State Sen. Bob Hasegawa told us he's running for Seattle mayor to tackle the challenge of making a prosperous city more affordable for the people who live there.
He's been a Teamster's union organizer and has 12 years in the state Legislature.
“I think that I bring the experience and the perspective from average working families. The middle income folks or the fixed income people who are being gentrified and priced out of the city,” Hasegawa told us in an interview.
Hasegawa believes Seattle must build more city-owned low income housing -- and pay for it by creating a city-owned municipal bank.
“That can be a game changer, a total game changer by recapturing our tax revenue and using it smartly in our own city to build our city for the people rather than let Wall Street use it to make a profit for themselves,” he said.
Hasegawa wants more housing for the homeless, but says the city didn't listen enough to the Chinatown/International District neighborhood before opening the new Navigation Center.
“Everybody's got to take responsibility for the homelessness problem. It can't be isolated to like navigation centers in yet another overburdened, socially overburdened area like the International District,” he said.
When it comes to transportation, Hasegawa says he would focus on clearing up current traffic problems.
He'd also work on providing safety from bicyclists and pedestrians.
And he would use his municipal bank to finance a faster build out of light rail between West Seattle and Ballard.
After the Seattle police shooting of Charleena Lyles, we asked Hasegawa how he would work to build trust between citizens and police.
“I think that both sides need to sit down and acknowledge the fact that what we got working now ain't working and we've got to fix it. I think it's about bringing everybody to the table with a good heart.
When it comes to a new sports arena, Hasegawa believes both Key Arena and SODO come with problems that will be difficult to overcome. So he believes the new arena should be placed on the Old Longacres site near Tukwila and Renton.
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