Raketty: LGBTQIA youth are at greater risk for homelessness, sexual exploitation, and substance abuse. What can be done at the city level to support programs for LGBTQ youth and make Seattle a model among urban cities?

Thomas: The city can better provide sustainable funding to programs like Lambert House and Lifelong's community outreach programs, because we know that community-based solutions like these work.

We must also support the development and expansion of shelter services for our LGBTQIA youth. Knowing that our young people are... facing the shocking trauma of being separated from their families for simply being who they are, we must ensure that our social safety net is prepared to meet them where they are, with services that respect their identities and ensure their safety.

I will work to develop comprehensive policies appropriately addressing the needs of Transgender youth interacting with the juvenile justice system, especially because we know that our youth are being incarcerated for self-expression or self- defense. Seattle should also partner with universities and colleges in the city to enact comprehensive nondiscrimination policies, including access to housing and facilities, and [ensure] that staff are trained annually on providing culturally competent support for LGBTQ+ students.

We can also work with the school board to change the way we talk about sex education in our schools and to make sure teachers have adequate training so that Queer, Transgender, and gender-noncomforming students feel safe and encouraged to show up authentically.

Raketty: LGBTQIA youth are at greater risk for homelessness, sexual exploitation, and substance abuse. What can be done at the city level to support programs for LGBTQ youth and make Seattle a model among urban cities?

Thomas: The city can better provide sustainable funding to programs like Lambert House and Lifelong's community outreach programs, because we know that community-based solutions like these work.

We must also support the development and expansion of shelter services for our LGBTQIA youth. Knowing that our young people are... facing the shocking trauma of being separated from their families for simply being who they are, we must ensure that our social safety net is prepared to meet them where they are, with services that respect their identities and ensure their safety.

I will work to develop comprehensive policies appropriately addressing the needs of Transgender youth interacting with the juvenile justice system, especially because we know that our youth are being incarcerated for self-expression or self- defense. Seattle should also partner with universities and colleges in the city to enact comprehensive nondiscrimination policies, including access to housing and facilities, and [ensure] that staff are trained annually on providing culturally competent support for LGBTQ+ students.

We can also work with the school board to change the way we talk about sex education in our schools and to make sure teachers have adequate training so that Queer, Transgender, and gender-noncomforming students feel safe and encouraged to show up authentically.

Raketty: As you know, Transgender individuals such as myself face hate and hostility on a regular basis. Last year was the deadliest on record for Transgender people, especially BIPOC women who are Trans. How would you address this as a member of the city council?

Thomas: I see three parts to this crisis: holding people accountable for their crimes, creating an affirming culture so that the hate and hostility stops, and supporting Transgender people with the necessary mental and general healthcare.

As we lower the police budget and fight for progressive revenue, we have to increase funding for the organizations that provide peer-to-peer outreach addressing anti-Trans violence. We also know that community-based solutions that work to stop the school-to-prison pipeline and provide restorative programming with youth before they interact with the legal system are an effective way to lower crime rates.

The City can follow San Francisco's lead by developing and funding programs like the Trans Economic Empowerment Initiative to help Trans folks find employment. Seattle also needs to urgently address the disproportionate number of Trans people facing homelessness, and I will work to ensure that shelters and other service providers have specific guidelines and policies to provide equal access.

We have also got to have a real conversation about existing programs that purport to support our Trans neighbors. I have heard, repeatedly, that the "Safe Place" program the City runs doesn't actually equate to members of the Trans community feeling any safer. Especially in neighborhoods like the Hill, which used to be a bastion for safe self-expression.

Something I'm particularly proud of in my last six years of working in City Hall was the legislation that banned conversion therapy for minors. This could not have been done without the amazing work of Trans activists and organizers.

Raketty: As you know, an independent press is vital to a free democracy, yet local newspapers are being swallowed up by large corporations. And community newspapers, such as the Seattle Gay News, are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of the pandemic. What can the City do to strengthen and encourage a robust independent press in Seattle?

Thomas: Independent press is so important, and it's been very sad to watch community papers forced into closure nationwide. The impacts are far-reaching — not only is the job loss devastating for many but it also means there are fewer reporters to cover what's really happening in our communities. And studies have proven that this results in lower civic participation and lower voter turnout. This is a crisis for our democracy.

Seattle is lucky to have community papers such as the Seattle Gay News, the South Seattle Emerald, the Capitol Hill Seattle blog, and our many ethnic/in- language newspapers, but our suburban and rural communities aren't nearly as lucky. Trans and Queer youth must be able to see themselves in the media they consume, which becomes less and less possible the further you are from urban centers. With the rise in digital ads, funding for papers has plummeted.

The City can also work with Seattle Public Libraries to continue educating young people on the importance of local, reliable news sources. Our libraries are an incredible resource for disseminating information on how to dissect media and preparing young people for careers in journalism.

And lastly, but certainly not least, elected officials must work to nurture relationships with our independent media outlets. I am so grateful for the weekly conversations I had with George Bakan. His passion for our community, innovative policy solutions, and real talk are deeply missed.

