Christal Wood for Seattle Mayor

In Pioneer Square, shortly after midnight, on April 1st, 2001, I, Christal Olivia Wood, announced my candidacy for Mayor of the City of Seattle. I chose April Fool’s Day, because our local and national government have made fools of us all for quite some time now. I chose Pioneer Square, because it should be reclaimed and preserved as a place for the public to gather in solidarity, not for use in some crowd control chess game, not a place of death and despair.

"The problems facing Seattle as a city are multitudinous. I, like others, have become restless and angered--rendered incredulous and numb at the shortsightedness of our local and national policy makers and court jesters. With each passing day, legislation and political movements reverse many of the advances made by passionate and forward-thinking people in all areas of human existence--from civil rights to housing, from our economy to our culture, from our environment and health, to education, from our children to our seniors.

The City Council and our current Mayor have allocated millions into the red for superfluous initiatives that become cash-cows for local government agencies and development contractors. The city begs after Boeing and the Mariners, while our neighborhoods deteriorate, our housing costs rise, and our storefronts stand vacant

The justice system preys on the most vulnerable among us, both economically and socially. Our public spaces are no longer public, and our police don’t protect us. ...We spent at least double the amount last year on our fire and police agencies alone than on our neighborhoods, recreation and arts combined. Moreover, we spent more on energy and public utilities than the rest of the budget combined! Mind you, this was last year--well before the "energy crunch," in the name of which our local government has allowed us to be held hostage--most recently to the tune of $649 million, in addition to a 40% rate hike. I-695 has been used as an excuse to implement layoffs and hiring freezes, bringing the price of parking at our own parks from $0 to $5 in an afternoon. These are but a few examples...I could go on for weeks. In the aggregate, our smiling public officials have seen fit to respond to Seattle’s awkward growth with a flood of mismanagement, and there are far too many holes in the dike.

'And what can I do,' I ask of myself, and maybe you do as well. As for me, at this point in my own life, I crave so hard to address so much of what I see happening around me that I'm driving my associates nuts, and it threatens to consume me. I am asking permission from the people of Seattle to be elected to a position to turn the tide, tip the scales, adjust the sails.

What I can offer is that I have a wealth of exposure to human service facilitation, that I am an accomplished scholar in Communications, and Society & Justice. I have years of experience in administration, and in the arts. I've been a lot of places, seen a lot of things. ...I'm multi-racial, and understand all too well the underlying cultural conflict that plagues this and most everyplace in this country. ...Most importantly, I love this city too much to stand by and watch it deteriorate--not plagued as I am with such visions of how it once was, and how it could be. The position of Mayor is non-partisan, thank God. But, for those who like labels--I'm a feminist, I'm a rabble-rouser, I'm a single mother, I'm a conservative-progressive (put THAT in your pipe, and smoke it). I have been and am a lot of things; but my point is-- with your permission, I'd make a dynamite mayor.

You have 7 months or so to decide, of course. During that time, I'll be tireless in proving myself worthy of a vote--and to some, proving our political system worthy of involvement. Soon, there'll be a website constructed, and a phone number to call anytime so you can get to know me, quiz me, rant at me. The ‘election committee’ and I will be making a platform--a set of proposals available very soon. Some of the members and I will to be out there, trying to register you to vote if you're not; to engage you in political discourse...make you feel funny.

With my candidacy, I'm asking you to take a calculated risk on an April Fool that is no fool. With my candidacy, I'm asking you to turn your back on politics as usual, and open your mind further to the possible. ...And if I, and those who have been gracious enough to agree to support me, should succeed in that--I, We, will have already won.

Thank you. -cw