluntarily recognize their effort?
[00:02:53] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:02:54] Crystal Fincher: What political party do you identify with?
[00:02:57] Eddie Lin: Democrat.
[00:02:58] Crystal Fincher: Have you used the Seattle Public Library system in the past month?
[00:03:02] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:03:03] Crystal Fincher: Have you been to a Seattle City Council meeting in person in the past year?
[00:03:08] Eddie Lin: Several.
[00:03:09] Crystal Fincher: Have you or someone in your household ever relied on public assistance?
[00:03:13] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:03:14] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever been stopped or questioned by police in Seattle?
[00:03:18] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:03:19] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever worked in retail or a job where you had to rely on tips?
[00:03:24] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:03:25] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever owned a business?
[00:03:27] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:03:28] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever managed a team of 10 or more?
[00:03:31] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:03:32] Crystal Fincher: 100 or more? Well, that would also be a no.
Have you ever reported someone's misconduct in your workplace?
[00:03:39] Eddie Lin: Not that I recall.
[00:03:40] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever fired someone?
[00:03:43] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:03:44] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite park in D2?
[00:03:46] Eddie Lin: Jefferson.
[00:03:48] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite D2 restaurant?
[00:03:52] Eddie Lin: I'm going to say Homer.
[00:03:53] Crystal Fincher: What was the last live performance you saw in District 2?
[00:03:58] Eddie Lin: It was Prometheus Brown at Clock-Out.
[00:04:01] Crystal Fincher: Nice. What's your favorite album?
[00:04:08] Eddie Lin: I'm going to say - Fight the Power by Public Enemy.
[00:04:11] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite song?
[00:04:13] Eddie Lin: Same song.
[00:04:14] Crystal Fincher: What's the last song you listened to?
[00:04:19] Eddie Lin: Last song I listened to - just one that stands out is Pink Pony Club.
[00:04:26] Crystal Fincher: What's the most recent book you read?
[00:04:28] Eddie Lin: I am reading Skid Row.
[00:04:31] Crystal Fincher: What was the last sports event you attended in Seattle?
[00:04:36] Eddie Lin: Sounders game.
[00:04:37] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite cafe in D2?
[00:04:41] Eddie Lin: Station.
[00:04:43] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever contested a traffic ticket?
[00:04:46] Eddie Lin: Not that I recall.
[00:04:48] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever served on a jury?
[00:04:49] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:04:50] Crystal Fincher: Have you ever been arrested?
[00:04:53] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:04:54] Crystal Fincher: Have you taken transit in the past month?
[00:04:56] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:04:58] Crystal Fincher: Past week?
[00:04:59] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:05:00] Crystal Fincher: Have you ridden a bike in the past month?
[00:05:03] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:05:03] Crystal Fincher: In the past week?
[00:05:07] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:05:08] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the City Council's decision to rezone parts of SODO to allow residential housing?
[00:05:14] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:05:15] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the Council's decision to delay adoption of the Comprehensive Plan past 2024?
[00:05:22] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:05:24] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the City Council's decision to put Proposition 1B on the social housing ballot, in addition to 1A.
[00:05:34] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:05:35] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the Council's decision to divert JumpStart revenue from its original purpose to address the budget deficit?
[00:05:45] Eddie Lin: Yes. Waffle.
[00:05:48] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the City Council's decision to allow SPD to implement expanded surveillance technologies?
[00:05:57] Eddie Lin: If we're talking about CCTVs - depends.
[00:06:02] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the Council's decision to allow SPD to use tear gas and blast balls for crowd control in certain circumstances?
[00:06:13] Eddie Lin: Depends.
[00:06:14] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the Council's decision to reinstate SOAP and SODA laws restricting people from certain areas in Seattle?
[00:06:24] Eddie Lin: Jury's still out, but yes - I'm okay with it.
[00:06:28] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the Council's decision to make street racing and attending a street race a crime?
[00:06:34] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:06:35] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the Council's decision to continue to use SCORE jail to detain people arrested in Seattle?
[00:06:43] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:06:44] Crystal Fincher: Was it worth modifying or lowering standards to recruit new police officers?
[00:06:51] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:06:52] Crystal Fincher: Have we gotten our money's worth on the money allocated to recruit new police officers?
[00:07:02] Eddie Lin: I'd say no.
[00:07:04] Crystal Fincher: Does SPD have a problem with how it treats women?
[00:07:07] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:07:08] Crystal Fincher: Does SPD have a problem with how it treats BIPOC people?
[00:07:13] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:07:14] Crystal Fincher: Would you have voted to ratify the Seattle Police Officers Guild, or SPOG, contract?
[00:07:20] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:07:21] Crystal Fincher: Will you vote for a SPOG contract that lacks meaningful accountability provisions, like civilian oversight with subpoena power?
[00:07:28] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:07:29] Crystal Fincher: Should the scope of the CARE department be included in or limited by the SPOG contract?
