On Monday, Cliff Cawthon, a local college professor and longtime community activist, launched his campaign for Kent City Council Position 4. Cawthon has picked up key early endorsements from Council Member Marli Larimer, State Senators Mona Das, Joe Nguyen, and Bob Hasegawa, State Representatives Steve Bergquist, former King County Councilmember Larry Gossett, and Auburn Council Member Chris Stearns. He has also been endorsed by a number of other community members, elected officials and the Martin Luther King Jr. County Working Families Party.
In a time when Kent families are being hit by crises of COVID, rising housing costs, climate change, and in light of the racial reckoning that faces America, Cawthon believes he brings a needed perspective and focus to solve our problems through systemic change.
“I’ve had a career as a community organizer and am currently a professor of political science at Bellevue College,” says Cawthon. “I am deeply rooted in values of social justice. I believe in putting equity at the heart of policy decisions and making those decisions through a transparent process that engages the community.”
Cawthon received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom in 2012. He is originally from Buffalo, NY and he grew up learning about the importance of community from his mother, who raised him alongside his grandparents, extended family and neighbors.
Since moving to Washington in 2014, Cawthon has worked in Kent and South King County on various campaigns focusing on workers’ rights, housing and transportation equity. In 2019, he and his fiancee were finally able to become homeowners in the East-Hill neighborhood of Kent.
Kent community leaders Shamso Issak and Awale Farah shared a statement with their joint endorsement:
“Cliff has been at the forefront of helping candidates of color get elected in South King County. We believe Cliff will be a great voice for the community. In my years we have known Cliff, he has been working to make the community better, we found him to be totally trustworthy and incorruptible. Cliff’s well-known commitment to accountability in city government will promote an atmosphere of openness in the area of city government finances.”
Cawthon has also been a vocal advocate for police reform and active in the Black Lives Matter movement. He is unapologetically supportive of promoting transparency, accountability and community-orientated policing practices while addressing the disconnect between the Kent Police Department and communities of color. In response to the Kent Police Department’s killings of Giovann Joseph-McDade and other stories of police misconduct, Cawthon wants to work with members of the council to take the measures necessary to ensure that the Kent Police inspire trust, not fear among community members.
For more information, go to www.cliff4kent.com.
