Councilmember Alex Pedersen spoke to the Club on August 20, 2020. He represents the Fourth Council District, which is Northeast Seattle. He was elected in 2019 and his term of office runs through 2023.
In his remarks, Councilmember Pedersen spoke about a wide array of Seattle issues covering everything from the cuts in the Navigation Team to dealing with electric scooters.
Several of our members were quite dismayed by his treatment by protesters over the last several months. Those in favor of a fifty percent cut in the police force budget have shown up at his home five times in the last few weeks in what must have been frightening episodes. The first was at 10:45 at night with his wife, children, and a sleepover child friend. Councilmember Pedersen has been forced to move his family out of his house.
The Councilmember answered several questions including one about the new district elections in Seattle. He noted that only Portland still has the at-large system in the USA and that voting at-large is very rare. He expressed hope that, over time, the district elections would prove to be a successful system.