[00:07:34] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:07:35] Crystal Fincher: Do you think facial recognition should be banned in city use?
[00:07:42] Eddie Lin: Depends.
[00:07:43] Crystal Fincher: Did Seattle ever "defund the police"?
[00:07:46] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:07:47] Crystal Fincher: Should we have a design review board?
[00:07:49] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:07:50] Crystal Fincher: Should public comment time be allowed to be limited without prior notice?
[00:07:56] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:07:57] Crystal Fincher: Do you support the Ferdinand Festival Street?
[00:08:01] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:08:02] Crystal Fincher: Do you agree with the city policy of closing Lake Washington Boulevard to cars, and only allowing bike and pedestrian access for 10 weekends during the spring and summer?
[00:08:13] Eddie Lin: Yes, depending on what we mean by close. But as long as local folks can get to their houses, yes.
[00:08:20] Crystal Fincher: Do you support expanded weekend closures of Lake Washington Boulevard?
[00:08:25] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:08:26] Crystal Fincher: Do you plan to increase funding and staffing for investigations of labor violations like wage theft and illegal union busting?
[00:08:34] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:08:35] Crystal Fincher: Do large corporations in Seattle pay their fair share of taxes?
[00:08:39] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:08:39] Crystal Fincher: Do small businesses pay their fair share of taxes?
[00:08:42] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:08:43] Crystal Fincher: Do you support the rent stabilization bill that passed in the most recent legislative session?
[00:08:48] Eddie Lin: Absolutely.
[00:08:50] Crystal Fincher: What's your go-to karaoke song?
[00:08:53] Eddie Lin: I do not have a go-to karaoke song.
[00:08:55] Crystal Fincher: Favorite TV show to binge?
[00:08:59] Eddie Lin: We'll say White Lotus.
[00:09:01] Crystal Fincher: First concert you ever attended?
[00:09:04] Eddie Lin: Prince.
[00:09:05] Crystal Fincher: Oh, nice. Favorite Seattle Sports moment?
[00:09:12] Eddie Lin: Seahawks Super Bowl.
[00:09:13] Crystal Fincher: What's your comfort food?
[00:09:17] Eddie Lin: Pizza.
[00:09:18] Crystal Fincher: Early bird or night owl?
[00:09:20] Eddie Lin: Night owl.
[00:09:21] Crystal Fincher: What's a hobby people wouldn't expect you to have?
[00:09:26] Eddie Lin: Frisbee.
[00:09:27] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite neighborhood in D2?
[00:09:34] Eddie Lin: Beacon Hill. That's where I live.
[00:09:36] Crystal Fincher: What's a Seattle-based artist or musician that you love?
[00:09:43] Eddie Lin: I'm going to say, I'm going to say Macklemore.
[00:09:48] Crystal Fincher: What's a book you wish more people read?
[00:09:51] Eddie Lin: Homelessness is a Housing Problem.
[00:09:54] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite rainy day activity?
[00:09:59] Eddie Lin: Walking.
[00:10:00] Crystal Fincher: What's your favorite Sound Transit station name?
[00:10:06] Eddie Lin: Columbia City.
[00:10:07] Crystal Fincher: Have you voted in every general election in the past four years?
[00:10:11] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:10:12] Crystal Fincher: Have you voted in every primary election in the past four years?
[00:10:15] Eddie Lin: Yes. Yes.
[00:10:16] Crystal Fincher: Have you made any political endorsements that you regret?
[00:10:21] Eddie Lin: Not really.
[00:10:22] Crystal Fincher: Have you made any political donations that you regret?
[00:10:25] Eddie Lin: No.
[00:10:26] Crystal Fincher: In 2021, did you vote for Bruce Harrell or Lorena González for Seattle Mayor?
[00:10:31] Eddie Lin: González.
[00:10:32] Crystal Fincher: In 2021, did you vote for Ann Davison or Nicole Thomas Kennedy for Seattle City Attorney?
[00:10:38] Eddie Lin: Nicole Thomas Kennedy.
[00:10:40] Crystal Fincher: In 2021, did you vote for Sara Nelson or Nikkita Oliver for City Council?
[00:10:45] Eddie Lin: Nikkita Oliver.
[00:10:47] Crystal Fincher: In 2022, did you vote for Leesa Manion or Jim Ferrell for King County Prosecutor?
[00:10:52] Eddie Lin: Leesa Manion.
[00:10:53] Crystal Fincher: In 2023, did you vote for Tammy Morales or Tanya Woo?
[00:10:58] Eddie Lin: I'm pretty sure it was Tammy Morales, but I did struggle with that one a bit.
[00:11:02] Crystal Fincher: In 2024, did you vote for Alexis Mercedes Rinck or Tanya Woo for City Council?
[00:11:08] Eddie Lin: Rinck.
[00:11:08] Crystal Fincher: In 2024, did you vote for Nick Brown or Pete Serrano for Attorney General?
[00:11:13] Eddie Lin: Nick Brown.
