Podcast appearances and mentions of Carmen Rivera

On this week-in-review, Crystal is joined by Chair of Sierra Club Seattle, long time communications and political strategist, Robert Cruickshank! Crystal and Robert chat about Raise the Wage Renton's special election win, how a rent stabilization bill passed out of the State House but faces an uphill battle in the State Senate, and the authorization of a strike by Alaska Airlines flight attendants. They then shift to how gender discrimination problems in the Seattle Police Department create a toxic work culture that impedes recruitment, the inexplicable pressing forward by Seattle on ShotSpotter while other cities reject it, and the failure of a philanthropic effort by business titans to solve the regional homelessness crisis. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find today's co-host, Robert Cruickshank, at @cruickshank.   Resources “Renton $19 minimum wage hike ballot measure leading in early results” by Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks from The Seattle Times   “Washington State House Passes Rent Stabilization Bill” by Rich Smith from The Stranger   “Rent Stabilization Backers Aim to Beat Deadline to Keep Bill Alive” by Doug Trumm from The Urbanist   2024 Town Halls | Washington State House Democrats   “Alaska Airlines flight attendants authorize strike for first time in 3 decades” by Alex DeMarban from Anchorage Daily News   “The Seattle Police Department Has a Gender Discrimination Problem” by Andrew Engelson from PubliCola   “Harrell Plans Hasty Rollout of Massive Surveillance Expansion” by Amy Sundberg from The Urbanist   “Chicago will not renew controversial ShotSpotter contract, drawing support, criticism from aldermen” by Craig Wall and Eric Horng from ABC7 Chicago   “Despite Public Opinion, Seattle Cops and Prosecutors Still Prioritize Cracking Down on Sex Work” by Erica C. Barnett from PubliCola   “Council's Public Safety Focus Will Be “Permissive Environment” Toward Crime” by Erica C. Barnett from PubliCola   “The private sector's biggest bet in homelessness fell apart. What now?” by Greg Kim from The Seattle Times   “Amazon donation is ‘another step' after homelessness group's collapse” by Greg Kim from The Seattle Times   Find stories that Crystal is reading here   Listen on your favorite podcast app to all our episodes here   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Tuesday topical shows and our Friday week-in-review shows delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Today, we're continuing our Friday week-in-review shows where we review the news of the week with a co-host. Welcome back to the program, friend of the show and today's co-host: Chair of Sierra Club Seattle, longtime communications and political strategist, Robert Cruickshank. [00:01:08] Robert Cruickshank: Thank you for having me back here again, Crystal. [00:01:11] Crystal Fincher: Thank you so much. Well, we've got a number of items to cover this week, starting with news that I'm certainly excited about - I think you are, too - that this week, in our February special election, Renton had a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage which passed. What are your takeaways from this? [00:01:31] Robert Cruickshank: It's a huge win, both in terms of the margin of victory so far - nearly 60% of Renton voters saying Yes to this in a February election with low turnout. It will raise the wage to around $20 an hour in Renton. And I think it's a clear sign that just as we saw voters in Tukwila last year, and just as in fact voters in SeaTac 11 years ago - kicking all this off - moving to $15 an hour with a city ballot initiative that year, voters in King County, Western Washington want higher minimum wages. And I don't even think we need to qualify it by saying King County in Western Washington. You can look around the country and see - in states like Arkansas, when people put initiatives on the ballot to raise the wage, they pass. So I think there's, yet again, widespread support for this. And I think it also shows that the politicians in Renton - there were several city councilmembers like Carmen Rivera who supported this. There are others, though - the majority of the Renton City Council didn't. They spouted a lot of the usual right-wing Chamber of Commerce arguments against raising the minimum wage, saying it would hurt small businesses and make it hard for workers - none of which actually happens in practice. And voters get that. Voters very clearly understand that you need to pay workers more - they deserve more, especially in a time of inflation. This has been understood for well over 10 years now - that the minimum wage wasn't rising quickly enough and it needs to keep going up. So I think it's a huge wake-up call to elected officials - not just in local city councils, but at the state legislature - they've got to keep doing work to make sure that workers are getting paid well and that the minimum wage keeps rising. [00:03:04] Crystal Fincher: I completely agree. I also think, just for the campaign's purposes, this was really exciting to see. Again, not coming from some of the traditional places where we see ballot measures, campaigns being funded - great that they're funding progressive campaigns in other areas, but that these efforts are largely community-led, community-driven. The Raise the Wage Renton campaign, the Seattle DSA - the Democratic Socialists of America, Seattle chapter - were very involved, did a lot of the heavy lifting here. So really kudos to that entire effort - really important - and really showing that when people get together within communities to respond to problems that they're seeing and challenges that they face, they can create change. It doesn't take that many people acting together and in unison, speaking to their neighbors, to have this happen in city after city. And like you said, it started in SeaTac, and we see how far it's carried. I also think, as you alluded to, this puts other councils on notice. I know the City of Burien is talking about this right now, other cities are looking at this locally. And we have been hearing similar things from Burien city councilmembers that we heard from some of those Renton city councilmembers who declined to pass this on their own. They were parroting Chamber of Commerce talking points. They were parroting some old, disproven data. People recognize and so much data has shown that when you empower people, when you pay people, that is what fuels and builds economy. The economy is the people. So if the people aren't in good shape, the economy is not going to be in good shape. People recognize that. And we really do have to ask and reflect on - I think these elected officials need to reflect on - who are they serving? And where are they getting their information from? Because in city after city, we see overwhelmingly residents respond and say - This is absolutely something we want and we need. And there's this disconnect between them and their elected officials who are parroting these talking points - Well, we're worried about business. Well, we're worried about these. And I think they need to really pause and reflect and say - Okay, who are we really representing here? Where are we getting our information from and why are we seeing time after time that these talking points that have been used for decades, from the same old people and the same old sources, are completely falling flat with the public? I think they should be concerned about their own rhetoric falling flat with the public. They're certainly considering where these elected officials are as their reelections come due, as they're evaluating the job that they're doing. So I think they really need to think hard, evaluate where they are, and get aligned with the people who need the most help, who are trying to build lives in their communities. And stop making this go to the ballot. Stop making the people work harder for what they need - just pass this in your cities and make it so. [00:06:17] Robert Cruickshank: Absolutely. It would be certainly better for working people - for the elected officials to do this themselves. I am noticing a growing trend, though, of progressive and left-wing activists - socialists in this case, DSA - going directly to the ballot when needed. We saw it in Tacoma with the renters' rights legislation last year. We've seen it last year with social housing. And now again this week, House Our Neighbors came out with the initiative to fund social housing, which they had to split in two - due to legal reasons, you had to create the developer first, and then now you have to fund it. And again, the city council had an opportunity to do both here in Seattle. They had the opportunity to create the authority. They passed on that. Then they had the opportunity to fund it. They passed on that. And I am bullish on House Our Neighbors' chances to get their funding initiative, which would be through a payroll tax on large employers, passed by voters this fall. Because again, social housing was super popular at the ballot last year in a February election. Now they're going to go for November 2024 election when there's going to be massive turnout. It's unfortunate that people are having to put a lot of time, money, effort into mounting independent efforts to get things on the ballot - that's hard. It takes a ton of work, not just the gathering signatures and raising money, but just keeping a coalition going and all the meetings and stuff. But hats off to the people who are able to do that. It's not a sustainable way to get progressive policy done, but in a moment where there are more members of city councils who are aligned with the big corporations and wealthy donors, it's what you're going to have to do and it's building power. Ultimately - hopefully - it starts leading into successful victories in city council elections around the region, just as it's led to successes at the ballot box for initiatives. [00:07:59] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. We saw in this effort, as we've seen in others, significant opposition from some elements in the business community. There were some businesses, especially small businesses, who were supportive of this, who were either already paying their employees higher wages because that's how you attract people in business - is not doing the absolute bare minimum. But we saw significant resources spent. This campaign was outspent. And still, the people made it clear what they wanted with another really, really impressive and strong margin. So we'll continue to follow where that goes. We will certainly continue to follow other ballot measures on the ballot as they develop this year, especially with House Our Neighbors and the Social Housing Initiative in Seattle - just going to be really interesting to see. Moving to the legislature, significant news this week that rent stabilization has passed the State House and now it moves on to the Senate. What will rent stabilization accomplish? [00:09:03] Robert Cruickshank: So the bill, HB 2114, which passed out of the State House - it was the last bill they took up before the deadline to pass bills out of their original house - limits the amount of increase in rent each year to 7%. So a landlord can only raise your rent 7% a year. This is modeled on similar legislation that was adopted in Oregon and California right before the pandemic - in Oregon and California, it's a 5% annual increase. This being Washington state, we can't do things exactly the way that are done elsewhere - we've got to water it down a little bit, so it's 7%. But it's not rent control in which a property or a apartment is permanently capped at a certain level, no matter who's renting it. Like the Oregon and California laws, this one in Washington would exempt new construction. And the reason you want to exempt new construction is to encourage people to keep building housing. And there's plenty of research that shows now that one of the most effective ways to bring rent down, not just cap its growth, is to build more housing. So building more housing and then capping the annual rent increase on housing that's been around for a while generally works. And you're seeing this in California and in Oregon - especially in cities that have been building more housing, rents have come down while those living in older apartments, older homes, are seeing their rents capped, so they're having an easier time affording rent. This is all good, and it made it out of the State House on mostly a party line vote - Democrats almost all in favor with a few exceptions, Republicans almost all against. Now it goes to the State Senate where there's a number of conservative Democrats, like Annette Cleveland from Vancouver who blocked the Senate's version of the bill, who's against it. Surely Mark Mullet, a conservative Democrat from Issaquah running for governor - surely against it. And Rich Smith in The Stranger had a piece yesterday in which he related his conversation with Jamie Pedersen from Capitol Hill, one of the most rent-burdened districts in the city, one of the districts in the state of Washington - legislative districts - with the most renters in it. And Pedersen was hemming and hawing on it. And so it's clear that for this bill to pass - it surely is popular with the public. Democrats, you would think, would want to do the right thing on housing costs going into an election. But it's gonna take some pressure on Democrats in the State Senate to pass the bill, especially without watering it down further. The bill that Annette Cleveland, the senator from Vancouver, had blocked in the Senate would cap rent increases at 15% a year. It's like. - Why would you even bother passing a bill at that point? 7% is itself, like I said, watering down what California and Oregon have done, but 7% is still a pretty valuable cap. Hopefully the Senate passes it as is. Hopefully the State Senate doesn't demand even more watering down. There's no need for that. Just pass the bill. Protect people who are renting. [00:11:44] Crystal Fincher: Agree. We absolutely need to pass the bill. I do appreciate the House making this such a priority - building on the work that they did to enable the building of more housing, which is absolutely necessary, last session. And this session moving forward with protecting people in their homes - trying to prevent our homelessness crisis from getting even worse with people being unable to afford rent, being displaced, being unable to stay where they're living, to maintain their current job. So that's really important. But it does face an uncertain future in the Senate. I do appreciate the reporting that Rich Smith did. He also covered some other State senators on the fence, including Jesse Salomon from Shoreline, John Lovick from Mill Creek, Marko Liias from Everett, Steve Conway from Tacoma, Drew Hansen from Bainbridge Island, Sam Hunt from Olympia, Lisa Wellman from Mercer Island, and Majority Leader Andy Billig being on the fence. And so it's going to be really important for people who do care about this to let their opinions be known to these senators. This is really going to be another example of where - they've obviously had concerns for a while, they're hearing talking points that we're used to hearing - that we know have been refuted, that maybe that information hasn't gotten to them yet. And maybe they don't realize how much of a concern this is for residents. They may be - they're in Olympia a lot of time, they're hearing from a lot of lobbyists - and they aren't as close sometimes to the opinions of the people in their districts. But one thing that many people need to understand is that many of these districts are having legislative town halls coming up as soon as this weekend, but certainly in short order. We'll put a link to where you can find that information in the show notes. Make it a point to attend one of those. If you can't, call, email, make your voice heard - it's really going to take you letting them know that this is a priority for you in order for this to happen. It's possible. So we really need to do all we can to ensure that they know how we feel. [00:13:58] Robert Cruickshank: Exactly. And those State senators you named, they are all from safe blue seats. Not a single one of them, except for maybe John Lovick in Mill Creek, is from a purplish district where they have to worry about any electoral impact. Although, to be honest, this stuff is popular. There are plenty of renters in purple districts who are rent-burdened and who would love to see the Democratic majority in Olympia help them out, help keep their rent more affordable. So it's a huge political win for them. Some of this may be ideological opposition. Some of them may be getting a lot of money from apartment owners and landlords. Who knows? You got to look at the case by case. But gosh, you would hope that the State Senate has political sense - understands that this is not only the right thing to do, but a winner with the electorate, and passes the bill. But it is Olympia. And unfortunately, the State Senate in particular is often where good ideas go to die in Olympia. So we'll see what happens. [00:14:48] Crystal Fincher: We will see. We'll continue to follow that. Also want to talk about Alaska Airlines flight attendants this week authorizing a strike. Why did they authorize this, and what does this mean? [00:15:01] Robert Cruickshank: Well, I think it goes back to what we were talking about with workers in Renton. Flight attendants work long hours - they're not always paid for it. They're often only paid for when the flight is in the air. And their costs are going up, too. The expense of working in this country continues to rise and flight attendants continue to need to get paid well for that. Flight attendants' union is very well organized. There's the good Sara Nelson - Sara Nelson, head of the flight attendants' union, not Sara Nelson, head of Seattle City Council - is an amazing labor leader and has done a really good job advocating for the flight attendants across the industry. And you see that in the strike authorization vote - it was almost unanimous with almost complete 100% turnout from members of the Alaska Flight Attendants Union. Alaska Airlines has been facing its own issues lately, especially with some of their Boeing jets having problems. They've also, for the last 20 years, at least tried to cut costs everywhere they could. They outsourced what used to be unionized baggage handlers at SeaTac many years ago - that caused a big uproar. It was, in fact, concerns about Alaska Airlines and how they're paying ground crews that was a major factor in driving the SeaTac minimum wage ballot initiative way back in 2013. So here we are now - the Alaska Airlines flight attendants looking to get better treatment, better wages and working conditions. And huge support from the union. And as we've seen in this decade in particular, huge support from the public. And I think it's really worth noting - you and I can both remember the 90s, 2000s, when workers went out on strike weren't always getting widespread public support. And corporations had an ability to work the media to try to turn public against striking workers - now, teachers always had public support, firefighters had public support, but other workers didn't always. But that's really shifted. Here, there's a widespread public agreement that workers need to be treated well and paid well. You see that in Raise the Wage Renton succeeding. You see that in the huge public support for Starbucks workers out on strike who want a union contract. And if Alaska Airlines forces its flight attendants out on strike, you will see widespread public support for them as well, especially here in western Washington, where Alaska maintains a strong customer base. People in the Seattle area are loyal to Alaska, and they're going to support Alaska's flight attendants if they have to go out on strike. [00:17:20] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and there's still a number of steps that would need to happen in order for it to lead to an actual strike. The flight attendants' union and Alaska Airlines are currently in negotiations, which according to an Alaska statement, is still ongoing. They signal positivity there. Hopefully that is the case and that continues. But first-year flight attendants right now are averaging less than $24,000 in salary annually. And especially here, but basically anywhere, that's not a wage you can live on. Those are literally poverty wages. And this is happening while Alaska Airlines has touted significant profits, very high profits. They're in the process of attempting to acquire another airline for $1.9 billion right now. And so part of this, which is the first strike authorization in 30 years for this union - it's not like this happens all the time. This is really long-standing grievances and really long dealing with these poverty wages - and they just can't anymore. This is unsustainable. And so hopefully they are earnestly making a go at a real fair wage. And I do think they have the public support. It is something that we've recognized across the country, unionization efforts in many different sectors for many different people. This week, we even saw - The Stranger writers announced that they're seeking a union, and wish them best of luck with that. But looking at this being necessary across the board - and even in tech sectors, which before felt immune to unionization pushes and they used to tout all of their benefits and how they received everything they could ever want - we've seen how quickly that tide can change. We've seen how quickly mass layoffs can take over an industry, even while companies are reporting record profits. And so this is really just another link in this chain here, saying - You know what, you're going to have to give a fair deal. It's not only about shareholders. It's about the people actually working, actually delivering the products and services that these companies are known for. The folks doing the work deserve a share of those profits, certainly more than they're getting right now. [00:19:44] Robert Cruickshank: I think that's right. And again, the public sees that and they know that being a flight attendant isn't easy work. But whoever it is, whatever sector they're in, whatever work they're doing, the public has really shifted and is in a really good place. They recognize that corporations and governments need to do right by workers and pay them well. Hopefully the flight attendants can settle this without a strike. And hopefully Alaska Airlines understands that the last thing they need right now is a strike. They've had enough problems already. So hopefully the corporate leadership gets that. [00:20:13] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. I also want to talk about a new study that certainly a lot of people haven't found surprising, especially after two very high-profile gender discrimination lawsuits against SPD. But a study was actually done that included focus groups with Seattle officers, both male and female. And what was uncovered was a pervasive apparent gender discrimination problem within SPD. What was uncovered here? [00:20:45] Robert Cruickshank: All sorts of instances of gender discrimination - from blocked promotions, to negative comments, to inequities and inconsistencies in who gets leave - all sorts of things that made it an extremely hostile work environment for women. And some of the celebrated women of the department - Detective Cookie, who's well known for leading chess clubs in Rainier Beach, sued the department for gender and racial discrimination. And what the study shows that it's pervasive, but the only times it seemed to get any better were when women led the department - Kathleen O'Toole in the mid 2010s and then Carmen Best up until 2020 seemed to have a little bit of positive impact on addressing these problems. But under current leadership and other recent leadership, it's just not a priority. And it speaks, I think, to the real problems - the actual problems - facing police. You hear from people like Sara Nelson and others on the right that the reason it's hard to recruit officers is because - Oh, those mean old progressives tried to "Defund the Police' and they said