There are lots of people around Seattle who love to hate Kshama Sawant. None of them will debate her in public as I have. And few of them have ever met or dealt with her or staff as I have. Most, if not all, don’t have a about Sawant’s magic mostly becuase the fact that they are obsessed with her is evidence of that magic. I recently saw an email from the recall Sawant campaign asking for more money, and you need to look no further than this recall effort to see why Seattle is in such a state of disarray.

The plea in the email is all about how “grassroots” the recall effort is:

We would like to thank you for joining the grassroots effort to recall Councilmember Kshama Sawant.  We have clearly established that we are a grassroots campaign with nearly 3,000 donors and our average contribution is less than $24. Can you please make another donation of  $25 or more?

There’s nothing here about how this will help solve the myriad of problems the City government has created itself over the years. Nothing about the plan going forward should such a recall effort get on the ballot.

First, lots of money has to be spent to get the measure on the ballot. Then, once it is on the ballot, the people have to vote. Then, if Sawant is recalled and removed, there is an election to replace her. Who is that person? Last time the geniuses downtown and Amazon backed a young guy who rode a scooter and supports rent control.

Let’s say that somehow the voters decide to fill this new vacant seat with, oh, let’s say ME, then what? Now we’ll have one rational, pro-market vote out of 9 on the City Council. One vote. And imagine how much my new colleagues will enjoy my proposals to repeal Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning, undo the Council’s support for rent control, repeal the first in time legislation, and propose an aggressive effort to reduce and eliminate regulation on new housing, starting with design review. I’m sure they’d all be on board my agenda, right?

And how much money has the real estate community in Seattle raised to do any one of those things I would do if I was in a position of power at the City? None. Zero. Nada. That’s right, nothing. Instead the business and some people in the real estate community are banging the drum for $25 contributions to maybe, possibly, hopefully replace Kshama Sawant with, well, they don’t know.

Back in 2015 nobody in town was willing to get on a stage to debate Sawant on rent control. Sawant wouldn’t debate me unless she could bring Nick Licata along. And then it was a condition of the debate that I bring someone along too. I couldn’t find a single person who’d be my debate partner. Not one person. I ended up with a legislator from Eastern Washington as my partner. Nobody had the guts to do it. And I have done it several times, on television, since. And we’re the only organization in town that filed an ethics complaint against Sawant for her efforts to encourage not paying rent.

Sawant is a problem. But the problem isn’t that she has any power herself or her ready made mob that shows up when she commands. You are the one giving her power. I have a banner created by the Republicans last year with Sawant’s image that says, “Contain Socialism.” It hangs on the wall of my apartment. It is a constant reminder of what most of the people I work with see in their heads all the time, Kshama Sawant.

Now I’m going to make an “altar call” or a come to Jesus request. It’s time to evict Kshama Sawant — from your head. And here’s the deal, brothers and sisters, there is no ban on evictions in there. You can call the sheriff and she’ll grab Sawant kicking and screaming and toss her right out along with all her red shirt room mates and all that annoying socialist realism on her posters and banners. All that crap goes right on the curb.

When that’s done, let’s get back to what we know is true. If we’re worried about rising housing prices, let’s build more housing. With more competition, consumers are in the drivers seat and housing providers will have to work harder to keep tenants. If we’re worried about eviction, make sure people have jobs and income. And the best way to boost wages is when there are more jobs than people who need them, that means employers have to compete with better compensation. Fumigate your mind with these ideas.

Then, go to donate button below and contribute to the one organization here in the People’s Republic of Seattle that actually fights for the idea that freedom comes from the free exchange of value in a market place. When people get together they can solve problems, including housing problems. We just have to let that happen. What socialists want is to grant everyone the right to housing but then not build any; that’s a recipe for rationing. We believe in more housing of all kinds in every neighborhood for people of all levels of income.

Finally, if we’re going to reverse the damage done by the Mayor and the City Council with eviction bans (remember the Mayor let the winter eviction ban become law!) and regressive and restrictive housing policy, we have to be for something, not just against one person in a dysfunctional and mismanaged City government. And we simply must be willing to take a stand for what we believe in, that people suffering from housing problems will benefit most from more housing, not less, from fewer rules not more.