[00:11:15] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote for Bob Ferguson or Dave Reichert for Governor?
[00:11:18] Eddie Lin: Ferguson.
[00:11:19] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for President?
[00:11:23] Eddie Lin: Kamala Harris.
[00:11:25] Crystal Fincher: Did you vote to approve the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or AFIS levy, on the April 22nd ballot?
[00:11:33] Eddie Lin: I did.
[00:11:34] Crystal Fincher: This year, on Seattle's social housing initiative in February, did you vote for Option 1A, 1B, or neither?
[00:11:40] Eddie Lin: 1B.
[00:11:43] Crystal Fincher: Will you be voting for Claudia Balducci, John Wilson, or Girmay Zahilay for King County Executive?
[00:11:50] Eddie Lin: Most likely Zahilay.
[00:11:52] Crystal Fincher: Will you be voting to reauthorize the Democracy Voucher Program in the August election?
[00:11:57] Eddie Lin: Yes.
[00:11:58] Crystal Fincher: Will you be voting to pass the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy renewal in the November election?
[00:12:05] Eddie Lin: Yeah.
[00:12:06] Crystal Fincher: And that is the end of the lightning round. Hopefully, that was pretty painless. Gives people a good idea of where we're starting the conversation once we get into these more general questions where you'll have the chance to expand and help people get to know you better.
So the first question we have is, why are you running?
[00:12:27] Eddie Lin: So I currently, for the past six years, have been working full-time with the Office of Housing. I'm in the City Attorney's office, but I support the Office of Housing on affordable housing investments and overseeing our market rate incentive programs. And I'm running to primarily address the affordable housing and homelessness crisis. You know, it's been a state of emergency for 10 years, and we have not made sufficient progress. The other reason I'm running is - having worked in the City Attorney's Office since 2017, I feel like I have a strong understanding of how government works and how often it doesn't work, especially for residents and businesses of District 2. And I believe our district deserves a strong representative. I'm a good listener - help people solve problems, a creative thinker. And so I just want to be a strong voice for District 2 representatives, constituents.
[00:13:24] Crystal Fincher: In recent campaigns, there's been a lot of talk about the importance of representation in District 2. What does representing the people of District 2 mean to you, and why do you think you're the right person to represent the district right now?
[00:13:40] Eddie Lin: Yeah. District 2 is the most diverse district in our city, in terms of race and ethnicity. We have a lot of migrant, immigrant communities. I am the son of an immigrant myself. And, but, you know, no one person can represent the entire diversity of District 2 based on their own lived experience. And so for me, the most important thing is whoever represents District 2 is out there doing the work, is a good listener, and fighting to uplift the voices - the diverse voices - of District 2, and especially the most marginalized voices.
[00:14:15] Crystal Fincher: So Seattle's facing a $244 million budget shortfall, and recent fixes have been one-time measures like diverting JumpStart funds - without addressing the structural problem. What specific long-term solutions would you support: new progressive revenue, permanent cuts, or both? And what specifically would you be supporting?
[00:14:37] Eddie Lin: I would support new progressive revenues, including capital gains tax. Happy to look at our JumpStart payroll tax and potentially increasing that. In terms of - we do need to be good stewards of the dollars that we have - and I would want to engage with District 2 residents as well as city employees, and not just city managers or department heads. I would want to engage with our unions to understand what our priorities need to be. You know, the budget is a moral document. I believe our homelessness crisis should be a top priority. Public safety, I think, is a top priority for District 2 residents. And, you know, that's a complicated issue that we can talk about. But we need to lead with our values. We need to protect our communities that are being attacked by Trump right now - our LGBTQ and immigrant communities. So, you know, it's the - we don't know the lay of the land of what's going to happen in the next six months. There's news today about cuts to HUD funding, so there might be even bigger budget deficit coming down the pipe. But I think the most important thing is to do robust engagement with our community and the employees that are doing the hard work every day.
[00:16:01] Crystal Fincher: Ahead of past major events like the Major League Baseball All Star Game, the city increased police presence and encampment sweeps, saying it would create a more welcoming environment for the people coming into town. But in places like the CID, that approach backfired - and people stayed away, businesses suffered, and the promised benefits didn't materialize in District 2. Experts say truly welcoming cities prioritize basics like bathrooms, seating, transit, and activating public spaces. With the World Cup coming, do you support repeating the same approach as before? Or what should the city do instead to ensure District 2 actually benefits from the World Cup being in Seattle?
[00:16:42] Eddie Lin: I absolutely agree with that. I mean, bathrooms is a chronic problem for our city. It's shameful that we don't have public bathrooms. It creates, you know, not just issues for people visiting our city, but also for just families with kids, people - for our homeless community. You know, this gets back to really needing to work with the leaders in district - I mean the community organizations in District 2. So for example, Seattle Chinatown International District PDA, they just hired somebody to specifically work on this. And so I would want to listen to them about what they want to see to - you know, how to encourage. I think a lot of it is around, you know, during the MLB, they didn't even have maps that showed how to get to Seattle Chinatown International District. So just more engagement with that community and finding out how they can be more involved.
