Don Hewett 2020 Questionnaire – US House District 10

The Urbanist Elections Committee invited candidates in the Seattle metropolitan region to fill out our questionnaire and participate in our endorsement process. We based our endorsement decisions on the responses and follow-up interviews.

Below is the response from Don Hewett, who is running for US House, Washington District 10.

What housing reforms are necessary at the federal level? How would you achieve them? (200 words or less)

Affordable housing is a requirement for our society to do well. Housing prices have skyrocketed while our incomes have not gained much. As a result, home ownership is dropping. With our recent covid19 crisis, this has caused many job losses and this will change what is needed for our housing reforms. There are also many issues such as foreign purchases of property as investments which are not occupied. In many cities such as Seattle this is inflating prices dramatically. Regulation at the federal level will probably have little real affect on this, most of this issue is local with the cities themselves. Areas such as Seattle (and other areas) need to increase the amount of affordable housing available and stop taxing people so badly that they cannot afford housing.

Do you support campaign finance reform? If yes, what form and why? (100 words or less)

Yes. I support campaign finance reform. I don’t feel that the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission finding by the U.S. Supreme court was in the best interest of the American public. It allows “big money” to influence our political decisions. All politicians are voted in by the public to represent the people. We are a country of the people, by the people, for the people. This decision allows undo power by large donor groups to cause or politicians to represent that group. All politics should be driven by “grass roots”. That is why I am not willing to accept large donations from these large donor groups.

How do we ensure everyone in America has quality health care and can afford it? (200 words or less)

Affordable health care is paramount for any society. We want ourselves and all of our neighbors to have a healthy and productive life, for them and for us. I think that we cannot abandon the ACA (Affordable Care Act – Obama Care). We need to fix this. As an engineer all of my life my job has been to fix what is broken. The issue with the ACA is that much money was made available and all of the pigs came running to the trough. There were no provisions to keep this from happening. What is needed now is to first audit the system and figure out where the money is going. Then, we need to work to address these abuses in the system. We still need to make certain (allow) private insurance to thrive in the market as well. The ACA needs to be a stop gap for those who cannot afford insurance. After all, we want all of us to have good health. The private health system is also being financially abused by the hospitals, drug companies, and many more. The abuses will be discovered as the ACA system is audited. Find the problem, then fix it.

What lessons about government revenues and fiscal priorities from the wake of 2008 would you apply in responding to the Covid-19 crisis? (200 words or less)

This is a hot issue with me. This is really more of a state issue than a federal issue. The state should have made sure that we were ready for a pandemic such as this. It is not as if it was unexpected. How many movies, articles, and other materials have you seen about the upcoming pandemic? When will the next pandemic occur? It will, and probably in the next few years. Our state should have been ready with the necessary medical equipment in store to handle this. We will still need the same equipment such as ventilators, protective equipment for the next one. It was the state’s responsibility to be ready for this. We were not. Why, because the money was spent…… On items such as a 3.3 billion dollar tunnel in downtown Seattle. If only 1/10 of the money spent on that tunnel was spent on being ready for this pandemic, we would not have had to shut down our economy and would have been able to treat all who were sick.

To get your vote, what must a transportation funding package include? (100 words or less)

We spend too much money on local transportation that is not heavily used. We need to supply transportation that actually goes where people need to go. Personally, I think that we need a large high speed monorail type of system that goes straight down the center of I-5 from Olympia right up to Arlington. It would allow greater access for all of us to these cities and reduce Seattle housing prices. When you are stuck on the freeway and you see this passing you by at high speed, next time you will want to ride on that. This land is already owned.

What should be the federal strategy to solve homelessness nationwide? (200 words or less)

This is near and dear to my heart since I have helped homeless people to get back on their feet. There are as many reasons why people are homeless as there are homeless people. In 200 words, I cannot fit a particular solution, but I can give the spirit of my ideas. Instead of punishing people, we need to work to help these people get back on their feet. With the recent covid19 we are going to see a great rise in homelessness in our area. Helping people get on their feet does not mean just giving out money. It means to help these people to be able to bathe, eat, and have clean clothing. Help them to find work as well. Nobody wants to live in a tent on the street. With the homeless, I see two things. First I empathize with those who are homeless, second I see people who if they were working would be contributing to our tax base. Help them have self dignity, they are people just as you are. Everyone is only one financial crisis away from homeless. These are your brothers and sisters.

Is a Vision Zero goal of eliminating road deaths achievable nationwide and should we make it a national priority? If not, why? If yes, what do we need to do to get there? (150 words or less)

Vision Zero is a great program. I think that we should strive as much as we can to work towards this, but realize that we will never achieve the goal of no deaths. There is much that can be done without taking away are freedoms and rights to work towards this. Sweden has been a leader in this effort and we have much to learn from them. There are two many benefits from this. First it will save many lives, and this is most important. Second, it can save us money since we will not as a society incur as much cost from these accidents. Note that we will probably reduce deaths greatly, but there will be a point of diminishing returns.

Do you support a Green New Deal? What does a Green New Deal look like to you? (150 words or less)

I do not believe in the Green New Deal a proposed. But I believe that we have real issues to work on. This is the only planet we have and there is no one who will clean up our bird cage for us. We have a real issue with pollution on this planet. This includes CO2, plastics, etc. We will not solve these problems by enforcing punishing regulations. We will solve them when people can make money from them. We need to encourage industries that solve these problems not by negative punishments, but by positive methods. For example, have you used enough plastics in your life to build a house? What if we gave corporations 5% tax on an industry that can recycle these plastics? They make money, we save the environment.

How should your Congressional caucus wield power? Is the wiser strategy to gravitate toward a political center or define a strong position away from it and pull people along? And are there reforms you support to level the playing field for groups you see as disenfranchised? (200 words or less)

Interesting question. Caucuses will always exist, both in congress, in all companies, and all communities. There really is no getting away from this. I support the voice of the people and will work to support this. I always believe that we work to support this, not our own personal opinions. My mind can always be changed, just convince me of your argument. If you want to change others opinions, convince them. Yes there will be caucuses, but I don’t think that any congressional reforms or the like will not have any effect other than creating unnecessary bureaucracy. If we work together, discuss our issues, and more often than not will come to a compromise. We do not stomp our feet and have tantrums because we did not get our way. We always work for the will of the people. Lastly, all should be listen to and heard. As it says in the Desiderata, “Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.”

The Urbanist Elections Committee’s Take: Vote Doglio

Read our full endorsement here.