Xtian Gunther
Xtian Gunther ran for election to the Seattle City Council to represent Position 9 At-Large in Washington. He lost in the primary on August 3, 2021.
Gunther completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Gunther's professional experience includes working as a business developer, promoter manager, artist manager, and production manager. He attended the Purchase College and The News School of Broadcasting.[1]
Gunther has been affiliated with Working Washington, PETA, Seattle Musician's Group, and Seattle Litter Cleanups.[1]
Elections
2021
See also: City elections in Seattle, Washington (2021)
General election
General election for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large
Sara Nelson defeated Nikkita Oliver in the general election for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sara Nelson (Nonpartisan) | 53.9 | 139,336 | |
| Nikkita Oliver (Nonpartisan) | 46.0 | 119,025 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 363 | ||
| Total votes: 258,724 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large
The following candidates ran in the primary for Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large on August 3, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nikkita Oliver (Nonpartisan) | 40.2 | 79,799 | |
| ✔ | Sara Nelson (Nonpartisan) | 39.5 | 78,388 | |
| Brianna Thomas (Nonpartisan) | 13.4 | 26,651 | ||
| Corey Eichner (Nonpartisan) | 3.5 | 7,030 | ||
| Lindsay McHaffie (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 3,048 | ||
| Rebecca Williamson (Nonpartisan) | 0.8 | 1,646 | ||
| Xtian Gunther (Nonpartisan) | 0.7 | 1,409 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 637 | ||
| Total votes: 198,608 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Xtian Gunther completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gunther's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I stand for the citizens of Seattle, especially the historically marginalized and left behind, especially people of color, artists (musicians, artists, culinary artists, comedians, writers, filmmakers) and the many hard working folks making less than $70,000 and/or trying to raise a family here on less than six figures.
I spent my childhood/young-adulthood in the NYC-Montréal corridor (and learned so much) but I have called Seattle home for 1.5+ decades. I have seen much and learned more. I bring awareness, boldness, innovation skills and an independent spirit that's sorely lacking in City Hall. The NYC in me has little patience for passive-aggressive thumb-twiddling. Seattle deserves much more from our policymakers than hum-ho, lack of urgency and, at worst, indifference.
My career has taken me from music performance to the music and live theatre industries and into culinary and other food business consulting. I've worked on 'main street' preservation. urban planning and public transport policy, too.
My platform -tackles public safety better than anyone running or currently in office -ditto, homelessness/housing solutions -I'll be the only elected in City Hall who champions the arts/entertainment, bringing big money back to Seattle in that realm -A public-private partnership citywide 24/7 quality restroom system
-real inroads toward equity- Seattle Needs a housing public utility district (think Seattle City Light, only swap clean power with clean, affordable housing) NOW. We must do what Hong Kong (pre-China handover) and Singapore did decades ago: create an entity that builds thousands of units of supportive, affordable rental, first-time homebuyer and antipdisplacement housing EVERY YEAR. Seed money to start will come from DC, already-annually-allocated funds and contributions from corporations and private wealth-holders. This is the only solution I've seen that is sustainable and will work long-term.
- We need to evolve our city into one that provides public safety over policing. Sure, we'll keep an armed division, but they will be elites who are incredibly-well trained, receive ongoing counseling and, for all new hires, be required to live in Seattle. There will be three other, just as important and populous divisions in our new, larger Public Safety Department: ungunned community officers, ungunned mental health officers and ungunned (except supervisors) by-law officers. We must move from a quad sub-HQ system to actual neighborhood precincts with around-the-clock foot and bike patrols doing most of the patrolling.
- Seattle must get real re: equity and inclusion. From our people of color to our First Nations peoples and our starving artists, we can and must do better. I will do everything I can to end the displacement/land-grabbing gentrification that the city and developers have been complicit in, replacing that nonsense with beautification for the benefit of all. I will push for training and scholarship public-private partnerships, including easily-accessible facilities at our community centers, etc. We need community health centers in our community centers as well, including basic mental health care access on a sliding scale, from $0. We need to build the Orange Line subway, connecting Capitol Hill and Mt. Baker via The Central District/Area, etc.
We must find a path, ideally, via Olympia, to roll out $10/day Québec-style childcare. Only even better. Québec has the highest rate of mothers with children in the workforce IN THE WORLD because of their system. It costs, you say? Actually, Québec is earning a surplus on their system, funded through a province-wide payroll tax (because working mums receive payroll compensation).
