In the race to lead King County, generations clash over a $242 million youth jail

(The Center Square) – When King County residents elect a county executive this fall, they will choose between two generations divided over how to build a better justice system.

In 2021, the title of King County Executive belongs to Dow Constantine. A West Seattle native, Constantine’s appetite for politics dates back to when he chaired the 34th District Democrats and worked as an aide to King County Council member and former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. In 1996, he was elected to the Washington Legislature and served in the House and Senate before succeeding Nickels on the King County Council in 2002.

Elected as King County Executive in 2009 at the height of the Great Recession, Constantine has grown accustomed to leading a county in crisis. He sees the pandemic as a chance to make changes for the better.

“I can remember when the country was really shaken up in the late 1960s,” Constantine said. “It looked like we were at the dawn of a new era. We can’t squander this moment.”

This year, Constantine faces the man his campaign describes as an “inexperienced, but ambitious opponent,” who once worked for him—state Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-West Seattle.

Born in White Center to two Vietnamese refugees, Nguyen grew up with three siblings working as a janitor in his Burien high school. The Microsoft program manager says the shooting of a young Vietnamese-American man, Tommy Le, by King County sheriff’s deputies in 2017 inspired his entry into politics. The killing and its alleged mishandling outraged the Asian-American community and Nguyen, a member of the county’s police oversight board, who won a seat in the Washington Senate in 2018.

Le’s family received a $5 million settlement in March, and the county is looking for a new sheriff. Constantine is working with the Community Advisory Committee to begin the hiring process. Nguyen says it would be a community-led process.

“We would do a national search to find the best person for that role,” Nguyen said. “The main thing we’d be looking for is somebody who sees their role in law enforcement as guardians of the people and not warriors.”

Nguyen, a former campaign staffer of Constantine’s, is one of the youngest state lawmakers serving in the state legislature. His race for King County Executive is one that critics have called a long shot. Campaign finance records show Constantine has raised more than $1.1 million compared to Nguyen’s $58,000 war chest. He says the county’s efforts at criminal justice reform have been too slow and need to be treated like the emergency it is.

Over the past ten years, the county added 321,000 new residents or more people than 34 out of 50 states, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. Its homeless populace tripled to 11,700 people since Constantine took office. The county has since resorted to snapping up distressed hotel rooms to house the homeless in the pandemic—an effort Constantine sees as a viable strategy.

“We do have this new tool which, with a certain amount of irony, the pandemic created by emptying out these hotels, and we want to take advantage of it while we have it,” Constantine said.

For Nguyen, the root of homelessness is income inequality—a problem he’s said he wants to tackle with a universal basic income program.

Constantine and Nguyen both say the county needs to put its money where its mouth is when addressing inequality. Almost three out of every four county dollars are spent on the criminal justice system, including a $242 million youth jail Constantine has vowed to close by mid-decade. Nguyen wants it closed sooner.

The Children and Family Justice Center replaced Seattle’s youth jail built in 1986. Funded with a levy approved by 55% of voters in 2012, it included 112 prisoner beds and 10 courtrooms. The jail was finished $42 million over budget in 2018. Fourteen youth remain incarcerated there.

Social justice activists have called the jail an eyesore their communities do not want or need. King County data shows Black youth made up 38% of those incarcerated in 2019—or more than ten times their share of county residents. Critics blame Constantine’s support for the space as a selling point for voters.

Constantine argues detention facilities of some type must exist under state law. Under state statute, “counties shall develop and implement detention intake standards and risk assessment standards to determine whether detention is warranted…”

“The question is, how can we move those 14 somewhere where they would be safe because they are all charged with crimes—assault, rape, robbery, and murder,” Constantine said. “Those are not easy things to figure out how to how to wrestle with how to keep these kids safe and how to avoid having another tragedy in the community.”

King County’s last budget funded the deferral of some 800 juvenile offenders from incarceration to alternative supervision and monitoring programs. Nguyen says their only problem is scale.

“We have examples currently that works within the state, but also elsewhere, whether it’s community supervision, whether it’s house arrest, whether it’s electronic home monitoring,” Nguyen said. “We already have these strategies in place, we just haven’t invested in them.”

The primary election for King County Executive is Aug. 3. King County voters will choose a county executive on Nov. 2.

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