Meet Tacoma City Council candidate Israel James McKinney
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of interviews with candidates running for Tacoma City Council. In each interview, The News Tribune asked every candidate two questions: what they pay in rent or mortgage, and if they could correctly state the median home sale price in Pierce County, which is around $500,000 as of April 2021.
Israel James McKinney is running for the Tacoma City Council District 4 seat, which represents parts of Eastside and South End neighborhoods.
The seat is currently held by Council member Catherine Ushka, who is running for re-election.
McKinney was born and raised in Tacoma, a longtime Eastside resident. He currently works in public service for the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). He has been involved with the Boys and Girls Club and the Air Force Reserves and is a leader at his local church.
McKinney said it was his passion for giving back to Tacoma through service groups that made him want to run for office.
“It’s kind of a two-fold thing for me — just definitely a heart and a love for the city of Tacoma, and I’m a people person, so very passionate about people,” he said. “But also, I just feel like we’re in a season where diversity is extremely important to us going forward. And I think I would add more diversity to the Tacoma City Council.”
McKinney said he’s structuring his campaign on three major issues: education, affordable housing/homelessness and systemic racism.
McKinney said Tacoma and Pierce County’s real estate boom in recent years is causing challenges for home ownership. McKinney shared concern over the rental market and rental rates rising.
“You see people have been in a lease for a year and when that lease is up, you know, you’re seeing rent rises anywhere from $200 to $300. So we just really want to see what resources and whether we can assist in that target issue,” he said.
McKinney has expressed support for the city’s Affordable Housing Action Strategy, which aims to increase investments in rental and home-ownership opportunities and generate more affordable units in coming years.
McKinney said he wants to be part of the conversation with different organizations that are putting options on the table to address the homelessness and the housing crisis.
“We’re constantly doing research,” he said.
McKinney said addressing homeless encampments is a target issue. When asked if he supports or opposes the city’s proposed camping ban on public property, McKinney said he’d want to do more research on the subject.
“I know, it’s been problematic with several parks … because it has become a public safety issue,” he said. “Some of these camps can create real problems just for sanitary issues.”
McKinney wants to continue efforts to address systemic racism in Tacoma and supports police reform.
“We’re ecstatic that there’s been some policy changes just recently with the governor signing the 12 bills for police reform. That’s absolutely a step in the right direction,” he said.
McKinney added that Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s recent decision to file charges in the case of Manuel Ellis, who died after behind restrained by Tacoma police in March 2020, made a huge statement toward accountability.
“We definitely are not in the position of defunding the police,” McKinney said, “But there has to be some accountability, and I believe we’re going in the right direction. But that doesn’t change overnight. We’re excited to see the direction that the city and the state is going but we want to continue in that effort.”
When asked for his thoughts on the city’s recent study on diverting some 911 calls from police to other types of response teams, like a citizen-led mental health team, McKinney said he’s open to review the option but said more data needs to be evaluated.
McKinney also supports looking at ways to help with officers’ mental health.
“I mean it’s a high-pressure, high-tension, high-stress position,” he said. “So it’s not like we’re all out that the police department is a bad thing. There just has to be accountability. But we want to reinforce the job that they do. And so I would be very interested in looking at what options we can look at for their health and welfare as well.”
When asked about the city’s declared climate emergency, McKinney said that it’s important to be concerned about the environment and sustaining it for future generations but wants to look at the research to see what can best fit Tacoma.
“I’m always for examining the information and examining what the options are,” he said.
McKinney said the Port of Tacoma and the business that it generates is important to Tacoma but echoed he wants to look at more data and research about what the impacts would be if the city decides to either curtail or allow for fossil-fuel expansion on the Tideflats.
So far, McKinney has raised $2,485 for his campaign. His biggest donors are Antony Warren ($850), Carolyn Littles ($300) and Israel McKinney ($253).
What do you pay in rent/mortgage?
McKinney said he is not comfortable discussing what he pays for his mortgage but said he has been a homeowner for the past seven years.
What is the median home sale price in Pierce County?
“I would imagine it has to be around $350,000 to $375,000.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
