(upbeat music) - Welcome to "Crosscut Now," the show that takes you beyond the breaking news, goes deeper on the issues you care about, and brings awareness to stories affecting communities.

In today's episode, public safety, affordable housing, and policing top voters' minds in the upcoming November election.

We'll break down what's behind a shift that could impact the state's largest city council race.

Plus, it's costing a lot to fill up your tank, learn who's blaming who, and what's being considered to alleviate gas prices.

And the Evergreen State is home to eerie movies.

We'll let you know what places to check out that aren't Forks, Washington, but just as good to see.

I'm Paris Jackson.

In today's episode, a major electoral shift is brewing in Seattle politics.

As voters will soon be casting their ballots, we'll explore what's at stake for the state's largest city council race.

How should the city of Seattle be run?

That's the question before voters this fall.

With seven of nine Seattle City Council seats up for the taking, the November 7th general election is bound to bring significant change to the city, no matter who is elected.

A lot is at stake for the city council election as residents worry about issues like policing, crime, homelessness, and affordable housing.

In the most recent Crosscut Elway poll, nearly 45% of likely voters said they want to significantly change the direction of the council.

On policing, the calls for defunding the police are not as prominent, even among the most progressive candidates, four of seven have said they support Mayor Bruce Harrell's officer hiring plan, but no one has a plan for attracting the large number of officers the mayor wants to hire.

Another hot button issue is Seattle's budget and how to pay for future plans.

The city is facing a general fund budget shortfall of up to $251 million in 2025.

How to mitigate that hole will depend on who gets elected.

I sit down with Crosscut City reporter Josh Cohen for a preview of the most pressing issues facing Seattle voters this November.

Welcome, Josh.

Thanks for joining us today.

- Thanks so much for having me.

- The most recent Crosscut Elway poll, about 45% of Seattle voters want significant change within the city council.

Let's set the stage with that being said, and where's the mood right now in our community?

- Yeah, I think it's fair to call this the first post pandemic election or first, real post-pandemic election for Seattle.

We've come a long way since 2020 when we had the protests in response to George Floyd, the calls for defunding the police, obviously all of the sort of fallout from the pandemic.

And now we're in a very different place, people are back to work and the city's feeling a lot more normal.

But at the same time, there we're still sort of feeling the effects of the pandemic with, there's been a rise in property crimes, obviously we're dealing with the fentanyl crisis, and sort of also the, the homelessness that sort of exploded during the pandemic as shelters closed.

So I think, yeah, Seattle voters are in some ways feeling more optimistic.

There's sort of less, less dire situation, but at the same time are feeling really sort of concerned about the state of the city and sort of the feeling of sort of public disorder.

- Let's talk about policing.

The mayor wants to hire more police officers and it seems that candidates on both sides are in lockstep with that.

Where are you seeing in terms of that separation of viewpoints?

- Yeah, as you say, you know, policing and public safety are both hot button issues in this election.

And there are a lot of people on the sort of progressive side of things that are saying they support Mayor Harrell's hiring plan, that they want to see faster response times from police officers.

Conservative candidates are really focused on hiring police I'd say the split is probably on the conservative side, the energy is gonna be focused on, how do we get more officers, let's direct funding to support those efforts of hiring and the campaigns to bring people in.

And on the more progressive side, I think there's maybe a lot more interest in also focusing on police alternatives.

Sort of the, the idea of sending out mental healthcare professionals out on certain calls for somebody having a public mental health crisis or supporting these sort of non-profit community violence interruption programs that work on sort of more systemic issues.

- Right, and when we talk about that, all of these issues, and we're focusing on that police aspect, I mean, we're gonna see seven of these seats.

They're up for grabs.

Within that, another hot issue that is a crisis in the city is homelessness.

Where are we in solving that problem in terms of the plans that these candidates have laid out?

- I mean, a huge issue and one that no one city council is likely to solve.

But yeah, I think again, you're seeing a lot of sort of more conservative candidates maybe saying they want to focus on closing encampments and sort of being, taking a more proactive approach to moving people off the street.

A challenge we run into, there simply is not enough shelter space to move everybody off the street.

So you might run into a situation where to fulfill those campaign promises, you'd see, people focusing on what we call encampment sweeps, sort of just moving people from one place to another.

I think on the more progressive side, people do wanna still take that sort of longer term, more concerted approach that maybe isn't gonna sort of respond to voter's concerns as quickly as they'd like, but maybe hopefully has a longer term impact.

- Well, Josh, there's a lot to be seen on what voters decide on policing, homelessness, and affordable housing.

But of course, we're gonna keep a close eye on your reporting.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thanks, it was great being here.

- If you would like to see more on Josh's latest piece, and also follow our election coverage, go to crosscut.com for more.

(uplifting music) Washingtonians are paying some of the highest gas prices in the nation.

Could the state's carbon cutting program be to blame?

We'll take a look.

The pain at the pump is steep in Washington, one of the highest in the nation.

Now fingers are pointing directly to the state's program to cut carbon emissions as a source of the pinch in many wallets.

Critics and supporters of Washington's new cap and invest system believe it's responsible for the sky high gas prices.

But that connection is more complicated than oil companies simply passing their extra expenses onto consumers.

Governor Jay Inslee and democratic leaders believe oil companies aren't playing fair and may be increasing costs at the pump, even if they don't refine oil in Washington or participate in the state's new carbon pricing system.

State leaders recently announced plans to pursue legislation next year to require oil companies to open their finances to state scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the program's critics have started a statewide initiative petition drive to repel it.

Last June, the state for the first time posted the highest gas prices in the nation.

(uplifting music) Historic hotels, taverns, and many places around Washington draw tourist hunting for ghosts.

We'll show you where to visit to get into the Halloween spirit.

Looking for a spooky adventure?

The Evergreen State is home to dark legends and ghostly tales with its primeval forest to foggy coastlines.

It's a location for box office eerie movies with supernatural creatures, think "Twin Peaks" or "Twilight."

We at Crosscut conjured an itinerary of Pacific Northwest hunted locales to get you in the Halloween spirit if you wanna take a weekend road trip, first visit the lodge at St. Edward Park in Kenmore on the northeastern shore of Lake Washington.

Originally a Catholic seminary, now a sleek new luxury 84-room hotel rumored to be hunted for years before it was renovated.

Then check out Port Gamble's most famously hunted residence.

The Queen Anne-style, 18-88 Walker-Ames house.

The Grand four-story Mansion is the site of frequent ghost tours.

Atop a hill above Port Townsend's Downtown is Manresa Castle Hotel, built in 1892.

Legends have swirled around the place about paranormal experiences.

I'm Paris Jackson, thank you for watching "Crosscut Now," your destination for nonprofit Northwest News.

Go to crosscut.com for more.

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