mean things about the cops. That's not it at all. This report actually shows why there's a recruiting problem for police. Normal people don't want to go work for the police department. They see a department that is racist, sexist - nothing is being done to address it. Who would want to enter that hostile work environment? I remember when Mike McGinn was mayor - we were working for McGinn in the early 2010s - trying to address some of these same problems, trying to help recruit a department that not only reflected Seattle's diversity, but lived in Seattle - was rooted in the community - and how hard that was. And you're seeing why. It's because there's a major cultural problem with police departments all across the country - Seattle's not uniquely bad at being sexist towards women officers, it's a problem everywhere. But it's the city that you would think would try to do something about it. But what we're hearing from the city council right now - and they had their first Public Safety Committee meeting recently of the newly elected council - is the same usual nonsense that just thinks, Oh, if we give them a bunch more money and say nice things about cops and ease up a little bit on, maybe more than a little bit, on reform efforts trying to hold the department accountable - that officers will want to join the ranks. And that's just not going to happen. It is a cultural problem with the department. It is a structural problem. The red flags are everywhere. And it's going to take new leadership at the police department - maybe at City Hall - that takes this seriously, is willing to do the hard work of rooting out these attitudes. And you've got to keep in mind, when you look at this rank-and-file department - they elected Mike Solan to lead their union, SPOG - in January of 2020. Solan was a known Trumper, hard right-wing guy - and this is well before George Floyd protests began. Yet another sign that the problem is the department itself, the officers themselves, who are often engaging in this behavior or refusing to hold each other accountable. Because again, this toxic culture of - Well, we got to protect each other at all costs. - it's going to take major changes, and I don't see this City leadership at City Hall being willing to undertake the work necessary to fix it. [00:23:54] Crystal Fincher: I think you've hit the nail on the head there. And just demonstrating that once again, we get a clear illustration of why SPD has a problem recruiting. It is absolutely a cultural issue. It is what they have been getting away with despite dissatisfaction from women. And women in the department saying either we're targeted or discriminated against, but a lot of us - even though we're experiencing it - just try and keep our heads down and stay silent. And a lot of those people end up moving out eventually because who wants to work in an environment like this? We recognize this in every other industry. There's a reason why organizations and corporations tout their corporate culture, tout their benefits for women, their respect for women, their inclusion of women in leadership and executive-level positions. And we don't see that here. So if the leadership in charge of this - from Bruce Harrell, who is the ultimate head of the department, the buck stops with him to the police chief to the City Council - if they're actually serious about addressing this and not just using this as a campaign wedge issue with the rhetoric, they will have to address the culture of this department. Now, the Chair of the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee, Bob Kettle, who was recently elected in November, said that the hiring numbers were disappointed. He said - "The number of women that were hired in 2023 was not acceptable. We need to have a representative force where women are well represented. We need to be creating that culture and an environment of inclusion. And also the idea that you can advance, you can be promoted, you can move forward in the organization." So if he is serious about that, he has to address the culture - and that's going to involve addressing a number of things. That's going to involve, perhaps, addressing a number of the people currently in leadership who have created and who continue this culture and who are going to have to be dealt with if this is going to change. But this isn't something that's just going to change because there're new people elected in office. This isn't something that's just going to change because they're getting compliments more as a department and more funding has been thrown at them. This is going to take active engagement and a difference in leadership, a difference in training, a completely different approach. So we'll follow this. Mayor Bruce Harrell also said that he is planning to meet with women throughout the department to hear directly from them and listen to their concerns - we will see what results from those conversations and what happens. But now there is a lot of touted alignment between the mayor and city council here, so there really should be no roadblocks to them really addressing this substantively - if they're serious about addressing this. [00:26:58] Robert Cruickshank: I agree. And one of the ways you'll see whether they're serious or not is how they handle the SPOG contract. And one of the things that helps change a department's culture, where this sort of behavior is clearly known to not be tolerated, is for there to be real consequences. How are officers disciplined? How are officers fired? How are they held accountable? Right now, it's very difficult to remove an officer - the current contract rules make it very easy for an officer to contest a firing or disciplinary action and be reinstated or have the disciplinary action overturned. You're not going to eradicate a culture of racism and sexism without changing that as well. And that is at the core of the fight over the SPOG contract, and we will see whether the mayor and the city council are serious about cultural changes at SPD. And you'll see it in how they handle the SPOG contract - hopefully they'll put a strong one out and hold their ground when SPOG pushes back. But that's not going to happen, honestly, without the public really pushing City Hall hard. Because I think you see - from both the mayor and the city council - a desire to cut deals with SPOG, a desire to not go too hard at them. And I don't see - absent public mobilization - a strong SPOG contract coming. [00:28:07] Crystal Fincher: I think you're right about that. In other SPD public safety news, Seattle is planning a significant rollout of the ShotSpotter system. We've talked about that before here on the show - it's basically a surveillance system that's supposed to hear, to be able to determine gunshots from noises, to try and pinpoint where it came from. Unfortunately, it has been an absolute failure in several other cities - we've had lots of information and data about this. And this week, we received news that the City of Chicago is actually canceling their contract after this failed in their city. And so once again, people are asking the question - Why, with such a horrible track record, are we spending so much money and getting ready to roll this failed technology out in Seattle? Why is this happening? [00:29:04] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah, I mean, that's a good question. I see people on social media speculating it's because of campaign donations and things like that. I'm not sure that's it. I honestly think this goes back to something Ron Davis said in the campaign when he was running for city council, criticizing his opponent, Maritza Rivera, who ultimately won, and other candidates in-line with Sara Nelson for wanting to, in his words, "spread magic fairy dust" around public safety issues and assume that would work. And that really, I think, is what ShotSpotter is. It's magic fairy dust. This idea that there's some magical technological tool that can quickly identify where a gunshot is happening and deploy the officers there immediately. It sounds cool when you first hear about it like that, but as you pointed out and as Amy Sundberg has written about extensively, it doesn't work - just literally doesn't work. The number of false positives are so high that officers are essentially sent on wild goose chases - you can't trust it, it's not worth the money. And Chicago, which is a city with a very serious gun violence problem, explored this. And for them to reject it means it clearly does not work, and Chicago needs solutions that work. I think honestly, the reason why the city is adopting is they want to do something that looks like they're acting, that looks like they're taking it seriously, even though this isn't going to actually succeed. It is very much that magic fairy dust of trying to appear serious about gun violence, without really tackling the core issues that are happening here, without tackling the problems with policing, without tackling the underlying problems in communities and neighborhoods that can cause gun violence. There is a growing issue at schools in Seattle with gun violence. And students have been trying to raise this issue for a while, ever since a shooting at Ingraham High School in late 2022, another shooting that led to another student's death in near Chief Sealth High School in West Seattle recently, to a group of students robbing another student at Ingraham High School at gunpoint in recent weeks. There's a serious problem. And what you're not seeing is the City or the school district, to be honest, taking that very seriously or really responding in the ways that the students are demanding responses. And I think the really sad story with something like ShotSpotter is all this money and effort is being spent on a clearly failed piece of technology when other answers that students and community members are crying out for aren't being delivered. That's a real problem. [00:31:21] Crystal Fincher: It is absolutely a real problem. And I think there's near unanimous concern and desire for there to be real earnest effort to fix this. We know things that help reduce gun violence - there's lots of data out about that. The city and county have done some of them. They've implemented some of them on very limited basis. But it is challenging to see so much money diverted elsewhere to failed technologies and solutions like this, while actual evidence-based solutions are starved, defunded, and are not getting the kind of support they deserve - and that the residents of the city, that the students in our schools deserve. This is a major problem that we have to deal with seriously. And this just isn't serious at all. I feel like - it was the early 2010s - this technology came out and it was in that era of "the tech will save us" - everyone was disrupting in one way or another. There were lots of promises being made about new technology. And unfortunately, we saw with a lot of it in a lot of different areas that it just didn't deliver on the promises. So I don't fault people for initially saying - Hey, this may be another tool in the toolkit that we can use. But over the past 10 years, through several implementations in Atlanta, Pasadena, San Antonio, Dayton, Ohio, Chicago - it has failed to deliver anything close to what has happened. In fact, it's been harmful in many areas. And so you have people who are interested in solving this problem who are not just saying - Hey, we just need to throw our hands up and do nothing here. We're not trying to minimize the problem. They're in active roles and positions really saying - Hey, this is a priority. And unfortunately, this is not a serious solution to the problem. The Cook County state's attorney's office found that ShotSpotter had a "minimal effect on prosecuting gun violence cases," with their report saying "ShotSpotter is not making a significant impact on shooting incidents," with only 1% of shooting incidents ending in a ShotSpotter arrest. And it estimates the cost per ShotSpotter incident arrestee is over $200,000. That is not a wise use of government expenditures. A large study found that ShotSpotter has no impact - literally no impact - on the number of murder arrests or weapons arrests. And the Chicago's Office of Inspector General concluded that "CPD responses to ShotSpotter alerts rarely produced documented evidence of any gun-related crime, investigatory stop, or recovery of a firearm." Also, one of the big reasons why Seattle is saying they're implementing this is - Well, we're so short-staffed that we really need this technology and it's going to save manpower, it's going to save our officers' time, it's going to really take a lot of the work off their plate. Unfortunately, the exact opposite was shown to happen with ShotSpotter - "ShotSpotter does not make police more efficient or relieve staffing shortages." In fact, they found it's the opposite. ShotSpotter vastly increases the number of police deployments in response to supposed gunfire, but with no corresponding increase in gun violence arrests or other interventions. In fact, ShotSpotter imposes such a massive drain on police resources that it slows down police response to actual 911 emergencies reported by the public. This is a problem. It's not just something that doesn't work. It's actually actively harmful. It makes the problems worse that these elected officials are saying that they're seeking to address. With the challenges that we're experiencing with gun violence, with the absolute need to make our cities safer - to reduce these incidences - we quite literally cannot afford this. And so I hope they take a hard look at this, but it is really defying logic - in the midst of a budget crisis, in the midst of a gun violence crisis - to be embarking on this. I really hope they seriously evaluate what they're doing here. [00:35:54] Robert Cruickshank: I agree. And what you're raising is this question of where should we be putting the resources? And shout out to Erica C. Barnett at PubliCola, who's been writing in the last week or so some really good articles on this very topic - where is SPD putting its resources? A few days ago, she had a very well-reported article at PubliCola about enforcement of prostitution on Aurora Avenue, which is a very controversial thing to be doing for many reasons - is this is actually how you should protect sex workers? But also, is this how we should be prioritizing police resources? Whatever you think of sex work, pro or con, whatever your opinion is - is that where police resources should be going right now when we don't have as many officers as the City would like to have, when there's gun violence, and when there's property crime? And then she also reported recently about, speaking of Bob Kettle, he put out this proposal that he wants to focus on what he calls a "permissive environment towards crime" and closing unsecured vacant buildings, graffiti remediation as priorities. Again, whatever you think about vacant buildings and graffiti - how does that rank on a list of priorities when there are problems with gun violence in the City of Seattle? There are problems with real violent crime in the City of Seattle. And how are police department resources being allocated? I think these are questions that the public needs to be asking pretty tough questions about to City Hall, to Bob Kettle, to Sara Nelson, to Bruce Harrell, and SPD. Because, again, they haven't solved the cultural problem with SPD. They're not going to get many new officers until they do. So how do you use the resources you have right now? And it doesn't look like they're being allocated very effectively, whether it's cracking down, in their terms, on sex work on Aurora or buying things like ShotSpotter. It just seems like they're chasing what they think are easy wins that are not going to do anything to actually address the problem. And we will be here a year or two later still talking about problems with gun violence because City Hall didn't make it a real priority. [00:37:52] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Also want to talk this week about news that was covered - actually in The Seattle Times and elsewhere - about the private sector kind of corresponding organization to the King County Regional Homeless Authority - We Are In, a philanthropic endeavor from some of the richest residents in the states and corporations in the state - actually folded. It was a failure. What happened? Why did this fall apart? [00:38:24] Robert Cruickshank: A lot of this stems from the debate in 2018 over the Head Tax - taxing Amazon to fund services related to homelessness. Mayor Ed Murray declared way back in, I think 2014, a state of emergency around homelessness. We're 10 years into that and nothing's been done. But what the City was looking to do in 2018 - Mike O'Brien and others were talking about bringing back the Head Tax, taxing the corporations in the city to fund services to address the homelessness issue. And the pushback from Amazon and others was - You don't need to tax us. We'll spend money better than government can and do it ourselves. And so that's what things like We Are In was intended to do. It was really intended to try to forestall new taxes by, in theory, showing that the private sector - through philanthropic efforts - can solve this more effectively. And guess what? They can't. In part because homelessness is a major challenge to solve without government resources, without major changes in how we build housing and how we provide services and where they're provided. And what you're seeing is that a philanthropic effort is not going to solve that. They keep chasing it because I think they have a political imperative to do so. But what happened was that We Are In wasn't producing the result they wanted to, leadership problems. And now Steve Ballmer is talking about - Well, maybe we'll just fund the King County Regional Homelessness Authority directly. It's like - okay, in that case, what's so different between that and taxation? There is a report that consultants came up with - I think got publicized in 2019 or 2020 - that the region would need to spend something like $450 million a year to really solve homelessness. You could easily raise that money through taxes and taxing corporations and wealthy individuals. And they are just so adamantly opposed to doing that. They would rather try to make philanthropic donations here and there, even when it's clearly insufficient to meet the need. It's not well thought out. It's not well programmed and just falls apart quickly. [00:40:27] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. I agree. Over so many years, we've heard so many times - Just run it like a business. We need to run government like a business. And over and over and over again, we see that fail - that doesn't work. When you can't target what you're doing to a certain market, when you're only serving a limited subset - when you have to serve the entire public, when you have to actually invest in people, and this isn't a quick product or service that you can use that automatically fixes a situation, there have to be systemic issues that are addressed. And sometimes there's this attitude that - Oh, it's so simple to fix. If you just put a business person in charge of it, they'll get it done. Look at how they built their company. They can certainly tackle this. And over and over again - this is the latest example - that just simply doesn't work. They aren't the same. They aren't the same set of skills. They operate on different levels. There's different training. Lots of stuff is just absolutely different. And part of me, fundamentally, wishes we would stop denigrating and insulting the people who have been doing this work, who have been really consistently voicing their concerns about what's needed, about what their experience shows solves this problem, about what is actually working. There are things that are working. There are things going right in our region that we seem to not pay attention to or that we seem to, especially from the perspective of a number of these organizations who spend so much money to fight taxes, spend so much money to pick councilmembers, saying - Well, we think we have a better solution here. And so we wasted time trying and failing with this when, again, the answer is systemic. We have to sustainably fund the types of housing and resources that get people housed once more, that prevent people from becoming unhoused, and that make this region affordable for everyone so that one unforeseen expense can't launch someone into homelessness. We have been doing a poor job on all of those accounts as a region for so long that it's going to take significant investment and effort to turn things around. Some of that is happening, and I'm encouraged by some things that we're seeing. But at the same time, we're also hearing, especially in the midst of these budget problems that cities are dealing with, that they're looking at unfunding and rolling back these things. Interesting on the heels of this ShotSpotter conversation, where we're investing money into that - they're talking about de-investing, about defunding homelessness responses, public health responses to these crises. And I think we have just seen that this group involved with this effort just does not understand the problem, had the opportunity to meaningfully participate in a fix, and it just didn't work out. That's great - they're doing a great job running their businesses. They can continue to do that. But it's time to really follow what the evidence says fixes this and not what business titans are wishing would fix it. [00:43:55] Robert Cruickshank: That's exactly right. And yet for the business titans, it's a question of power. They want to be the ones to ultimately decide how their money gets spent, not we the people or our elected representatives. I think of one of the things we started out talking about today is - rent stabilization bill in Olympia. Capping rent increases is a way to reduce homelessness. There are plenty of people who are pushed into homelessness by a rent increase they can't afford. Steve Ballmer calling up those State senators who are going to be tackling this bill saying - Hey, this would really help reduce homelessness if you pass this bill. I'm going to doubt that Steve Ballmer is making those calls. If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be wrong. I don't think I am. For them, they want the power to decide how their money is spent. And even when they spend it poorly, they still want that power. And I think they're willing to hoard that power even at the expense of people who really are in need, who are living without a home, and who need all of our help urgently. [00:44:49] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely agree. The last point I would want to make is that it's not like philanthropic funding is all evil, it's never helpful - it is. But this is about who is leading the solutions here and what we're doing. And I think that there are so many experts - so many people in organizations who are doing this work well - who need that additional funding. Let's put that philanthropic money into systems that are working instead of trying to recreate the wheel once again. So much time and money was lost here that so many people can't afford and that have had really horrible consequences. And I think a number of people who went into this were probably well-intentioned. But it just goes to show once again that - we know what works. And no matter how much we wish that it could be some simple fix over here, that it wouldn't require any public expenditure, it absolutely does. So it'll be interesting to follow and see what happens from there. And with that, I thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks on this Friday, February 16th, 2024. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is the incredible Shannon Cheng. Our insightful co-host today was Chair of Sierra Club Seattle, longtime communications and political strategist, Robert Cruickshank. You can find Robert on Twitter at @cruickshank. You can find Hacks & Wonks on Twitter at @HacksWonks. You can find me on all platforms at @finchfrii, with two I's at the end. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in. Talk to you next time.

