Seattle’s business and tech communities are rallying around Sara Nelson for City Council, and my organization, the Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy, is proud to support her.
As the co-owner of Seattle’s Fremont Brewing, Sara lives her progressive values every day as a business leader. Co-founded with her husband, Fremont Brewing employs 55 people – a big difference from the three employees they had when they started the brewery ten years ago. Sara offers all her employees health insurance, paid family leave, and living-wage salaries—living her progressive values not only through her activism, but in how she treats her employees.
Local small businesses need a seat at the table in politics, and Sara is the one to bring that voice. With more than 60 percent of King County’s private-sector workers employed by small businesses, they’re incredibly important to growing the economy, tackling affordability, and ensuring we maintain the culture and community that make Seattle unique. She’ll proudly take the title as the “business candidate” if it means that she can be a voice for this critical part of Seattle’s economy and culture.
In addition to living her values as a business owner, Sara is a strong advocate for environmental sustainability and is endorsed by the Washington Conservation Voters, our state’s leading environmental advocacy group. She is on the steering committee to expand the EnviroStar program because she believes there’s a better way to engage local businesses when it comes to sustainability. For Sara, it’s about making sure businesses are doing everything they can to benefit the environment. She has fought for sustainability during her years as a policy advisor to city council, and sustainability is one of the driving principles of Fremont Brewing. In 2014, Fremont Brewing was honored with the King County Executive’s “Small Business of the Year” award followed by Sustainable Seattle’s Triple Bottom Line Sustainability Award for small businesses.
Sara will hit the ground running on her first day as a councilmember because she has more City Hall experience than all of her opponents combined. As a policy advisor to a Seattle City Councilmember for more than a decade, she crafted key legislation on a range of critical topics. She’ll continue to make advances on issues from , transportation to economic development and social justice. This is just one reason that the Seattle Times endorsed Sara, calling her uniquely qualified to translate Seattle’s progressive values into actionable public policy. And, she’s a leader who works to bring people together – even people who disagree – to get things done.
We are People for Sara Nelson, a coalition of small businesses, civic leaders, and neighborhood organizations supporting Sara’s run for Seattle City Council. Her perspective as a progressive neighborhood small business owner and her experience in City government make her uniquely qualified for City Council, and we are proud to support her.