Election 2019 - Tukwila City Council Responses


Positions 2, 4, and 6 will be up for vote in November.

Position 2

Kathy Hougardy

Sitting council member. No response submitted. Contact: kathyfortukwila@gmail.com

Nancy J. Manos

No response submitted. Contact: nancymanostukwila@gmail.com, www.friendsofNancyManos.com


Position 4

Dennis Martinez

No response submitted. Contact: dennismartinez.tukwila@gmail.com

Cynthia Delostrinos Johnson

No response submitted. Contact: cynthia@cynthiafortukwila.com, www.cynthiafortukwila.com


Position 6

Kate Kruller

Sitting council member. No response submitted. Contact: Kate@Kate4Tukwila.com, www.Kate4Tukwila.com

Tosh Sharp

Contact: tosh4tukwila@gmail.com, www.tosh4tukwila.com

Do you have any direct experience with disability?

Yes. I was in a relationship were my partner had a mental disability. She had to take medication and see counseling. It was a quite challenge for, myself and the family.

1. HOUSING: How would you make affordable housing available to people with developmental disabilities? 

I will fight for additional resources to help keep people in their homes as it is cheaper to help people before they become unsheltered; an increase in mental health and drug treatment; hygiene services such as showers, bathrooms, and laundry services; short-term supportive housing that offers a place to store belongings and to be during the day as opposed to just overnight shelters.


2. SHELTER: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities have a safe place to sleep and stay? 

I will work with the county and neighboring municipalities on providing incentives to build affordable housing units that make accommodations and reserved spaces to those with a disabilities into new developments. We must also have mental health experts on hand to help evaluate and focus on the most needy.


3. SUPPORTIVE HOUSING: How would you ensure people with developmental disabilities are receiving case management and the support needed to escape homelessness?

For a program to be effective, you must have trained professionals on hand to triage the problem, focusing on the people that are in the direst situations first. Focusing on the cases that have the biggest impact on the community.


4. SAFETY: How would you ensure the safety of people with developmental disabilities in police interactions?

One of my agenda items is to focus on community policing, which means having more training for officers on how to engage productively with people of color and those who suffer from mental illness. Additionally, to have more officers assigned to field work which includes having them planted into communities full-time. This would allow officers to work closely with and create a positive relationship with the homeless community as well.


5. SAFETY & JUSTICE: Would you support cross-training among professionals in the courtroom, police departments, victim assistance agencies and schools to prepare the justice community for situations involving people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities so they can receive equal justice? 

Absolutely yes.


6. ACCESS & ACCOMMODATIONS: How would you ensure access to straws in public areas?

I encourage people to recycle when they can, but when it comes to accommodations necessary for survival, people will get a straw, even if I have to provide the straw to them myself.


7. JOBS: What would you do to increase job prospects for people with developmental disabilities?

I will use my position to advocate and give preferential treatment to companies who utilize union, female, people of color and disabled workers first. I will also make it my duty on the council to champion the need to have a diverse workforce to my fellow council members and the public.


8. SAFETY: How will you ensure your city's streets, sidewalks and intersections are safe and accessible to everyone? 

I will happily rely on representatives/experts from that community to inspect, review and survey current conditions regarding access points to determine if what is available is acceptable and makes sense. If changes must be made, I will work to have those locations remedied. I will also ask representatives to be there in the initial design process to ensure that access issues are addressed long before construction.


9. TRANSIT: Do you think Lyft, Uber and other ride-share companies should be required to include wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets?

Yes.


10. TRANSIT: What will you do to expand transit service and improve reliability?

I will ask the people of Tukwila what locations are being neglected regarding transit and determine what things I must do to ensure coverage to those areas are addressed. It is my job to fight for the needs of the citizenry of Tukwila.