Government
On Wednesday Oct 22 from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm, the activist group SeaTac Airport Community Coalition for Justice is holding a candidate forum in downtown Burien and on Zoom. Registrants will learn the exact location, so please register ahead of time.
Current Port of Seattle commissioners Ryan Calkins and Toshiko Hasegawa are both unopposed in their bids for re-election. Commission President Hamdi Mohamed, also running unopposed, is reportedly working on her schedule and may attend as well. This is one of the few forums this election cycle where voters can ask questions of the Port candidates.
For the 33rd legislative district house seat, candidates Edwin Obras, who was appointed as an interim in December 2024 and is on the ballot for the first time, and Kevin Schilling, the current mayor of Burien, are both participating. This forum is 8 days after a forum in Des Moines where both candidates participated.
State Senator Tina Orwall is also participating. She is unopposed in her bid to retain the Senate seat she was appointed to in December 2024. (Edwin, in turn, was appointed to her seat.)
Moderators are Paulina Lopez, Executive Director, Duwamish River Community Coalition, and Linh Thai, Program Manager, Veteran and Military Community Programs at the University of Washington.
Topics include airport impacts, community concerns, and working for a healthier future together. The organizers have created a candidate questionnaire, available here, with topics related to the airport.
The official name of the organizing group is the SeaTac Airport Community Coalition for Justice (STAAC4J), which promotes awareness and education of the health, environmental, and climate harms of living in airport-impacted communities, and place-based advocacy for solutions. Their website address is https://fixtheharm.org. They are joined in presenting this forum by 19 other organizations in areas near SeaTac Airport
Members Discussion