-If somebody committed a crime against me
or somebody I cared about,
I would expect them to be held accountable.
-We haven't been soft on crime,
we've been smart on crime.
-I've decided not to seek re-election.
-King county's top prosecutor is retiring, after four terms.
And voters will judge if the open seat
should go to Leesa Manion, his Chief of Staff,
or Jim Ferrell, the Mayor of Federal Way.
-If I won, I would be the first woman
and the first person of color to hold this seat.
-I would take the office in a different direction.
-In a county with growing public safety concerns
and a backlog of court cases, the two candidates disagree
on the offices approach to diversion programs.
How will they solve these challenges?
-I believe in second chances, but not revolving doors.
-Both candidates weigh in.
-I've seen the data and the data shows us that it works.
-The race to become the next King County Prosecutor,
next on City Inside Out.
-Welcome to this edition of City Inside Out.
I'm your host, Brian Callanan.
If you don't know who you're voting for
in the face of King County Prosecutor, you're not alone.
A poll in August showed that 84% of the respondents,
were not sure if they'd pick
the prosecutors current chief of staff,
Leesa Manion or former Center Deputy Prosecutor, Jim Ferrell,
whose currently the mayor of Federal Way.
Ferrell and Manion have very different positions
on the county's use of restorative justice programs,
the political endorsement of police unions
and other issues too.
This week, we're allowing both candidates
to make their case so you can make the ruling on
who gets the job of King County Prosecutor this fall.
The two candidates for King County Prosecutor,
might sound very much alike.
-King County's at a tipping point regarding public safety.
-Public safety is my number one priority.
-But look closer at this race and you will see,
the two have some stark differences.
-Yeah, we do.
-Leese Manion is current the Chief of Staff
for King County Prosecutor, Dan Satterberg,
and could be the first woman and person of color
to hold the office.
She grew up in a biracial family where she says,
she dealt with discrimination from a very early age.
-I know firsthand what happens when someone is marginalized
and there's no one to speak up for them.
-Manion, as of early September,
has raised more than $217,000 for her campaign
and is endorsed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell,
former Governor Gary Locke,
County Executive Dow Constantine,
and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.
She formed a public integrity unit
to review officer involved shootings
and other uses of force cases
and has rejected police union support.
-I intentionally declined
to seek the endorsement of any police guilds,
because I believe that the review of those cases
does not appear to be fair and unbiased,
if I'm endorsed by police unions.
-I think this program bites
off a little more than it can chew.
-Despite some resistance from a county council member
and her opponent,
Manion has maintained her support
for the county's Restorative Community Pathway's Project,
which allows the prosecutor to refer some juvenile
offenders into a community led, diversion program,
instead of filing criminal charges.
-We haven't been soft on crime,
we've been smart on crime.
Twenty seven years of proven leadership.
-Manion, whose office is dealing with a major backlog
from criminal from the pandemic,
says she'll collaborate with a network of partners
to build a fair, transparent justice system
and keep all of King County safe.
-I have built strong ties our BIPOC
and our business communities
and I would lean on all of those relationships
and invite our BIPOC and business communities
to the table, to craft solutions with us.
-I've handled hundreds of jury trials.
-Jim Ferrell, a former Senior Deputy Prosecutor
for the county and current Mayor of Federal Way,
came in second to Dan Satterberg,
when this job was appointed in 2007.
In 2022 Ferrell wants to get tough on criminals,
especially repeat offenders.
-If somebody committed a crime against me
or somebody I cared about,
I would expect them to be held accountable.
-Ferrell has raised more than $219,000
for his campaign as of early September.
He's endorsed by Congressmen Adam Smith,
State Representative Amy Walen,
fifteen mayors across King County
and despite his opponents criticism,
the King County and Seattle Police Officers' Guilds.
-I'm very proud of the place endorsement,
they're a tough group and they're a discernable group
and I don't think it's a matter of being too close,
I think it's a matter of, you know,
about respect and trust.
-Ferrell was one of four King County mayors
who asked the prosecutor's office
to delay its Juvenile Restorative Justice
program earlier this year. He says, he supports diversion,
but argues this project lacks accountability
and doesn't take offenses like gun possession seriously enough.
-That's not a diversion program,
that's a looking the other way program
and you just can't have that. You have to have consequences.