On this topical show, Crystal welcomes Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera and Raise the Wage Renton Steering Committee member Maria Abando to learn more about the upcoming citizen initiative on the February 13th special election ballot. Modeled after the successful Raise the Wage Tukwila initiative that passed with over 80% of the vote in 2022, community organizers in Renton are campaigning to raise their city's minimum wage to keep up with surrounding cities like SeaTac, Tukwila, and Seattle. Maria and Carmen discuss how the ability to earn a living wage uplifts everyone, the signature gathering learning curve their coalition experienced, and the reaction - both positive and negative - to the effort. With ballots arriving in mailboxes this week and a well-funded opposition materializing, Maria and Carmen share how folks can get involved and help their campaign across the finish line. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii, find Maria Abando at @maria_abando, Councilmember Carmen Rivera at @riveraforrenton, and the Raise the Wage Renton campaign at @RTWRenton.   Resources Raise the Wage Renton   Donate to the Raise the Wage Renton campaign   City of Renton Initiative Measure No. 23-02 | King County Elections “Minimum Wage Initiative Launches in Renton, Builds Off Successes in South King County” by Christopher Randels from The Urbanist   “Renton $19 minimum wage measure qualifies for February special election” by Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks from The Seattle Times   “Renton City Council Rejects $19 Minimum Wage but the Fight Continues” by Hannah Krieg from The Stranger   “Renton voters to decide on city's minimum wage increase in February” by Bailey Josie from The Renton Reporter   “Renton residents, city leaders weigh in on raising minimum wage to at least $19” by KIRO 7 News Staff   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review show and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I'm really excited about today's conversation with folks from the Raise the Wage Renton campaign. Today, I'm being joined by Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera. Hey, Carmen. [00:01:05] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Hey, how you doing? [00:01:07] Crystal Fincher: Doing well. And also Maria Abando on the Raise the Wage Renton Steering Committee. Hey. [00:01:14] Maria Abando: What's up? What's up? [00:01:16] Crystal Fincher: So I am so thrilled to have this conversation. We have previously talked about other minimum wage increase campaigns. We eagerly spoke with, and then followed, and then celebrated the success of the Raise the Wage Tukwila campaign from last year. Last year, 2022? One of those years - time is weird for me these days. But now Renton is up to the plate. And so starting off, I just want to start with why this issue is so important - how did this even become an issue in Renton in the first place? - starting with Carmen. [00:01:52] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Thank you so much for having us on and sharing the space with us. This was born actually from a coalition of organizers and labor union workers that really found that there was a need in Renton. When you think about Renton, you may not fully understand or know that she is 60% non-white, she is the fourth largest city in King County, the eighth largest city in Washington state. We have about 21% of our population at or below two times the poverty level, 8% at or below the poverty level. And almost half of our city are renters, with the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment at about $2,195. And so - yeah, yeah. We're right there on par with Seattle, so invite me back when you want to talk about tenant rights and tenant protections in Renton - because we do not have any more than what the state allows. We do not have any increases, and so that's another aspect of this that - happy to talk more on. But all that intertwines with having a livable wage - something that makes it just a little bit easier for people to not only just survive in Renton, but thrive. And so when organizers came to me in January of 2023, they presented this initiative that was pretty much a copy-and-paste from Tukwila. And we met and we spoke about it, and I didn't agree initially with all aspects of the initiative. However, organizers felt very passionate about it - they did some outreach. They stuck with what they had and they started gathering signatures. And I felt that it was important for me to use my position and my platform to endorse and support their campaign and help get the message out there. Because this represents not only over 6,000 workers who live and work in Renton, but 50,000 who also commute into Renton, the 45,000 who commute out of Renton - possibly to chase higher wages. So there is a lot going on here and a lot of people who can be directly and indirectly impacted by just increasing the minimum wage by a few dollars, so people can have a little bit more of a cushion. And I think Maria can really speak more to the coalition and the grassroots organizers who are really leading this initiative across King County where it's most needed - because we saw in a report from The Seattle Times in June of 2023, that you need to be making close to $30 an hour to afford to live in King County. And that isn't exempt in South King County, where we're a very diverse city and some people are just surviving barely. [00:04:16] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, Maria, what brought you to this work, and why was this so important to address right now? [00:04:24] Maria Abando: Yeah, yeah. So I was one of those organizers that came to Carmen asking for her to endorse and join us as well. But really, I feel like the origins of this campaign are really community, you know, that there's no other way to put it. And I think it really was community that was continuing to do the work post the Tukwila campaign with Transit Riders Union and also with the Stephanie Gallardo campaign - the Gallardo campaign for Congress in 2022 in Washington's 9th Congressional District, where we did end up doing work in Renton and across South King County. And so genuinely, a lot of those same folks from TRU, from the Gallardo campaign, recognized that we - regardless, temporary campaigns, they end. But when you do have true community-based organizing, this ensures that once those temporary campaigns are over, the movements continue, right? And in those campaigns - these were movements where we're talking about uplifting the oppressed, uplifting the poor, the working class people. And in general, I think, reminding our communities how powerful we are when we come together and fight together for a more just world - whatever that looks like, and particularly here in Renton - raising the wages. So it's a lot of those same organizers - myself, Guillermo Zazueta, who's chairing the campaign, Bailey Medilo, Aram Balsafi, Michael Westgaard, even some of our same volunteers and our canvass hosts - Christina Mann and Ben Warden - and so on and so on. I wish I could name more. But I do think that it's important to uplift those names because we are a community, right? It's not just Carmen, it's not just myself - there's so many of us working behind the scenes. And there are a lot of folks from those previous campaigns that happened to call Renton their home. And so after those campaigns were over, we knew we wanted to pivot, attempt to do this type of work in Renton, and started to begin really filling out our leadership and filling out our volunteers from Renton residents - because we knew we had to make a really intentional effort to make sure that Renton residents were the ones that were the leading voices, and everyone else just comes in and supports. But we all also, I think, have felt really inspired. We know that we are walking in the path that has been paved before us with the - of course, 2015 historic victories in SeaTac becoming the first city in the U.S. to adopt a $15 minimum wage. And of course, Seattle following suit after that. And it was 2022 - of course, Tukwila passing their ordinance mandating a $19 minimum wage after that as well. And, oh my gosh, being able to receive over 80% of the vote, which, again, incredible. And then there's more happening, right? There have been efforts in Burien. I know that last year, King County councilmembers were proposing a near identical $19 minimum wage for unincorporated King County. So all of this is, I think, coming to a point in terms of why is this important, right? Again, it's about uplifting the poor and uplifting the working class - and everyone else who benefits from that. But also, I think if we're zooming out and looking at this regionally - thinking about what happens to the neighboring cities, to the neighboring towns, to those neighboring suburbs when one major city raises their wages significantly, right? And the answer to that, I think, is that the region must follow. So Carmen speaking to the ways that there are thousands of folks that commute out in order to chase those higher wages. So your highways, your transit systems - they're flooded with people flocking to chase those higher wages. We know that what ends up happening when you end up commuting to work in a different city with higher wages - you also end up spending your money in that other city as well, instead of the city where you live. Because you're maybe getting your coffee, maybe getting some food, maybe hanging out afterwards in that city. Or you're just losing a lot of time - people commuting an hour to work and commuting an hour back, which could be time spent with family or doing things that you care about. And we also know, and I can say personally from my perspective as a Black and Filipino woman, that Black and brown folks are often the ones that are in these surrounding cities and towns because of gentrification. And Carmen has uplifted that Renton is very diverse - it is a majority-minority place. And so we know, keeping all of those things in mind, that this is something that uplifts everybody. When Renton workers are able to earn a living wage, everyone benefits - and especially folks that are having to commute, especially folks that are really struggling to make those ends meet. And putting more money in folks' pockets to be able to spend that money on basic necessities like childcare, healthcare - and are in general less likely to miss rental payments and less likely to be able to lose stable housing. So I think all this is really, really important. [00:09:55] Crystal Fincher: It's super important, and especially as wages haven't kept up with just about anything over time. But my goodness, the cost of housing is just out of control and has been out of reach for someone making minimum wage. And that is just fundamentally not the kind of community that we want to build. It's not what we think of when we think of "the American dream." It's not what we think of when we think of - Hey, get a job, work hard, and you'll be able to support yourself. You should be able to do that - that's what giving up your time and labor should be able to provide. And it used to, and it doesn't now. We've got to get that back to the right place. Now, I want to talk about what this initiative does. Reading from the ballot text - this proposed ordinance requires employers to pay a minimum wage based on that established by the City of Tukwila - which we just talked about raised their minimum wage. Offer additional hours to existing part-time employees before hiring new employees or subcontracted services - which is something that many cities and states have moved to, something that just makes a lot of sense and is more fair for workers. To not retaliate against employees exercising rights created by the ordinance and comply with administrative requirements. If enacted, the ordinance cannot be repealed without voter approval. And so this is for the February 13th election, a special election date. So make sure people are ready for that February 13th election. You will get a clue when you get your ballots in the mail, which will be mailed on January 24th. You can register to vote online. You can register online up until February 5th. You can register up until Election Day - even on Election Day - at the County Elections Office in Renton, up until February 13th, the date of the election. So you said this was largely based off of Tukwila's initiative - it refers to that in the ballot text. When putting this together, was it looking at - Tukwila and Renton seem to be pretty similar, this meets the needs. Were there any conversations about things specifically for Renton? How was this initiative put together, and how is it decided what was needed for Renton? [00:12:13] Maria Abando: So we definitely ended up working hand-in-hand with Katie and Artie from Transit Riders Union to see what was successful and to see what wasn't successful - for the most part, though, they were just successful with their campaign. And we did think about Renton and we were really recognizing that it's a very different place. Tukwila was fairly small. Renton has, I believe, over 60,000 just workers themselves that would be impacted by this - it's a lot bigger. It has some waterfront property kind of neighborhoods within the Kennydale area. It has The Landing, of course, which is a major shopping center where many, many folks come - not just from Renton, but from outside Renton as well - to be able to shop and spend money. And so we were really trying, I think, to do our best to recognize that because it was so much bigger and because the communities, I think, are - I wouldn't say more diverse than Tukwila, but just fairly expansive, there's just a lot there in Renton - that we wanted to talk to as many people as possible and grow a coalition with as many people as we possibly could. And so we really started with really working with our councilmember, Carmen Rivera, as much as we could. But also reaching out to as many labor unions as we could. We were really proud to get the very early endorsement from the Renton Education Association, which is our teacher's union. And then many unions followed suit - UAW 4121, UFCW 3000, the Teamsters, the MLK Labor Council, to name a few, and just so on and so on - and to ask their Renton members as well, what types of things are they looking for? What types of things that they foresee? What types of challenges might they foresee? And everyone was really communicative with us, which - we really appreciate it. And I think we really started to try and figure out our strategy based off of what our community was saying and really trying to let those Rentonites lead. But I also will say we had to learn some of this stuff along the way, Crystal. We had to learn - I think we had a little bit more of learning what didn't work that hopefully can be used with other campaigns in the future, because we know this movement is going to keep on and keep on. One of the things that we learned, for example - this journey was a long one in terms of gathering signatures to be able to qualify for the ballot at all. And of course, we launched in January of 2023. And so here we are on the special election in February 2024. So we obviously shot our shot for November and we weren't able to qualify there, despite the fact that we did, in total, gather over 17,000 signatures, made over 50,000 door knock attempts, engaged over 150 volunteers, distributed nearly 12,000 campaign flyers, and even employed part-time canvassers and signature gatherers to be able to make all of this happen. What we learned was signature gathering in places like Renton that has a huge also community of unincorporated King County, that we were going to have to be a little bit more strategic about that because folks might have a Renton address, but that actually be in unincorporated King County. And so they actually can't sign those petition forms to be able to qualify for the ballot. And so we didn't know that. We were out there tabling in The Landing, doing what we need to do, trying to chat up all the people that were coming through and educate them on what we were trying to do. And the reception was really, really lovely. And people were signing. And we didn't realize that some of those Renton addresses were in unincorporated King County. So that was a hard lesson that we had to learn and recognize that our efforts are best spent at the doors, despite the fact that we would be able to get a lot more signatures doing tabling. We had to recognize that it's not about quantity, right? It's a quality thing. I think we felt a lot of urgency and had to check ourselves on our values - that it's not about the urgency of this so much as it's about really improving the conditions of workers in Renton. And so we had to hit those doors in the areas that we knew would be able to vote for this. We had to have those conversations with those folks - genuinely get their feedback - and also work with businesses as well. So we've had multiple business walks - walking to chat with the small businesses downtown - to also get their feedback and get what their thoughts and their support in this as well. So I think, in general - trying some things, realizing some things that didn't work, and just continuing to be flexible and stay really grounded in what we're trying to do here. [00:17:08] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, what has the reception been like, Carmen, from your colleagues on the council? [00:17:16] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: I'm so glad you asked me that, Crystal. It has been mixed, and I think that's very reflective of the Renton community. Our council is very reflective of Renton, and something that Maria lightly touched on was - and I'm going to say it a little bit more candidly - this is probably the most conservative city that these organizers have attempted to pass such an initiative. I could arguably say that Seattle, SeaTac, and Tukwila - at the time that these initiatives were passed - were less conservative. And that being said, we have an interesting mix in Renton. We have a very changing tide of new Rentonites, young families starting out here, diverse majority, people of color. And we also have a lot of people who have been here for generations. And we have a lot of history with Boeing - being the home of Boeing - and union workers and labor workers. And so, some of my councilmembers did not agree with more aspects of the ordinance than I, but I think that they had differing opinions and they felt it was more important to leave it to the voters to decide if we should be raising the minimum wage in a place like Renton, or if it's going to be something that we decide. And they felt it was more important for the voters to decide. [00:18:37] Crystal Fincher: Right, because there was an opportunity for the council to choose to enact this without this having to go to the voters. The council could have made this happen - certainly a number of residents were asking the council to do just that. Residents, organizations, some small businesses that we saw in the area saying - We don't need to go through the time and expense of an election, we can just make this happen when we know it's the right thing to do. The majority of the council opted not to do that, so it is going to residents. Maria, what has been the feedback that you've been receiving from residents and businesses in Renton? [00:19:12] Maria Abando: So we've had a lot of feedback, a lot of concerns - of course. As we've kind of touched on, things are really, really expensive. And whether that's rent, whether that's cost of your groceries, cost of your fuel, whatever - folks are really struggling to make ends meet. So it's no surprise that when we talk about raising the minimum wage, there are folks who would get concerned that this is just going to end up raising the costs of everything else. And the fact of the matter is that isn't true. We have seen that after SeaTac and Seattle raised their minimum wages years ago, the vast majority of businesses ended up doing just fine and didn't have to really raise prices too much, or have to hurt businesses or force them to close. Studies actually show that raising the minimum wage does benefit small businesses by doing lots of things like reducing employee turnover and absenteeism, because not as many folks are going out and chasing those higher wages. It increases worker productivity because workers are feeling good, earning a little more, feeling proud to work where they work because they're treated right. It puts money back into the local economy because it increases, for us as consumers, our purchasing power. You got a little bit more money to spend at the Renton farmer's market. You got a little more money to spend downtown in Renton businesses. And overall, just helps ensure that working families can afford to live in Renton. So I think there was some pushback around - Are things going to get more expensive? Is this going to hurt small businesses? And we know studies show that that's not the case. I also think that we have gotten some feedback at the doors where folks might say - Yeah, isn't raising wages something that our legislators are supposed to do? Our councilmembers - isn't that something they're supposed to do? Isn't that something that unions do? Like I'm part of a union, and unions are the ones who negotiate wages for me. So that's something that we've heard. And of course, of course, right - in a perfect world, yes, our councilmembers, our legislators would do this. We know that the fight for higher wages does need a multifaceted approach and is connected to so many other pushes. We do need unions to continue to be empowered to negotiate higher wages for workers. And again, that's why we're super proud to have the support - I named a few of the unions, but there are, I think, 15 endorsed local labor unions. And I didn't mention, but thank you, Carmen, including the Boeing Workers Union, which is IAM&AW 751. The healthcare workers unions, public school teachers unions - the Highline Education Association included. We saw 2023 being a strong year for labor and for labor unions - from Starbucks to the UW grad students and so on and so on. And so, yes, of course, we want unions to be able to do this. And that's why they are working in-hand with us as well to make sure that we hit this from a really multifaceted approach. And two, are our legislators supposed to be doing this? We've hit on this a little bit. Yes, our coalition did show up strong at a December 4th Renton City Council meeting asking our Renton City councilmembers to just pass this outright. We had done a small letter-writing campaign to them, and so we did get folks to send over a hundred letters to our Renton City councilmembers before that meeting that were asking them to pass this - many of them unique. And like you have hit on, Carmen was our lone supporter. There were others that - on the council - more conservative members that ended up speaking against it. One of the councilmembers, even before it got started - perhaps seeing the amount of people that showed up - made a proposal at the start of the campaign to reduce the amount of time that people that showed up could testify and could speak. That was tough to see. But after meeting with more councilmembers and continuing to uplift why this is important, we were proud to be able to get the endorsements of two more councilmembers after that - Kim-Khánh Văn and Ryan McIrvin. And so we can see that we are gaining steam. And even when we can't necessarily do this by city council, the people can coalesce and come together and raise wages ourselves. [00:23:37] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: And I do want to add that we got real direct feedback - part of the initiative, you have a position open up - you have to offer those hours of that position to any part-time employee before you hire a new employee to ensure that you are not taking advantage of your employees by only having them work part-time so you do not have to pay them benefits, which is a way that we've seen employees and part-time employees and minimum wage employees be exploited. And so that was one of the things, I think, a lot of feedback was given. And when you look at the money - and always follow the money - 60% of the City of Renton revenue comes from our business taxes and sales taxes. And so the business community has a very heavy influence in politics - understandably so - and especially organizations that might be a little biased when it comes to advocating for workers over business interests and, in my opinion, corporate greed. [00:24:33] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, certainly all feedback is welcome. Everyone in the community has a stake in this - whether they're an employer paying people, whether they're an employee, other people who live and work in the city, other organizations and entities. But it really is about how out of balance things have gotten. And being responsive to community needs - it is not easy to collect that amount of signatures. I think for people who are not acquainted with signature gathering, it's like - Oh, you know, you just need a few thousand signatures. 