Seattle City Council
1999 election
In May 1999,Seattle city councilmember Tina Podlodowski announced she would not seek reelection for Position 7. [3] Wills ran for the open seat against five other candidates. In the September primary election,she came in second with 38% of the vote,with former councilmember Charlie Chong coming in first with 40%. [4] Wills outraised Chung and all other candidates that cycle. [5] In the general election,Wills defeated Chung,55% to 45%. [6]
Tenure
While in office,Wills was chair of the Energy and Environmental Policy Committee and vice-chair for the Housing,Human Services,Education,and Civil Rights Committee and the Transportation Committee. [1]
While chair of the Energy Committee,Wills oversaw increases to Seattle City Light utility bills for top energy users [7] to discourage high energy usage. [8] Mayor Greg Nickels was against the "third tier" increases,stating the increases would effect low-income individuals,even though the majority of "third tier users" were not low income. [9] Wills would successfully pass the rate increases for high energy users, [8] with exemptions for low-income users. [7] She later contacted the Seattle Ethics and Elections director over potential ethics violations regarding a letter Nickels sent to Seattle City Light customers disparaging the rate "third tier." [8]
Wills' Energy committee also ushered a bill that would keep a surcharge,averaging $23 a month,for an extra two years to pay down City Light debt. [10] Wills stated,"We're in unprecedented circumstances". [10]
Wills voted to repeal the teen dance ordinance and promised to keep the poster ban repeal. [9] Wills also sponsored legislation to switch green traffic lights to LED bulbs,saving the city millions in money and energy. [11]
Strippergate
Former Washington state governor Albert Rosellini assisted the Colacurcios family by lobbying six members of the Seattle City Council and raising funds for three of the politicians. [12] In June 2003,James Bush,a reporter for the North Seattle Sun,reported city council members Judy Nicastro,Jim Compton and Heidi Wills received a combined $36,000 worth of campaign donations from the Colacurcio family and their business associates. [13] On June 16,2003,in a 5–4 vote,the council approved the parking zoning changes allowing them to use their existing land for parking requested by the Colacurcios. [13] Nicastro,Compton,and Wills all voted in favor on the expansion. [13]
All councilmember returned the money,and Wills paid a $1,500 fine to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. [14]
2003 election
Wills ran for reelection against three challengers. In the primary election,Wills placed first with 44% of the vote,and David Della,a director at United Way of King County,came in second with 34%. [15] Della blamed Willis for the rate increases by releasing flyers and billboards of people yelling at their utility bills. [16] Wills's campaign outraised Della's,fundraising over $250,000 and breaking the record $198,000 she raised in the 1999 election. [17] Della defeated Willis in the general election,65,324 votes (54%) to 55,620 (46%). [18]
2019 election
In April 2019,councilmember Mike O'Brien announced that he would not seek reelection for District 6,the fourth council member that cycle to decline running. [19] Wills announced she would run for the open seat focusing her campaign on bring city hall "back to basics". [20] Thirteen candidates ran in the primary,the most of any race that year. Wills came in second,with 21%,with Dan Strauss,former legislative aid to Councilmember Sally Bagshaw,coming in first with 34%. [21]
Wills faced a finance complaint over the amount of in-kind donations an event space gave to Wills during an October fundraiser. [22]
The election gained national attention after Amazon spent nearly $1.5 million on campaign contributions to Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee,which supported Wills. [23]
In the general election,Willis lost to Straus,44% to 56%. [24]
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