Third Time's the Charm for City Council Appointee Mark Solomon
The city council appoints the SPD crime prevention coordinator, who was defeated by Tammy Morales in 2019, to serve out the year in Morales' former seat.
By Erica C. Barnett
After several delays to address technical problems with the A/V system in council chambers (eventually, the two council members who were attending remotely joined the meeting and voted through somebody's cell phone, which was propped in front of a mic), the city council chose Mark Solomon to represent Southeast Seattle's District 2—and lead the council's land use committee—until the general election in November.
Solomon, a crime prevention coordinator for the Seattle Police Department and a former intelligence officer for the US Air Force, has tried to join the council twice before. In 2019, he ran for District 2 and lost to Tammy Morales by more than 21 points. Four years later, when the council needed to fill an open seat, he tried again, but the new council already had its heart set on Tanya Woo, who had just lost to Morales the previous year. This time, it took five rounds of voting before the council chose Solomon over mayoral transportation staffer Adonis Ducksworth,
From the beginning, though, Solomon had a plurality of four (out of eight) council votes, with two other candidates—assistant city attorney Eddie Lin and Parks and Recreation employee Chukundi Salisbury—each receiving one vote in the early rounds.
Solomon, like the other candidates, pledged to address the longstanding market for drugs and stolen goods at 12th and Jackson, saying he would implement Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. CPTED is a set of strategies designed to send signals that a location is hostile to crime, such as bright lights, surveillance cameras, tall fences, and the removal of trees and bushes that people might be able to hide behind.
As land use chair, Solomon's job will include working on the much-delayed 2025 update to the city's comprehensive plan, which Morales recently told PubliCola she had hoped to amend to get more housing in the Rainier Valley and to protect "neighborhood centers"—about 30 locations across the city where three-to-five story apartments would be allowed within 800 feet of frequent transit stops.
Solomon, who pledged last week to oppose removing any neighborhood centers from the comprehensive plan, hesitated when reporters asked him about that pledge and his general approach to land use shortly after he took the oath of office, then said that yes, he supports all the neighborhood centers. But, he continued, it's important not to "concentrate" new housing, especially affordable housing, in Southeast Seattle.
"There are some neighborhoods who don't want change, don't want eight-story [sic] apartment buildings in their community," Solomon said. "That's understandable, but we are one Seattle, and Seattle needs to come together so that it's not all concentrated on North Rainier and D2—it's spread out. ... Quite frankly, right now, D2 has a lot of density. ... So when it comes to the low income housing, workforce housing, I want to spread the wealth throughout the city and not just concentrated in D2."
Solomon also said he plans to revisit the tree ordinance, a priority of North Seattle Councilmember Cathy Moore, and to emphasize anti-displacement measures in the comprehensive plan to "ensure that we keep people in their homes [so they] have the opportunity to build generational wealth." He also talked up the idea of a "storefront improvement fund" to pay for business improvements like lighting, better locks, and planter boxes to "bollards or planter boxes to prevent vehicles from smashing into the businesses."
He also addressed the optics of the council appointing someone voters in District 2 rejected to represent them—first, by appointing unsuccessful D2 candidate Woo to a citywide council seat, and now by appointing him to replace Morales.
"The thing I'd like to point out to folks is, while council member Morales and I were rivals for the position, even after the election, we did work together," Solomon said. "So for those who may be disappointed that you know, I'm now their representative. If you don't agree with me, fine. I'm still going to advocate for you. I'm still going to work for you. I'm still going to try to make things better by delivering services for the community."
Solomon is a decent fellow, but clearly a chamber approved guy who probably has Tim Ceis' number in his favorites. This is an undemocratic appointment. Another bad move from the most out of touch council of the last 40 years.
I really hope that we can eventually ditch the whole "generational wealth" and "gentrification" and "displacement" narratives that are all just NIMBY methods to block more housing being built that would allow more people to call Seattle home. Limited supply is our problem, and anything that isn't focused on that above all else is sooooo short-sighted.