Seattle mayoral candidates Bruce Harrell, Katie Wilson face off in debate

SEATTLE - Seattle mayoral candidates Bruce Harrell and Katie Wilson squared off against one another in a special debate Tuesday night, aired on FOX 13 in partnership with Converge Media.

Both candidates spoke on a variety of topics, including public safety, protecting the rights of Seattleites, and the future of Seattle Police.

What they're saying:

Incumbent Bruce Harrell says he will be rebuilding the Seattle Police Department to reduce crime, improve response times, decrease gun violence and increase police staffing. He says they've had the highest application rate in over a decade.

"Homicides are going down, shots fired are going down, but we need a fully staffed police department, so our plan is to have within the next couple of years,1,500 so we can get our seven-minute response times in addition to a fully staffed CARE department, which is an unarmed response as well," said Harrell.

Katie Wilson, a community organizer and daily transit rider, said she has felt unsafe when commuting. She says the city's current approach to violence is fragmented and ineffective, and she'd like to increase the number of crisis civilian responders as part of the city's alternative response program.

"It’s clear that so many people are not feeling safe in their neighborhoods, and with good reason, we still have hot spots of illegal activity downtown in Little Saigon, several other neighborhoods around he city and honestly in those neighborhoods, we need more consistent police presence to stop those hot spots from forming in the first place," Wilson said.

When it comes to protecting the rights of those in the city, Harrell says he will continue challenging the Trump administration's efforts to disrupt Seattle's stance as a welcoming city of immigrants, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.

"Working with the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, we have increased that budget by 70%, we have the strongest leader in there in Hamdi Mohamed, and so we are positioned to fight Trump at every step of the way. And I’m well versed in the 10th amendment, which prevents overreach from the federal government, and Trump will Trump over inexperience, and that’s why we need a strong executive in place," Harrell said.

Wilson said she will also work to protect immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community from potential federal action.

The more the city can be working with lockstep in with the county and the state, the more that we can be working with community organizations around the city, and really just have a well-governed city, the less attractive Seattle will be for that kind of action. We also can learn from L.A., D.C., from jurisdictions where the federal administration has tried this," Wilson said.

Harrell also said his experience is not a liability, but a necessity, and accused Wilson of not having a concrete plan on public safety.

Wilson argued that she does have a plan, adding that a lot of people have been struggling and feel they have not been seen or heard from city hall.

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