[00:17:41] Crystal Fincher: What are the top safety concerns in District 2? And how do you plan to address them?
[00:17:46] Eddie Lin: I'd say the top safety concern is gun violence, and particularly youth gun violence. There was a shooting of a Franklin High School student about 10 days ago. There was a shooting - a drive-by shooting - in a park down at Be'er Sheva Park on Friday. Eight-year-old girl and a 70-year-old woman were bystanders and got shot. District 2 has the largest number of gun incidents in this city by far. And youth gun violence is at an all-time high. Specifically, I would love to see dedicated long-term funding to address youth gun violence in particular. The mayor does have approximately $46.6 million, I believe, in the upcoming FEPP Levy for school safety. I would like to see that targeted towards youth gun violence, specifically in south Seattle and Central District - parts of the city that have been most impacted. And we may, you know, need to increase that number because that would be spread out over several years. But this is, I believe, an emergency. And if we are not going to treat it like such, we're just going to see more children being harmed - families, communities being harmed.
[00:19:09] Crystal Fincher: Now, when you say you want to see increased funding, what do you believe that funding should be spent on to reduce gun violence?
[00:19:18] Eddie Lin: Well, really, probably, most importantly - working with the community-based organizations that have already been doing this work, that are doing intervention. You know, we need to work on upstream, long-term issues in terms of supporting our youth. But at the moment, we also need to work with the teens who are directly, you know, at risk. And so, you know, groups like Community Passageways, groups like Urban Family that have been doing this work - that often see one-time funding. And, you know, this type of work requires dedicated, long-term, so that people can hire and plan accordingly - that they can pay their staff living salary and living wages. And, you know, really develop those long-term relationships with youths who, you know, who need support. And when there's a rotating cast of staff, that's, you know, that's not a way to run a program for supporting youth.
[00:20:24] Crystal Fincher: The council has signaled that they want to weaken the existing surveillance ordinance, which aims to ensure that the public has the opportunity to weigh the costs and benefits of new surveillance technology, including the impact on civil liberties, before the city obtains the technology - particularly because of disproportionate harms that marginalized communities have experienced, and because of the current, very present concerns about the data being collected about people's habits, movements, political, religious, sexual activities and orientations being weaponized by the federal government under the current administration. Do you support any weakening of the current ordinance? And when do you think surveillance is appropriate?
[00:21:07] Eddie Lin: Surveillance - I think, for example, traffic cameras, I think, can be appropriate for - not as a long-term solution, but when, you know, really the way to solve, for example, public safety issues around our traffic. And we have some of the most dangerous roads in District 2 with MLK and Rainier. Really, the long-term solution is to redesign those streets to be safe and to have better, you know, public transportation. But as a short-term measure, doing things like traffic cameras, I think can be effective. I do have a lot of concerns about, you know, whether any surveillance could be used by the federal government. So we need to ensure that we have strong protections and deletion policies. And, you know, potentially we might need to look at strengthening those - basically having shorter retention policies to make sure that we don't, you know, inadvertently have data that could be used by the feds.
[00:22:15] Crystal Fincher: So do you support any weakening of the current surveillance ordinance?
[00:22:19] Eddie Lin: No, I do not.
[00:22:21] Crystal Fincher: Is the current council approach of shifting the balance of funding away from prevention and towards punishment working to address safety concerns in District 2?
[00:22:31] Eddie Lin: No, I don't believe it is.
[00:22:34] Crystal Fincher: How would you change that?
[00:22:36] Eddie Lin: So we have a - and public safety is a top priority, I think, for our city, for District 2. You know, when there's a lack of public safety, it is often our minority communities and our most marginalized who are impacted, including, you know, people that are living on the street, that are probably the most harmed when there's a lack of public safety. You know, our criminal justice system has been broken for - probably since it was ever established. And, you know, we really need to reimagine how our criminal justice or injustice system works. We need to lean in much heavier into rehabilitation and diversion programs. You know, there's really no rehab right now - or very little, at least, in our jail system. And so it shouldn't be a surprise that we have recidivism rates that are through the roof. So I'd really like to, I mean, we need to address the upstream causes of public safety concerns, But we also need to lean in way heavier into rehabilitation and diversion programs.
[00:23:49] Crystal Fincher: Despite a record high number of encampment sweeps involving police, homelessness is up over 25% over the last two years - with many in District 2 lacking access to shelter, services, and affordable housing. There's also a shortage of shelter capacity - and there are nearly twice as many people as shelter beds. What isn't working and what will you do to actually reduce homelessness in District 2 and the city?
