Rob Saka | |
|---|---|
 Rob Saka, 2024 | |
| Member of the Seattle City Council from District 1 | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Lisa Herbold |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Minneapolis,MN |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Alicia Saka |
| Residence | Delridge,Seattle |
| Alma mater | University of Washington (BA) University of California,San Francisco (JD) |
Rob Saka is an American lawyer and politician elected to represent District 1 of the Seattle City Council.
Saka was born in Minneapolis,MN and grew up in the foster care system before his Nigerian immigrant father "rescued" him and began raising him as a single father. [1] [2] [3] He grew up in with financial hardships,living in public and low-income housing. [2] [3] After high school,Saka joined the United States Air Force and served for ten years as an intelligence officer. [1] [2]
Saka graduated from the University of Washington,then the Hastings Law School,where he earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. [1] After law school,he moved back to Seattle in the Delridge neighborhood,where he currently resides. [1] [2] Saka was hired by Microsoft as a product attorney before joining Meta Platforms as an associate general counsel. [1] [4]
Before his city council run,Saka was appointed to several city and county commissions,including the King County Charter Review Commission,the King County Redistricting Commission,and a Seattle Police Chief search committee. [1] [3] [5]
In February 2023,Saka announced that he would stand for the city council,replacing Lisa Herbold who declined to run for re-election. [3] [6] He said that his campaign aligned more with District 1,compared to Herbold's progressive policies. [2] Saka's platform focused on public safety and police reform,rejecting many of the policies championed by the city council at the time. [2] [5] In the August primary,Saka came in second,with 24% of the vote. [7] Former Amazon worker and climate activist Maren Costa coming in first,with 33%. Costa was fired from Amazon in 2020 after publicly urging the company to do more to combat climate change and improve conditions for warehouse workers. [8] After the primary,the six other candidates endorsed Costa over Saka despite wide policy differences,saying "She has experience fighting for justice and a better world". [9]
Saka and Costa had some similar policy proposals regarding public safety and hiring more police. However,Saka accused Costa of flip-flopping on "defunding the police" when she stated her support for hiring additional police. [5] [10] Costa did not support legislation passed by the city council to prosecute low-level drug offenses,while Saka urged the council to pass the legislation,calling it a "powerful tool". [8] Saka promoted sweeps of homeless encampments as another tool for the city to use to address homelessness and crime,while Costa openly rejected the sweeping policy under Mayor Bruce Harrell. [2] [10]
In the November general election,Saka defeated Costa 54% to 45%. [11]
Once sworn in,Saka became chair of the Transportation Committee,stating he became the "king of potholes". [12] As chair,Saka proposed a $1.55 billion transportation levy,larger than the $1.35 billion levy proposed by Harrell,which would add an average of $41 for taxpayers. [13] Saka added in additional projects,including sidewalks,safe routes to schools,and safety on public transit,electric charging stations,a freight program,and a ‘district project fund.’ [13] The council would unanimously pass the legislation and put it on the November 2024 ballot for voters to approve. [14]
While on the council,Saka supported hiring additional police,stating,"The public safety challenges that we're experiencing today are a shameful legacy of the defund the police movement. And that was wrong then. It's wrong now. Defund is Dead." [15]
Saka resides in the Delridge neighborhood with his wife and three children. [2] His wife is an environmental manager for Starbucks. [16]
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