-Ferrell says the county's COVID related backlog
of nearly 5,000 criminal cases,
should be assigned to a specialized group
of pro tem judges.
He calls the situation, a crisis,
that the prosecutor's office has failed to handle.
-Right now, to my amazement and astonishment,
the current leadership of the prosecutor's office,
that includes my opponent,
doesn't seem to have a discernable plan
or a sense of urgency. People deserve to be safe.
-It's a candidate supported by peers outside Seattle,
who wants to be tougher on crime,
up against an experienced
insider and community coalition builder.
It's time for you to render a decision
for King County Prosecutor at the ballot box this fall.
-And we are joined by both candidates
for King County Prosecutor, Leese Manion and Jim Ferrell,
thank you very much for being here.
We had a coin flip before the show
and Jim you're going to go first with an opening statement
about why you're running for this position,
keep it to a minute please.
-You bet, thank you for having us and great
to see you again Leesa.
I'm running for King County Prosecutor
because I'm concerned about the safety in our community
and our countywide,
I also think that I've got a really unique résumé
in order to do this job.
I'm currently the Mayor of Federal Way,
a city of 100,000 residents, 600 employees,
150 officers and $100 million dollar budget.
I also, before that, I was a Senior Deputy Prosecutor,
I was in the office for 16 years
and probably about half of that I was a senior.
Led the first ever domestic violence court unit.
I've tried hundreds of cases, really, you know,
not only did I try them, I was in pretty much
almost every unit in the office. I did a lot of work
and I was also president of the union as well.
So, you know, I've got a particular vision.
I think there are certain issues that I'm very concerned
about that I'm sure that we'll talk about today,
but I think I've got a vision on how to approach the office
and how to work collaboratively with community partners,
law enforcement cities and all the people in the community
to get a good job done
and make sure we've got a safer King County.
-Thank you very much for that, Leesa you're up next,
why do you want this job? Please keep it to a minute.
-Okay, you know, making our community safer,
reducing property crime and protecting victims,
takes proven experience and hands on leadership.
The challenges facing our community,
the pandemic, police shortages and resources,
the opioid and housing crisis, have challenged the vitality
and the wellbeing of our communities
and businesses in King County.
I have dedicated 27 years of my career
to public safety and public service
and as a career prosecutor,
not only do I have experience overseeing a workforce
of nearly 600 employees
and an annual budget of $80 million dollars,
I'm also the only candidate that has built
and implemented effective crime prevention strategies.
For me it's about ensuring that our communities are safe
and supported,
it's about building strong and collaborative coalitions
and working to get results.
We know that it's not going to be finger pointing and blame
that improves our communities, right.
It's going to be a focus on innovation
and on resources and outcomes and for me,
as your next prosecuting attorney,
I am committed to leading on critical issues
and I will hit the ground running
to build a fair and transparent justice system
that protects public safety and that promotes racial justice,
I would be honored to have Seattle's vote.
-Alright, thank you very much for that.
Jim, I'm going to jump back to you and follow-up
on a concern that you've raised
regarding a backlog of criminal cases
in the prosecutor's office right now,
caused by the pandemic.
So last month this number stood
at about 4,700 cases and I know both of you
are tracking this issue closely here,
but Jim I wanted to get your thoughts about this backlog,
what you would do about it if you were elected.
-Well and I think, you know,
everyone realizes that COVID caused a pause
and there's a backlog issue because of the, you know,
the closure of the courts for that particular time.
By concern is that, that number is incredibly high
and there needs to be a very discernable plan
about how to address that. It's really a bandwidth issue,
because you only have a certain number of judges
and you've got constraints of speedy trial.
What I've been talking about and I think we need to do,
is have -- we'll need to run through a triage of these cases
and really probably expand that bandwidth
with the use of pro tem judges,
but I think there needs to be an intentional, methodical approach
to really get those cases down.
And there's some very serious cases in those.
I know some efforts are being made,
but I think that we need to come at it
with much more intentionality.
-Got it, Leesa, why don't you respond
maybe to what Jim's saying here,
tell us what you're doing about this backlog right now
as Chief of Staff for the King County Prosecutor,
and some plans for the future if you're elected.