10,000- 20,000 - just as many people thought - just set up at The Landing, or go to Renton River Days, or do whatever you want to do - gather a bunch of signatures there. Those are the worst places to gather signatures when you're in a place, especially like Renton, that has a high volume of people commuting in and out to work, the high volume of people, like you talked about, living in unincorporated King County and not Renton proper - the municipal boundaries. So it does take going door-to-door, it does take a long concerted effort, and it does take legitimate interest from the residents in the city. And so to me, what was striking was to see how dismissive some councilmembers were to the residents of the city who didn't just sit at home and think - Ah, this would be good. But took a step to say - You know what? I actually want this to change. I believe this should change. I believe this specific policy should be enacted, and I'm willing to go this other route if the council doesn't enact it themselves. That, to me, should have been a sign to the council - okay, let's at least listen. Let's see if maybe there's something workable here that we can work with, even if there was a compromise, right? Some kind of responsiveness to the residents who live there. Unfortunately, we didn't see that. But there is an opportunity for the residents to do this themselves, which we've seen them do in other cities. And in other states, frankly - some southern states have raised their minimum wage in places that people consider to be really conservative, are saying it's in the community's interest to make sure that we aren't trapping people in poverty by enabling them to work without making a wage that can support the basics in our own community. Everyone loses when that happens. And so this is why I'm excited and gratified to see this happen and this step be taken in response to what the residents have asked for via petition. So now we're at the point where this is now a campaign. And a lot of times when campaigns happen and you're like - This is a good thing - especially when we're talking about issues impacting the business community, opposition occurs. Opposition appears. And that is what's happened here in Renton. So what have you seen with this opposition and how are you countering that, Carmen? [00:27:30] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Yeah, it's been interesting to see the opposition pop up. It came very quickly and very swiftly. And this was something that we were afraid of and tried to anticipate when we wanted this to be adopted outright - and that was my argument. We saw in 2022 the lowest voter turnout since 1936 in recorded King County history - incredibly concerning because people are a little, I think, apathetic and tired around politics and who can blame them? And so when the opposition came - almost a week after the meeting where we decided to place this on the ballot - the Washington Hospitality Association, the Washington Retailers Association, the Seattle Hospitality for Progress, all tried to create a No-PAC to campaign against raising the minimum wage. And they have raised, I believe, close to $96,000 at this point. [00:28:25] Maria Abando: Seattle Hospitality for Progress itself dropped $20K at the start of the year, which is a whole thing. [00:28:30] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: And it's just happening so quickly - that's the other aspect of it. We've been working on this movement for a year. And in that time, we've raised maybe $75,000 in a year. And from organizers - no corporations - organizers and organizational groups that are about people and community and coalition building. And in a matter of days, almost $100,000 has been raised by these corporations. And mind you, these are the corporations that are going to be most directly impacted. How the ordinance reads - and this is not being advertised specifically by the Renton Chamber of Commerce, which is believed to be an apolitical organization. However, they've gotten very politically involved - the president and CEO has become one of the champions, again, in the No campaign - using her platform and privilege to actually spread misinformation and to fearmonger some of her small business owners and some of the members of her Chamber. There is no information being spread in the business community, sadly, that if you have fewer than 15 employees, you're entirely exempt from this initiative. This initiative will not apply to you if you have fewer than 15 employees. If you have anywhere between 15 and 499, it is more of a tiered-step system, where I believe it's $2 the first year and then $1 every year after that. And so there is a more understandable system there when you explain it like that. And the direct impact, which is why we have this No-PAC created, is going to be to Walmart, Home Depot, Applebee's, Red Robin, Topgolf, World Market, LA Fitness, Starbucks, McDonald's, Fred Meyer, Safeway, gas stations, Target - those are the individuals that we're asking to pay just a few more dollars so people can have a little bit more comfort to live. And so I want to ask voters, and even those who are campaigning against this initiative - the entire No-PAC - can you really look me in my eye and tell me that the person who makes your coffee in the morning, or the person that you order your food from, or the person who checks you out, or helps you out at putting stuff away at Walmart, or helps direct you at Home Depot, or is working at Fred Meyer - doesn't deserve a livable wage? And that is going to be an interesting conversation to have on January 31st when we actually are going to be debating this at Carco Theater in Renton. [00:30:49] Maria Abando: And many of those corporations are making record profits right now, and they can easily afford a modest wage increase for their lowest paid employees. I also have some questions and concerns about the Renton Chamber of Commerce spearheading a lot of this opposition work, because they are supposed to be an official 501c6 - nonpartisan, apolitical, receives public funds to be able to maintain operations - and being a top contributor to the No-PAC is concerning. And I'll be honest too - although I wasn't as super familiar with the Renton Chamber of Commerce when I was jumping into this, I am absolutely familiar with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Folks who have been around in Seattle labor conversations - the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber were the ones that filed that lawsuit against the JumpStart Tax in 2020. They were crying that the JumpStart Tax was taking away the right of residents to earn a living wage - so they do know the concept of what a living wage is, which is funny because the JumpStart taxes for qualifying businesses taxed 0.7% for every employee making over $150,000. So if you're telling me $150,000 of a salary is a living wage, then okay - say that then. And then I think it increased for employees that are going over $500,000. So these folks know what a living wage is, and they spread misinformation to protect their bottom lines. I also have to just shout out and appreciate the dope Hacks & Wonks episode at the end of last year that Shannon moderated with BJ Last and Amy Sundberg from Solidarity Budget - when they were highlighting, again, that it wasn't just back in 2020 that the Chamber was getting involved with this. The Chamber was still involved now - they called out how the Seattle Metro Chamber has still been trying to pause the JumpStart Tax. And I believe it was Shannon as well that reminded us all that 15% of the JumpStart Tax revenue is supposed to be going towards small businesses. So if the Chamber is supposed to be supporting small businesses, why are they trying to prevent that 15% from going to small businesses in support of them? The Seattle Hospitality for Progress - again, the group that dropped that $20,000 into this No-PAC at the beginning of the year - happens to share an office in the building and work, probably together, with the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Washington Hospitality Association. So they want to spread misinformation and say that - Oh, you know, this whole initiative is folks coming out of the region coming to change the identity of Renton - which is a little bit of dog whistling, in my opinion - but also not being transparent of the fact that they are pouring in thousands from other cities to be able to try and stop this from happening, something that will deny the lowest wage workers a living wage and continue to place the burden on the lowest wage workers of Renton. [00:33:57] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: It's disappointing. I believe chamber of commerce organizations are important. I think they're a valuable part of the community. I think that there is a lot of potential when it comes to chamber of commerce because you do want a small business community that is thriving. And you want a small business community that can grow, and I appreciate that. It's really just unfortunate where you see certain biases and power plays being utilized. And that's really just doing a disservice to the community because a very new Renton, a growing type of Renton, is coming here. And I think they're very scared of that. I think it threatens what they believe to be kind of their way of life. And I think there's a lot of emotion at play in terms of who's supporting this initiative and who isn't. And I just want us to all be able to have a wholehearted conversation without emotions and feelings. [00:34:49] Maria Abando: And at the end of the day - regardless of the opposition - we are very, very positive, Crystal. We know that we have a really, really strong winning strategy. And that winning strategy is engaging community. At the doors - I mentioned some of the questions and the feedback, but I didn't mention how many people were just immediately so overwhelmingly supportive as well. Many people recognizing - yes, things are so expensive. And so, yes, we need this. I know people who are working low wage jobs and I know folks who could really use this. So we engage community. We engage our unions. We are going back and engaging our signature signers, since we did have so many of those folks sign and so many of those folks write letters and express support. We're, again, engaging those businesses. And finding ways to continue to register voters and expand the electorate so that we can just turn out the vote. So I think the opposition is going to opposition. And we're just going to continue to keep on marching, keep on pushing, and don't stop until we win a more livable wage for folks. [00:35:57] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: And I think you bring up a really good point, Maria - because what we've also seen in King County over the years is the more that there is a nasty No campaign, it actually gives more power to the initiative and the campaign that is happening. And we've seen kind of these hateful campaigns backfire. And that's really my hope - because we've been on the ground for over a year - meeting with residents, outreaching to community, working with workers and business owners and community organizers and unions to make sure that we can get this passed. Because I think if we can get this passed in Renton, we can see this passed in other South King County cities. And I think that is also what is scary to the Washington Hospitality Association, the Chamber, and this No-PAC - because this will signal a changing tide. [00:36:44] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. I think the time is now. This is a really important and necessary thing to do for our communities. And hearing some of the opposition saying that this isn't the role of local government, but fighting against minimum wages overall - I think this has been said several times online - but that's basically their admission that they would be paying you less right now if they were legally allowed to. I don't think anyone thinks that's where we need to be. In this era where we are hearing of record profits - billion dollar profits - looking at CEO and executive compensation in the tens or hundreds of millions, the idea that raising the minimum wage - the wages of your lowest wage workers, and not all of your middle management, not your executive pay and compensation packages. Not any of that contributes to higher prices - when we've seen pay stagnate and prices climb anyway. So it really isn't an issue. This threat, I think, is losing teeth of - Well, if we raise low wage workers' wages, then things are going to get more expensive for you. Well, you haven't done that and things have gotten more expensive and now no one can afford it because wages are too low. So we really need to address this and we need to give people in communities power to buy from the businesses in their communities. What we see when lower wage workers make more is that has a direct and immediate impact on local businesses, on businesses inside that community - because now people do have the money to spend on it. So I'm eager to see this - looking forward to the remainder of the campaign. If people want to get involved in this campaign and help spread the word before the February 13th deadline for this election, how can they do so? [00:38:28] Maria Abando: Yes, so we definitely need people's support. We need folks to give what they can, especially volunteering. And so you can get involved at raisethewagerenton.org. Additionally, I would not be doing my due diligence if I did not come to all of y'all and remind everybody that these types of efforts do take funds. When we are up against large PACs that are being able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, it makes it more important for us to be able to send out mailers and have yard signs. We are hoping to raise $10,000 before Election Day to help dispel some of the lies and the misinformation that the No-PAC are sending out and also just to uplift the coalition and uplift the positivity of what we're bringing. And so I really, really ask everybody to consider, if you can, to also donate. And you can do that at bit.ly - so it's short link bit.ly/GiveRTWR - and that RTWR is capitalized. So please, please, please, folks - regardless if you're in Renton or not, we really, really need and appreciate the support. I also just want to uplift just again from a personal standpoint that we're in a moment where we are seeing 67% of Black folks in Renton living in poverty. We are seeing 72% of Latino folks living in poverty as well. And so just again, the recognition that we are really working to uplift folks like this. This is not only a struggle for labor. This is a racial justice struggle. This is a struggle, in general, for anybody that is struggling right now. And so we are committed to standing and staying in this fight for the long run, regardless. We know that this campaign is going to end and we're going to keep on pushing. Even after this campaign is over, our PAC does not dissolve. We are going to continue to stay and continue to walk businesses, continue to educate folks on what they can do to support with implementation, what they can do next. Maybe we work with Carmen on tenants' rights. Maybe we continue to take what we've learned and see if we can support in the coalitions in other cities to be able to get this done. So really, this is not something that's going to be over in February. We need folks to sign up. We need folks to help us knock doors. We need folks, if you happen to be in a South King County city - that you're hoping to see this be implemented in your city as well - join now. Join now. Because community endures, and we're going to keep on going. [00:41:20] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Absolutely. And I would also ask - what is really forgotten by people who only live in Renton and only have ever lived in Renton is that there are people who used to live in Renton who would like to move back to Renton. There are people who are only living outside of Renton temporarily - I lived in Seattle for a minute, I owned in Redmond for a hot second. And I wanted to also come back home to Renton. And I was privileged enough to be able to do so. Not everyone has that ability. And so I meet students, I meet young graduates. I meet people that are either from Renton, they lived in Renton for a minute, or they got priced out of Renton - they want to come back to Renton. And if you have any tie to Renton, if you know anybody in Renton - if you care about South King County - help us get out the vote. Please, I am begging of you, so we do not give this election up to the old Renton that does not want to include the new, diverse, forward-thinking, progressive Renton. I want to involve all Renton, and so I want to make sure all of Renton is going to be able to vote in February. So my ask is please text your friends, post on your TikTok, your Twitter, your Facebook, your MySpace, your Snapchat, your Instagram, whatever. Just get the vote or get the word out there that we need to vote and get those ballots in by February 13th if you live in incorporated Renton - please. Because what we've also seen is the Washington Hospitality Association has bragged on their podcast about pushing off the unincorporated King County raise the wage initiative that Girmay Zahilay introduced last year. And so we need to really combat, again, corporate greed, corporate PACs, the Washington Hospitality Association - and advocate for workers and those that really need this, because that's who I'm fighting for. [00:43:02] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Well, we will include links in our episode notes to the campaign and where people can get more information and get more involved. We thank you, Maria and Councilmember Carmen, for taking the time to help educate us about the Raise the Wage Renton campaign. Thanks so much. [00:43:21] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Thank you. [00:43:22] Crystal Fincher: Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is produced by Shannon Cheng. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on every podcast service and app - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Esta semana dialogamos con Carmen Rivera, Directora Ejecutiva de la Fundación Hogar Niñito Jesús - organización sin fines de lucro que ofrece albergue y protección de niños en Puerto Rico. Por los pasados 30 años han estado trabajando con víctimas de maltrato, abuso sexual y abandono. Con Carmen, hablamos de la labor de la organización, planes a futuro y la importancia de su labor con la niñez de PR. Aprovechamos para hablar sobre Lienzos, su próximo evento de recaudación de fondos donde se une la el arte y la gastronomía en pro de la niñez en la isla.  Redes de Fundación Hogar Niñito de Jesús Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hogarninitojesus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hogarninitojesus Website: https://fhnj.org/ Email: donacion@fhnj.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4TSOhFeMQyIuQlPARTXQnw LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fundacion-hogar-ninito-jesus Boletos para Lienzos 2023: desarrollo@fhnj.org _ Las temporadas 1, 2 y 3 están disponibles en todas las plataformas de podcast - visita nuestra página web: http://paraservirlepr.com para más episodios. Aprovechamos para anunciarles que Para Servirle llega a la televisión. Todos los sábados y domingos a las 10:00 am por el canal 85 y 285HD de Liberty Puerto Rico. Ya está disponible nuestro calendario de eventos en la sección de Calendario o en http://paraservirlepr.com/eventos/ ¿Qué es Para Servirle? Un espacio informativo para organizaciones sin fines de lucro conectar con la población para que sepas quienes son, a quienes apoyan y cómo tú puedes ayudarlos. Redes Para Servirle: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paraservirle.pr/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/paraservirle.pr/ Email: mailto:paraservirle.pr@gmail.com ¡Gracias por su tiempo! Y recuerda, #AquiParaServirle #ParaServirle --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paraservirlepr/support