[00:24:15] Eddie Lin: Yeah, So there's statistics that show that when rents go up $100 per month, that homelessness on average - and this is a national statistic - increases by 9%. So, you know, my work with the Office of Housing is about building affordable housing, including permanent supportive housing - and we've done a decent job on that side of the ledger. But with the rent skyrocketing as they have over the past five years, we just have not been able to, to build enough. So number one, this is, you know, one of those top reasons I'm running - is we need to just build a lot more of all types of housing - market rate, subsidized social housing - and to help get those costs down. Now, the rent stabilization bill is a critical first measure, but that's only one sort of piece of the puzzle. The other part is, you know, changing our Comp Plan to allow much more density to reduce the cost for developers - things like getting rid of design review, things like drastically reducing or getting rid of parking requirements, and just expediting our permitting process and reducing the burden to build. And I see that both, you know - the high cost to do affordable housing, but also the high cost to build market rate housing, which is part of the issue - a key driver of our homelessness crisis. The other thing we need to do is - we do need to expand shelter, transitional housing in tiny home villages. We got away from that during COVID, which was understandable, but we need to vastly increase our shelter capacity.
[00:26:02] Crystal Fincher: What's your opinion of the current draft of a Comprehensive Plan, and what potential changes would you prioritize?
[00:26:09] Eddie Lin: We need to go as big as possible. You know, there was the environmental review, so, you know, we can only go as big as the environmental review analyzed. But we should be allowing as much density as possible. We should absolutely be preserving and expanding, to the extent possible, Neighborhood Centers. We should be expanding, you know - we rely, we do a lot of density on transit corridors - and those need to be wider and deeper into the neighborhood, so it's not just putting renters on, you know, heavy arterials. Those would be my top priorities.
[00:26:49] Crystal Fincher: The City Council has signaled a willingness to weaken some renter protections, including potentially just cause eviction rules and rent increase notice periods. Do you support any rollbacks? And what protections will you defend or expand in District 2?
[00:27:06] Eddie Lin: Yeah, so this is one of those tricky issues in the sense of - let's go back to prior to COVID when our landlord-tenant laws were way too landlord-friendly, and it was just a rubber stamp to get somebody evicted. And then during COVID, we had the eviction moratoriums and a court backlog where you could not evict somebody for 12 months, mostly because of the court backlog. And that was causing real issues for our affordable housing providers, particularly when you might have tenants who might be causing harm to other tenants - threatening other tenants, engaging in like drug dealing in our apartment buildings. And so our affordable housing needs to be safe for all the tenants, including families with kids. So, you know, we have to have a housing ecosystem that works, that is safe and affordable. And, you know, we have a number of housing, affordable housing providers who have been saying that they want to see adjustments to the landlord-tenant laws. And, you know, I've heard some of those, or seen and read about some of those proposals. The thing that I have not seen yet is deep engagement with renters. And so I would like to see that occur before we make any changes to the landlord-tenant ordinances we have on the books. You know, renters make up more than 50% of our households. And so any changes to our landlord-tenant laws need to be done very carefully and with deep engagement with renters. They are often disenfranchised - we only have one renter on the City Council. And, you know, it's oftentimes that those voices are not the voices that are heard. So, but this is an issue that I think are - again, at least what I've been hearing from affordable housing providers is that our current rules are not working.
[00:29:28] Crystal Fincher: So is it fair to say that you're open to changing some of the current rules in response to the feedback that you've heard from affordable housing providers?
[00:29:38] Eddie Lin: I am open - open to that. And I mean, I think we always need to look at our laws as, you know - as things change, we need to, you know, look at them from time to time and see what's working and what's not working. But as we do that, we always need to sort of prioritize the voices and the needs of our most impacted communities. And so as we do that, you know, renters need to be front and center. And we need to listen to their voices most of all as we make any updates.
[00:30:16] Crystal Fincher: So you mentioned through your answer - and other experts have talked about - the court backlog being the primary reason of some of those delays. Does changing the law impact the court backlog?
[00:30:27] Eddie Lin: It does not. And so that's part of the issue that - and I've heard that that court backlog is basically mostly gone away. And I do think, you know, there are due procedures so when there is a real health and safety issue - that those cases are prioritized. But what I would love to see is a more robust support system, because really, you don't - there are times when I think somebody is housed in a situation that is not meeting their needs. And so if somebody is struggling for whatever reason - whether they've lost a job, whether they're going through, you know, a mental health issue. Or, you know, they need support. And so I would love to see a more robust support system for renters who are struggling and to, you know, if they - they might be in an affordable housing, they might be in a market rate housing building, but they might need to move to a building that has more robust support system. And, you know, we have a pretty segregated, or just a siloed housing system. So we have a lot of nonprofit providers, but they all do their, you know, they all manage their own portfolios. And so I would love to see more collaboration amongst our affordable housing providers and a way for to get - you know, I'd like to do a lot more rental assistance for renters that are struggling financially. And for those that have other needs that are not being met - to get them into buildings where there is a more robust support system.
[00:32:05] Crystal Fincher: How will you ensure that the Seattle Social Housing Developer succeeds and complements existing affordable housing programs and policies in Seattle?