-Sure, first and foremost,
it's really important to understand
that this is a backlog of charged felony cases
and the reason the number is high,
is because prosecutors
worked every single day of the pandemic.
On average we filed between 20 and 30 violent crimes,
sexual assault, repeat property offenses,
and gun crimes every day. During this same time,
the Washington State Supreme Court
issued an emergency order that closed courts
and as a result, it really brought to a halt
our systems ability to resolve cases.
Fortunately, I've been hard at work
to specifically address this issue.
I secured $14 million dollars in could relief funding,
some of that money we've used to hire 120 new employees,
including new 10 new victim advocate
positions to ensure that a greater number of victims
were receiving services while cases are pending.
We have also triaged these cases
and our deputies are hard at work resolving this
and the backlog has been decreasing steadily
since March of 2021,
and we are absolutely on target to eliminate this backlog.
-Okay. Thank you both for that.
Leesa, I am going to jump back to you for a question
about King County's Restorative Community Pathways Project,
which allows the prosecutor
to place young offenders in diversion programs,
rather than file charges.
I talked with Jim about it, he called this a,
Look the Other Way Program. He said it lacks accountability,
isn't tough enough on crimes involving guns, for example.
I wanted to make sure you responded to that.
-Well sure, you know, I believe in diversion
because I've seen the data
and the data shows us that it works.
You know, police referrals for juvenile crime
have dropped by 90% over the past two decades
and for violent crime that has decreased by 70%.
Restorative Community Pathways
is an effective pretrial diversion program
and crime reduction strategy.
So in our state we have mandatory diversion
for misdemeanor juvenile crime
and Restorative Community Pathways
not only meets King County's legal obligations
under our state law,
it also addresses some non-violent,
first time felony matters.
Restorative Community Pathways has been approved
and voted on by all nine of our council members
and it offers immediate services to young people,
to families and to harmed parties in their homes,
in their communities, in their schools on nights
and on weekends.
And with all due respect to our judges,
I don't know a single judge that does that.
RCP is not a free pass,
young people are expected to work with community
to rebuild and repair the harm that they have caused
and this also represents an unprecedented investment
in victim services. Harmed parties get resources
and have out of pocket expenses covered.
-Okay Jim, I know you have some concerns about this,
please let me know about them.
-I do. Number one, I think it's concerning
that the cities weren't brought in
and the law enforcement agencies brought in as partners on this
to discuss some of the metrics.
Number two and probably most importantly,
the crimes on the list.
We fully understand that diversion programs
are a central part of the criminal justice system
to help people course correct. But the types of crimes on here,
we're not talking about the misdemeanors,
it's the robberies, the felony assaults, residential burglary,
you know, whether it's a gun offense or stealing a car,
I just don't think those are appropriate
in which resolutions include no judge,
no case number, no check back, no final report.
I think actually, RCP is imminently fixable,
the people in those programs that are doing those,
are doing great work and we really want to make sure
that juveniles who have made a wrong move
and made a mistake, can get back on track,
but I think you've got to have some accountability
and transparency
and make sure that we have that check back.
-Leese, can you answer some of those concerns,
no judge, no case numbers, things like that,
I just wanted to make sure that we have back and forth on that.
-Sure, sure.
You know, the reason there's no case number
is because it's pre-filing. The way you get a case number
is that the charges are filed and as a result,
the young person is automatically given
a public defender who usually tells the young person,
"don't talk" and it takes maybe eight months
or 12 months more to resolve that case
and in that time, very little happens.
Restorative Community Pathways was an immediate response
and an appropriate response to juvenile crime.
-Okay, maybe 15 seconds
if you want to throw something in there.
-Yeah, real quick, that's you know,
I hear that, that the issue though is I think
you could do a post-filing diversion in which you know,
people could take advantage of this.
The ultimate goal is to get these cases
dismissed if there's compliance. Right now the problem is,
we don't know if there's compliance and so,
I don't see where there would be that much delay
if you did a file,
make sure that there's a check back, a report back.
-Okay, fair enough.
Leesa if you want to respond to that,
I can let you or please.
-Well, it would be a lot more expensive
because post-filing every juvenile gets a public defender
and there absolutely is accountability and report back
and we trust the community nonprofits
that we have partnered with, to report back and to share.