Ser mujer es fortaleza, ternura y tener un corazón lleno de amor y de sabiduría de Dios. Ser mujer es brindar apoyo acogiendo el don de la vida. “Mujeres en Vivo” es un programa producido de corazón a corazón por el equipo de colaboradoras del Centro Alianza de Vida, desde Mérida, Yucatán (México). Integrado por mujeres que viven la vida de familia, de fe y los retos profesionales de un mundo cambiante. En este espacio encontraremos una respuesta de esperanza, ante las realidades que una mujer de fe vive en la actualidad.

Ser mujer es fortaleza, ternura y tener un corazón lleno de amor y de sabiduría de Dios. Ser mujer es brindar apoyo acogiendo el don de la vida. “Mujeres en Vivo” es un programa producido de corazón a corazón por el equipo de colaboradoras del Centro Alianza de Vida, desde Mérida, Yucatán (México). Integrado por mujeres que viven la vida de familia, de fe y los retos profesionales de un mundo cambiante. En este espacio encontraremos una respuesta de esperanza, ante las realidades que una mujer de fe vive en la actualidad.

María del Carmen Rivera: trabajadora social cínica y supervisora Programa Hospitalización Parcial Centro de Salud Conductual San Lucas: Beneficios de la modalidad parcial en salud emocional

On this episode, we take a look back at the beginning of The Moth, and hear a story from our founder - George Dawes Green. This episode is hosted by Melvin Estrella and Pegi Vail. Storyteller George Dawes Green describes his encounters with the many characters of Surrency, Georgia while working on a crisis hotline. If you'd like to listen to the stories Pegi and Melvin mentioned, here are links: Reflections From Space by Frederick Hauck Merci by Candido Tirado and Carmen Rivera

Choose Courage ~ Speak Your Truth ~ Live On Purpose: Dynamics of Class and Classism in Organizations: Digging Deep with Guest Dr. Carmen Rivera. Becky Martinez is a Mixed Race, Mixed Class Woman of Color and engages the dynamic of the both/and living in these particular identities. She is a proud aunt, friend, most often curious, person that enjoys running, observer of nature, fan of ice cream and hopes to always be in process. She is a consultant and trainer with an emphasis on social justice, leadership and organizational development. Her work focuses on engaging individuals and groups to recognize systemic dynamics of privilege and oppression for more inclusive and equitable policies, practices, and structures. Becky strives to create space for healing and liberation as part of her work, particularly in this current moment. She works with diverse groups at the college level and with non-profit organizations and government agencies. She is a faculty member with the Social Justice Training Institute, a Co-Lead Facilitator for LeaderShape, a board member with Class Action, a former certified trainer for the Anti-Defamation League and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and counselor-advocate through Peace over Violence. Dr. Carmen Rivera currently serves as an Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and co-chair of the Student Affairs in Higher Education Master's program at Colorado State University (CSU). One of the first things she tells folks is that she is from northern New Mexico because where she's from is fundamental to who she is. As a first-generation college student, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Mexican American Studies and Spanish from the University of Northern Colorado. She then went on to earn her Master's degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education as well as her PhD in Higher Education Leadership from CSU. Her higher education career began when she worked for the Upward Bound program. She worked in TRiO programs for over 13 years then worked in international education as the Director of Student Experience at INTO CSU for several years. Additionally, she's a faculty member for the Social Justice Training Institute and a consultant in the areas of social justice and leadership. One of her most important roles is raising her two super awesome sons with her super awesome wife. She loves 90's R&B, traveling, cooking, and is obsessed with all things Frida Kahlo. Website: https://www.infinitymartinez.com/team/becky-martinez

We are excited to welcome Dr. Carmen Rivera, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Colorado State University to the next show to explore dynamics of class and classism in higher education. Don t miss this chance to learn ways to disrupt classism in your organization! Watch live on Facebook. www.facebook.com/transformationtalkradio/

Choose Courage ~ Speak Your Truth ~ Live On Purpose: Dynamics of Class and Classism in Organizations: Digging Deep with Guest Dr. Carmen Rivera. Becky Martinez is a Mixed Race, Mixed Class Woman of Color and engages the dynamic of the both/and living in these particular identities. She is a proud aunt, friend, most often curious, person that enjoys running, observer of nature, fan of ice cream and hopes to always be in process. She is a consultant and trainer with an emphasis on social justice, leadership and organizational development. Her work focuses on engaging individuals and groups to recognize systemic dynamics of privilege and oppression for more inclusive and equitable policies, practices, and structures. Becky strives to create space for healing and liberation as part of her work, particularly in this current moment. She works with diverse groups at the college level and with non-profit organizations and government agencies. She is a faculty member with the Social Justice Training Institute, a Co-Lead Facilitator for LeaderShape, a board member with Class Action, a former certified trainer for the Anti-Defamation League and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and counselor-advocate through Peace over Violence. Dr. Carmen Rivera currently serves as an Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and co-chair of the Student Affairs in Higher Education Master's program at Colorado State University (CSU). One of the first things she tells folks is that she is from northern New Mexico because where she's from is fundamental to who she is. As a first-generation college student, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Mexican American Studies and Spanish from the University of Northern Colorado. She then went on to earn her Master's degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education as well as her PhD in Higher Education Leadership from CSU. Her higher education career began when she worked for the Upward Bound program. She worked in TRiO programs for over 13 years then worked in international education as the Director of Student Experience at INTO CSU for several years. Additionally, she's a faculty member for the Social Justice Training Institute and a consultant in the areas of social justice and leadership. One of her most important roles is raising her two super awesome sons with her super awesome wife. She loves 90's R&B, traveling, cooking, and is obsessed with all things Frida Kahlo. Website: https://www.infinitymartinez.com/team/becky-martinez

We are excited to welcome Dr. Carmen Rivera, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Colorado State University to the next show to explore dynamics of class and classism in higher education. Don t miss this chance to learn ways to disrupt classism in your organization!Watch live on Facebook. www.facebook.com/transformationtalkradio/

