(Image: McQuaid for Seattle)
A South Lake Union community leader and public affairs executive is opting to pass on tangling with a crew of political upstarts in one race for the Seattle City Council and instead will take on incumbent Teresa Mosqueda for her citywide “Position 8” seat.
Mike McQuaid, head of public affairs firm McQuaidUSA Strategic and a leader with the South Lake Union Community Council, announced his candidacy last week, from a neighborhood point of view.
“All of our neighborhoods including downtown are facing historic challenges with the combined effects of the pandemic, job loss, ongoing civic violence and the unchecked public health crisis of homelessness,” McQuaid said. “We must be laser focussed on emerging from this pandemic and rebuilding the trust and promise of our city.”
UPDATE 2/26/2021 9:00 AM: The 2021 campaign seasons first scandal has emerged. The Seattle Times reports McQuaid copped to a deferred prosecution agreement after being charged with assault and harassment in a 2015 confrontation at a construction project outside his Westlake condo:
After the two separated, police said, McQuaid picked up a gas-powered chop saw, tried to start it and said “I’m going to cut your head off.” When the saw wouldn’t start, police said, McQuaid picked up a rock, and threw it at the man, from 8 to 10 feet away, hitting him in the lower back and leaving a red mark. The other man picked up a shovel to defend himself, police said, but did not use it, and a witness called 911.
The two citywide seats on the council — Position 8 and Position 9 — are both up for election this year. Position 9 is currently held by council president Lorena González but the 2021 race won’t feature the incumbent — she’s running for mayor. A field of political upstarts and repeat candidates including Fremont Brewing’s Sara Nelson are vying for the seat.
Position 8? That’s the hard one. Mosqueda decided to forgo a run for the mayor’s office and is now looking to retain her seat and build on her work leading the council’s budget efforts to set a new course on police spending.
All is right with the world again! Where am I? #RestaurantsOpen #Yum! pic.twitter.com/mO6enDwBfe
— Mike McQuaid (@McQuaidUSA) February 2, 2021
In his announcement, candidate McQuaid cites his position as “a fourth-generation Seattleite” and his family’s history — “civic leaders with catalytic roles with the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and the Downtown Seattle Holiday Star on the former Macy’s / Bon Marche building in the downtown core” — among his strongest qualifications for replacing Mosqueda, a Latina worker rights advocate.
“Getting folks behind us, being able to look to the past in terms of where we’ve been as a city, and in generationally where we’ve been and apply that to everything new that’s in Seattle,” is a key to leading the city, McQuaid said in an interview with a West Seattle neighborhood news outlet.
Meanwhile, McQuaid has also dabbled in the community media end of things with South Lake Union Today dedicated to “Daily news (original and aggregated content from qualified news sources), perspective and musings from the park benches and streateries of Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.”
You can learn more at mcquaidforseattle.com.
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My favorite political announcements are definitely the platitude-rich, position-free variety.
I have literally no idea what this guy stands for, except for a vague, ‘read between the lines’ sense that he’s pro-exclusionary zoning and pro-sweeps.
I don’t think he’ll be getting my vote.
pro-streetcar which may get my vote
My favorite comments are those that have no basis in fact, yet snidely suggest that someone may hold certain political opinions based on…what? There is nothing in his announcement to suggest he is “pro-exclusionary zoning and pro-sweeps.” So, what lines did you read between to come to those conclusions?
When I read between the lines, I see a pragmatist with a deep understanding of Seattle past and present that is tired of a City Council of ideological zealots like Mosqueda that have failed to lead and govern. Look around to see their failure. For those that have moved here recently, it wasn’t always like this. The dystopia you see is a grand social experiment gone horribly wrong. Vote out all the incumbents. Mosqueda is part of the problem.
👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
I don’t think Mosqueda will be getting mine.
I like him already. Look around! Current council needs to go.
He gets my vote. I am tired of this current council, Mosqueda included. It’s time for a change.
There is no way I would vote for Mosqueda for another term. Her performance, along with that of her fellow city council members, has been abysmal. While I will be interested in seeing the credentials and policy positions on any other candidates in this race, I can say with certainty that, if the election were held today, McQuaid would have my vote.