And of the 245 youth retained,
who've been served, 90% report that their behavior has changed.
-Okay, thank you.
I am going to move on if we could from that,
and Leesa let me jump back to you here.
Seattle in King County as we all know,
have had a recent spike in gun violence
and I wanted to touch on this.
In Seattle specifically, shots fired cases up 75%
in the first half of this year.
What's the prosecutor's office doing about this currently?
What would you plans be on gun violence for the future?
-Sure, you know, I am the only candidate
that has received the full endorsement of the Alliance
for Gun Responsibility
and it's because I have experienced
combating gun violence from multiple approaches.
First and foremost, I work with law makers
to ensure the passage of important laws
that ban high capacity magazines and remove firearms
from dangerous individuals.
I was a key force in forming our regional domestic violence
firearm enforcement unit,
the first of its kind approach in the nation,
to serving and enforcing extreme risk protection orders
and removing firearms from domestic violence
and other dangerous situations.
I also secured the funding for our Crime Strategies Unit,
we track and combat gun violence,
but because we know who the individuals are
that are close to gun violence and we can and we must,
partner with police and community to intervene
before they become victims and perpetrators of crime.
We also know from this unit,
that gun crime is up in males up age 30 to 39,
in the areas of domestic violence and road rage.
And we know that safe storage
is a way of removing guns from our community
and reducing gun crime,
and it's low cost and cost effective.
-Okay, thank you for that. Jim, some thoughts on this,
what's your take on this uptick in gun crimes?
What would you do about it if you were elected prosecutor?
-Well, you know, as mayor we've done all kinds of things
in the City of Federal Way,
we are not only adding officers but emphasis patrols
and really focusing in one high impact offenders,
I think that same approach needs to occur
at the prosecutor's office in regard to real intentionality.
You know, the theme of my campaign
is I believe in second chances, but not revolving doors
and I think that we really need to make sure
that when we've got individuals
that have shown a propensity for violence
and acted out, that we hold them accountable
and we make sure that if they are a danger
to the public that they're held. In August, just last month,
we had a record number of homicide call outs
for the King County Prosecutors Office,
in which the homicide unit showed up and 28
I believe it was.
So there is a spike and we need to make sure
that we're figuring out who are committing these crimes
and really address it systematically.
-Okay, thank you.
I want to move onto another topic here
and Jim, I am going to head back to you,
a question about homelessness if we could.
You're mayor of Federal Way, camping on public property
is prohibited there,
would you like to see such a ban extended county wide?
Or what would your approach to homelessness be
if you're elected as prosecutor?
-Well, the prosecutor's office really --
you know, we handle the cases
that are brought in my law enforcement
and so, you know, really I think you know,
in the city of Federal Way,
if someone's on your private property, they're trespassing,
if someone's on a sidewalk or a park,
you know, they're not allowed to camp there.
So I think the laws really are already on the books.
We haven't actually passed a special law
in the city of Federal Way,
we've just enforced the laws that we have.
And what I would say though is,
is that, you know people that are homeless
are experiencing crisis for a variety of reasons.
We don't know whether it's mental health, drug addiction,
usually co-occurring,
and all kinds of issues that have made them homeless,
so you need to adopt it with --
you need to approach things with compassion
and figure out how to get people back on track.
But addressing those core causes I think is critically important.
-Would it be a matter of trying to enforce laws
that are in effect in Seattle
such that people potentially are arrested
for sleeping on the sidewalk? What do you think?
-I don't think it's kind or proper
to arrest anybody for you know,
I mean, we haven't really arrested anybody
in the city of Federal Way for that, I think it's really --
this is more street level enforcement of just saying,
"You can't be here" and then enforce that.
I don't think you can prosecute your way out of homelessness,
you've got to make sure that you approach it
with compassion and resources. But also really,
a clear line of where you can be and where you can't be.
-Okay. Leesa, I wanted to ask you this too,
where do you see this intersection
between homelessness in the prosecutor's office,
what role do you think you might take
if you're elected in dealing with this crisis?
-Sure, sure. You know, I've heard my opponent say
that it's not the job of the prosecutor's office
to solve homelessness and as a leader
I don't feel like I can turn my back
on one of the most critical issues facing our community.
