Candidate Profile: Joe Nguyen For King County Executive

Renton WA

26 July, 2021

8:00 PM

Description

KING COUNTY, WA — Voting is underway and the 2021 primary election is heating up in King County ahead of Election Day, Aug. 3. Nearly 650 candidates are seeking various offices in 2021, beating the previous record set in 2017. Out of that total, more than 200 candidates appear in the primary, which features all the races with three or more people seeking the same office. Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles leading up to Election Day. Candidate Joe Nguyen Age (as of Election Day) 37 Position Sought King County Executive Party Affiliation Democrat Family In addition to being a State Senator and working full-time at Microsoft, I am a proud father of three energetic children under the age of 6, and live in West Seattle with my wife, Tallie, a former special education teacher in the Highline Public School District. Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No Education I graduated from John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien after serving as class president for three years. I then attended Seattle University and served as student body president for two years before graduating with Bachelor of Arts degrees in finance and humanities with a minor in economics. Occupation Professionally, I have executive experience as a Senior Manager at Microsoft working to provide job training that supports all people with the skills needed to succeed in this rapidly changing, technologically dependent economy. I've been at Microsoft for the past 7 years. Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office I currently serve as the State Senator from the 34th LD. I was elected to this position in 2018. Campaign website https://meetjoenguyen.com/ Why are you seeking elective office? We all know that the decisions we make as we recover from the pandemic will shape the lives of millions for years to come. The old way of doing business was failing most of us even before the pandemic hit – and we cannot afford to go back to the status quo. After 12 years, and several broken promises, we need a change in leadership. We must provide a vision for the future that is inclusive and doesn't merely talk about equity and prosperity for communities left behind, but actually produces results. When faced with a housing crisis- we can't give away $135 million dollars to billionaire sports team owners. When faced with a criminal justice crisis- we can't continue spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new jails and militarization of law enforcement. When faced with a climate crisis- we can't keep setting goals, with no real measures of accountability or plans to actually meet them. The leadership at King County is failing us and isn't working. We are living the consequences of leadership that is reactive, not proactive. We are living the consequences of those holding power not reflecting the communities they serve. Before holding elected office, I've had a long career in the private sector, managing multi-million dollar portfolios and advising on strategy for executives in world-leading technology companies. I know what it takes to lead large teams, manage resources, and I'm ready to get to work. I've seen in the legislature that it's easier to not do something than it is to do something, and that's why I believe we need people in executive leadership positions that are there to fight for people. Leaders that advocate for policies that make a difference for those on the margins. That's why I'm running. I want to take action on issues that continue to prevent our region from being a truly welcoming place for all. I want to tackle inequality and homelessness, I want to use the resources we have available at the County to address criminal justice reform and make sure that we are living up to the promise of Martin Luther King Jr, the namesake of our County. After 12 years of the status quo, we need a change, and I am running to provide a better vision for what our County can be. The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it. Homelessness. Six years after declaring homelessness an emergency, our county leadership has allowed the crisis to get worse. Study after study has told us what it will take to address this situation, and what we need now are leaders who will act with urgency and be accountable to solve the most important issue in King County. We have to move from a reactive system that only addresses the problem once it's too late, to one that is proactive. As King County executive I will prioritize: Working in coordination with our Regional Homelessness Authority along with community-based organizations to dramatically scale up the direct aid to people experiencing homelessness. Investing in proven solutions to help people get into housing with wraparound services that fit their needs through the newly created JustCare program. Expanding community-based substance use disorder and mental health treatment facilities.Increase the number of regional access points and outreach workers to help individuals through the Coordinated Entry Program. Quickly expand emergency housing options, which are not replacements for permanent housing but a means to help individuals find a safe place inside. Hotels, Tiny Homes, and Repurposed Civic Properties can serve those needs, but my primary focus is on creating the permanent supportive and affordable housing we need to solve the root causes of the homelessness crisis. It is many times cheaper to keep someone housed than it is to get them out of homelessness. In order for this