New Seattle City Councilwoman Joy Hollingsworth wants fewer political labels, more collaboration

This week, five new faces were sworn in for Seattle City Council. It marks a seismic shift for the council.

FOX 13 News sat down with most of the new council members, and Joy Hollingsworth chose to meet at Cal Anderson Park for a reason.

"My dad worked for Seattle Parks 30-plus years, so [I'm] very familiar with our city workers, our park system," Hollingsworth said.

The graffiti and trash goes against exactly what her dad worked so hard to accomplish.  

"The cleanliness of certain things like bathrooms make our society and our community that much better, because we are respecting Seattle," Hollingsworth said.

Socialist council member Kshama Sawant held District 3 for a decade, an area that stretches beyond Capitol Hill, including the Central District, Leschi to Madison Park.

Now, it’s a new era with Hollingsworth at the helm. 

READ MORE: Seattle City Council undergoes significant change as 5 new members sworn in

Before this new chapter, Hollingsworth served at a non-profit helping kids, and worked in the cannabis industry. She was also an athlete, playing basketball for University of Arizona—not Arizona State!

"Wildcats, I don’t like the Scumdevils," Hollingsworth said.

With the sports jokes aside, Hollingsworth says she’s on the same team as other council members, even when they disagree.

One thing she says needs to stop is some people’s tendency to push political labels. 

"I like to be solution-based and solve problems, but in the terms of Seattle, right, I said I am a Black female, gay, family that has a cannabis farm—what's not progressive about that in Seattle?" Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth says things like public safety and helping small businesses should not be partisan issues. She also says the council itself is not meant to be a partisan body.

She says her goal is to be accessible and listen to her constituents. 

"With every district and neighborhood having a voice at the table," Hollingsworth said.

Similar to other new council members, Hollingsworth says public safety will be her number one priority, but she says it will be challenging to solve.

"We know that we have an East Precinct that is severely understaffed, I’ve been on the record supporting the Mayor’s plan of 1,400 police officers for our city with our growing population," Hollingsworth said.

Seattle Police staffing is at record lows. The city has a little over 900 deployable officers.

"We have one of the best police forces in the country when it comes to training, we have to work on retention," Hollingsworth said.

RELATED: Audit finds low compliance by Seattle police with law requiring youth to have access to lawyers

But the solution to the best way to retain officers is still a work in progress.

Hollingsworth plans to meet with police and community members to come up with a plan.

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