Sorry for the long post but it is worth the read. Yesterday, I received the Endorsement Questionnaire from The Stranger. Followers of this page will know about the relationship I have with the Stranger. Even so, I appreciated the opportunity and took advantage of it. Below is my response to their questions as well as my email to them:
Thank you for the opportunity to fill this out. Since I doubt I am going to get your endorsement I would prefer to have a cordial relationship rather than an adversarial one so I suggest the following:
As Seattle’s “Bouncy House Tycoon” I offer to find a mutually agreeable date to bring some of my inflatable attractions to the park near your office and have a family fun day where we can find common ground on the issues at a “Bounce House Summit” Please let me know if you are interested. Questionnaire attached.
STRANGER ELECTION CONTROL BOARD QUESTIONNAIRE
2019
What’s your name?
Ari Hoffman
What position are you running for?
Seattle City Council District 2
Do you want the Stranger Election Control Board’s endorsement?
No, for several reasons. 1) I don’t like being “controlled” by organizations or companies. My wife and kids get to control me as do the voters and that’s where I draw the line. 2) I am under no illusions that I would get the Stranger’s endorsement. For whatever reason, the Stranger has an issue with me. We had a nice relationship until I pulled some ads for my company because the Stranger was running ads for services for sex offenders in the same issue and I thought that would leave my customers vulnerable to predators. Here are some highlights of what the Stranger has written about me since then: April 5th- “Are you sending your democracy vouchers to Ari Hoffman? Stop that!”- The Stranger Twitter April 5th – “F**K You.” – Sent to me via The Stranger’s Twitter. You then proceeded on several occasions to try and target my company, but I guess I should not be that upset, you did give me the title “Bouncy House Tycoon.” I think your investigative journalism needs some work because you wrote in an article that I am running in District 3, when I am actually running in District 2. I shouldn’t knock the attacks though. Every time the Stranger comes after me, I get more followers, donors and supporters so please, keep up the good work! 3) Many people I know rely on The Stranger endorsements. They read them and then vote the opposite on every item, so I would really hate to have them vote for my opponents if you were to endorse me.
Do you live in an apartment, condo, house, or other living situation? And do you rent your current place of residence, or do you own it?
I live in a house which I bought 16 years ago. Since then, because of onerous City of Seattle regulations regarding construction, which created a supply and demand issue in the housing market, the house has almost quadrupled in value. On top of that Seattle voters and politicians continue to increase my taxes which have doubled on my house. We should discuss housing affordability and how these factors contribute to making living in Seattle unaffordable for residents and for people who are considering moving to town. We should also discuss that these are contributing factors when people decide to leave Seattle.
What form of transportation do you most frequently use to get around the city? Car? Bike? Your feet? Solowheel? Scooter? Lyft? Metro?
Typically, every day I drive either my car or my truck. It depends if I am hauling bounce houses or not that day. I bought the truck that I did because it has an eco friendly feature that shuts down the engine when stopped so I can be environmentally conscious. To quote Matthew Lang from the Seattle Transit Riders Union: "I'm a small business owner, the nature of my business is something that requires me to drive a car" and he drives an SUV. 8:00 mark www.seattlechannel.org/mayor-and-council/city-council/2018/2019-sustainability-and-transportation...
I do my part and drive my sedan as often as I can rather than my truck because like Matt “I am on the road every day as a car driver.” I drive my children and nephew to school on Beacon Hill and then I head to my office in Georgetown. I wish there were better mass transit options because if I did this via mass transit it could take upwards of 30-40 minutes. Right now it takes between 10 and 20. I offset my carbon emissions because I keep the Jewish Sabbath and for 25 hours each week from Friday sundown to nightfall on Saturday Night as well as Jewish holidays throughout the year, I walk everywhere and am not allowed to drive by ritual law. Interestingly enough when SDOT was doing studies to justify placing bike lanes on Wilson Ave, they performed the study during a week which had a 2 day Jewish holiday plus the Sabbath. For over 72 hours, hundreds of people were not driving in Seward Park, so the data to justify those bike lanes was based on faulty information.
Are you now, or have you ever been, a member (or disciple, or fan) of Speak Out Seattle and / or Safe Seattle?
I am a proud member of Speak Out Seattle. Before I knew who they were, a woman wearing an SOS T shirt, stood up at the Ballard Town Hall and demanded that the City Council take action to solve the ongoing desecration and vandalism of the Jewish Cemeteries in North Seattle by drug dealers, prostitutes, as well as people living in tents and RVs that had been enabled by city policies. The damage continues to today and is in excess of $300,000. The city of Seattle denied our damage claim and the representative told me “… if they accepted our claim , they would have to accept everyone else’s as well.” I made it my business to find this organization that had stood up for a total stranger(see what I did there?) and found a group of people dedicated to solving the challenges with Seattle’s Opioid Crisis, Mental Health Crisis, and Housing Affordability, using data driven solutions such as treatment on demand and emergency shelters. SOS would also like to use our city parks without having to clean up needles.
