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Stephanie Nehema, ‘26, doesn’t typically attend forums for elected officials, but the public affairs major made time recently for the spring Conversations program featuring Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay.

“I heard that they are very liberal, so I wanted to know what they mean by liberal. I wanted to see for myself,” says Nehema, who was also curious if the officials would address immigration.

Now in its 12th year, the quarterly series is presented by the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Public Affairs and Non-Profit Leadership. Dean Monica J. Casper, PhD, noted the significance of such forums for fostering discussion and to “put things into the conversation that we all might be wondering about and hearing.”

The theme of the discussion, moderated by MPA student Ari Winter, and Institute of Public Service Professional-in-Residence Joni Balter, was progressivism in governing. In his introduction, interim President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., noted that the definitions of the term could vary, calling SU a “progressive, Jesuit, Catholic university.”

“When we say progressive, we mean simply forward-looking, rather than in a necessarily independent or political kind of a way,” Father Sundborg said.

In dealing with the nuts and bolts of governing, which includes making choices about taxing, spending, filling budget deficits and listening to communities, the two officials said ideology isn’t always at the forefront of their thinking.

Zahilay, who grew up in South Seattle and previously served on the King County Council, now runs a county that includes rural areas such as Duvall and suburban areas including Federal Way, communities that can feel worlds apart. 

“At the end of the day it feels everybody's issues boil down to they want to feel safe and they want to be able to afford stuff,” he said, noting that these values can take different forms in different communities. “Once you start to understand that it gives you the grounding and the humanity of people and from there you get to know them from showing up where they are.”

Institute of Public Service Professional-in-Residence Joni Balter interviews the Seattle mayor and the King County Executive. 

As Seattle’s newest mayor, Wilson said she ran as an unabashed progressive and after taking office has prioritized building relationships, especially with the business community, some of whom she acknowledged might have started out having low expectations of her.

“I think the attitude I've tried to come at this with is like, ‘Look, we are not going to necessarily agree on everything and that’s fine,’” she said. “‘But I really want to establish those relationships where we can work together on the things where we have alignment and sometimes we disagree and that doesn’t explode the whole relationship.’"

King County Executive Zahilay shared an anecdote about students from Rainier Beach High School who lost two of their classmates in January to gun violence at a nearby bus stop, telling him they would feel safer with an increased presence of police. Zahilay said relaying what the students told him led him to receive messages accusing him of parroting right wing talking points.

“You are talking about the demographic that is most at risk for being shot and killed and you are saying erase their voice because they said something that doesn’t cleanly align with the thing you want to hear,” Zahilay said. “That's absurd, that is super frustrating.”

Following the forum, which touched on subjects ranging from homelessness to flood and climate preparedness, surveillance cameras, taxes, to steps local government has taken in light of the federal government’s immigration crackdowns, Kenny Ouedraogo, ‘29, a political science major, said he was satisfied with the details Wilson and Zahilay provided.

“I really think this was a good conversation to have especially with our regional leaders,” added the student government first-year senator. “No one politician can solve all the problems, but their answers indicated to me that they are working toward that.”