We must move Olympia to stop their deadly, rotten efforts to hinder all attempts at progressive taxation, especially income taxes on the very well off and on extreme wealth. Ou state constitution is out of touch with the needs of today, and so are most of our cowardly legislators in our Capitol. Time to to call it all out. Loudly. People are dying and languishing because of their Trumpian ideologies. No more.
Steven Biko and Nelson Mandela -for their incredible bravery and principles. Madiba, for his post-prison leadership and continued sacrifice.
MLK Jr. -So obvious, but his courage, leadership and dedication to non-violence.
Jesse Jackson -for reminding us that all of the non-wealthy, the non-greedy, the non-superficial, black, brown, white, plaid and all shades in-between, we make a beautiful rainbow that, when united can shine bright enough to overtake the darkness of the oppressors, the hoarders and the selfish.
Albert Einstein -for his enlightenment, wisdom, humility, humane treatment of non-human animals, and commitment to vegetarianism.
Jane Goodall- for her profound patience and wisdom and her education of humans about the respect that our animal cousins deserve.
Peter Gabriel- for his brilliant talents, humane approach to living, political activism, lack of the typical missteps and pitfalls so many entertainers succumb to and for opening up Western audiences to the music of the world in a manner that put big money and successful careers into the hands of musicians who might never have had access otherwise.
FDR- for his intellect, blended with the best form of populism the USA has likely ever seen. For his commitment to bold, grand programs that saved so many from ruin and set the United States on its most successful course in its post-colonization history. So much of what he launched is still paying massive dividends for us today.
Joe Strummer- for being a graceful, loving, caring intellectual 'punk' who made music for the thinking person and united with people from underrepresented communities to broaden the horizons of all involved, including the listener.
Curtis Mayfield- Great music artist and principled, righteous man who used his fame to advance equality.
I work very hard and, once committed, I am in it to finish the job, until the end.
I don't like too-slow projects where efficiencies and/or resources can move up timelines. I'll find the resources.
I am an out-of-the box thinker, something all-too-rare in politics.
I'm a marathon runner. That keeps one from thinking things aren't do-able. We need more bold-thinking and bolder-doing in politics. Our issues are large and complex. Pilot projects and trials, study after study won't solve them. Well-planned, well supported actions will.
I have a sense of humor and I'm a deep thinker who possesses a profound sense of empathy.
I'd like to get at least one city to truly lead, by example, in a manner that others will follow , until there are enough doing so that it becomes the norm. Such leadership entails ending our war on Earth and its creatures, an end to animal-based and petroleum-based living, equity and equality for all and as great an appreciation for art, intellectualism and culture as there is for professional sport. Such leadership means an end to high carbon-footprint, congestion causing and, frankly, deadly auto use.
Other major events I recall from childhood: The Iran-Hostage crisis, the Chernobyl and Challenger disasters, the Warsaw labor strikes, South Africa's apartheid, the Iran-Contra scandal and the assassination of John Lennon. Lennon's death was big for me as a boy. It happened to someone I 'knew' well and in an area I was more than familiar with, at a time when he was a huge part of my life.
My very first job was mowing a few people's lawns in my area. I was 11 or 12 when I started and ended as I transitioned into babysitting and then, at 14, when I was old enough to get a part-time job at the local market. For the record, I quit when the manager kept lying to me about the work I was to be doing. He told me I was going to be a stockboy (what they used to call the job). I wound up corralling carts, dealing with recycling machines that shred glass -cuts and all- and doing cleanups and the like more often than not. After a few months of this, I tossed my smock at the manager and told him I was done, making it clear to all fellow employees around us that he'd lied and lied to me.
It is very profound and deals with some very heavy stuff in very real, relatable ways, especially for those of us living in the PNW.
With lyrics? "Arabesque" by Coldplay with Rwandan-Belgian singer Stromae
Trying to hold to virtue and always do the right thing is hard in a world designed to go against all of that. I'd love to see an end to 'winners' and 'losers' but, that won't happen. All-too-often, the virtuous, the good 'guys' really do finish last. This world begs us to cheat, lie and steal. We have messed our society up profoundly. I struggle with that sad reality every day. Anyone who doesn't is likely part of the problem.
Career-track representation also often comes with thick strings attached, favors and promises to others that need to be made good on.
While, certainly, one should have a sense of what they are getting into and possess a fair amount of wisdom and relatable experience, Democracy is NOT supposed to be 'by the governing class, of the governing class and for the people'. Nope. It's 'By the people, of the people and for the people.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
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Candidate Seattle City Council Position 9 At-Large |
Personal |
Footnotes
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