Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is acknowledging public safety concerns may be weighing on her administration after a new poll showed her favorability dropping 20%
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is acknowledging public safety concerns may be weighing on her administration after a new poll showed her favorability dropping 20 percentage points in four months, although she largely brushed aside questions about the survey itself.
“Anyone can do a poll, so people can look at the poll and interpret what they want,” Wilson said Thursday when asked about the findings. “But my priority right now is delivering for the people of Seattle.”
When pressed specifically about the 20-point decline, Wilson pointed to public safety and uncertainty surrounding leadership of the Seattle Police Department.
“I think there are a lot of concerns right now about public safety, which I understand,” Wilson said. “Public safety is an extremely high priority for my office.”
Wilson also noted the city is preparing to begin its search for a permanent police chief following her abrupt removal of former Chief Shon Barnes in the aftermath of the deadly Bite of Seattle shooting.
Wilson said Thursday she does not know whether Interim Chief Andre Sayles will apply for the permanent position.
The comments came hours after new polling commissioned by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce put Wilson’s favorability at 37%, down from 56% in April.
About 62% of respondents viewed her unfavorably. The online survey included 500 registered Seattle voters and was conducted over several days beginning Aug. 10.
The survey also gave Wilson's administration low marks across a series of public safety questions, including reducing crime and homeless encampments, addressing public drug use, making the city safer and managing the response to the Bite of Seattle shooting.
Andrew Thibault of Fulcrum Strategy Group, which conducted the polling, said the magnitude and speed of Wilson’s decline stood out.
An image of Andrew Thibault, who worked on the poll methodology. (KOMO)“Just four months ago, the mayor's favorable was at 56 percent. It's now at 37 percent,” Thibault told KOMO News. He called it a “precipitous drop” and said it is “not something I've really seen before” this early in a mayoral term.
Thibault said Seattle mayors traditionally lose some support after an initial honeymoon period, but he said previous mayors who reached similarly weak numbers generally did so much later in their administrations.
At a comparable point in former Mayor Bruce Harrell's term, Thibault said Harrell remained in the mid-to-upper 50s. He said Wilson's current standing is particularly notable because the shift appears driven by policy rather than a scandal or another singular event.
Thibault added that the political warning sign for Wilson is an erosion of support among voters who identify as liberal, even though she remains significantly more popular among self-identified progressives.
“Everyone's moved away, but liberals in particular, she's lost them on public safety,” Thibault said, adding that public safety remains one of the most fundamental responsibilities voters assign to a mayor. Thibault also defended the survey against criticism that a poll commissioned by the business-backed Chamber was designed to produce a negative result for Wilson. He said the survey questions have been publicly released and noted the favorability question simply asked voters whether they viewed the mayor favorably or unfavorably.
The poll was conducted online through text-to-web and email-to-web responses, with results matched to the demographics of Seattle's registered voter population, Thibault said.
The Chamber has used Fulcrum Strategy Group for its ongoing regional public-opinion research known as The Index.
Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera said she views the polling less as a referendum on any individual elected official and more as a message that residents want city leaders to act.
“I think the poll is the public saying they want to see action on public safety,” Rivera told KOMO News. “It's not another report, another study.”
Rivera is sponsoring a resolution signaling the City Council's intent to establish a two-year, $418,000 partnership with the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Rivera has been pushing the city for months to adopt the group's focused-deterrence strategy for reducing gun violence.
The approach seeks to identify a relatively small group of people believed to be driving serious gun violence, connect them with services and community intervention, and make clear that continued violent behavior will bring law-enforcement consequences. Rivera described it as a “carrot and stick approach” that would be added to Seattle's existing violence-prevention efforts.
Rivera said the National Network has reported gun-violence reductions of 40% to 60% in cities that have adopted its strategies, including Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston.
The councilmember previously convened city, county, law-enforcement and community leaders to hear about the program.
Rivera connected her push directly to the July mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle and other recent shootings.
“Folks are very much feeling like we don't have a public safety plan, an effective one, at the city of Seattle,” Rivera said. “They want to see action now, and so do I.”
The City Council did not escape voters' dissatisfaction in the Chamber poll. It received a 41% favorable rating. However, Thibault said the council's numbers were statistically unchanged from April, while Wilson experienced the steep decline.
Seattle Police, meanwhile, received a 56% favorable rating, also largely unchanged from April.
Wilson said Thursday she remains focused on public safety along with transportation, homelessness and affordable housing.
“That is the work that I'm focused on,” Wilson said.
