Public safety contrasts
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When it comes to policing, Harrell wants to rebuild Seattle's police force to 1,500 officers — up from fewer than 1,000 as of earlier this year. He's criticized Wilson for supporting a 2020 plan to dramatically cut the police budget.
- "My opponent has no background in public safety, except arguing to defund it," Harrell said during a debate hosted by The Seattle Times and KING 5.
Wilson says her position has evolved since then.
- "Part of what that movement got wrong is that we thought, because half of calls don't need an armed response, maybe we only need half as many police officers," she said.
- She said she now believes "we can't just scale down the size of the police department based on the calls we think can be taken by alternative responders."
Surveillance
Harrell recently supported expanding CCTV cameras in more areas of the city, while also allowing police to access traffic camera data.
- Wilson said she would have opposed the camera expansion, largely because of concerns the data and footage could be tapped by the Trump administration to target undocumented immigrants or others.
- "This is not a time to be taking this kind of risk," Wilson said.
Taxes
Both candidates support a plan co-authored by Harrell to lower taxes for most of Seattle's small businesses while raising taxes on the city's biggest companies.
Yes, but: Wilson supports a citywide capital gains tax to help solve city budget problems, while Harrell's campaign said that type of tax is easy to evade and wouldn't raise much money.
- The mayor opposed a plan to implement a capital gains tax last year, although his campaign says he's open to discussing the idea further.
What's next: Ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 4 to be counted, or placed in an official ballot drop box by 8pm on Election Day.

