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Robert Kettle

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Robert Kettle is an American veteran and politician elected to represent District 7 of the Seattle City Council.

Robert Kettle
Bob Kettle, 2024
Member of the Seattle City Council
from District 7
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2024
Preceded byAndrew J. Lewis
Personal details
BornNew York
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseSarah Dunne
ResidenceSeattle, Washington
Alma mater

Early life

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Kettle was born in New York to a working class family.[1] After graduating college, he joined the United States Navy, becoming a Naval Intelligence Officer and rising to the rank of Commander.[1] After retiring from the Navy, Kettle and his family moved to the Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle, where he became a stay-at-home dad to support his wife's work as a civil rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.[2][3]

Prior to running for Seattle City Council, Kettle was active in the Queen Anne community as a member of the Queen Anne Community Council board, and chair of its public safety board, as well as a member of the West Precinct Advisory Council, the Queen Anne Block Watch Network, and the World Affairs Council Seattle.[2][3][4]

Career

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Seattle city council

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2023 election

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Kettle ran for city council in 2023 against incumbent Andrew J. Lewis.[3] There were four other challengers in the race, which included Piroshky Piroshky owner Olga Sagan.[5] In the August primary, Lewis and Kettle advanced to the general election, with 43% and 31% of the vote respectively. [6]

Kettle was labeled a "centrist" and a "moderate" with the focus of his campaign being public safety and addressing rising crime in the city.[7][8] He blamed Lewis and the council for the "permissive environment" that had been created through their policies, including support for a 50% cut to the Seattle Police Department.[9][10] Kettle supported hiring more police officers, cracking down on public drug use, and alternative responses to police.[4][7] Lewis would state that his support for defunding the police was "a mistake" and that he backed Mayor Bruce Harrell plan to recruit more officers.[4][10]

Kettle received backing from business and real estate lobbyists, including the National Association of Realtors, as well as some Republicans, like city attorney Ann Davison and former Sacramento Kings basketball player Spencer Hawes.[11][12]

In the general election, Kettle won with 50.78% to Lewis' 48.91%.[13]

Tenure

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Kettle was first elected to a council with a majority of moderates, a switch to the previous progressive city council.[14][15] He was appointed chair of the public safety committee, and released his "6 pillars" to address public safety in the city which included, hiring more police, additional legal tools, and collaboration between different government entities.[16][17] Kettle supported various bills to increase police officer hiring, including changing the police test to have a larger candidate pool.[18]

In conjunction with councilmember Cathy Moore Stay out of Areas of Prostitution (SOAP) legislation, Kettle sponsored a bill to create Stay out of Drug Areas (SODA) zones. The bill originally created two areas, one in Downtown Seattle and the other in Little Saigon, that would exclude people with previous drug related charges from those areas with enhanced trespassing orders.[19] In committee meetings, citizens were vocally opposed to the legislation, and people were removed from the meeting after causing a disturbance after the public comment period abruptly ended. [20][21] Both the SODA and SOAP bills passed out of committee, with amendments adding additional SODA zones.[20][21] At the full council, the public comment was extended to accommodate the more than 100 people who signed up to give testimony and the bills were both passed on a 8-1 vote.[22]

Personal life

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Kettle lives in the Queen Anne neighborhood with his wife and children.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Radomsky, Rosalie R. (July 7, 2012). "Sarah Dunne and Robert Kettle". New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Candidates Primary 2023". King County Elections. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Keller, Jessica. "QA's Bob Kettle looks to add progressive decision-making to City Council". Queen Anne & Magnolia News. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Cohen, Josh (October 19, 2023). "Seattle City Council District 7: Andrew Lewis vs. Bob Kettle". Cascade PBS. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  5. ^ Coughlin-Bogue, Tobias; Archibald, Ashley (June 7, 2023). "The fight for 14: Who will emerge from the jungle?". Real Change. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  6. ^ "Election Results" (PDF). King County Elections. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Barnett, Erica C. (October 24, 2023). "PubliCola Questions: City Council Candidate Bob Kettle, District 7". Publicola. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  8. ^ Hyde, David (November 7, 2023). "Will Seattle become a law-and-order town after this election?". KUOW. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  9. ^ Staff (October 18, 2023). "KUOW's District Dash: A Seattle City Council deep dive for busy people". KUOW. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Santos, Melissa (October 19, 2023). "Seattle District 7 council candidates spar over public safety". Axios. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  11. ^ Cohen, Josh (October 30, 2023). "Outside interests spend more than $1M on Seattle City Council races". Cascade PBS. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  12. ^ "City Council Candidate Bob Kettle Promoted Right-Wing Endorsements". The Stranger. October 31, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  13. ^ "Election Results" (PDF). King County Elections. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  14. ^ Taylor, Sarah Grace (December 18, 2023). "Without Sawant and Herbold, who will lead Seattle's left?". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Board, Conner (November 15, 2023). "New Seattle City Council taking shape as races are called". King5. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Daniels, Chris (February 12, 2024). "'We need an all-hands-on-deck effort': Seattle Public Safety chair to lead 1st meeting". KOMO. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  17. ^ Staff (February 13, 2024). "Seattle City Council's new public safety chair unveils vision and '6 Pillars addressing the Permissive Environment'". Capital Hill Seattle Blog. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  18. ^ Barnett, Erica C. (June 26, 2024). "Council's Public Safety Chair: "We Don't Have the Luxury" of Being Picky About Police Test Scores". Publicola. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  19. ^ Moreno, Joe (August 1, 2024). "Seattle City Council to debate new drug-free zones in crime-stricken areas of city". KOMO. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Smith, Helen (September 11, 2024). "Controversial proposals to ban those with drug, prostitution arrests from certain areas of Seattle passes out of committee after tense meeting". King5. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  21. ^ a b Beekman, Daniel (September 11, 2024). "Seattle City Council considers 7 'stay out' drug or prostitution zones". Seattle Times. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  22. ^ Cohen, Josh (September 17, 2024). "Seattle enacts controversial drug, prostitution 'stay out' zones". Crosscut. PBS. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
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