Silas James Talks Affordability and Public Safety on The Pop-Up!

Jul 30

Silas James, a candidate for Seattle City Council District 5, recently joined The Pop-Up! with host The Big O. Their conversation covered disability and lived experience, affordability, small business corridors like Lake City and Aurora, and long-term approaches to poverty and homelessness.

Who Is Silas James?

James introduced himself as a disabled candidate who uses a wheelchair and sometimes a cane, with over 30 years of experience living within and navigating public benefit systems. He described a career spent helping others do the same: teaching self‑advocacy seminars, leading support groups, co‑teaching a class on health disparities, and working on a helpline where people call from around the country for assistance.

Affordability and Progressive Revenue Ideas

When The Big O raised the topic of affordability, James aligned himself with the idea of progressive revenue, particularly in a context of federal and state cuts, a “looming recession,” rising gas and food prices, and job losses.

Silas outlined several revenue concepts he supports or would like to explore, including:

Ending certain sales tax exemptions on services like accountants, architects, realtors, and consultants.
Medallions or fees for heavy vehicle fleets doing deliveries in Seattle, with possible discounts for electrified fleets, as a way to fund infrastructure and encourage lower emissions.

A vacancy tax on both residential and retail properties to discourage long‑term vacancies and bring more units and storefronts back into use.

He also framed affordability as something that can be approached from two sides:

Guaranteeing basic services – including ideas like:
- Free public transportation
- Community grocery stores where staples are priced below corporate chains, supported by public subsidy
- A team of “second responders” to help residents navigate systems, fill out forms, and manage life crises after first responders leave
Putting more money directly into people’s pockets through a guaranteed basic income (GBI) model.

James pointed to the Utility Discount Program as a structure that already exists, offering bill credits and refunds to lower-income residents, and suggested expanding and paying it out more frequently as a way to move toward a GBI-style support, with the expectation that most of that money would be spent in the local economy.

The Big O raised a key question: given that Seattle is facing a large budget deficit, how does James reconcile expanded services with fiscal reality?

James responded that part of the funding could come from raising utility rates on the highest-consumption users, such as large hotels, corporations, and data centers, while protecting lower-usage households and rewarding conservation.

Small Business Corridors: Lake City, Aurora, and Beyond

The conversation also focused on small business and economic drivers in District 5, including Seattle’s Lake City Way and Aurora.

James emphasized that he sees small businesses as economic drivers, arguing that money spent locally tends to circulate more within the community than money spent with large national corporations.

To address this, he expressed support for:

A vacancy tax to encourage landlords to lower commercial rents and fill empty spaces
Expansion and continued funding of the city’s Restore Seattle / storefront activation work, which helps small businesses and organizations make use of vacant spaces

James framed much of this as “constituent services,” tying it to his background in outreach and direct problem-solving for individuals and families.

Public Safety, Poverty, and Aurora Avenue

Public safety, especially along Seattle’s Aurora Avenue, was another major topic.

James described a dual approach:

Short-term / immediate safety
- Supporting police being available for high-risk, emergent situations
- Separating the city’s CARE Team from routine police escorts so they can operate more flexibly
Long-term / root cause work
- Addressing poverty as a key driver of crime
- Expanding housing and services for people experiencing homelessness

James argued that many forms of crime, like shoplifting, drug sales, and survival sex work, are closely tied to poverty and lack of options. He suggested that a guaranteed basic income could give people an alternative to high‑risk or illegal survival strategies.

He also said that housing everyone, especially those living unsheltered, would significantly reduce victimization, noting that people experiencing homelessness are among the most likely to be victims of violent crime

He also spoke specifically about Aurora and sex work, saying he supports decriminalizing consensual sex work and exploring cooperative or collective models where sex workers can operate more safely, access health insurance, and share space. His argument is that decriminalization and clearer structures could make it easier to differentiate consensual work from trafficking and provide safer conditions for those currently working in the area.

Infrastructure changes along Aurora were another part of his public safety vision, including sidewalks and wider pedestrian areas, better lighting, crosswalks and signals, accessible bus shelters, and green medians.

Data Centers, Utilities, and Surveillance

James also touched on data centers and city contracts. He said he is:

Opposed to building new data centers in Seattle, and is interested in proposing a ban on additional centers in the city
Supportive of a higher-rate utility structure for data centers and large energy consumers
In favor of canceling certain surveillance contracts (he specifically referenced “corporate surveillance systems” Seattle is paying for), describing them as a poor use of funds compared to direct community investment

Closing Message and How to Learn More

James said he is running to make Seattle “safer and more stable,” particularly for residents living paycheck to paycheck.

He highlighted several core planks of his platform:

Taxing wealthy corporations and high-consumption utility users
Expanding the Utility Discount Program and building toward a guaranteed basic income model
Free public transportation
Ending routine homeless encampment sweeps in favor of service-based approaches
Supporting small businesses and activating vacant storefronts
Opposing new data centers and revisiting related utility and tax arrangements

Learn more about James’ campaign at silasforseattle.com

Primary Election Day is Tuesday, August 4th. Ballots must be postmarked by this date or returned to a ballot drop box by 8 p.m.

Tune in to The Pop-Up! weekdays live at 7 p.m. on all Converge streaming platforms.