Brianna Thomas has been steeped in the idea of service for much of her life. Her father served in the military and the family volunteered at food banks on Saturdays.
But when Thomas told her family she was planning to run for Seattle City Council to replace Councilmember Lorena González, whose mayoral candidacy opens up this citywide seat, they were a bit hesitant.
“My family was like ‘Really? Right now? It’s real bad right now,’” said Thomas, who has worked in González’s council office since 2015. “And I’m like ‘Yeah, I think that’s the foundational definition of leadership, guys, you go in when it’s rough.’”
“I’ve just seen this city go through a lot in the last five years and I am called to step in and do the good work of holding us all together during some really unprecedented times.”
Before working as a council staffer, Thomas worked as a legislative aide in Olympia and managed the 2014 campaign to bring the $15 minimum wage to SeaTac, registering 1,000 voters there in the process: “If that’s not a story about people power, then I don’t know what is.”
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She similarly led the push for public campaign financing the next year in Seattle with the Democracy Voucher program, which she is participating in for this run.
Thomas joins a crowded field vying to win the seat vacated by her boss. Other candidates include Fremont Brewing’s Sara Nelson, Claire Grant, a Seattle University grad who is running to be the city’s youngest councilmember, Rebecca Williamson of the Socialist Workers Party, and Mercedes Carrabba.
Thomas, 39, cites her experience inside the council as one thing that aids her in this campaign (“112% yes” it helps, she said). She enters the race with González’s endorsement as well as that of councilmembers Dan Strauss and Lisa Herbold.
As a Black woman, her campaign says Thomas is “intimately aware of the unique impact BIPOC Seattleites have on the city, and the issues that disproportionately affect them” including her work on police reform, fair governance, and the minimum wage, “centered on uplifting BIPOC communities.”
The current council has no Black members for the first time since 1966, the Thomas campaign says.
As for policy differences with her boss, however, she notes her hesitancy to bring Lime scooters to the city that could present accessibility challenges. Thomas hasn’t owned a car in seven years, so is reliant on public transit, rents her apartment in West Seattle, and still carries student loan debt.
She says this background brings into stark relief the importance to her of vibrant, dense communities, highlighting the council’s past work on the Seattle Transportation Benefit District levy, for example.
“I know there is a narrative right now that the council is in disarray and it’s dysfunctional and I just reject that,” Thomas said. “We are working together and we’re working for the people who need it most.”
Another narrative Thomas rejects? The idea that Seattle’s best days are in the past.
“I believe that Seattle has an opportunity to come out of this pandemic stronger and we have an opportunity to remind ourselves and each other how much we really care about each other,” she said. “I’m tired of being told that my city is over and it’s a thing of the past and we should give up on it. This is a town full of artists and cooks and kind folks and amazing senior centers and parks and I’m just not willing to assume that that’s all just so yesterday.”
The top policy priorities for her going forward are standing up the regional approach to homelessness, noting attempts to use hotel rooms as emergency shelter for people living outside during the coronavirus pandemic, and taking a holistic approach to reforming the local criminal justice system that doesn’t focus solely on the Seattle Police Department. This includes examining racial biases in probation and bail processes.
During her time with the council, she worked on the 2017 police accountability ordinance meant to bolster civilian oversight of disciplinary proceedings and the establishment of the Office of Inspector General in 2018. She said she thought the council “got as far as they legally could” with its budget moves to transfer some SPD duties to other agencies, which resulted in about a 20% cut to police funding.
“We can’t undo 400 years of an institution in a single budget cycle,” Thomas said.
Thomas is no stranger to council campaigns, having run to represent West Seattle and Delridge in 2015 before placing fourth in the primary with about 10% of the vote. Obviously this will be a much different campaign, focused on winning across the entire city, and with continued social distancing restrictions.
She says she has changed how she plans to run.
“Last time I ran, I had a lot of enthusiasm but a little bit of naivete and I think I was trying to be what I thought the candidate was,” she said, “Now I’m just trying really hard to be Brianna.”
You can learn more at peopleforbrianna.org.
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While her record of bringing $15 an hour to SeaTac is commendable, it sounds like more of the same with regard to homelessness, etc. More of the same is last thing this city needs right now to get back on its feet.
“can’t undo 400 hundred years” of what Seattle institution?
This is a reference to the 1619 project in the NYT whose central thesis is that the US’ true founding was based on the arrival of the first slaves from Africa. There are a number of activists in Seattle such as Nikkita Oliver and Shaun Scott, who have asserted the entire institution of law enforcement can be traced back to the enforcement of slavery and thus should be completely abolished. You can decide for yourself whether you believe that to be true but in terms of what this candidate’s position is regarding the police I think it is logical to assume she will align herself with those views.
If we follow their logic and trace the history of institutions back to their origins we would be abolishing many of them.
Marriage? Check.
Education? Check
Land Ownership? Check
Justice System? Check
Why don’t we abolish America because the country started with the genocide of the people who were already living here?
Where do I sign up?
QAnon, Proud Boys, GOP, Anarchists, Black Bloc . . . you got options bro.
Well, that makes my decision a whole lot easier…
Ah-ha — today I learned… Thanks D13T.
So technically that’s a true statement, but in context it still reads as a cop-out (see what I did there?) for not addressing the problem at all.
Glad I could help. As a great 80’s cartoon used to say “Knowing is half the battle”
Hard pass the existing council has done nothing but ruin this once beautiful city. For a group that talks a lot about diversity and inclusion they have a very narrow view of what ideas are acceptable. I want a truly diverse SCC
why don’t you take this as the opportunity to explain what you mean by a truly diverse SCC? Cite examples and specifics so we can understand the lack of a narrow view.
Diversity, in this context, might include pragmatism, instead of devotion to activism/ideology.
Agree. I will try to keep an open mind, but the fact that Ms.Thomas worked for Gonzalez is a big negative for me. We need to replace most members of the City Council, so that some fresh, moderate ideas can come forth, instead of the “same old, same old.”
Her only differentiator is that she doesn’t like Lime scooters because of accessibility challenges? Solve the tents that cover the sidewalks first before you take away green mobility.
Vote against anyone associated with City Council unless you think accountability and results are overrated and Seattle is heading in the right direction with our response to homelessness.
Spot on!
In 2019, I called CM Gonzalez’s office when she was serving as chair of the public safety committee. Brianna Thomas answered the phone. I believe she is/was chief of staff. I asked if Gonzalez would be making any public statements about safety around the Third Ave entrance to the county courthouse, which had been closed due to increased/ongoing assaults in the area. Judges and county council members had spoken out on the issue, as well as various staff who work in the building. I have a friend who works right by there and my mother-in-law was about to serve on jury duty. Long story short, Brianna was super dismissive and told me Gonzalez would not be making any statements about public safety on Third Ave. She said my concerns were “hyperbolic.” She said that she personally walks on Third Ave every day and had never been bothered.
It was a dispiriting phone call. Totally unhelpful. If anyone is looking for a candidate who will work collaboratively as a city-wide leader on public safety, look elsewhere.
No surprise here.