Grassroots Organizers Mobilize to Defend Kshama Sawant Against Recall Effort by Tyler Walicek, Truthout, April 8, 2021 https://truthout.org/articles/grassroots-organizers-mobilize-to-defend-kshama-sawant-against-recall-effort/ . . . It’s not surprising that there has been a backlash against Sawant, given the success she’s had in advocating for social and economic justice from her lone city council seat. She was instrumental in pushing the Council <https://ballotpedia.org/City_of_Seattle_%2415_Per_Hour_Minimum_Wage_Initiative_(November_2014)> to pass a $15 minimum wage for Seattle in 2014, an invaluable measure that put the issue on the national agenda.
Sawant has also proven a persistent thorn in the side of Amazon. In 2018, the company opened its endless coffers and managed to sink one of her earlier corporate tax initiative <https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/how-amazon-helped-kill-a-seattle-tax-on-business/562736/>*s *with a flood of cash. In the 2019 election, anti-Sawant PACs outspent her supporting PACs <https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/11/05/41908646/if-sawant-loses-what-does-that-say-about-seattle> by a ratio of 600 to 1, according to Seattle alternative weekly *The Stranger. *Amazon itself unleashed $1.5 million <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-seattle/amazons-1-5-million-political-gambit-backfires-in-seattle-city-council-election-idUSKBN1XL09B> to defeat Sawant and other progressive candidates in that election. Nevertheless, the company’s attempt to buy the city council was largely thwarted: Sawant was re-elected, and only two of Amazon’s seven favored candidates won office. In July 2020, the passage of the Sawant-backed JumpStart payroll tax <http://seattle.legistar.com/ViewReport.ashx?M=R&N=Master&GID=393&ID=4576785&GUID=B501D452-6F8F-4F78-9376-1F28E713A43B&Extra=WithText&Title=Legislation+Details+(With+Text)> landed a tremendous blow against the corporate titan. Her Tax Amazon campaign <https://www.seattle.gov/council/meet-the-council/kshama-sawant/tax-amazon> was a key driver of the historic legislation; its proceeds will fund coronavirus relief, and later, green, union-built affordable housing. She also won a winter eviction moratorium <https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-city-council-approves-legislation-protecting-renters-from-wintertime-evictionsme-evictions/> and a ban on police use of chemical weapons <https://council.seattle.gov/2020/06/15/sawant-hails-historic-ban-on-seattle-police-use-of-chemical-weapons-chokeholds/> and chokeholds. And, on March 29, 2021, a Sawant-sponsored right-to-counsel bill was approved <https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-city-council-passes-right-to-a-free-lawyer-for-those-facing-eviction/> by the city council — a major step toward confronting the city’s housing crisis. . . . -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#7862): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/7862 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/81991316/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
