Jon grant is running on a progressive platform focused on affordable housing. He has a background in advocacy and helping at-risk populations through his time at The Association of Community Organizing for Reform Now (ACORN) and the Tenant’s Union.
Jon is an opinionated spokesperson for the socialist elements in City Council. He was sarcastically pleased with the fact that tech is vilified by Kshama Sawant. It is unlikely he would proactively or productively engage the tech industry or its employees in building a better city.
Jon wants Seattle to be a city that is not afraid to advocate for bold, progressive policies – whether that’s pushing Olympia lawmakers to act or Seattle acting unilaterally on a given policy issue.
On the city’s budget, Jon was clear that, despite nearly $1B increased revenues for the city compared to just a couple of years ago, that revenue increase is not nearly enough to meet the city’s needs. Jon advocated for increasing revenues, and is supportive of: the recently passed municipal income tax, a tax on commercial and residential developers in the city, and an increase in the B&O tax. He did not have a revenue number in mind and was dismissive of concerns with implementation or priorities beyond public, city owned and controlled housing.
Jon wants tech and other “major industries” to pay its “fair share” for public services. He could not elaborate on what was “fair” or relative to what benchmark — other than to assert that we have a regressive tax policy. He noted that, despite the tech industry’s success in creating new jobs in the region and therefore added value to the entire community, the tech industry is solely responsible for creating stress on the local housing market. For example, he erroneously indicated that the Mercer rebuild was created to solely serve Amazon.
Jon noted support for Municipal Broadband, arguing that broadband is a basic utility. However, it was clear he did not have a grasp of the market dynamics, the economics, or the regulatory framework in this complex matter. Jon took notes but seemed unmoved in the discussion.
He has endorsements from Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Lisa Herbold, The Stranger, The Seattle Weekly, and The Seattle Democratic Socialists of America.