SGN Page 15 - SGN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW City Council candidate David Bloom - Friday, May 15, 2009

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posted Friday, May 15, 2009 - Volume 37 Issue 20

SGN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW City Council candidate David Bloom

by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

Seattle City Council candidate David Bloom's list of endorsers reads like a who's who of Seattle's progressive community.

"I've been working for over 30 years on human rights and social justice issues," Bloom told SGN in an exclusive interview. "When I decided to run, people told me I should sit down and think of 200 or 250 people I could ask for support. I came up with 600."

Bloom is running for Position 4 on Seattle's City Council, the seat now held by Jan Drago, who is not seeking reelection.

Attorney Sally Bagshaw, who was also interviewed for this week's SGN, and Highland Park activist Dorsol Plants are the other candidates running for the open seat.

This is Bloom's first run for public office, and he didn't make the decision lightly. "People approached me to run in 2007," he told SGN, "but it was really too late to mount an effective campaign. This time I talked to a lot of people. I meditated about it. I'm a person who senses stuff, and I trust my gut. All the answers kept coming up yes."

Bloom is a minister and a long-time activist with experience in the public arena. Nevertheless, he finds running for office a challenge. "What's challenging is talking about myself and my background," he says. "It's more egocentric than the work I've done for most of my career."

Bloom has been deputy director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, and a founder of the Downtown Emergency Service Center, Common Ground, and the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness. When the State Convention and Trade Center was developed, Bloom led efforts to preserve affordable housing in the adjoining neighborhoods. He currently serves on the boards of Real Change and the Seattle Displacement Coalition.

Bloom sees his run for office as a continuation of social activism. "There are very troubling issues still unresolved," he says, ticking off the issues that concern him. "Affordable housing. Living-wage jobs. Transportation. We see too often that government is not responsive to the needs of ordinary people - working people."

Bloom, who led the campaign for Seattle's first housing levy in 1986, has ambitious plans for affordable housing development. "We need 5000 new units," he says, "priced at 60% of median and below."

"I believe in growing responsibly," Bloom continues, "with no loss of existing affordable housing. We have to insist on one-to-one replacement, to make sure people are not displaced."

"I've made a strong commitment to preserving neighborhoods," Bloom says. "The city council and the mayor think no amount of money is too much to spend on Mercer Street. They're choosing big-ticket programs over neighborhoods."

Shaking his head, Bloom says, "The city council has been reluctant to place limits on private developers. I fear we're losing the heart and soul of the city. There was a time when working people could live downtown. But now Seattle is one of the least family-friendly cities."

Bloom sees plenty of opportunity for public investment in neighborhood infrastructure. "Main arterials are literally falling apart. Thirty-three bridges are seriously in need of repairs, according to the DOT. Some north-end neighborhoods still have no sidewalks."

Bloom also supports a comprehensive living wage ordinance. "Wages have not kept up with the cost of housing," he says. "That's why there's homelessness. We should be looking at wages, housing, healthcare all together."

"How do you provide a level of support for working people?" Bloom asks. "100 other cities have living wage ordinances. We should study their experiences."

Bloom opposes construction of a new city jail. "No. No. Absolutely not!" Bloom exclaims when asked about it. "It's another unnecessary expense. When I hear that, I just scratch my head. You're crying because you have no money, yet you want to spend money on a jail&."

While Bloom seems to be headed for conflict with Mayor Greg Nickels, he speaks almost fondly of their long-standing, if complex, political relationship.

"Oh gosh, I've known Greg a long time, ever since he was a staffer for Norm Rice," Bloom recalls. "A bunch of us supported him in 2001 when he ran against Mark Sidran. I'd begin with that relationship, and give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't slam doors in people's faces. I believe in dialog. In my faith tradition we talk about reconciliation and mediation. I will take a good faith attitude toward the mayor."

"It's not healthy to be in constant conflict, but it's not healthy to be always in unity, either," he adds with a grin.

Asked how he'd like to leave Seattle at the end of his service on the City Council, if he were elected, Bloom says, "A community at peace with itself, where people can find work, housing, and healthcare, where they can move about safely, where we take care of our infrastructure. I want people of all classes, all races, all sexual orientations to feel they have a home here."

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