Raketty: Seattle is facing an ongoing crisis related to unhomed peoples. Washington state experience at 6.2% increase in homelessness during 2019 and 2020. King County spends over $1 billion per year in public and private investment to support approximately 12,500 houseless people, with disappointing results. If you are elected to the Seattle City Council, how would you work to address this crisis?

Thomas: Thank you so much for the question. I think it's a three-part approach. You've got short-term, medium, and long-term approaches.

Short-term, we've got to get people inside. I'm impressed with some of the results we're seeing around the hoteling programs and the partnership with the county there. We learned a lot during the COVID crisis about noncongregate shelter and a different methodology of getting folks inside, including the hotels, but we also have to expand our low- and no-barrier shelter, because we all know that abstinence doesn't work, and that shouldn't be a requirement for recovery and stabilization.

So, let's get people inside and, meanwhile, let's make sure we've got a workforce of service providers that don't qualify for the services that they are bringing to the table. They need to have livable wages. They need to have access to workforce housing. They also need to be supported and stabilized.

Long-term, we just got to build more housing. I think that's incumbent upon the city to meaningfully invest in. We can't just rely on high-road developers to bring us those three- and four-bedrooms that we know real families need near their workplaces. We've got to make sure that our housing stock reflects the diversity of needs that we have in this community. My kingdom did not need to see another tower go up with a bunch of glamorized one-bedrooms.

Raketty: As a result of the ongoing COVID pandemic, economic recovery and development and addressing Seattle's crumbling transit infrastructure, such as the West Seattle Bridge, are of great importance. Additionally, some express concern that jobs have left the downtown core and may have left Seattle permanently, and that workers will not return. The question then is threefold: How would you tackle the infrastructure issue? How would you stimulate the economic recovery and development? What concerns do you have about the loss of employers and workers in Seattle?

Thomas: Excellent question. I also live on the island of West Seattle, so nobody wants that bridge fixed more than me. We also have bridges in Magnolia and the U District, all over the city, that need to be improved so they don't fall into the Sound.

We can do that through apprenticeships and relationships with our union partners for an economic boost and engine. That way, as we build infrastructure and leverage federal dollars — this is how we got out of the Great Depression — that's how we're going to get out of this economic downturn.

In terms of business development in the downtown core, the way we use land now is based on a 10,000-square-foot model for somebody who is more of a national retailer coming in. Nobody's going from their house or their garage or their Etsy shop to 10,000 square feet overnight.

So, let's shrink those blueprints. Let's make them 2,500 square feet, so smaller businesses can actually afford the rent. They can create good jobs for workers. Then, we use the leftover space in any of these developments to provide childcare. We know the city of Seattle has a real dearth of childcare and it's egregiously expensive.

So, we [should] work to build a 15-minute neighborhood that means everybody's got what they need right there in their neighborhood. That's economic opportunity, and that's somewhere to make sure that you can get groceries, put your kids, and hang out with your seniors.

In terms of folks coming back to work, I think we want to. Humans are social creatures, and it's going to be a little bit awkward. I don't know about you, but making eye contact has been weird lately. I think we want to be together, and I think the revitalization of downtown and our neighborhood centers of commerce will help with the issues that we've seen around the city of having a reputation for not being very well kept. I think once we all get back in the groove of being together, we'll get back in the groove of taking care of each other.

Raketty: As we saw with the protests related to the murder of George Floyd, police violence, and ongoing racial inequality, Seattle has earned a national reputation as a crime-ridden, dirty, and unsafe city. At one point, it was even labeled by the previous president as an "anarchist jurisdiction." Do you agree with this view, and either way, how do you shift the perceptions of our city?

Thomas: We are not an "anarchistic jurisdiction," but thank you for the question. I was complimented by that.

You know, Seattle has a history of protest, and that's well within our rights, and it's well within our culture. If you can't go to Westlake and put your fist in the air and be pissed about something three times a year, we're not doing it right.

I don't think that protest against injustice equals destruction. I think there were a handful of folks who decided that dumpster fires were the thing for them that year, and I'd like to speak directly to their parents right now: "Please come get your children, please get them. You're embarrassing us. Everyone can see it."

I think that what was most disappointing about that was that the violence was then coupled with the movement for Black liberation — implying that it is a violent movement. And nothing could be further from the truth. The liberation of Black lives is not an assault, although it appeared to be so on our city for 63 days, because a handful of bad actors wanted to steal a narrative. So, let's not buy into that. That's not who we are.

Raketty: How do you address racial inequality in Seattle?

Thomas: You have hard conversations with the 87% of the city that's white, and you sit in the discomfort and you don't shift the burden onto people of color, because, I assure you, we are plenty burdened. The people who are operating in a space of privilege, it's incumbent upon them to educate themselves on how we got here and what being an ally looks like moving forward.

TLDR; you can't call yourself an ally, somebody else has to give you that cool point. It's more than book groups. It's action. It's what happens at work when you see that a woman of color is being spoken over. It's what happens when you see that a Trans person isn't getting the same opportunities for advancement. It's each of us individually stepping up to the plate day by day.

And it's incumbent on policy-makers to bring folks to the table to make sure we are using an intersectional lens on all the policies that we build, so people who have been most harmed by government violence are centered in conversations moving forward.