As leaders, if we work together to reduce homelessness,
we will have the automatic impact of reducing crime
and improving community wellbeing.
We know that those who are homeless are often vulnerable
and disproportionate victims of crime
and that not everyone experiencing homelessness
has encountered our criminal justice system.
So I believe in a housing first model.
When we address basic needs and people aren't worried
about where they're sleeping at night,
they have the emotional and mental capacity
to engage in services to get to root causes.
Underlying trauma, substance use disorder,
behavioral health issues, mental health issues,
and I am committed to working with all of our leaders
throughout King County to help solve homelessness.
-I wanted to ask you, your assessment
of how the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is doing?
I know it's had a bit of bumps to try to get on track here,
your thoughts about that
and what work you might do with them in the future,
what do you think about that agency?
-Well, you know, I don't know the innerworkings
of that relationship,
but I will say that I think what they're doing
is they're finding their stride and they are figuring out like,
how do we as leaders work together
so that everyone has a role
and everyone understands what one another's role is,
so that we can move forward in an efficient
and collaborative way to get results.
-Jim, your thoughts on the RHA,
I know there's some cities who've had some issues with it.
-We did, you're talking to the person
who really led that rallying cry.
I was concerned about the creation
of an entirely different,
new and different government to handle that
and we've heard the current mayor of Seattle address
concerns about that very issue, about you know,
really a lack of city control to be able to address that.
I think that, you know,
clearly we work in partnership with each other,
but it's important to understand what our missions are.
At the prosecutor's office,
we either decide to charge somebody
or we don't and then there's conditions of sentence.
-Got it. Let me ask another question to you if I could, Jim.
When you hear the phrase "defund the police"
what goes through your head?
-Well, you know, I think it reflects frustration
and a historical grievance with really a lack of accountability.
And I understand it, I understand
that people have been historically,
you know, concerned about disproportionately,
but ultimately I don't think that's the way to go
and what's happened in Seattle
I think is a great example of that.
You know, I think most people know that
when they call the police, they want to make sure
that somebody is there to respond.
We saw earlier this year that sexual assault cases
were not getting the required detectives,
because of a lack of law enforcement officers
and Seattle place officers I think lost 400 officers.
So, you know, because of either resignations
or you know, budget, I think people understand
that you need to invest in law enforcement,
but I think accountability is absolutely the key part.
So, I think it was an idea spurred in frustration,
but I think ultimately where its ending up is,
a real focus on place officer accountability.
-It's a very simple phrase but it's a very complex issue.
Some thoughts about that? What goes through your head
when you hear the phrase "defund the police"?
-You know, for me, that movement came out
of decades and generations of disproportionate treatment,
racial disparities in our criminal justice system
and I agree that policing is a common ground issue.
When we are afraid and call 911,
we want a response and we want police
who know how to de-escalate volatile situations.
But we also want police who abuse their authority
or who engage biased policing, off the force.
And you know, I support the reforms
that were brought about by I-940,
it is why I formed a public integrity unit
and send the prosecutor's office to look at officer
involved shooting and police use of force cases.
And that's also why I have intentionally declined
to seek the endorsement of any police unions,
because the review of those cases
will not appear fair or look fair or feel fair,
if I am endorsed by police guilds.
-And I know this is a point of contention between you two.
Jim, you are endorsed
by a few police unions, some thoughts on that?
I wanted to make sure I asked you too.
-Yeah, I'm really, I'm proud of the endorsements
of the King County place,
the Seattle Police Officers Guild,
Bellevue, Kent, Federal Way, Des Moines,
King County corrections officers.
I think you can accept their support
and know that they are supporting your campaign.
But they still need to know that I'll be an independent voice
and if we, you know, see officer misconduct
we will address it, you know forth rightly.
And you know, so we receive a lot of endorsements
and support from a lot of people in the community
and I don't think that renders us unable
to render objective and fair findings if misconduct occurs.
-I'm going to try to squeeze in another question here,
prosecutor Dan Satterberg has asked for an investigation
to the missing text of the former
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and other city leaders,
back in 2020. Jim, I'll start with you.
How will you follow-up on this investigation if you're elected?
-Well I think it's critically important
that the prosecutor's office doesn't handle negotiations,
excuse me, investigations.
They review investigations that are brought to them.
