Seattle City Attorney.
The city attorney is the head of the law department
and appoints all assistant city attorneys,
city prosecutors, and other department staff.
The city attorney supervises and controls litigation
in which the city or any of its departments is a party.
The city attorney also provides legal counsel
to all city departments and to elected and appointed officials.
The city attorney is elected for a four-year term.
We all want to be safe in our homes,
on our streets,
and in the city that we love.
In pursuit of that goal,
we have poured our money
into cops, courts, and jails
with ever worse returns on our investment.
The city attorney
prosecutes misdemeanors.
Right now, we spend
over $70 million per year
punishing the poor,
BIPOC, and the disabled for misdemeanors,
most of which are petty crimes.
If we want safe and healthy communities,
we have to stop giving in
to those who pander to fear.
We must instead enact real solutions
that get to the heart of our problems,
and we can.
The lack of available addiction
and mental health treatment
has resulted in widespread
and visible suffering.
For the health of the entire community,
we need expanded access to treatment
and help prior to crisis.
A victims' compensation fund
will repair people and small businesses.
I will work with community
to expand accountability programs
that interrupt harm
and advance healing and connection.
I will listen to what survivors tell me
they need to be empowered.
A trauma-informed approach,
violence-prevention programs,
and the resources they need
to stay safe, with prosecution
as a last resort
until we build something better.
The city attorney
does not just deal with misdemeanors,
it also directs
all of Seattle's civil litigation,
and I will take on those
who have done the most harm
to our community --
landlords that abuse tenants,
companies that commit wage theft,
and fossil fuel corporations
that have knowingly created
our climate crisis.
I will litigate to make sure
that those who have done large-scale harm
to our city are held
financially accountable for their actions,
not taxpayers.
Our shortage of affordable housing
is a community crisis.
Jail is not the answer.
Housing is.
I will collaborate
with the mayor and council
to change our land use code
so we can build
affordable housing quickly.
Everyone in Seattle
deserves to be safe and healthy.
Let's make it a reality.
I'm Ann Davison, and I'm running
for Seattle City Attorney
because our city must reconcile
that it is failing to meet the needs
of our most vulnerable,
as well as the basic functions
of protecting public health and safety.
The people of Seattle have suffered enough
from growing crime and dysfunction.
Our laws exist to help our most vulnerable
while ensuring a safe home for our community.
When the people's courthouse
is not safe
and employees are told to stay home
because it's too dangerous there,
we need a new way.
The city attorney
represents our crime victims
and is a critical link to public safety
downtown and in our neighborhoods.
Deciding when to prosecute
many types of criminal activity,
defense attorneys represent
someone accused of a crime.
When the prosecutor acts
as a second defense attorney,
there is no justice for crime victims
who must be put in the center.
Abolishing police, prosecution, and jails
will not make our city safer
or more livable.
The city attorney's office
is not the place for radical activism.
It must be the place that holds our limits
so that the rest of society
can function and flourish.
I will set the tone and direction
of the city's law department
as a trusted, collaborative leader,
being proactive, not reactive.
I will surround myself with experts
to provide the best legal services to the city,
holding standards of accountability
for reform and safety.
I am endorsed by The Seattle Times,
unions representing workers
who create the backbone of our economy,
former Gov. Dan Evans,
retired Municipal Court Presiding Judge Ed McKenna,
former King County Prosecutor
Chris Bayley
and former Seattle City Attorney
Mark Sidran because they know
that Seattle needs an effective leader
as city attorney.
I am endorsed by community leaders
like Victoria Beach, Harvey Drake,
and many more because they agree
we can have meaningful reform
and restore public safety.
With your vote, we can create a safer,
more compassionate city
for all of us.