| Robert Kettle | |
| Office: | Member of the Seattle City Council from District 7 |
| Term Start: | January 1, 2024 |
| Predecessor: | Andrew J. Lewis |
| Birth Place: | New York |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Sarah Dunne |
| Residence: | Seattle, Washington |
| Alma Mater: |
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Robert Kettle is an American veteran and politician elected to represent District 7 of the Seattle City Council.
Kettle was born in New York to a working class family.[1] After graduating college, he joined the United States Navy, becoming a Naval Intelligence Officer and rising to the rank of Commander.[1] After retiring from the Navy, Kettle and his family moved to the Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle, where he became a stay-at-home dad to support his wife's work as a civil rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.[2] [3]
Prior to running for Seattle City Council, Kettle was active in the Queen Anne community as a member of the Queen Anne Community Council board, and chair of its public safety board, as well as a member of the West Precinct Advisory Council, the Queen Anne Block Watch Network, and the World Affairs Council Seattle.[2] [3] [4]
Kettle ran for city council in 2023 against incumbent Andrew J. Lewis.[3] There were four other challengers in the race, which included Piroshky Piroshky owner Olga Sagan.[5] In the August primary, Lewis and Kettle advanced to the general election, with 43% and 31% of the vote respectively. [6]
Kettle was labeled a "centrist" and a "moderate" with the focus of his campaign being public safety and addressing rising crime in the city.[7] [8] He blamed Lewis and the council for the "permissive environment" that had been created through their policies, including support for a 50% cut to the Seattle Police Department.[9] [10] Kettle supported hiring more police officers, cracking down on public drug use, and alternative responses to police.[4] [7] Lewis would state that his support for defunding the police was "a mistake" and that he backed Mayor Bruce Harrell plan to recruit more officers.[4] [10]
Kettle received backing from business and real estate lobbyists, including the National Association of Realtors, as well as some Republicans, like city attorney Ann Davison and former Sacramento Kings basketball player Spencer Hawes.[11] [12]
In the general election, Kettle won with 50.78% to Lewis' 48.91%.[13]
Kettle was first elected to a council with a majority of moderates, a switch to the previous progressive city council.[14] [15] He was appointed chair of the public safety committee, and released his "6 pillars" to address public safety in the city which included, hiring more police, additional legal tools, and collaboration between different government entities.[16] [17] Kettle supported various bills to increase police officer hiring, including changing the police test to have a larger candidate pool.[18]
In conjunction with councilmember Cathy Moore Stay out of Areas of Prostitution (SOAP) legislation, Kettle sponsored a bill to create Stay out of Drug Areas (SODA) zones. The bill originally created two areas, one in Downtown Seattle and the other in Little Saigon, that would exclude people with previous drug related charges from those areas with enhanced trespassing orders.[19] In committee meetings, citizens were vocally opposed to the legislation, and people were removed from the meeting after causing a disturbance after the public comment period abruptly ended. [20] [21] Both the SODA and SOAP bills passed out of committee, with amendments adding additional SODA zones.[20] [21] At the full council, the public comment was extended to accommodate the more than 100 people who signed up to give testimony and the bills were both passed on a 8-1 vote.[22]
Kettle lives in the Queen Anne neighborhood with his wife and children.[3]