Safe Seattle, was one of the first organization in town to bring awareness to the situation at the Jewish Cemeteries. They did not know who I was and helped a total stranger (that just keeps working every time!) They helped jump start a media campaign that temporarily stopped the desecration and vandalism of our sacred ground. The story was carried by Todd Herman Show, The Jason Rantz Show on AM 770 KTTH, Neighborhood Safety Alliance, Dori Monson on KIRO Radio, The Saul Spady Show on AM 770 KTTH, Kirby Wilbur Radio, AM 770 KTTH, 570 KVI, King 5, KOMO News, Kiro 7, Q13 Fox, Fox News, Fox and Friends, Glenn Beck, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post and many other national and international media including some interviews I did in Yiddish. Which reminds me, why was the Stranger not interested in covering the desecration of Jewish cemeteries in Seattle?
Were you for or against last year’s proposed “Head Tax” to fund services for Seattle’s homeless population?
I testified against the “Head Tax” to council and collected signatures to repeal it. While the purpose may have been to fund services, Seattle has spend over 100 million last year and (even as high as over 1 Billion according to the Puget Sound Business Journal) and the problem has only gotten worse. There is no accountability for the tax payer funds. There is no city comptroller tracking spending. As such the system is ripe with waste and fraud. Many people who worked with me on repealing the tax, were fine with a tax but were concerned that there was no accountability for the funds. Additionally, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel called Chicago’s $4 per moth per employee tax a “Job Killer” and worked to repeal it. I wonder what he would call a $250 per head or $500 per employee tax.
How do you feel about the “Head Tax” now?
Nothing has changed, so for the reasons stated above and many more including; how it will affect small business in Seattle as well as my friends and constituents who work for many of these companies, I am still against it.
Do you want your campaign to be supported by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s well-financed PAC, “Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy”?
I have filled out their questionnaire and am awaiting my interview. I am tired of Seattle politicians and their supporters demonizing the businesses that have grown our city and have made our economy so prosperous. Yes, I will be a voice for business and yes I will be a voice for Seattle residents. The two are not mutually exclusive. I am curious why The Stranger has an issue with the businesses that employ the people in this city and buy ads in the Stranger? Apparently the Stranger has a problem with these business but no problems with companies that defend sexual predators which you run advertisements for in your paper.
How much money have you raised so far? Do you think that’s about enough? And are you participating in the Democracy Voucher program?
As of the last filing over $44K but more since then. No, it is not enough. Since the Stranger made it a goal to ban Facebook ads along with the AG, more money has to be spent on campaigns that could be better used for other purposes. People can donate to the campaign at www.hoffmanforseattle.com
No I am not taking the vouchers. I believe that if the goal was to get big money out of elections as the Vouchers were marketed, than they should have done that. Instead all they did was inject tax payer money into elections and in doing so made Seattle less affordable by taxing us more. Additionally, they created more incentive to take PAC money. If there was a check box on the Vouchers that said A) Give to a Political Campaign or B) Refund my Property Taxes I wonder which one people would pick? Imagine how many people would could help with the money that we were taxed for the democracy vouchers rather than fund political campaigns.
Did you vote for Jenny Durkan for Mayor of Seattle in 2017? How do you feel about that decision today?
No I did not. I did not vote for any of the candidates on the ballot. I saw where the candidates stood but I did not see any that stood for me, my family or my community. I feel pretty good about that decision because I was proven correct. Almost all attempts at contact with the Mayor’s office regarding issues for myself, my company or my community has been met with silence.
For the following questions, please, we beg of you, keep your answers brief and focused on ONE problem and / or idea. In other words: “single” means “one,” people!
What’s the single biggest problem facing the Seattle Police Department?
Understaffing
What’s the single biggest challenge facing your district, and what’s your single best idea for addressing that challenge?
Equitable Safety - Safety for everyone from the person living on the street to the homeowner to the business owner. Equal protection under the law for all
What is your single best idea for making housing costs more affordable in this city?
Redoing the building code to allow for more construction to create more supply and lower demand to make housing more affordable. In the 1930s and 40’s when thousands of Boeing employees came to town there was no affordability crisis and they were able to build entire neighborhoods. It has taken me 3 years to get a permit to build a single family house.
If you’re not currently on the city council, what is the first piece of legislation you’ll introduce if elected?
To hire a forensic accounting company to audit of every dollar of City of Seattle funds. ... See MoreSee Less
3 hours ago ·
Smart City Technology such as urbanova.org offers unique solutions for Seattle's transportation challenges. At the same time we need to find better ways to utilize our existing resources. hoffmanforseattle.com ... See MoreSee Less
1 day ago ·
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Meet the Bancheros. They have lived in Rainier Valley for a long time but now they think Seattle is on the wrong track. They dont like what they are seeing on the streets and want a stronger police presence for a safer community. They know Seattle Police Department is facing recruiting challenges. What solutions would you suggest to solve them? Www.hoffmanforseattle.com ... See MoreSee Less
2 days ago ·
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