Dear IE Readers,
Thank you for attending the June 22 API (Asian Pacific Islander) Mayoral Candidates Forum at Nagomi Tea House. If you were not able to come, watch the Forum at www.iexaminer.org/2017/07/candidates-reach-out-to-api-community-at-mayoral-candidate-forum.
By now you have received your ballot in the mail. There are many important races on the ballot for the August 1 primary—the Mayor’s race, the Seattle City Council at-large position number 8 and number 9, and the Port of Seattle Commissioner races.
We want to highlight the Port of Seattle (POS) races. Three of the five POS Commissioners are up for election. That’s significant. The POS is a big money and job generator for our region. It runs the Seattle Tacoma Airport that has a $16.3 billion economic impact on our region, generating more than 171,796 jobs (109,924 direct jobs), representing more than $2.8 billion in direct earnings, and $565 million in state and local taxes. Not only is our API community impacted economically and socially, but also environmentally. 70-80% of airplane landings fly over Beacon Hill contributing to its air and noise pollution and negatively impacting its residents’ health. Half of Beacon Hill’s population are Asian Pacific Islanders.
The POS candidates who gave priority to our community and answered our questionnaire included:
· Position 1: Ryan Calkins, John Creighton, Claudia Kauffman and Bea Querido-Rico
· Position 3: Lisa Espinosa and Stephanie Bowman. (Ahmed Adbi did not respond.)
· Position 4: Candidates Ray S. Armitstead, Fernando Martinez, John Persak, Peter Steinbrueck, Pretti Shridhar. (Candidates Richard Pope, Ken Rogers and Brook Salazar did not respond.)
We asked the candidates four simple questions: “1) Introduce yourself, 2) What do you want to change in the Port of Seattle? 3) What community issue(s) will you address as a Port Commissioner? and 4) Why should we should vote for you?”
Be a smart voter, review their answers online at https://iexaminer.org/2017/07/port-candidates-2017
Make sure you mail or drop off your primary election ballot on August 1 then come to the October 12 API Candidates Forum at the Nagomi Tea House after work. The primary winners of the Mayor, Seattle City Council positions, and the POS Commissioner positions are going to be featured.
At the last Mayoral race, only one third of registered voters voted. Your VOTE counts. You can sway this election to the good of our API community!
Sincerely,
2017 API Candidates Forum
Partners include: Asian Counseling & Referral Service (ACRS), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Asian Pacific Directors Coalition (APDC), Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civil Empowerment (APACE), APACEvotes, API Coalition Advocating Together for Health Communities (APICAT). Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation (ACLF), Chinese American Citizens Alliance, Seattle (CACA), Friends of Little Saigon, Helping Link, Int’l Community Health Services (ICHS), Interim Community Development Association, (InterImCDA), Japanese American Citizens League, Seattle (JACL), Korean American Coalition (KAC), Organization of Chinese Americans, Greater Seattle, (OCA), Seattle Chinatown ID Preservation & Development Authority, Tasveer, Vietnamese Friendship Association, WA State and India Trade Relations Action Committee (WASITRAC), Media Partners:, International Examiner (IE). North American Post, Northwest Asian Weekly (NWAW), Seattle Chinese Post