[00:32:15] Eddie Lin: There's a number of things that we can do to support them. One of those steps is to get them proceeds as soon as possible, which could include a loan with repayment against future tax revenues. So hopefully that occurs. You know, that would probably - if it does occur, could happen before, you know, whoever takes office for District 2. The next things we need to do is to update our Comp Plan and zoning code to make sure that the Social Housing Developer can take advantage of bonuses and other exemptions for affordable housing to make it easier to build social housing across the city. We should make sure that social housing is included in future planning efforts. I think, you know, one of the promises of social housing is to address, is to have a more integrated model of housing. You know, we are one of the most segregated, or we are a deeply segregated city across class, across homeownership and renter, across race and ethnicity. And so, you know, how could social housing help with segregation across our city? And that's a, you know, largely a planning tool. So those are the top of mind issues. And then just being a good partner. You know, as a new model of housing, it's unclear, you know, what other issues might come up for them in terms of regulatory, you know - do they have the same, you know, landlord-tenant issues, or maybe, you know, they might need sort of unique language based on the way that they do their income and set their rents. So just being a good partner for them.
[00:33:55] Crystal Fincher: So life expectancy in parts of District 2, like Beacon Hill and the Rainier Valley, is up to 10 years shorter than in wealthier neighborhoods that are also in Seattle. It's largely due to pollution, highway, and major street proximity, and historic disinvestment. What would you do to address these health disparities and environmental injustices?
[00:34:17] Eddie Lin: Yeah, there's a lot of air quality issues from traffic. You know, I mentioned earlier that we have two major corridors along MLK and Rainier, we're next to I-5. Went to an air quality issue around the King County Airport recently because a lot of their smaller planes still use leaded fuel - so that's something that I was not aware of, and I think a lot of people in our community are not aware of - that they still use leaded fuel. And, and so raising awareness of these issues so that we can help mobilize the community to, to then get legislation, for example, at the state level that would ban use of leaded fuel in smaller plants. I think the other issues we need to address is just moving away from so much vehicular traffic, which, you know, is causing these air quality - so road diets and moving towards, you know, increasing buses and electrifying our bus fleets. And then, if we need to, you know, assisting our low-income residents with air filters if they live in areas of high air pollution.
[00:35:38] Crystal Fincher: With so much recent development on and along transit corridors - both in private residences, where some of those air filters are more accessible, but also in public buildings - how do you balance the need to mitigate those air pollution harms with so much recent and planned development?
[00:35:58] Eddie Lin: I mean, the health and safety of residents needs to, you know, be the priority. And this is why we need to not just build along those corridors. We should be, you know, building more deeper into the what used to be single family neighborhoods. And, you know, we have plenty of space in Seattle to build dense, walkable neighborhoods. We just need to unlock that capacity and not put it on these transit corridors.
[00:36:34] Crystal Fincher: What are your priorities for traffic safety in the district?
[00:36:40] Eddie Lin: Traffic safety - the priorities is to reduce vehicular speeds on - so some of the the reasons why MLK and Rainier are so dangerous is when you have two lanes traveling, vehicles - a road that's two lanes wide - vehicles speed up. And so we just saw recently, I mean, this was a sort of an odd situation where the motorcycle ran a red light at MLK and Alaska. But that's, you know, the intersection that I'm at every day to get on light rail or to go down to Columbia City - it's an extremely dangerous intersection. And so getting vehicles to slow down - and you can do that with like raised walkways. And longer term, you know, we need to look at narrowing those roads to slow down traffic. But in the meantime, things like traffic cameras could be an interim measure.
[00:37:38] Crystal Fincher: What specifically would you be proposing to make it safer to walk and bike in the district over the next year?
[00:37:47] Eddie Lin: It's hard to imagine, you know, how quickly you can do transportation improvements and whether you can do that in the next year. I do think there are some visual signs that you could do, for example, with Sound Transit and their at-grade crossing. But certainly longer term, I mean, traffic cameras - you could probably put up more quickly to get people to slow down. But long-term things like raised walkways - I don't think those are that difficult to build, but I'm not sure, within SDOT's planning horizon, how quickly you can do a raised crosswalk, for example.
[00:38:29] Crystal Fincher: How could you and the city work more effectively with the multiple relevant agencies - like SDOT, Sound Transit, King County Metro - to improve accountability for reducing injuries and deaths related to traffic on our streets?
[00:38:45] Eddie Lin: I think the most important thing in terms of accountability is, you know, it needs continued focus and, you know, uplifting the priorities of our community, making sure that our community knows where to advocate. So, you know, it can be very confusing. Like, yeah, who, who is responsible for this? How do we go about advocating for something like a raised crosswalk? Do we need to go to talk to SDOT? Or, you know, does Sound Transit have some role in that because of the at-grade light rail crossing? So that's something that, you know, for me, having worked with numerous different departments in the city, having negotiated with other agencies, including King County, is something that I'm used to doing. And so a lot of it is information sharing with our community about where to advocate, making sure that we continue to uplift these issues so that they are front of mind. And then just doing the hard work of interagency negotiations and collaboration.