So what I can say is that any investigation
or completed investigation that is brought to the office,
we will thoroughly review and make a determination.
Not only is the threshold question
is there probably cause?
But, does this meet filing standards?
Is this the right thing to do under the circumstances?
And we'll have to review that.
-Okay. Big issues here in Seattle,
I thought I'd ask you this one too, Leesa.
-Right, you know, I think public disclosure is like,
so important.
And as government and as government leaders,
we owe it to the communities that we serve to be transparent,
to be open, to protect public records.
I would have called for that investigation sooner
and when we receive it,
we will give everything a review.
We will examine all of the evidence
and make a filing determination.
-Got it, thank you for engaging with that.
We have about 30 seconds where we could squeeze
in that one piece that we haven't covered,
maybe something about yourself or your campaign,
that haven't made a lot of headlines
you want to let people know about.
Jim, can I start with you on that?
-You bet. Actually, it's been a --
you know, I can tell you that this has been
a great experience,
there's many people in King County, over two million people.
I know that Leesa and I have transversed the county
and if anybody wants to reach out to me
or my campaign, my website is jimferrell.org.
And also, you know, I think really the key issues are,
it really feels like while there are great people
doing great work at the King County prosecutor's office,
I think we need to reset some priorities
and I've got the vision and experience to be able to do it.
-Thank you. A closing statement
coming in a minute, but 30 seconds,
maybe something we haven't covered here
you wanted to let people know about yourself or your campaign?
-Sure, I'm really proud to be the candidate
that can hit the ground running.
I'm really proud of the 200 endorsements
I've received from organizations and leaders,
including our mayor, you know, Bruce Harrell.
And I'm also really proud that I have earned the endorsement
of every single democratic organization in King County
and I'm a democrat in good standing with our state party.
-Okay, it is time for that closing statement
and I'm already hearing little pieces of it,
but I'd like for you to wrap up, Jim you'll go first and Leesa,
you'll get the last word. Please.
-Alright, thank you. And thank you for this forum.
You know, I am a democrat as well,
I'm endorsed by my congressman Adam Smith,
State Representative Amy Walen
and several other elected representatives,
15 mayors across King County represent a whole lot of people.
Labor unions like LIUNA 242, Iron Workers 86,
the Seattle building trades and many others.
And so, I'm honored to have their endorsements as well.
As well as you know, business organizations
and people throughout King County
and I can tell you that, this campaign is really about
really resetting the priorities of the prosecutor's office
and making sure that we have a safe county,
a transparent county prosecutor's office,
and that we you know, really focus on victims
and making sure that we get it right.
-Okay, thank you very much for that.
I can give you about a minute Leesa,
to wrap up. You have the last word.
-Okay, alright, sure.
You know, the residents of King County
deserve a prosecutor who shares their values,
whose 100% committed to ensuring our communities
are safe and supported
and I'm the candidate that can hit the ground running
and I will also bring a sense of urgency that has been lacking,
in solving the challenges facing our community.
I'm proud of the endorsements that I've received,
because it means people know not only about my integrity,
my deep level of experience,
but also my record for getting things done.
I have partnered with community to reduce juvenile crime
to all-time lows and here are a couple of ways
that I have delivered for public service.
I have partnered with business leaders
and city attorneys to reduce property crime
and retail theft in downtown Seattle
and other parts of King County.
And I have also secured funding to track
and combat gun violence.
-Thank you very much for that. -Thank you.
-That's all the time we have for now.
I appreciate the input from both of you
and we will be right back.
What are people say on social media
about the King County Prosecutors race?
One person writes,
"We need Leesa Manion as King County Prosecutor.
She's extremely qualified,
she is the current deputy prosecutor,
she supports restorative justice
and ending the school to prison pipeline."
Another says, "Tell your friends family and neighbors
to vote for Jim Ferrell,
for King County Prosecutor this fall,
in order to help save King County
from the out of control crime."
We'd like to know what you think.
Send us an email at contact@seattlechannel.org
or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Coming up next week,
Seattle voters will get to decide this fall
if they like the current system for electing city hall leaders,
or if they want a new approach. Seattle Proposition one,
presents two alternate voting systems.
Approval voting and ranked choice voting.
We'll break it all down on the next See Inside Out.
I hope you joining us.