As the election season slowly winds its way up, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is considered by many to be a shoe-in for a second term. By way of example, consider that prospective candidates have not exactly been lining up to face him. As of a few weeks ago Nickels had no announced opponents.
He has one now. Last week, Capitol Hill resident Christal Wood, 36, officially declared her candidacy for mayor. In so doing she became the first person, besides Nickels, to officially throw her hat in the ring for the city's top job.
And while many would regard her a marginal candidate at best, Wood insists hers is not a quixotic quest. It's also not the first time she's run for public office. In 2001, she was a mayoral write-in candidate. In 2003, she ran for the City Council seat eventually won by David Della. In a crowded primary Wood finished a respectable fourth and garnered nearly 13,000 votes, almost 12 percent of the total. Not only that, but she also received an endorsement from the Seattle P-I. She'll cop to being a long shot, sure. But don't tell her she's a fringe candidate.
"I thought 12 percent was pretty good, especially because we had hardly any money at all," she said. "This time there will be more structure because of the involvement of the Progressive Party. The party actually called me and asked me to run."
Born in New York state, Wood spent much of her childhood and teen years in Boston. She lived in Houston and Los Angeles before moving to the Seattle area in 1992. A single parent of a baby girl, Wood lived in Federal Way with her mother while she got back on her feet. A variety of jobs in Seattle exposed her to her adopted home. She said the long commute gave her time to think about community activism.
In 1997, Wood decided to go back to school. She first attended Green River Community College and later the University of Washington, where she graduated with degrees in communications and society and justice. Wood has held a variety of jobs since then, including at the Museum of Flight and the West Seattle Mental Health Center. Most of her jobs have been in the social services field. She currently works for Lutheran Community Services, where she supports foster care programs for adoption and for immigrant and refugee children.
As for activism, Wood has been an interviewer for SEAMEC, a board member of EcoCascade.org, a member of the Seattle Peace Chorus, the Save the Lillian Coalition, the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition, and other organizations. In in 2002, Wood founded Gotham City Communications, a nonprofit public interest media group. One campaign the group is about to launch is dubbed "Voting is Sexy," which encourages getting out the youth vote.
The notion of running for public office evolved from a growing sense of activism that began while Wood was working for the United Way in the late '90s. In 2000, she became deeply involved with the Ralph Nader campaign, efforts about which she is unrepentant. (She was less involved in 2004 but did introduce Nader at his April 2004 Town Hall appearance.)
"Whatever you feel about the Nader 2000 campaign, it was a time when people woke up and said, 'whoa.' It was a civics lesson. 'Electoral College' became household words. One of the things Nader was saying was to get involved at every level."
It was advice Wood took to heart. The next summer, Wood decided to run for mayor. She was young, had no name recognition and virtually no money.
"People thought I was nuts!" she said. "In order to run I had to psyche myself up and focus on the idea that this kind of thing had actually been done before. But running for office is, for me, another kind of activism."
While that run might have been considered futile - after all, she lost badly and had to endure her fair share of ridicule in the process - she took something out of the experience that compelled her to seek the council seat in 2003.
"It just felt right. I enjoy public speaking and was getting better at participating in candidate forums. It is important to challenge established candidates. We all benefit when that happens," she said.
Her second campaign was better paced and more focused, which, Wood said, led to a better showing. Friends helped on the campaign with things like licking envelopes as well as substantive assistance helping flesh out policy ideas. It was still run on a shoestring budget of around $2,500.
"I think I did well enough in 2003 that I don't fall into the gag candidate category anymore. But a lot of people still don't know what to do with me," she said. The stronger showing encouraged her to consider running this year. Her daughter, now 12, seconded the notion. When the Progressive Party asked, Wood had a ready answer.
And why should she be mayor? Christal Wood does not mince words.
"Because Greg Nickels doesn't have the expertise to be mayor," she said. "He's never had another job. He knows procedure but little else. He knows little about diversity. I've lived these experiences and they do count for something. He's proven that he's out of touch with neighborhoods and individual citizens."
And if she should be elected? Wood smiles. She said she favors greater community policing and a diversion of the drug crisis from a criminal to a health issue. She wants to focus on neighborhood concerns more directly. She laments the role corporate interests play in the life of the city - "commerce over community" - and wants to turn city government to be more personal. Official policy statements will be released throughout the campaign.
Wood bristles at the notion that hers is not a serious and legitimate campaign. If she does not pull off the upset this fall, she does not rule out future runs.
"It's a myth that [non-mainstream candidates] are all crazy, that we don't have anything valuable to offer," Wood said. "My challenge is to prove this notion wrong. If nothing else I can help make the established candidates work harder. I enjoy candidate forums. I enjoy public speaking. It's pretty easy for me to be direct and specific when talking about problems facing the city."
She hopes her repeated runs for office will help cement her legitimacy as well as reinforce the viability of independent candidates.
"Running for office has taught me a lot," she said. "People may make fun of you, but you can do it. I've learned not to limit myself, not to be intimidated. To stay calm and enjoy it. And I have lots of energy."
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor @ capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.[[In-content Ad]]