region to alleviate homelessness, we must stem the flow of individuals who become unhoused. We must expand diversion services but as King County Executive, I will work to create more affordable housing by: Collaborate with cities throughout our county to invest in building thousands of new affordable housing units so that every family in King County can afford a home. Work with our Regional Homelessness Authority to build enough permanent supportive housing with wrap-around services to provide people struggling with chronic homelessness the services they need to thrive. Develop underutilized civic properties already owned by the County for social housing. Work to provide alternative pathways to homeownership and housing stability for families in communities of color who have been excluded from traditional means to build intergenerational wealth for decades, particularly for communities in unincorporated King County like the one where I was raised. In addition to all this work, the County must be a leader in partnership with the City, State, and Federal government to tackle the truly systemic issues that creates homelessness. Everything from reforming our broken criminal legal system, breaking the schools to prison pipeline, investing in our youths in foster care, and investing in behavioral and mental health resources. No one person or jurisdiction can do this alone. It will require new leaders with the urgency and humility to work together. What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post? The biggest difference between myself and the incumbent is that I have the lived experience of failed policies which gives me the urgency needed to fix them. I understand on a visceral level how the decisions made by our elected leaders affect the well-being of families just struggling to get by. People are suffering right now and the challenges that they're facing need to be addressed immediately, and I will do so in a way that is both effective and community centric. When Mitzi Johanknecht leaves office, what should the county look for in appointing a new sheriff? The next King County Sheriff needs to be committed to rooting out racial bias in the KCSO, pledge to a substantial reduction in police violence and support the implementation of systems of transparency and accountability within their office. Before considering any candidates for the next King County Sheriff, I will bring in community leaders that have been impacted by decades of failed policing policy and give them a say in the selection process. This will hold the next Sheriff accountable to the people they serve and begin repairing trust between communities of color and our police officers. Ideally, we will find someone within law enforcement who shares these values and is willing to meet directly with those they've pledged to serve. I am not however ruling out selecting someone from outside of law enforcement to serve in this vital position. The selection of the next King County sheriff gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to upend KCSO's culture of misleading the public that was on full display in the aftermath of Tommy Le's death at the hands of law enforcement. We need to be considering all possible avenues. What are some of your priorities for a post-pandemic recovery? Despite think-pieces promoting rosy stock market numbers and "recovery rates", we know that the pandemic has hurt people differently. For example, while those who make over $50k/year might have lower unemployment rates than they did pre-pandemic, those who make under $24k still have record-high unemployment. Before the session, I championed gathering public support for a "no austerity budget", demanding we create a budget that reflects our values, and we largely succeeded. We delivered a budget with record increases in TANF, Capital Gains, a Working Families Tax Credit, and avoided big cuts to social services that were rumored. But despite our state's economic situation being "not so bad", we aren't solving for a budget crisis, we're solving for helping people in crisis. As King County Executive, I will double down on my ongoing commitment to working people. This means investing in social services, education, transportation, and community resources. My values have always been clear, and I've made it my mission to never let my foot off the gas when it comes to putting those values into action. That won't change when it comes to leading the people of King County. What would you do in office to strengthen preparedness and response efforts for extreme heat and wildfire smoke events? In the immediate, we need to protect our communities that are already facing the calamitous side effects of climate change. This is especially true for our historically underinvested communities in South and East King County. We need to have health systems in place that provide water and a safe location to cool off before the next heatwave, and emergency centers for those affected by both the wildfires and the smoke. All of our solutions need to be proactive, not reactive. Building additional units of affordable and social housing will reduce our unhoused population, and keep large swathes of our community safe from intense and increasingly more regular climate events. As Senator, I helped pass HB 1168 to put millions into investing in long-term forest health and the reduction of wildfires. This is a great example of how funding programs that prioritize protecting our natural resources are a win-win for solutions to climate change. While this may seem obvious, so many of our answers to mitigating the effects of climate change