Seattle Nice Sits Down with Joy Hollingsworth

The first-term City Councilmember goes on the record about the comp plan, the nude beach at Denny Blaine Park, and much more.

Photo via Seattle.gov

By Erica C. Barnett

City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth was our guest on the latest episode of Seattle Nice, where we had a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from her recent vote against the recent "less lethal" weapons legislation to the constituents who are asking her to edit the city's comprehensive plan to decrease future density in their neighborhoods.

We also got into the racial politics of Seattle—a city whose "Black alone" population has dwindled to less than 7 percent, and whose white majority often treats nonwhite communities like a monolith—generally one that happens to agree with their own views. (See: The recent debate over CCTV police cameras in neighborhoods across the city, or the still-ongoing debate about where to site a second Chinatown-International District light rail station). "You can be progressive and racist, and you can be progressive and anti-Black," Hollingsworth noted.

One thing we discussed that hasn't gotten much, if any, coverage is Hollingsworth's recent meetings with Stuart Sloan, a wealthy philanthropist whose land borders the park. Sloan who pledged to give $1 million to build a playground next to Denny Blaine Park, a longstanding nude beach frequented by Seattle's LGBTQ+ residents; the playground's proximity to the nude beach would have shut it down.

Although plans to build the playground foundered after the story about Sloan and Harrell broke, Hollingsworth met with Sloan December after meeting with other nude beach opponents in May, according to City Council meeting records and emails I received through a public disclosure request. The May meeting came around the same time that Sloan and Harrell were exchanging messages about the nude beach, with Harrell writing, "I share your disgust" with "the problem of nudity and hazardous waste" at the beach, according to KUOW.

I asked Hollingsworth about the purpose of those meetings. She responded that while she didn't know "the background" about the playground, she wanted to do something about the "10 percent of folks" who engage in "inappropriate behavior, whether it's masturbation, whether it's indecent exposure or relieving themselves in the bushes or the lake." In the short term, she said, she wants to make "sure that we have a park ranger" at the beach, along with more restrooms no-parking signs to ensure emergency vehicle access.

"I'm just trying to make sure that we can be responsive for cleanliness, parking, and making sure that people are safe, and the people that are doing the indecent exposure and masturbating and doing drugs and other things can be removed, so people continue to have a safe environment down there."

We also went in depth on the comprehensive plan, which includes 30 new "Neighborhood Centers" where some new density will be allowed within 800 feet of major bus stops or existing commercial areas. Hollingsworth said she won't support the removal of any of the four proposed neighborhood center in her district, including three (in Madison Park, Montlake, and Madrona) that have been at the center of a legal challenge and online petition campaigns, respectively.