[00:39:59] Crystal Fincher: How important are issues like closing roads to cars, activating new pedestrian areas to traffic safety?
[00:40:08] Eddie Lin: Oh, I think those are critical. I mean, we - long term, we have to transition away in our community from, you know, vehicles being such a, you know, dominant use of our right of way. And our, you know, so much of our land in the city is tied up in streets and parking. And if we want to, you know, create a more safe, affordable, walkable, you know, city - that means transitioning away. So that means reimagining our public spaces, like you said. Like the Ferdinand Street, like pedestrianizing Pike Place. And I'd like to see it done in sort of like commercial cores like that, where there's already a lot of pedestrian activity. And then, you know, I think if you do some pilot programs, then people can really, you know - those are easier to roll out and people can see the benefits of it. And then you can start to make it more permanent.
[00:41:09] Crystal Fincher: Do you support the proposed weakening of Seattle's Ethics Code for Seattle City Councilmembers on conflict of interest and recusals due to conflict? And what changes would you support to the ethics code to improve transparency?
[00:41:24] Eddie Lin: No, I do not - especially right now. And, you know, earlier we were talking about the landlord-tenant potential updates. And, you know, again, you know, perceptions matter. And there's a lot of perception that this change is being made to sort of push through landlord-tenant law changes, and I just don't think that that's the right approach. You know, if there is a conflict, I don't see why recusal is not the standard. There are other councilmembers who don't have conflicts that can vote on these issues. And I just think it sends the wrong signal to our community and particularly to renters as this, you know, city - at least according to news reports - is considering potential changes. In terms of updates, I mean, I'm happy to engage on what potential updates we might need to improve our ethics rules. But certainly, disclosures are the absolute minimum. But recusal when there's an actual conflict, that is not, you know, something that - a financial interest that's not shared widely amongst the community should be the standard.
[00:42:44] Crystal Fincher: Now, we asked every candidate who we're talking to to submit questions that they would like asked of their fellow candidates - their competitors in this race. And so we have asked other candidates for that.
So the first question for you was: Why did you vote against Proposition 1A for Seattle social housing?
[00:43:08] Eddie Lin: Yeah, so first I'd like to say I did vote Yes on 135, and I voted Yes to fund and 137. And I voted for 1B. I strongly support progressive revenues. And so there's always sort of two questions. There's, you know, how are you going to tax? And then how are you going to use the proceeds? And so I, you know, strongly support the progressive revenue side of that measure. And, you know, I had a couple concerns around 1A, which is - as a newer organization, there's always a learning curve. And, you know, just wanting to make sure that they have all the, you know, any stumbling blocks that are resolved - before kind of we go big was my concern. Obviously, that was not the voters' concern. And so I'm happy to to go full steam ahead. The other issue is I've seen affordable housing providers develop projects that are higher AMI, area median income, which is a big part of social housing. And I've seen affordable housing developers struggle on some of their projects. So, for example, there was a Community Roots Housing project called The Heartwood - they developed at 14th and Madison. It did not have funding from the city and it was targeted for higher median income residents. And they had a hard time leasing up and are probably selling that building. And that's because when you are building housing at those higher AMI levels, you're really oftentimes competing with the market - and that's a tough place to be for a lot of our nonprofit and PDAs. And so just that was another one of my concerns.
[00:45:01] Crystal Fincher: We had a few candidates ask questions about that one, but we did have one other question. As the mayor has tried to redirect JumpStart Seattle funds to the general fund, how will you ensure that the funds are allocated and protected as the voters approved?
[00:45:17] Eddie Lin: I'm not sure the voters approved JumpSt- oh, are you talking about social housing?
[00:45:27] Crystal Fincher: No. This is-
[00:45:27] Eddie Lin: Or are you talking about JumpStart?
[00:45:28] Crystal Fincher: This is JumpStart.
[00:45:29] Eddie Lin: Oh.
[00:45:30] Crystal Fincher: And that was the question as provided by a candidate.
[00:45:34] Eddie Lin: OK, OK - fair, fair enough.
[00:45:35] Crystal Fincher: So we'll leave apart the voters-approved question and kind of get to the heart of there - how will you ensure that the funds are allocated and protected? As originally intended, we'll say.
[00:45:45] Eddie Lin: Absolutely, right. And I strongly support the original intent behind the JumpStart, you know, payroll spending package. And, you know, which was for affordable housing, Equitable Development Initiative, Green New Deal. And, you know, that was during COVID when there was this idea that, you know - well, certain revenues can go to fund backfills in our general budget. And we're out of COVID, although now we have new budget deficits. I think for me, you know, this is why we need to raise new, progressive revenues - things like a capital gains tax. We also just need to lead with our priorities. So when we're looking at the budget, I do still strongly support affordable housing, the Green New Deal, the Equitable Development Initiative, and we need to make sure that they continue to get the support that, you know, was originally intended in JumpStart. And so what that means is that we need to raise additional revenues to address any budget deficits. But again, it also gets back to needing to engage with our community about what are our top priorities, and because we are going to be looking at a constrained fiscal environment. And so when there are difficult cuts to be made - I mean, you know, nobody wants to see cuts to the parks or to the permitting department. And so these are tough choices. And, and there aren't easy answers to this other than, I mean, the last point I will make is - one, revenue that people have not looked at enough is when we build new housing, housing developers pay 10% sales tax on construction. They're paying - oftentimes paying excise tax, because there's typically a turnover in property ownership. They're often paying MHA fees - mandatory housing affordability fees - for affordable housing. So if we can incentivize housing development through things like getting rid of parking requirements and reducing design review, we can raise new revenues that way as well.