Newly-elected Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera shares with Crystal how she prevailed as a progressive in the November 2021 election despite fearmongering and misrepresentation of her campaign. They talk about the evolution of her beliefs and values through her experiences growing up as the daughter of the first Puerto-Rican born Seattle Police Department officer to working with marginalized and underrepresented youth to teaching the next generation as a lecturer in criminology at Seattle University, and how she shared that journey with voters to illustrate that believing in abolition doesn't necessarily mean being anti-police. The two wrap up with what Councilmember Rivera hopes to prioritize as she starts the next phase of governing and words of advice for those considering their own run for office. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal on Twitter at @finchfrii, and find Carmen at @riveraforrenton   Resources City of Renton - Councilmember Carmen Rivera: https://rentonwa.gov/city_hall/city_council/carmen_rivera   “Opinion: Racism Runs Rampant in Renton” by Carmen Rivera for South Seattle Emerald: https://southseattleemerald.com/2021/03/16/opinion-racism-runs-rampant-in-renton/   “King County Conservatives Discredit Progressive POC Candidates as ‘Defund' Extremists” by Nathalie Graham from South Seattle Emerald: https://southseattleemerald.com/2021/10/28/king-county-conservatives-discredit-progressive-poc-candidates-as-defund-extremists/   “Progressives Make Impressive Gains in South King County” by Andrew Engelson from The Stranger: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/11/09/62717950/progressives-make-impressive-gains-in-south-king-county   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington State through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Well today, I am really excited to welcome newly elected - it's a little bit of time now but everybody is excited - newly elected Renton City Councilmember, Carmen Rivera. Hello and welcome to the show. [00:00:53] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Hi, it's so nice to be here. Thank you for having me. [00:00:56] Crystal Fincher: I appreciate it. Well, I'm excited - as we have different conversations just around Seattle, around this region, there's been lots of talk after recent elections, elections even before that - just how are progressives faring? We have so many - in certainly in the Seattle area - races that don't necessarily include Republicans but can include people who do view things quite differently, who may both identify as Democrats or as progressive. And in conversations about the last Seattle elections, I've talked to a number of people who are like, "Wow, it's hard to be progressive and get elected. I don't know if it's even possible. How do you even do that today? Is there a backlash? What do you even accomplish? Everybody's afraid to talk about public safety now." Just all that conversation. And what was so inspiring to me about your race and some others in the region is that you didn't compromise on who you are, what you believe. You were completely consistent about wanting to move in a different direction, the urgency needed to do it, that reform wasn't going to cut it, that things need to be dramatically and drastically shifted to meet the needs of our community as it exists today. And you connected with your community - people were inspired, and engaged, and moved to action, and voted you into office. I just want to start out and understand what caused you to say, "I should run. I really want to run and I can win." [00:02:45] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Oh wow - that is a question. I honestly, in thinking about that question, I never thought I was going to go into politics and I have to kind of give a little background. I was born raised in Renton, Washington and in the 11th legislative district. And my mom was a very active Democrat when I was in middle school and high school. And in turn, I was very active in the 11th LD Democrats. And so I think the Democratic Party values were instilled in me at a young age and I saw the importance and the power of political organization and community organization and how those things can come together and create real change. And I saw a lot of the toxicity and negativity in politics. When my mom ran - she actually ran against Bob Hasegawa for his Representative House seat back in 2003 and she also ran for city council - and I saw her lose every time and it was really difficult. I saw how hard it was on her and how much it weighed on her mentally and emotionally. And I saw the toxicity in politics and I was so turned off from it that I didn't want anything to do with politics. I went right into college, studied criminal justice, and wanted to be a police officer and follow in my father's footsteps - he was a Seattle police officer for 38 years. And it was actually through my career in working at Echo Glen Children's Center in juvenile rehabilitation, and then working for King County at YouthSource - working with marginalized and underrepresented youth - that my shift of thinking happened. And it was actually seeing the racial and ethnic disparities, not only at the state level, but at the county level as well, that really made me look more at a critical criminologist approach to our justice system - or injustice system, I think, better to describe it. And it was through those experiences of working at the state, working for the county, and then entering academia that I studied and learned that what we've been doing historically hasn't been working. And I learned through teaching, through my students, that if we want to see real systemic change, it's a marriage between organization and politics and policy. And I did not want to be a hypocrite. I wanted to be the change that I wanted to see in the world and I wanted to be the role model that I tried to exemplify for my students. And I felt in 2020 very compelled to educate myself and work in the advocacy around educating people around abolition and defunding and what those things mean because there are not a lot of people with my background - my educational background and my privilege, my educational privilege and my position in criminal justice, in academia - that were properly educating and discussing abolition. I think the only other person that I know of is Nikkita Oliver and their curriculum on abolition that they posted on, I think it was Google Drive in 2020, is what really helped me expand my purview and expand my way of thinking. And really understand that we need to approach things at the root and we need to attack things at the root and go to the core if we're going to really see again that systemic change. And so when 2021 came around, I was approached about running for Renton City Council. And I had been chewing on it since summer of 2020 actually. And it was some votes and decisions that had been made later in the year around the Red Lion Hotel and things that I've just seen in my entire life. I'm 32, going to be 33 years old, and I was born and raised in Renton. And I had seen things that hadn't shifted from when I was in middle school or high school and that wasn't okay with me, and I just felt called to it, and I felt supported by my community to do it. And I wasn't sure if I was going to win. I just knew that I had to try and I felt confident that I was the best person for the position and that the city council needed someone from my background, my experience and my purview to contribute to the decisions that were being made. [00:07:05] Crystal Fincher: So how did your campaign unfold? What was that whole time and process like? [00:07:11] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Well, I was approached, like I said, in summer of 2020 by some friends who fanned a flame inside of me. And in January-February, I had gotten more involved in what was going on in the community in Renton - in particular, an instance of racism that happened in February of 2021 in downtown Renton. And I wrote an opinion piece called, Racism is Running Rampant in Renton. And I felt it was necessary to share my purview and my perspective, and I think it's important to call out racism and call out also just incidences of racism that are rooted deeply in our culture and our society - because in order to address a problem, solve a problem, you need to address the problem first. You need to call it out. You need to know what the problem is. And so for me, that was really important. And it was from all of that that people were like, we think that you are somebody that could do really good things on the level of city council. And I actually thought that opinion piece was going to hurt my campaign. I thought that if I were to run, which I launched in April, that article might hurt me more than help me, and I'm still - the jury's out on that. I don't know if that article hurt me or helped me when it came to my campaign. It wasn't a strategy by any means. The two were not really connected - but from my opinion pieces that I've written and the organization that I've done, my campaign got a lot of support from community and I was really shocked and pleasantly surprised by how many people supported me and how many people were excited for my race. And it was a thick race. We had five people running for Renton City Council Position 2, including the incumbent who had been appointed over a year prior. And it was contentious. And yeah - I don't know really where else to go from there. [00:09:10] Crystal Fincher: It was contentious - certainly following along with it, it was definitely contentious. I think what was exciting for me to watch throughout that process - some of it was infuriating - and that article, as any time people speak out against racism as it's happening, particularly as BIPOC speak out against racism, there is a predictable backlash from people who don't want anything to change, who don't want to talk about it, don't want to draw attention to it. It's working for them, they see no reason - that is always going to happen. And that in and of itself prevents a lot of people from speaking out. And so there's this perception that that is the dominant view, that that is something that you just can't overcome and should be avoided at all costs - just don't create the controversy - it's not worth it, it could hurt your campaign, all of that stuff. But what we also saw was you were telling the truth and people heard it and understood it and are like, finally, there is someone who isn't afraid to look at the sky and call it blue. To just talk about what is happening. And that building trust - that hey, if Carmen is willing to speak out on these issues, even though conventional wisdom, whatever that is, is that this is risky and should be avoided, we can trust her to speak out about the things that matter when she's in a greater position of power. We can trust her to really understand where we're coming from and speak for us, to us, that we are included in your vision for governing. And that energizing people who may not have been energized by politics before, and who may have been disillusioned, or just haven't seen anyone who they feel really gets them and is speaking to their needs. And it's not like it was just a small coalition, or just BIPOC, or just young people. It was so many people in the community because - when elements of the community are being marginalized and harmed, we all feel the effects. It's just whether or not we're acknowledging them. And so many people saw it. As things are going along and they're contentious in your campaign and you continue just to speak the truth as you see it - an educated truth - it's not like you just woke up one morning and decided to talk. You have lived here, lived abroad, highly educated, as you say, deeply steeped in academia, have both professional and lived experience. You're coming from a place that is very informed with a lot of data behind you to back you up. But that didn't mean that you didn't even face opposition from other members on the council - where it wasn't just a conversation - and a lot of the typical ways that a campaign unfolds between the candidates. But some institutional actors were not that happy with what you were talking about because you weren't sugar coating what you felt was needed to keep everyone in the community safe. How did you approach navigating through that? And what did that feel like as you were going through it? [00:12:34] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: It was a learning experience. I'm an imperfect person and I have been described in many ways - inaccurately - I've been described as a bull in a china shop, feisty, spicy. Very passionate I think is probably a more accurate way that people like to describe me. Again, all of these adjectives have something in common when you're describing a Latina or a biracial woman of color. And I do have white presenting privilege because I only see the sun for six months in Washington, which happens - I lose my melanin. And so it's interesting because I kind of feel like I was raised in two worlds, and that I think helped in how I navigated a lot of this. And I was told, "Don't talk about white supremacy. Don't talk about racism. Do not talk about abolition and do not talk about defunding." I was told straight up not to talk about those things and to avoid them. Those things came up because of the tactics that were used by conservatives this last election cycle. We saw those tactics used against Nikkita Oliver. We saw those tactics used against Nicole Thomas-Kennedy. Two, I think, highly qualified people who I was disappointed in their particular races when we're talking about those Seattle races. They really got a lot of grief for their educational backgrounds and their perspectives. And I was, I think, compared to them a lot. And I took that as a compliment because Nikkita Oliver teaches at SU Law and is an incredibly intelligent human being. Same - Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, an incredibly intelligent human being. And I think there was a lot of fearmongering and polarization that was used against them in their campaigns. The same was used for me and I think that was because - when people don't know something, they don't understand something, they're scared of it. And I am a very, very strong cup of coffee. I like my coffee black and I think that's also how I come off to the rest of society - is I'm just very direct and I'm very blunt. And like I said, you have to be able to address the problem and know what the problem is in order to solve it. And when we look at who is in control in politics and I'm talking about - I teach social control and deviance, I teach critical criminology, I teach juvenile justice. And when you look at the people who are in power in politics, the majority of people who are elected officials are white men. The majority of prosecutors in this country are white men. The majority of educators and the educational academia lens, especially in higher ed, is that of white men. And if we look at our media, our media and media that we consume, is I think owned by less than a dozen major conglomerate of media companies - also majority owned by white men. When you look at the data of who is running our society, it is a white supremacist society. And that doesn't mean that people are walking around in KKK hoodies and robes and this stereotypical idea of what white supremacy is. White supremacy is pervasive and deeply rooted in our society and that's what I like to try to teach and educate around. And that's what I tried to stick with in terms of just talking to people. I knocked on - ooh, I want to say over 6,000 doors and I just spoke to people like I would speak to my students, from an academic background but also someone who saw the academics in real life when I worked at the state, when I worked at the county, when I worked with my students. I saw the disparities. I've seen it. And like you said, I'm highly educated and so I think I just tried to meld those two together. Because also education is, and higher ed in particular, is another system that is rooted in white supremacy and I've also had to unlearn some of my privileges and things rooted, I think in elitism, that is also very pervasive in academia. And so just coming from all of that and learning how I've navigated myself as someone who's worked in social services, and worked with marginalized populations, and worked with youth - and I've learned a lot from them and have also - I put my foot in my mouth. I've made mistakes. 10 years ago I was telling juveniles, "Just pull yourself up with your bootstraps." That's not what we tell juveniles. That's not what you should be telling juveniles. And I learned that through working with juveniles and working with these kids that are incredibly resilient, intelligent, and are amazing members of our community. And because of our injustice system, they have been written off and they have been labeled and they have been othered. And that I think is the fault of a capitalistic society that we live in, that is rooted again in white supremacy. And that's something again, we just need to address if we're going to be able to root out and create a more equitable society for especially our biracial and our Black and Brown Indigenous youth. [00:17:48] Crystal Fincher: One of the things I think is a pervasive conversation in political circles is - yeah, we know white supremacy is a problem. We're dealing with and impacted by it every day. We can catalog on a daily basis how it's a problem for us, people we know, number of things like that. And we can talk about it to each other a lot of times. But people struggle when it comes to talking about someone - to your point, who may not have been exposed to different data points, different points of view, may not have been educated, may just have heard what the conventional wisdom is and - hey, there's a problem with crime, and cops prevent crime and solve crime, and we're safer when there are more of them on the streets. And if we just obey the law and are good people, then everything will be fine. And wow, I hope that works for someone out there. It doesn't work for a lot of people. As you're encountering people in the community who you've had to talk through this, who you've had to connect with your message and who came to you skeptical, questioning, doubting, this seemed like you were just some extremist Antifa - throw all of those Fox News buzzwords at you. How did you engage with the community? Because you can't be elected without doing that. How did you have conversations with people who were like, "I don't know about this," - where did you start and how did that go? [00:19:33] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Ooh, that's a great question, Crystal. I will say honestly and I'll say it to you right now - I don't agree with our two party system. I think our two party system is flawed and problematic, and I think we are more fractured as a nation than we've ever had. I'm 32 going on 33, and I lived through Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and now Biden. And I feel like we are more split as a country than we ever have been. And we're even seeing those cracks and those fractures within our own party. The Republicans seeing it I think on a smaller level - the conservatives on a smaller level - but the Democrats, we're fractured as a party because politics and I think democracy and the Republican conservatives progressives, it's a spectrum. It's not either or, it is a spectrum. And that's how I would start a conversation - is saying, "I view it more as a spectrum." And just because I have certain ideas and upbringings - my parents, they fall on the more conservative end. My father was a Seattle police officer for 38 years. He - what's the word I'm looking for - he perpetuated a policing institution, again rooted in white supremacy, even though he was a man of color. And he engaged, I think, in some problematic policies around the War on Drugs and around crimes against society. And I struggle with the fact that we live in a society that has to be so polarized, and is so split, and everything has to be either-or and not yes-and. And so I think the hardest for me, and what was easy also, was when I got labeled anti-police - I'm not anti-police - that was just an honest thing. And that's a struggle because people believe that if you are an abolitionist or believe in abolition or teach abolition, you also need to adopt the idea of ACAB and being anti-police. I understand the ACAB perspective and I understand those perspectives - I don't agree with them and I don't adopt them. It's a struggle for me, honestly, and I do struggle with cognitive dissonance as well, and I was very honest about that, in being raised with police privilege - being raised around police officers and being very comfortable with them and also understanding that there are friends and people in my life as I grew older, who they did not see police as equated to safety or security. They were seen as dangerous and they were fearful of them, and those were valid feelings. And I had to learn that those are valid feelings and I had to unlearn a lot of things as well. And I shared that journey when I was talking to voters. And the biggest feedback I got was - you need to spend less time talking to voters. Only five minutes, only five minutes. Couldn't do it. I love talking to voters, I love sharing my experience, love sharing my perspective - the fact that I do see both sides because I was raised in a very pro-police family. And I was raised in Seattle Police Guild picnics around other police officers and around SPOG. I - very familiar with that culture. And as someone who also grew out of it and did not follow my father's career - I fell more into social services and doing direct service with again, youth who were incarcerated, who were marginalized, who fell through the cracks, who were survivors of the school to prison pipeline and victims of the school to prison pipeline. I saw a different side of our injustice system and I took all of the privilege and things I learned from my police family background to understand why people who I think have that bias are so resistant to the Defund and abolition movement. And I used the fact that three years ago I was a stark reformist - I was very much on the reform spectrum. And academically I've done a 180 because of everything I've seen and witnessed and learned in the last two years. And I think we are ever evolving creatures - that I am evolving to learn that we need to adopt ideas rooted in abolition in order to really create systemic change and root out institutional bias. And that is just a pragmatic approach that I have. And some people see it as radical - and I tell those people, "Well, if radical is reaching at the root and ripping it out from the root, and that's what we need to do in order to see any real change - and change that's going to happen in my lifetime." And when I say that - I'm a realist. I am inspired constantly by my students. My students, they want to learn more about abolition. They want to learn about critical race theory and critical criminology. They are hungry for it and they are the ones who inspire me and make me believe that we are going to see real systemic change and rooting out institutional bias in their lifetime and hopefully in my lifetime because I have the honor of teaching them. And I think they are the ones who are going to go into these professional fields and really be the ones who carry the torch. [00:24:56] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. I am with you that the younger generation is so inspiring. I feel corny when I say it but like Whitney said it, "I believe the children are our future." They are doing things that are so impressive and they are unwilling to accept the excuses that too many of us - in my generation, older generations - have accepted that have allowed things to reach this point and have gotten to a breaking point in so many things. I appreciate your openness and honesty just about - hey, you've been on a path and been on a journey. Which I also think we need to embrace and talk about and understand is real. Not everybody starts from a place of being ultimately educated and even if we have lived experience and a ton of education in one area, it doesn't mean that that applies to everything else. We're evolving and learning and growing. I certainly identify with your conversation about - no, I also am not an ACAB person. I can certainly see - and maybe it's just because some places that I've been, people that I've known - the options for getting out of a path that has no future in so many areas in our country are - those paths are rigged. And it's not a coincidence that that has people wind up in the military, wind up in the Border Patrol, wind up in police departments. And while there are certainly people who are looking to exercise dominance as they walk in, I don't think every single officer walks in saying, "I'm going to cause a problem." - that there's so much propaganda about policing being noble and you do really help people, that if you aren't in a place where that is actively challenged, you walk in thinking that's what it is. And the institution is extremely flawed and you have to question the function of the institution if its outcome has so consistently contradicted that for a significant segment of society and even within our community. I appreciate the ability to have that conversation. And I appreciate that you talk about knocking on 6,000 doors and having real conversations with real people. I don't know if people who are listening have ever doorbelled and door knocked - you should - you should actually volunteer on a campaign that you believe in and see what it's like to have conversations with regular people at their regular places and to talk about the types of things that are weighing on their minds. It gets you out of this insidery conversation - everybody's interested - as people who are in advocacy or activism or policy, sometimes those are real echo chambers. And regular people may have the same root concerns and just may not have the time, inclination, ability, financial security to be able to engage on these issues to the level of someone else, or have just never encountered anything to trigger a questioning of what's going on. Those conversations are so important. So you have a lot of those, you go through the campaign, it was rough, it was contentious. You wind up getting through the general and then you wind up ultimately pulling ahead in - as votes are tallied - and winning. And so what did that feel like? Just that moment, what did that feel like? [00:28:58] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: I'm going to get emotional. Oh wow. Oh my gosh. Oh, Crystal, Crystal. I will say the campaign was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and everything I went through - to finally be able to win, it was a win for the community. It was so much bigger than me. I'm emotional because it wasn't about me at all. It was about the community. It was about Black and Brown bodies in Renton, and the LGBTQ community, and marginalized voices that were underrepresented in a city that raised me. And I cry because I'm just so grateful to the voters. When you win by 620 votes, when you win by four points, I'm grateful to the voters for seeing me and not feeding into the fearmongering and the othering and the labeling because I spoke with voters who agreed with me a lot and also disagreed with me. And they were receptive, because more often than not - and it was because we know in odd year elections, older voters tend to come out more. And I'm so grateful to the older voters who were like, it's time to pass the torch onto the younger generation. It's time that we give up power and we stop doing what we've been doing historically and we hand over the reins to people who have more energy, who have a fresh perspective. And that they believed in my message and they, again, they didn't fall victim to the fearmongering and the mislabeling, because as much as I was labeled as a radical progressive, there are progressives out there who will also still see me and say, "Well, she's not as progressive as some people." I am not as progressive, I believe, as Nikkita Oliver and that's okay. Again, it's a spectrum. And to conservatives, I was incredibly progressive and it was a moment for the community. And it was the fact that we won over fearmongering, we won over radicalized conservatism. And it was just, it was a community win. And because again, it wasn't for me. It was so much bigger than me - because after I got through the primary and the five-man race turned into a two-man race, me and my opponent. And me and my opponent were polar opposites. It was actually very reflective, I feel like, of the Seattle Attorney race actually, because in that same race, we saw the incumbent also not make it through the primary, and it was actually two very opposite candidates that made it through into the general - same thing happened in my race. And so winning also meant winning over that radicalized old school mentality of white supremacy, of misogyny, of radicalized racially rooted views of how we view minorities - and who are actually not minorities, we are now a global majority, but people of color and queer people and people who are different and gender nonconforming and trans people. My opponent had used some really awful verbiage in the past historically and it was about not letting that win, not letting that mentality and that way of thinking and that radicalization win. And I get emotional because it was for community and we won. [00:32:50] Crystal Fincher: And you won. And so, it's such an incredible thing because campaigns are hard. You are putting yourself out there for inspection, for criticism, for commentary, and people will overlook your humanity and say all sorts of things and do all sorts of things. But it also is a beginning. Now the work of governing begins and now it's time to deliver on the promises that you made when you were running, to enact the agenda and start to work on your priorities. What are you working on? What are you prioritizing? And how's it going? [00:33:31] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Well, I am learning a lot. I learned, near the end of my campaign - I did not enter my campaign knowing that because the position was filled by an appointee, I would take over the minute that the results were certified. When I started my campaign, I actually thought I was going to take office in January 1st - so you believe you're going to have some time when the election ends in early November, before you start on January 1st. That was not the situation for me. I started on November 30th, so I had no breathing room. And so it's kind of been like drinking from a fire hose is how people describe it - that's very accurate. I'm learning. I'm appreciative of my fellow councilmembers that are - I don't want to go so far as to say mentoring or taking me under their wing, that inquires some sort of hierarchy or condescension. There's none of that in our relationship. I'm grateful to my fellow councilmembers - Ryan McIrvin, Kim-Khánh Văn, and Ed Prince - who have included me in conversation and met with me and are just open to giving me the feedback that I want. I love feedback and I love constructive criticism and I know I'm imperfect. And so I'm grateful to learn from them. I'm grateful to even - I've been able to meet with Mayor Pavone and Ruth Pérez and be able to bury the hatchet and be able to hopefully work together and effectively together for the betterment of Renton. Because I don't just represent myself, I represent the people who elected me and not even the people who elected me - everybody in the city of Renton. We as the city council, we are the people who represent the community and the city to the city. And we're a very mayor-heavy city. And so for me right now, it's learning and holding true to the values of bringing public service and social services and the priority of human services to the city of Renton. And so I am trying to do that with challenging, respectfully, some ways that we are allocating funds. We had a very good conversation on Monday, on Renton City Council, regarding our ARPA funds. And even though we did not come to an agreement - I did not agree with how the financial committee report that was passed - and that is democracy. And that is okay. That was a voted majority on how those funds were going to be allocated. And I am happy that we are able to allocate money for body cams and finally get body cams implemented for Renton police department and in the city of Renton because that is long overdue. And as we are approaching the end of the year, we're on a biannual budget year. The city of Renton has a very, very large budget and so - that happening this year - I'm going to make sure that we prioritize community services, human services and the new equity, housing and human services division. There was a new department that was formed in the last year. And I think it's equity, housing and human services, and making sure that that department is not just a throwaway department for equity, housing and human services but is a highly utilized department that is properly funded and informed and supported to be effective. I am a big believer that our government should help support our most marginalized and help combat the effects of the capitalist society that we have created. And I want to bring my experience in human social services to the forefront, and when we are allocating funds for our budget and making sure that we are getting the most bang for our buck, like I said on the campaign trail, and being really critical of how we are going to spend our funding, especially this year when we're allocating that budget. Those are my big priorities and I am one of seven. It's going to be me partnering and working with my other councilmembers to educate them and bring them along my journey with me, and help them hopefully see things from my perspective and my purview, and respectfully disrupting the status quo to really bring Renton ahead of the curve. [00:37:38] Crystal Fincher: Well, I appreciate having this conversation with you. I appreciate the way that you have engaged with everyone in the community throughout your campaign and continuing as you govern. It is so important to be able to have conversations, if you're running for office, with everyone and to meet people where they're at and understand that - I have a vision that I would love to help you see - and to do that work of helping them to see it, and to connect it to the values that they hold and the values that people like to feel in their community, and coming with concrete solutions. And you weren't just talking about some pie in the sky ideas, you were talking about policy that had application that has had demonstrated results elsewhere, as things that have been tried weren't working, and your ability to walk people through that was something that I certainly appreciated. As we are closing our time here today, we're in mid-February as we're talking right now. A lot of people are considering whether or not they should run this year for the legislature, or for their county council, or - other counties are having county council elections, not King County. But that maybe they should take that step. And certainly people who are like, well, I see myself as an activist. I see myself - I don't necessarily see me in all of these halls of power. Do I actually belong? Is it worth it? Is it worth even expending that much energy? What would you say to people who are in that position? What advice would you give them as they consider whether or not they should take a step towards public service? [00:39:36] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: I would have them ask themselves what they want to change. What do you want to change? And at what level? What do you want to see changed in your community and at what level? And that should give you your answer. What is your passion? Is it equity? Is it healthcare? Is it housing? Is it human services? Is it police accountability? At what level can you see that change really being made realistically? At the municipal level? At the legislative level? At the county level? At the public hospital commission level? There are so many different levels of government that you can create real change. Don't limit yourself and, respectfully, have the confidence of a mediocre cis heterosexual white man and go forth. And the worst thing's going to happen is you're going to fail and you're going to learn so much in that process, because in order to really succeed, you need to fail at least a 100 times. And it is incredible that I was able to win my race and I hope that people can look at my race and my campaign and my experience last year, and my experience and my journey today, and see themselves a little bit and see that they can do it too. Because we did it in Renton. We did something that was almost impossible in Renton and it happened. And so I hope that it gives hope, I hope that you go forth and just do it with every ounce and fiber of your being. Don't leave anything at the finish line - like I want you crawling on your hands and knees crossing that finish line at the end, and just know that's what it's going to take. It's going to take support from your family, from your friends, and a really good consultant. That's another thing - make sure you get a good consultant. [00:41:22] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. You know I'm amen-ing that. Absolutely. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. You're welcome back anytime - as you're working on different things and you want to talk about it, feel free - but just appreciate you and hope you all have a wonderful day. [00:41:40] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Oh my gosh. Thank you for having me. And I would love to come back and have any kind of conversation. This has been great and I truly appreciate it. Thank you so much. [00:41:49] Crystal Fincher: I thank you all for listening to Hacks & Wonks on KVRU 105.7 FM. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler with assistance from Shannon Cheng. You can find me on Twitter @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. Now you can follow Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcast - just type "Hacks & Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time.

