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Page 8 News Street Roots • May 13-19, 2016 HOW TO CHANGE SOCIETY Former Seattle Councilman Nick Licata, author of becoming a Citizen Activist, says everyone has the potential to make a difference. And he is bringing his message to Portland. BY ISRAEL BAYER STAFF WRITER ick Licata is a lifelong political activist who spent 18 years as a Seattle City Councilman. His early activism involved work on anti redlining and poverty issues in the early 1980s in Seattle. During his tenure as a city councilman, he has been an avid supporter of low-income people and progressive causes. Licata will be speaking and promoting his new book, “Becoming a Citizen Activist,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at Powell’s Books on Hawthorne. The book is described as a playbook for citizen activists wanting to improve the world around them. It doesn’t disappoint. N Israel Bayer: You say in your opening to the book, “You don’t have to be a Marvel comic book superhero to change the world. You don’t even have to be a saint, a revolutionary, a - political leader or a community organizer.” Say more. Nick Licata: I hesitated in using the word activist in the book title. I think sometimes people don’t realize that we all have the potential to be activists. I think what may hold some people back from trying to change their immediate environment is that the tasks ahead of us look so daunting. It’s like climbing a large mountain. The first step is recognizing that you can actually change political and social environments. A long journey starts one step at a time. Any time you begin a journey, the first step is usually the hardest because you’re going to think of a thousand reasons of why there’s something else to do first. Nick Licata will talk about his book, “Becoming a Citizen Activist,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at Powell’s Books on Hawthorne. up for review and have a new interview power typically have more powerful every two to four years. networks. A lot of people get elected to office as idealists, but they become more LB.: You said, “Many times bureaucrats practical. Over time the practicality begins are a bigger hurdle to overcome solving to overshadow their idealism. In the end, it problems that the big, bad corporations.” Talk ends up hurting progressive movements more about that. Tell us how you define overall because then elected officials can’t bureaucrat and why they become a barrier in deliver on their promises and even worse creating real social change. yet, begin to drift off in other directions. LB.: In your book, you talk a lot about Part of my message for citizens that run N.L.: The term “bureaucrat” movement building in local government. Talk for office and get elected is "There ’ s never < certainly has a negative about moving people in power and elected don’t walk away from the connotation. And I don’t try to officials closer to your position on progressive people that got you into office, r going to be any and my message to citizens: issues. progress without use it to describe staff. However, Don’t walk away from people in hope. In the end, I have found in my 18 years in government that sometimes, all N.L.: One of the things that I discovered office. You have to build and the final element too often, unfortunately, central being inside of government is that many sustain authentic relationships. you have for staff not directly accountable to people get elected really wanting to make social change is an elected official see things change. You don’t get elected to office to I.B.: You spent 18 years as a through a narrow focus: how to become a bureaucrat. Many times Seattle city councilman. Were your attitude." get something done without bureaucrats are a bigger hurdle to overcome there times you lost your way and taking into account what is best NICK LICATA, solving problems than the big, bad had to reassess where your values .AUTHOR OF corporations, but there’s a different reason were? 'BECOMING A CITIZEN for the public or those who ACTIVIST' might be negatively impacted. for that. Perhaps they have become A reason most politicians don’t follow N.L.: It is a scary process. jaded over time as to how to look at things through on what they promise is that they; One of the things I tried to do was tell differently. They tend to do things the way don’t know how to get there. They become myself every election I wasn’t going to run they have always been done. And therefore frustrated. Also, water runs downhill. It’s for office again and that life would go on. I that is the right way. They are not risk much easier to start taking larger would assume that I would either not run or takers, and because they are not risk-takers contributions from fewer people the longer not get re-elected. It’s the opposite of and they are not rewarded for being that optimism. It’s like, OK, this is the only time you stay in office. You start talking to a narrower stream of people and are informed I’m going to be here so I’m going to do what way, they tend to lead newly elected officials down the path of caution, pointing to why by a smaller group of people you trust It I want to do or what the larger community something cannot work, like providing paid pushes me to do. Every politician worries becomes easier to follow this route because sick leave or banning plastic bags. It’s not of life, time or money crunches. People in about being re-elected. It’s a job that you’re that they are conservative or liberal, but rather they most often see the status quo as working so don’t rock the boat Because of that attitude and frame of mind, they have a very nuanced yet powerful way of shaping issues that discourages challenging the status quo. LB.: It feels like the same conversation is happening in cities up and down the West Coast about the issue of homelessness and massive rental increases. What are your thoughts on the current climate and ways we can address the growing need? N.L.: We have to be more open to encampments. It’s just a reality. It’s not a final strategy. The battle then, of course, is that neighborhoods come in and say we don’t want encampment in our neighborhoods. The debate about affordable housing has to be a very focused and visible support for the lowest strata of people surviving on our streets and in low-income housing, our most vulnerable. 5 As you get pushback from neighborhoods and others, the response has to be creating more subsidized units so more people aren’t on our streets. I know the argument from the market-rate developers is that we just need more market-rate housing built and the reality is that doesn’t solve the problem we have in front of us by any stretch of the See LICATA, page 11