[00:48:01] Crystal Fincher: Well, that is the end of the candidate-asked questions, and we'll transition back to just our general questions. So how do you plan to mitigate federal attacks on civil rights, particularly those targeting trans people and immigrants?
[00:48:17] Eddie Lin: Yeah, this is such an important topic. I'm the son of an immigrant - my dad immigrated from Taiwan and married my mom, who's white - and they met in North Carolina. So, you know, I wouldn't exist if, you know, we had attacks on immigrants back then, like we do today. You know, so this is going to require intergovernmental responses. So we need to work closely with the county, closely with the state. We do need to have funding to protect our communities. I was supportive of - I believe it was Councilmember Rinck who proposed, I believe, $300,000 in spending to help immigrants facing deportation or other proceedings. We're probably going to need to increase that more, especially with the cuts to - there's a group called Kids in Needs of Defense, which has had their funding gutted. And they represent kids in deportation proceedings - and it's just unconscionable that they would not have representation. So, you know, this is one of those difficult situations where we're going to be facing budget cuts. And yet, we also need to lead with our priorities around protecting our LGBTQ and immigrant communities from these attacks. I think the other thing that we need to be very thoughtful and mindful of is, again, listening to these communities and saying - Hey, what do you - support do you want to see? And that's going to be an evolving landscape. So just, you know, one example - I was speaking to a leader in the immigrant rights community, and he was just saying, you know, he wasn't super excited about the word "sanctuary" city. And the reason he didn't like the word "sanctuary" was because he felt like it maybe sent the wrong message to immigrant communities that it was safer than it was. And, you know, they need to - our immigrant communities need to be aware that this is a fraught time. And so we need to be very careful about how we communicate things with our communities - that we're giving timely information, that we're not raising undue alarm, but that we're communicating correct and timely information. And that, and sharing information that they find useful.
[00:50:54] Crystal Fincher: What can be done to help small businesses in District 2? Many are talking about increased rents - kind of mirroring some of the conversations we're having about residential rents in the commercial space - increased insurance, various other costs and challenges throughout the community. What are your plans and what do you plan to do to help?
[00:51:16] Eddie Lin: I think one thing that we could do for businesses - at least for some businesses that are impacted by things like broken windows or retail theft - is having a more robust support system for them for things like repairing broken windows. If we can actually make progress on our homelessness situation by, you know, getting people into shelters, meeting their needs, then, you know, they might rely less upon sort of, you know, small businesses, or impacting small businesses, to get having their needs met. The other thing that I would love to look at is - are there ways that we can reduce the regulations and taxes on small businesses? So, you know, some of our businesses - they might not be paying a lot in taxes, but they might be just, you know, the cost of an accountant alone might just be extremely burdensome. And so if there's ways that we can have like minimum thresholds of like, you know - if you don't have enough, if you don't raise at least a million in revenue, then you kind of get a blanket exemption so that you don't even have to pay for the accountant or pay for the lawyer to file the paperwork. I'd like to look at ways that we can reduce those burdens.
[00:52:51] Crystal Fincher: And as we move to conclude this interview - and voters are trying to distinguish between you and the other candidates in District 2 - what do you tell voters is the difference between you and the other candidates? And why should they vote for you?
[00:53:07] Eddie Lin: You know, I typically don't like to, you know, focus on the differences. I'd like to focus on sort of what strengths that I think I bring to the campaign or would bring to this seat. Obviously, again, housing experience is top of mind. And the other thing that I talk about is, you know, my job right now is an assistant city attorney - I don't do policy, but what I do is I empower the departments and my clients, you know, to achieve their goals. And so I would want to bring that same skill set to representing residents and businesses in District 2. I'm a strong listener. You know, I have a strong understanding of how our government works, how our city works. And so I would really want to bring, empower them through, you know, giving them the information they need to advocate, and then taking their priorities to City Hall.
[00:54:08] Crystal Fincher: Well, thank you so much for joining us today - appreciate your time, and appreciate your willingness to share where you're coming from, your vision for the city with the voters and residents of Seattle. Thank you so much, Eddie Lin.
[00:54:21] Eddie Lin: Thank you, Crystal. It's been a real honor. I've been a longtime fan of your show and just been a pleasure to talk to you.
[00:54:29] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much.
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.
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