This week, we hand over the mic to Dr. Shukri Olow, who has assembled a panel of young candidates in this year's county and municipal elections to talk about the many challenges—as well as opportunities—for young people who are running for office. Dr. Olow herself is running for King County Council in District 6. She's joined by Carmen Rivera, who's running for Renton City Council; Cliff Cawthon, who's up for city council in Kent; and Newcastle city council candidate Paul Charbonneau.

In this episode, we talk about different ways to believe in yourself through spirit with our special guest Carmen Rivera who is a OG espiritista/ owner of a botanica in Staten Island NYC --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dualitea/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dualitea/support

El dia de hoy se encuentra con nosotros Carmen Rivera, Former Travel Manager de Sodexo y Santory, para platicarnos como implementar desde cero y sin presupuesto un programa de viajes, no puedes perdertelo, platicamos sobre las diferencias entre un programa de viajes en una trasnacional y en una empresa local y familiar, los desafios y metas que conlleva el crear la figura del Travel Manager en una empresa donde no existe. No olvides a nuestros patrocinadores: www.wyndhamhotels.com

In this episode of "A Conversation With," my guest is Jezabel Montero. Jezabel speaks about her career in filmmaking and what inspires her as a filmmaker. She is a bilingual actor, writer, director, and producer who has been involved in the film industry since childhood. She is a woman who has gone against all odds and made it in the film industry. ====================== Jezabel Montero BIO: Jezabel Montero has been in the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She began as a child actor, starring in commercials at the age of thirteen. She has been in countless Off-Broadway shows and has worked in all mediums. Jezabel is Cuban-American and a bi-lingual actor who has worked in both Spanish soaps and theatre. She has worked with the crème de la crème in the New York Latino Theatre Community—Miriam Colon, Rene Buch, Carmen Rivera, Jose Rivera, Max Ferra, Eduardo Machado, Magdalena Gomez, Tony Mata, and many more. She was the anchor for morning traffic and news radio for several New York AM and FM Stations in Spanish and English. In 2008, she won the prestigious H.O.L.A. and ACE awards for Outstanding Achievement by a Featured Female Actor in a play for her comedic performance in “Dinner for Two” at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre. In 2003, she co-founded Kismet Theatre Company, a non-profit theatre company based in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 2007, she founded her own independent film company, Fuacata Films (formerly No Clout Productions). Her first film, produced, directed, and written by her, “Blondes Are Latin Too,” won two awards for Best Documentary. She hasn't stopped working both in front and behind the camera since. Her first feature film, 13-time award-winning, Cassanova Was A Woman, was acquired by Gravitas Ventures and released in fall 2016 on most digital and cable outlets. Jezabel works as a script doctor and is currently developing an LGBT comedy series, as well as working in two features, a web series talk show and a docu-series in 2018-19. Learn More: Jezabel Montero Submit Your Short Film: The Film Collective --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aconversationwithfm/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aconversationwithfm/support

www.familiasparalasnaciones.com

Like the rest of her friends, Ramona is still adjusting to this new witch life. Now, she has to figure out what the hell is happening to her.  Thanks for listening to CovenCast: A Disaster’s Guide to Magic. Featured in this episode was:  KianaAshlee as Ramona Keys  Amber Bulinksi as Carmen Rivera  Sound Design by Ernesto Valentine  Music featured: Ideal by Suhleeen  CovenCast: A Disaster’s Guide to Magic is a Wrightwood Studios production. Created by Madelyn Dorta and Amber Bulinski.  Be sure to follow CovenCast on Twitter & Instagram  @adisastersguidetomagic  Thanks again! Featured Artist: Suhleeen

On today’s show, I speak with playwright Carmen Rivera. If you recognize Carmen’s name it’s because her play La Gringa is one of the longest-running off-Broadway shows in history. Get this, La Gringa celebrates its TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR at the Spanish Repertory Theatre this year. Carmen and I have a really insightful conversation around new play development, why she believes La Gringa continues to have such a long and successful life, and what teaching theater in the time of COVID really looks like. For a full transcript of today's episode go to beyondthelightspodcast.com.Mentioned in this Episode[00:04:01] Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre [00:13:25] The Women’s Project [00:14:28] Watch La Gringa [00:14:29] Spanish Repertory Theater [00:14:55] René Buch Follow CarmenWebsiteFollow Beyond the LightsWebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagram

En el lugar menos pensado, en nuestra área, el tráfico sexual de menores entre 12 y 14 años es más común de lo que pensamos. Alrededor del 40 por ciento de menores usados en esta práctica ilegal son hispanos de acuerdo a la información brindada por la Fiscal Estatal del condado de Prince George's, Aisha Braveboy. El tráfico sexual no es un fenómeno nuevo, pero la naturaleza de este delito imposibilita muchas veces a las víctimas reportar el hecho o incluso ser conscientes de la explotación a la que están siendo sujetas.  En entrevista conversamos con la Fiscal Estatal, Aisha Braveboy y en la traducción participa Carmen Rivera, encargada de la oficina de enlace latino de la Fiscalía de Prince George's. Fotografía: Carmen Rivera y la Fiscal Estatal Aisha Braveboy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Encuentra a Carmen aquí: https://millennium-challenge.com/author/carmenrivera/ https://www.instagram.com/_climalaboral2020/?hl=es Hablamos en el podcast de la magia del servicio al cliente con Carmen Rivera, psicóloga y consultora organizacional. Carmen tiene una exitosa cuenta de Instagram, en la que en menos de un año ha conseguido 18000 seguidores. y todo ello gracias a su constante servicio a los trabajadores de Panamá. Carmen hoy nos visita para hablar de un tema que ella ha tratado en su cuenta y en su comunidad: los psicópatas integrados en los ambientes de trabajo. En esta entrevista Carmen nos proporciona consejos y recomendaciones, en definitiva, qué es lo que tenemos que hacer si nos encontramos en nuestro ámbito profesional o laboral con un psicópata integrado. Espero que te guste y quedo atento a tus valiosos comentarios, gracias por escucharme. Bienvenidos 😀 ➡️ al podcast 🎙 de la Magia del Servicio al cliente. ¡Compártelo si te gusta! ¡Gracias 🙏 por estar aquí! Estas son las páginas que te comparto al final del podcast: 🚀 davidblancoperez.com 🚀 testdisconline.com ¡Suscríbete ✅, así siempre estarás informado de mis nuevos episodios! Música autor: The Spin Wires Título de música : Night Life Licencia : CC BY-NC

Natalicio de De Hostos; 11 de enero con: Profa. Carmen Rivera, psicóloga social Profa. Vivien Mattei, comunicadora social Se reintegra Gary Gutiérrez HOSTOS, BRÓDER, ESTO ESTÁ DIFÍCIL, de Magali García Ramis "Y vivamos la moral, que es lo que hace falta", dice el conferenciante que dijo el prócer y al terminar todos aplauden. Tú saludas a tus amigos, al profesor aquél que no falla en los actos culturales y los mítines, hablan de cuándo va a haber una revista BUENA de cultura, que duren pero que todos sabemos que no puede durar porque no tendría anuncios y el sistema es, tú sabes pero de todas maneras, Hostos es Hostos y tú te pones a recordar lo que has leído de él y sobre é1, te montas en el carro y piensas que si vivieras en el Viejo San Juan estarías a un pasito de casa, pero no es así, total los que viven en San Juan no encuentran estacionamientos nunca, así que te vas para Río Piedras por el Expreso, total, vuelves a pensar, aunque encuentres estacionamiento en San Juan, el carro no te dura porque cada dos semanas, al menos, te rompen algo, te lo guayan , te arrancan los “winshilwaiper” menos mal que tu carro está más o menos y vas pensando que cuando... ¡JUAIGTA!!! El hijo de su Madre que venía detrás te da un corte de pastelillo. Sigues con más atención porque de todas maneras tú eres civilizado y la gente que está violenta tiene la cabeza fuera de sitio y tú no eres así, tú quieres ser decente, como Hostos, respetar el derecho ajeno, como Juárez, cantarle al canario amarillo, como Martí; tú tienes héroes de sobra cuando ¡JUAKATA! ¡JUAIGTA! Y otro maldito JUAKATANAZO y has perdido el control y está casi en el mangle y los pocos autos que pasan tocan bocina mientras siguen sin parar porque son las once menos cuarto de un miércoles y tú sabes cómo está la criminalidad. Tú estás parado en el paso al lado del Expreso. Te tocas todos los huesos, pero no parece que tengas ninguno roto, tú no, tú tienes suerte. Respiras hondo porque esto parece una escena de la película "Encuentros cercano del primer tipo”. Arriba el cielo despejado, la noche preciosa, apenas un alma en la carretera, abajo el carro está y no está, la puerta de la derecha le guinda, de adentro sale luz a borbotones, todo se le prendió, hasta el radio, tienes las luces altas y los “flashers” a la vez. Lo que falta es que venga un extraterrestre y te lleve. Un carro se detiene, se bajó un míster buena gente y te pregunta si estás bien. Le dices que sí "¿Pero el carro prende o necesitas una gúa?" El carro está prendido, te montas, le das a los cambios, lo pones a caminar un poquito hacia delante, un poquito hacia atrás. “A casa sí llego". "Bueno, suerte", dice el hombre y se desaparece como el llanero solitario. Y solitario te quedas tú. Falta como medio carro, entre la puerta, el bonete que quedó torcido, toda la derecha te la llevaron. Y el hijo de su madre que te chocó debe estará ya por Vega Baja. ¿Cómo en cuánto sale ahora sí, maldición, poner esta cacharra bien otra vez? Un cálculo conservador, $800.00 con mano de obra gratis de los primos y algunos panas del vecindario. Esto le ha pasado a medio Puerto Rico, y a Ia otra mitad está por pasarle, te dices, cuando te vas a montar en el carro y aparece un motociclista en una motora negra, y él vestido de negro, con casco colorao. Será de una brigada socialista de auxilio de carreteras, quieres elucubrar. "¿Bróder, eso fue ahora mismo?", te pregunta el tipo. Le das detalles, estás loco por contarle a alguien cómo fue que tú venías sin haberte dado un palo, de una conferencia cultural sobre De Hostos. " ¿De la calle Hostos que tú venías?" te dice el tipo y te das cuenta de que no es a él que Ie vas a contar todo. Mira el caro detenidamente. Saca una libretita, hace anotaciones, te consulta el año del carro. Yo te puedo conseguir piezas", dice, "dame tu teléfono". Y ahí mismo dices que no. Tú no vas a ser parte de la criminalidad que hay en la lsla. Es más, si tú ni siquiera fumas pasto porque no quieres ser partícipe de las ganancias de la mafia. Una vez escribiste una columna sobre cómo uno ayuda a la criminalidad si participa de alguna manera en la compra de objetos robados, y te preguntabas a dónde habrían ido a parar los miles de mahones y potecitos de crema rosada "Oil of Olay" que se robó. Andrades con sus compañeros en los furgones. Tú no, tú sabes que cada año mueren como 200 seres humanos en este país porque la cadena de la Mafía droga corrupción y participación de ciudadanos decentes no permite que se limpie a este país, que tenemos que vivir la moral, que es lo que hace falta. "No, no te preocupes, yo me las arreglo", le dices. Pero él se te queda mirando y respira con todo el bigote y te dice dame tu número por si cambias de opinión, y tú se lo das porque sabes que todo es cambio. "Te llamo a las 8 de la mañana. Te consigo todas las piezas, nuevas, del mismo color, y un radio con cuatro bocinas, usado, tú me entiendes, pero bueno. "Por 350 te lo llevas todo," dice y se monta en su motora y se vá pero no como el llanero solitario porque él nunca hubiera hecho una proposición deshonesta a nadie. Suena como gata recién parida, pero lo prendes y lo haces arrastrarse hasta tu casa, mientras te entra el frío por el hueco donde una vez hubo una puerta derecha. Entras al apartamento y quieres llamar a alguien pero son las 12:30, no te ha pasado nada y no tienes derecho de molestar ni asustar a tu hermana, ni a tus amigos. Mañana bregas. NO es correcto, si uno es honesto y justo. Dios proveerá, tú lo sabes, eso es así, tú pa'lante, a ningún mafioso le vas a comprar piezas son de un carro de algún conocido a quien le jodieron la existencia robándole su carro. A las siete de la mañana estás mirándolo y vienen Papo y Quique a verlo. "Pana, ¿cómo fue eso? ". Les cuentas. "Se te van a ir como mil. Quizás 900, pero como mil", te dicen y te dan palmaditas en la espalda. Se van al trabajo, entras a tu casa, miras las paredes, los carteles de De Hostos, de Juárez, de Martí. Tú quieres ser diferente, tú tienes la moral socialista. Suena el teléfono. Lo dejas sonar tres veces y dices "Hostos, bróder, ¡esto está difícil!!!!" Y levantas el audífono y dices "Hola". "Soy yo, mi pana, ¿qué decidiste?" Y das la vuelta para no mirar los carteles en la pared y con tu mejor voz de persona decente le respondes: "Mira, yo no quiero el radio, para nada quiero el radio, ahora las piezas..." y sigues tratando de vivir la moral, que es lo que hace falta. • Papel que juegan las circunstancias externas. • Vivir la morar es la relación entre medios y fines. • Consciencia se basa en lo aprendido, la educación y la capacidad. • Para Hostos, la moral es el fin “natural de la vida”. • “Armonía” • Hostos describe un ser humano inclinado a alcanzar el principio moral natural • “Lo natural no es resolver lo mío” • La angustia del que, con su conciencia, el sistema no le da la opción para hacer lo correcto. • “lo necesario es construido” • Concepción del ser humano desde el “positivismo” del siglo XIX y la masonería • Es importante de reencontrarnos con Hostos desde la visión crítica • Revisitar a Hostos como aspiración más allá de su pensamiento positivista

