President John opened the day’s ZOOM only meeting by introducing VP programs Andrew Lewis to moderate the day’s program discussion between political consultant Sandeep Kaushik and broadcast producer, David Hyde, who co-produce a national podcast, ‘Blue City Blues’.  The podcast airs weekly about politics in ‘blue leaning’ (democrat) cities. 

The two podcasters launched ‘Blue City Blues’ in 2021 and describe their weekly program as a somewhat deep dive into urban politics and culture in blue cities in the U.S...  Each podcast features a knowledgeable guest to discuss issues shaping blue cities.

“We want to compare blue cities that have so much in common from addiction to housing and affordability,” Sandeep Kaushik said. “We wanted to get the blinders off about drug policy and other urban topical issues to learn what is working and what is not.”

“We wanted to broadcast perspectives we don’t often hear from progressive mayors in other cities where programs seem to be working,” said co-host David Hyde. “We wanted to learn what is happening there and what we in Seattle might learn from them.”

They have conducted interviews in studio and hope to produce live events in the future, including a town hall in September at the Nordic Heritage Museum where they will be talking about technology with the editor of Geek Wire and a UW historian.

The discussion touched on Seattle’s reputation as one of America’s most progressive cities and as a libertarian place where people can do largely as they choose. “A decade ago, Seattle began firing on all cylinders—housing, minimum-wage worker protections, and high-quality subsidized preschool,” Sandeep said. “Those programs helped prepare children for kindergarten and learning. Seattle is now a very successful city—not a provincial backwater.”

They said the dominant political development is polarization: the GOP base has become MAGA-aligned, while the Democratic base has moved further left, putting increasing strain on the system.

SRSF Service Committee Chair, Lori Walker, showcased two important grant recipients for their work in our community.  Roy Chang, Executive Director, School Connect WA describes how the Rotary grant has supported his nonprofit that is focused on connecting schools with community partners.  He showed several slides with impressive results in reading and math scores for third graders. 

Lori then introduced Kelly Otis of Farestart – another SRSF grant recipient – to describe how the rotary grant is supporting their job training efforts, with more than 400 students enrolled in food service training. See the website for more information about a special Farestart event for Rotarians.