over-complicate our issues, creating new, convoluted systems to offset our carbon use. While these solutions have their place, direct investment in our land and waterways should not be overlooked as we search for answers in this crisis. Land and waterways investments are essential to human life and to the ecosystems and animals that we share this planet with. If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency) For 12 years the incumbent has promised to address the biggest problems facing King County. Promises are only progress if you back them up with action, and our most vulnerable communities can't afford another 4 years of broken pledges. Six years after declaring homelessness an emergency, our county leadership has allowed the crisis to get worse. An article came out recently that said we could've solved youth homelessness if the county had followed through on it's own plan, but didn't. After years of setting aggressive climate goals, King County's leadership has failed to enact policies that will actually meet those targets according to the County's own analysis. We know what we need to do to hit our climate goals, the only remaining question is whether we can trust the same leaders who have yet to set us on a path to avert the worst of the climate crisis to finally show the urgency needed to get the job done. The issue of criminal justice reform is the outcropping of rampant inequality, underinvestment in communities, and not having adequate resources for everything from schools and public transportation to access to nutritious food. 73% of the King County general fund goes to the criminal legal system, and we're using that to criminalize poverty, Blackness, mental health crises, and addiction. The truth is: a bigger, nearly $250 million youth jail should have never been built and 2025 is too long to wait to shut it down. We need someone in that office who is willing to act with the fierce urgency of now. Homelessness isn't going anywhere, climate change won't wait, and our broken criminal justice system needs immediate reform. We can't afford to tread water on these issues for a second longer. How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently? The County's COVID response reflected much of the County's processes in general. If you benefit from our current systems (have access to healthcare, speak English, etc.) you have benefitted from the recovery response. This is most evident in our vaccine distribution. While our most well-connected neighbors have been able to navigate these systems, our most marginalized communities have not. Our process must go beyond just translating materials into different languages, we must intentionally and carefully build trust with communities who don't trust our systems. We have trusted messengers in these communities who could have been activated to do this work, but they needed to be integrated into the process. Funding is simple: you must prioritize it. This pandemic has illustrated how our wellness is our neighbors' wellness. Providing robust health and human services, especially to our most marginalized communities, benefits us all. As Vice-Chair of the Human Services Committee, I've shown up and done the work. But despite the County's reliance on the state, I've never seen the County engage at the state level, and that needs to change. As a leader, you must be active and engaged in advocating for these programs, and that's exactly what I intend to do in office. Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform. Large areas of King County that are unincorporated continue to fall behind. Being unincorporated means that they don't have a local city council or other body that funds or oversees local human services. The County is the closest point of government contact for these areas such as Skyway, White Center, Woodinville, and Vashon Island. Because of a lack of attention to these areas by the current administration, many families are deeply lacking in services and opportunities. I know we can transform the way we work in this county because we did it in the legislature, but it takes action, and leadership that is dedicated to the people. What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job? Professionally, I have worked in both the private and public sectors. I advise Senior Executives at Microsoft, and support startup companies and small businesses as they get off the ground. I have been proud to serve on the Board of Wellspring Family Services, which helps thousands of families across King County to end the cycle of homelessness. I served on King County's Office of Law Enforcement Oversight Community Advisory Committee, and was a 2018 Jackson Leadership Fellow, completing a 9-month intensive leadership program with civic leaders from across the state. In 2018 I ran for State Senate and refused corporate PAC contributions — despite being outraised and outspent by our opponent by 4:1, we won by double digits. I became the first Vietnamese American ever elected to the Washington State Senate. That campaign proved that people over politics is a winning strategy, and gave me the tools to succeed in a race where the odds feel stacked. Once in the Senate, I helped pass transformative legislation that addressed a whole host of issues that had gone unaddressed for decades. These bills reduced juvenile incarceration, helped struggling families get social services more easily, instituted a capital gains tax for the first time in Washington's history. The best advice ever shared with me was: From the legislature, it's "You can get a lot done if you don't care about getting credit or re-elected."