nwasianweekly.com
Nov. 10, 2007

Photo by George Liu

David Della (center) is flanked by his supporters.
Della lost his seat on the Seattle City Council to Tim Burgess.

Politics is surprising

The Asian community in Seattle has cause to be both delighted and disappointed after this Tuesday’s elections. Voters had a chance to elect two Asian Americans to the City Council — one was elected, and one was not.

David Della, the incumbent in the Seattle Council Position 7 race, lost his seat to Tim Burgess.

We thank you, David, for your four years of service, your leadership, and your support of people of color. You never forgot the people who supported you once you were in office, a commendable — and sadly, not a given — trait in politicians.

Della was the first Filipino American male to sit on the Council. During his term, he was extremely supportive of not only the Asian community, but of all communities of color. Though he failed in his bid for re-election, his supporters should still be proud of him, for his record, for his activism, for his contributions to the diversity of this city.

Teresita Batayola, director of International Clinic Health System and a former aide, could not believe the wide margin he lost by. “I am still speechless,” she said.

She added, “He doesn’t go around and publicize what he has done. That hurts him. It takes a lot of courage to run and a lot of courage (to accept defeat).”

Della remained positive and extremely gracious throughout the evening; at one point, he went around the room hugging each and all of his supporters.

Bruce Harrell, of Japanese and African American descent, won a decisive victory over Venus Velaquez in the Position 3 race, making him the first Japanese American to sit on the Council. Harrell ran a strong, clean campaign and deserves every one of the 20 percentage points he won by.

Harrell shows particular promise as a newcomer to the political scene, as evidenced by his openness to feedback, including criticism, his willingness to change based on that feedback, and his promptness in implementing those changes.

After the primary elections, when Harrell lagged behind his opponent, he organized a “women’s issues forum,” inviting female community and business leaders to voice their concerns and offer advice. He was told that he needed to increase his sensitivity to women’s issues, a concern he immediately took to heart.

Unfortunately, Della did not have the same opportunity for a progress check in the form of a primary. Nonetheless, his campaign was known for attracting strong supporters, and he raised almost $250,000. He contributed about $10,000 of his own money. Burgess raised approximately the same amount, but contributed almost $64,000 of his own money.

Della was unable to foresee what a significant contender Burgess turned out to be this time around. But he should not be discouraged from running again. He still has a lot of potential the Asian community wants to see utilized in the future.

Politics may be surprising, but this lesson remains constant: never underestimate your opponent.

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