So the 2021 election is now in the books.
One thing is certain,
Seattle will have a new mayor,
current mayor Jenny Durkan announced
months ago that she would not run again,
but she didn't really explain why until now.
Joyce Taylor is here to discuss her eye
opening interview with Mayor Durkin.
Thank you for being with
us. I'm really happy to be here.
Thanks for having me
of course. I mean, you were one of
the few people who got a chance to
sit down with the mayor and talk
about what happened in a year.
That was like no other.
It really is a term that is like no other.
If you think about it right,
the pandemic, the worst that we've
seen since the Spanish flu, right?
And then a racial reckoning.
And on and on right? And so really,
it's a term that was like no.
I guess it's true. It was a whole term,
even though so much happened in 2020
and a lot happened to the mayor, right?
That's right. And she really has not
talked to anyone in depth until now,
and it was a couple months ago that
she and I were talking about something
completely different and this came up as.
Almost a sidebar.
During our conversation,
the threats that she has been experiencing.
They started in the summer of 2020,
but they have been relentless.
Really even relax.
I'm not talking about a couple dozen threats,
not even a couple hundred threats.
We're talking thousands of threats.
And yes, even now they persist
threats to her life.
Death threats,
at least a dozen have risen to
the level where they are being
looked into by the Seattle Police
Department and the FBI and the FBI.
Death threats not just against her,
but against her partner
and against her children.
OK,
yeah yeah yeah. Not against my kids
now I can understand then why maybe?
Well, maybe she's decided
not to run for reelection.
Did she talk about that?
Does she share with you why?
So when she announced that she
was not going to run and this was
after she had already filed the
paperwork to run for another term.
At the time, she said that she really
felt it was the best thing for this city,
that she becomes such a polarizing figure,
right? That it was time for the city
to turn the page and she did not at
that time acknowledge that she had
been in during all of these threats.
Fast forward to now and when we sat
down and really peeled it back,
she said she could not divorce this issue
from her decision to not run again.
So yes. I would say yes,
this is part of her decision to
not run again.
It is not the entire right session,
but it was definitely part of her decision.
How did
all this happen?
I mean, is there someone
we can point the blame too?
I mean threats of death
against a public figure.
It's it's extremely.
Can you point the blame to a single person?
I would say probably not,
but can you point it to a moment in time?
Absolutely yes.
The summer of 2020 in June,
you'll remember we had protests
in Seattle after.
The tragic police killing of George Floyd.
Those protests ended up on Capitol
Hill and we had the chop the occupied zone,
such as various terms,
and at that time the President of
the United States decided to declare
Seattle an anarchist jurisdiction and
threatened to bring in the National
Guard and Mayor Durkin tweeted,
and the president tweeted.
She responded to his tweets,
he tweeted, you might recall.
Take back your city now if you don't do it,
I will. Do you remember that she responded?
Take care of us.
Go back to your bunker telling the
president to go back to his bunker.
That was the beginning of tweets
that you could mark in that moment,
and escalation of threats against her.
OK, then add to that City
Council member Shama Sawant.
Leading a March to Mayor
Durkins home with 1500 people.
And you had mentioned before,
Mayor Durkin was a former federal prosecutor.
That's right, put a lot of bad guys away.
That's why her address wasn't necessarily
public until that's council members so on. So
she was the US attorney for the
Western District, 2090, 2014.
She put some really bad people
behind bars were talking members
of the cartel and organized crime,
and got special permission after she
was no longer prosecutor to have her
address protected and she believes
that City Council member Shama so want.
By bringing people to her home really
escalated the threats against her and
that and that she knew what she was
doing when she brought those
people to her home. Yeah, and
what did they leave behind vile,
misogynistic, homophobic graffiti
spray painted at her doorstep, right?
And an escalation of threats that
have persisted ever since. Looking
back on that year, was there anything?
Did the mayor give any indication
that she wished she'd done things
differently during the summer of 2020?
She didn't say she had any regrets.
She looks back at that period of time.
You'll remember protesters were
repeatedly tear gassed, huh?
That's now something.
That's a legal matter.
The way that the entire situation was handled
with former police chief Carmen Best.
Yep, that's a situation.
I think she looks at and wonders if that
could have been handled differently.
She thinks that Carmen best was
completely dis respected by the
City Council and not wanting
to dialogue with her about.
These ideas have defunding the
Police Department,
but she did not say she had any regrets.
And we know we're about out of time.
But why did she decide that now
is the time to talk about this,
she not because she wants sympathy or
once people have any pity on her because
she thinks if we allow this kind of
extremism and dialogue and attacks
against city officials, public servants,
good people won't serve good.
People won't want to serve.
They don't sign up for this.
Yeah, they're public servants.
And remember, 2020.
She gave back her salary.
She was working for free.
She wasn't getting paid, and she's
been in during these kinds of threats.
So the bottom line, I think for her is.
It's not right if city officials,
public officials, leaderships.
Regardless of what side of the aisle
they're on, don't denounce it.
It gives people permission,
and good people won't serve,
and that is bad for democracy.
That's the truth really quickly,
when people watch this,
watch your special interview.
6:30 and 11:00 o'clock tonight.
Perfect thank you.