Responses

to Questions from Councilmember Kshama Sawant

1. Do you support rent control?
Response from Alec Stephens: I support taking all effective measures to address the issue of
housing and rent affordability for Seattles residents, especially those who are on the lower end
of the economic spectrum. Rent control is an issue that will need to be proposed by the
legislature in a process that can easily take more than one session, and with Republican control
of the Senate, would likely not be accomplished until Democrats regain control of that Chamber.
In the meantime, if the issue of housing affordability is a crisis, which I believe it is, we should
look at all measures that can address the issue. I do not believe that there is only one single
thing that needs to be done to address this issue, and all measures should be on the table.
2. Do you support enacting the maximum legal linkage fee on developers, estimated to be close to
the equivalent of discounting 10% of apartments to affordable rates?
Response from Alec Stephens: This proposal may also be a part of the toolbox for addressing
the issue of housing/rental affordability. I would certainly want to look at it closely. One
question I have is what is meant as affordable rates. I would also want to look at what this
would mean in a specific example of a building constructed for 60 apartments. Does this mean
that 6 apartments would be discounted to affordable rates? That being said, I do not want
perfect to be the enemy of good, so again I would want to include all effective proposals that
address the crisis in housing/affordability.
3. What do you think is the most urgent public decisions facing councilmembers in 2015?

Response from Alec Stephens: I include areas where the Council also has a monitoring and
oversight function to make sure implementation is moving forward as expected and intended
as follows
Solutions for affordable housing
Monitoring implementation of the Minimum Wage including the continuing issues
regarding how the increases are affecting micro-businesses;
Monitoring police-community relations and progress regarding the Consent Decree
between the City of Seattle and the U.S. Department of Justice;

Monitoring implementation of transit benefits for more reliable service and

implementation of low income fares;
Monitoring implementation of the legislation to address the City of Seattle Gender Pay
gap;
Monitoring implementation of the Citys Priority Hire Ordinance;
Final work, transmittal and response to the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda
(HALA) recommendations.



4. How should Seattle address the growth in homelessness?

Response from Alec Stephens: First, do no harm. My context is to not support policies that
increasingly add people to the number of homeless. It is why addressing housing/rental
affordability is so important. Support policies that will increase the availability of housing for
people who are homeless, including a mixture of housing options for families as well as single
occupancy residential housing. As we develop areas, let us do so in ways that do not displace
existing residents with others, and constantly ask how such developments add to an area, not
swap-out people to an undefined place where they will live.

5. Do you support increasing the penalties and remedies for wage theft?

Response from Alec Stephens: Before increasing penalties and remedies, I would want to know
how existing penalties and remedies are being enforced. It does little good to increase penalties
and remedies if there has been lax or no enforcement currently. Some questions I would have
are, Do the enforcement/compliance officers have the staff and resources to monitor and
enforce compliance now?, How have enforcement efforts been supported by, for example,
the City Attorneys office?, and Will increased penalties and remedies lead to greater
enforcement?

6. Do you think human services in Seattle are adequately funded? If not, how would you fund
them?
Response from Alec Stephens: No. But that is the simple answer for anyone who is even
paying minimal attention. Funding for human services in Seattle is from a mixture of federal,
state and local sources, and local includes King County as well as City of Seattle funds. I dont
know how we should increase funding, but perhaps as it is happening with other areas such as
transit, Seattle should engage with public entities and non-profit social service providers across
the County if not the Puget Sound region to use resources more effectively and
complementary since people in need of services travel across jurisdictional lines to get
assistance and services.

7. What is your opinion of Bertha and the tunnel project?
Response from Alec Stephens: I do not believe that re-arguing the merits of the SR 99 tunnel
project is productive. I dont know what benefit it serves. This is a State project and the
existing viaduct must be replaced. While the people in Seattle gave their divided opinion on
how the viaduct should be replaced, it was the State that decided on a tunnel and selected the
contractor to perform the work. It is the States responsibility to get the project completed

and the issues and project management are the States responsibility. Bertha is a machine
that needs to be repaired, which is the contractors responsibility.

8. In light of the gender pay gap, would you have voted for or against the tip penalty in the
$15/hour minimum wage law?
Response from Alec Stephens: This is another issue for which I do not see a benefit in
rearguing the merits of the decision. The $15/hour minimum wage law was a hard fought
compromise that brought competing interests to the table to move the proposal forward in a
relatively short time. I respect the work that was done, and would have voted for the proposal
that was passed. The issue now is overseeing the implementation of the law, recognizing that
there are various interests who have not fully embraced the law, and we are only at the
threshold of enforcement and working with businesses, especially small businesses, who have
concerns about the laws impact. I want to focus my attention on looking forward, and not
engaging in speculation that can only add to those who would seek to move for changes that
could undo the compromise that was reached.
9. Do you think Black Lives Matter, and do you think it is important for politicans to say, Black
Lives Matter?
Response from Alec Stephens: As a Black man born and living in America, of course I believe
that my life and the lives of all African Americans and people of African descent all over the
world matter. It is also important for politicians to say that Black Live Matter. But this is
limited as an approach. Just in the context of the City of Seattle and Department of Justice
Consent decree on the use of excessive force and biased policing, some of the incidents that
were a part of the record include the shooting of John Williams, an Native American
woodcarver, or the film of an Hispanic suspect on the ground with a policemans foot on his
head where the officer speaks of beating the Mexican piss out of him. The issues may have
started with incident leading to the slogan and demand that Black Lives Matter, but
ultimately and as a real point of all civil rights issues, the push is for universal agreement and
commitment that ALL LIVES MATTER, and relate to respect for all people, especially racial
minorities, poor people, homeless people, vulnerable people and people who are not viewed
to have political power to be equally respected.

10. Do you support the business head tax, capital gains tax, and other forms of progressive
taxation?
Response from Alec Stephens: I generally favor progressive taxes, and have supported efforts
in the Legislature to revise our highly regressive and move to a State income tax. The current
system causes negative impacts on local governments and the B & O tax is a problem as well.