Una exhortación a recordar nuestra identidad como iglesia del Señor.

Nuevo podcast de Infotecarios.com Te invitamos a una nueva edición del podcast, en esta edición nos acompaña la Mtra Mary Carmen Rivera, con ella comentamos sobre que es la Resiliencia en bibliotecas y algunas recomendaciones para poder trasladar la resiliencia a las bibliotecas. Ella es licenciada en Bibliotecología y maestra en Bibliotecología y Estudios de la Información por la UNAM. Cuenta con diplomados sobre: Mediación y resolución de conflictos, Psicología educativa, Resiliencia y sus aplicaciones y Aplicaciones de las TIC para la enseñanza. Ha impartido cursos sobre "Resiliencia en bibliotecas", "Catalogación", "Métodos de investigación cualitativa", "Recursos de información" y "Organización de la información".

An exhausted and dipsy Carmen Rivera finds out she is stronger than thinks much to her surprise and a certain high ranking demon named Murdoch. Featured in this episode was: Amber Bulinski as Carmen Rivera Oliver Morris as Murdoch Madelyn Dorta as Pilar Rivera Sound Design by Ernesto Valentin Be sure to follow CovenCast: A Disaster’s Guide to Magic on Twitter & IG! Twitter: https://twitter.com/adisastersguide Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adisastersguide/

There is little in Carmen Rivera’s background that would lead you to believe she would become a successful banker and a real estate entrepreneur.  In fact, in many ways the cards were stacked against her.    She was raised in Paterson, New Jersey by her single mother along with seven brothers and sisters and six half siblings. Her mother did not speak English, and Carmen vividly remembers trips to the local welfare office. Carmen had no role model in business or entrepreneurship.  These concepts were far removed from her experiences while growing up.  While she knew little was expected of her, she expected more from herself.   A mutual friend described Carmen as “hardscrabble,” a term my friend used as a compliment. And Carmen’s life is a wonderful example of hard work, giving back and beating the odds. She began her career while raising her son, Sammy, and while attending the college—she was the first in her family to earn a college degree. “I knew what it was like to grow up poor, she said, and I love my mom.  But I knew I wanted to break the cycle of poverty and do so much more with my life.”    Specifically, we chat about: What it was like to grow up poor  Overcoming obstacles in your personal life How someone who grew up in a family without a bank account became a successful banker The challenges of raising a child as a single mom while working AND earning a degree What Carmen learned from taking boxing lessons The importance of finding a good mentor Why you may sometimes need to take a step back before you move forward in your career How to overcome the fear of taking a leap in your career How she learned to manage a team The importance of giving back to your community and how to pay it forward What it is like to start your own business while still working in a corporate job Why you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others What Carmen means by “Rivera Time” And so much more Carmen’s personal journey and professional success are nothing less than inspirational. Despite her humble beginnings and the challenges of raising a son as a single mom, she has enthusiastically sought out to expand her career while starting her own business.    Others could look at her childhood and see only limitations.  Instead, Carmen has chosen to rely on her close family and strong mentors to spread her wings and thrive.      It’s not where you begin; but rather, where you end up.   www.thehomerealestategroup.com   riveratime@thehomerealestategroup.com   908-233-8502, Ext. 489

  Interview with Dr. Carmen Rivera - Talent Manager for Organizational Development at Colorado State University and Former TRIO Staff. Sound Engineer and Transition Music: John Russell Producer: Amelia Castañeda Executive Producer and Host: Juan Rivas Intro Music: "Morning Lights" by Niwel https://soundcloud.com/niwel-516897768Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/morning-lightsMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/owCr1X6lDvseda

Something different for the Chicago Public Square Newscast (and Podcast) series this time: A visit with Food Network star and Chicago native Jeff Mauro.He joined the Wednesday Journal Conversations series May 15, 2018, to talk about his life and times—including that time he was performing improv comedy and a ticketholder died.And stick around to hear in detail about Mauro’s bathing habits.  (Photo: Carmen Rivera.)Listen here, on your favorite podcast player, via Spotify and Pandora, on Amazon’s Alexa-powered speakers* or on iTunes (say “Hey, Siri! Play Chicago Public Square Podcasts”).You can hear previous installments in the Conversations series—including chats with Obama administration strategist David Axelrod and Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! host Peter Sagal—here.And thanks this time out for support from Legion of Chicago Squarians members Marc Magliari, Denise Mattson, David Mausner, Joe McArdle, John & Beth Messina, Barbara Miller and Larry Montgomery. You can join them for pennies a day here.* Even if you don’t have an Alexa smart speaker, you can turn iOS and Android phones into Alexa devices for free—a low-impact way to experiment with the technology.

As we get ready for an exciting #HealMeToo Festival Popup Event this weekend -- the World Premiere of Tony-winner Tonya Pinkins' Truth And Reconciliation of Womyn this Saturday at 3 PM in NYC at The Tank theater, we hope enjoy these excerpts from the #HealMeToo Festival presentation last March and April, 2019 at the IRT Theater. Then join us if you're in town! You can get $20 tickets to the Saturday matinee (or any of their performances) at https://thetanknyc.org/tonyapinkinstr.In this #HealMeToo Podcast Extra, you'll hear selections from the following plays and songs (in order of appearance):Traditional Native American chant performed by Tonya Pinkins, Julie Brown, Amanda Rodriguez, Lina Sarrello & Sarah TeedTill Hell Freezes Over, by Tonya Pinkins directed by Lili StiefelWith Annie McGreevey & Rachael HolmesTilling the Soil, by Michelle Tyrene Johnson, directed by Tonya PinkinsFeaturing Carmen LoBueWomyn, a song written and performed by Julie BrownLaw 136 by Carmen Rivera, directed by Tonya PinkinsWith Amanda Rodriguez, Lina Sarrello & Mary ArchboldThe Grandmothers, by Kristine M Reyes, directed by Kat YenFeaturing Ako Dachs and Akiko Hiroshima You can also watch video from Truth And Reconciliation on the Festival Video page. While there, be sure join our email list to hear about future pop-up #HealMeToo Festival events as well.Closing music credit: Hope Singsen & Dillon Kondor, performed by Micah Burgess.Subscribe now. Let's talk about how we can #HealMeToo.Listen and subscribe to the #HealMeToo Podcast on Apple Podcasts at bit.ly/hm2pod. Or visit healmetoopodcast.com to find links to other platforms. Support the show (https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/healmetoo-festival)

Episodio #3: Conocimos la historia de la diseñadora Carmen Rivera, desde sus principios hasta su nueva línea de ropa, Usonia Studio. Originalmente transmitido el 3 de abril de 2019 http://radio-red.com Usonia Studio: Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/usonia.studio/ Website: https://usonia.studio Special Guest: Carmen M. Rivera.

Blanka Zizka, Carmen Rivera, Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, Maria Manuela Goyanes, and Ngozi Anyanwu discuss the immigrant and first-generation American experience in theatre.

Dr. Duffy Spencer, along with guest Carmen Rivera, discuss how to have relationships that work using the 4 "R"'s.

Dr. Duffy Spencer, along with guest Carmen Rivera, discuss the quality of mindfulness and how we can attain it to achieve stress-free and serene living.

Dr. Duffy Spencer, along with guest Carmen Rivera, discuss the quality of mindfulness and how we can attain it to achieve stress-free and serene living.

Dr. Duffy Spencer, along with guest Carmen Rivera, discuss how to have relationships that work using the 4 "R"'s.

El teatro en español cuenta las historias increíblemente diversas de la diáspora hispanohablante en los Estados Unidos. Una conversación con Edgard López de Repertorio Español y Carmen Rivera, autora de “La Gringa”.

A keynote with Carmen Rivera (Mistress and Fetish-SM-performer, DE). Moderated by Gaia Novati (net activist and researcher on indie porn, IT/DE) In this special event, Carmen Rivera will share with the public the “secrets” of her carrier as a Mistress, being since many years involved in the field as erotic photographer and fetish model, dancer, and erotic show moderator. Founder of one of the first SM communities in Germany in the 1990s, she will share with the public her background in the show business and porn entertainment as TV show moderator (Beate-Uhse.TV and other productions) as well as Fetish-SM-performer (including an open-air show in Italy in front of 30.000 visitors). As independent manager of her own video-production series "Carmen Rivera Entertainment" which made a name in the international fetish scene she will also present one of her recent projects: “Wunschvideo” where her fans are offered the opportunity to make a video completely and individually based on their script. Furthermore, the event will discuss on the practice of working professionally with pornography, reflecting on the transformation of the porn & erotic industry in the last years. Source: http://www.disruptionlab.org/porntubes/ (http://www.disruptionlab.org/porntubes/) Produced by Voice Republic For more podcasts visit http://voicerepublic.com

OnAIR Players presents Sophia Romma's "Absolute Clarity". Two scenes and an interview of the playwright herself.Actors in todays presentation:De’Adre Aziza is a Tony Award nominated (Passing Strange) actor and singer who has appeared in 3 Broadway shows, and numerous Off-Broadway and regional shows. In addition to theater, she has appeared on several TV shows including “The Good Wife”, “Blue Bloods” and “Madam Secretary”. De’Adre is also a recording artist and musician, having sung at such venues as Carnegie Hall (“Ask Your Mama” with Jessye Norman and The Roots), The Hollywood Bowl (“Ask Your Mama” with Jessye Norman, The Roots, and Nnenna Freelon), and The Bermuda Jazz Festival.ADRIANA SANANES was a leading actress at New York´s Repertorio Español for ten years, performing works from the golden age of Spain to Lorca to contemporary theatre. Her awards while there include a Theatre Fellowship Grant from The Princess Grace Foundation, Best Actress, XIII Chamizal International Festival, El Paso, in The Trickster of Seville and ACE Award for Eduardo Machado’s Revoltillo. More recently she was seen in Sophia Romma’s “Cabaret Émigré” at Theatre Row, and in Carmen Rivera’s “The Fall of Trujillo” at Teatro Círculo, winning a Best Actress award from ATI, The Independent Theatre Artists Organization. Alice Bahlke was trained at Emory University and the O’Neill National Theater Institute. Alice most recently appeared on Theater Row as part of Rachel Reiner Productions’ Villainous Company . Up next, Alice will be filming the feature film, The Goddess, with The Looking Glass. Favorite credits include As the World Turns (CBS), Hell House LLC which recently premiered at Lincoln Center, and of course, Marina Tsvetaeva in Sophia Romma's The Past is Still Ahead at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in the summer of 2013 . Alice is thrilled to be reprising her role for 365 Women's Playwrights A Year at the Sheen Center, as the ill-fated poetic soul of Marina Tsvetaeva.Walter Krochmal (www.sonichoop.com) has a diverse career as an actor that spans classics, contemporary, performance art, sketch comedy/revue, site-specific, folk and other genres, in English and Spanish, with engagements at festivals in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the National Theater of Honduras and beyond. He recently played several roles in Sophia Romma’s Cabaret Emigré at the Lion Theater on 42nd St. and is proud to be working with her again on her cult play, "Carte Blanche" which premiers at the Midtown International March Madness Short Play Festival in 2015.Hosts: Joe Izen and Lani Cerveris-CataldiProduced by Rachel Love

OnAIR Players presents Sophia Romma's "Absolute Clarity". Two scenes and an interview of the playwright herself.Actors in todays presentation:De’Adre Aziza is a Tony Award nominated (Passing Strange) actor and singer who has appeared in 3 Broadway shows, and numerous Off-Broadway and regional shows. In addition to theater, she has appeared on several TV shows including “The Good Wife”, “Blue Bloods” and “Madam Secretary”. De’Adre is also a recording artist and musician, having sung at such venues as Carnegie Hall (“Ask Your Mama” with Jessye Norman and The Roots), The Hollywood Bowl (“Ask Your Mama” with Jessye Norman, The Roots, and Nnenna Freelon), and The Bermuda Jazz Festival.ADRIANA SANANES was a leading actress at New York´s Repertorio Español for ten years, performing works from the golden age of Spain to Lorca to contemporary theatre. Her awards while there include a Theatre Fellowship Grant from The Princess Grace Foundation, Best Actress, XIII Chamizal International Festival, El Paso, in The Trickster of Seville and ACE Award for Eduardo Machado’s Revoltillo. More recently she was seen in Sophia Romma’s “Cabaret Émigré” at Theatre Row, and in Carmen Rivera’s “The Fall of Trujillo” at Teatro Círculo, winning a Best Actress award from ATI, The Independent Theatre Artists Organization. Alice Bahlke was trained at Emory University and the O’Neill National Theater Institute. Alice most recently appeared on Theater Row as part of Rachel Reiner Productions’ Villainous Company . Up next, Alice will be filming the feature film, The Goddess, with The Looking Glass. Favorite credits include As the World Turns (CBS), Hell House LLC which recently premiered at Lincoln Center, and of course, Marina Tsvetaeva in Sophia Romma's The Past is Still Ahead at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in the summer of 2013 . Alice is thrilled to be reprising her role for 365 Women's Playwrights A Year at the Sheen Center, as the ill-fated poetic soul of Marina Tsvetaeva.Walter Krochmal (www.sonichoop.com) has a diverse career as an actor that spans classics, contemporary, performance art, sketch comedy/revue, site-specific, folk and other genres, in English and Spanish, with engagements at festivals in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the National Theater of Honduras and beyond. He recently played several roles in Sophia Romma’s Cabaret Emigré at the Lion Theater on 42nd St. and is proud to be working with her again on her cult play, "Carte Blanche" which premiers at the Midtown International March Madness Short Play Festival in 2015.Hosts: Joe Izen and Lani Cerveris-CataldiProduced by Rachel Love