New Leader Ready to Make Civic Foundation a Household Name

By Jeff Boone

Angela Toussaint.

But Chong was widely perceived among voters as a nabob of negativism and proved no match for the charm, appeal and exceptional fundraising skills of Heidi Wills, a former aide to King County Executive Ron Sims. And Jim Compton, a latecomer to the race, brushed former state legislator Dawn Mason aside with no apparent effort. While Civic Foundation fundraising letters took pains to remind members and donors of the Foundation's earlier success in electing Nick Licata to City Council in 1998, in the aftermath of the 1999 City Council campaign, some among the press wondered if the foundation was out of gas.

The press is not alone.

The Civic Foundation, under Livingston's direction, put itself in the media eye with its scrutiny of high-profile downtown public/private partnerships, including the Pacific Place parking garage. Livingston later served on a city task force created in the wake of the parking garage fracas, but opted not to endorse the committee's final guidelines, which were eventually adopted by City Council.

But Livingston's focus on the downtown development cartel has left some longtime Civic Foundation members asking openly what neighborhood activists have to do to get a seat at the table. Recent forums have not allayed their fears or mitigated their criticism of the foundation's indifference to battles fought by members outside downtown, including the light rail alignment in Rainier Valley and the Northgate mall expansion. A recent transportation gumbeater hosted by the foundation is one such example. Moderated by Casey Corr, the panel included King County Councilmember Greg Nickels, well-known around town as Sound Transit's number one booster. Missing from the panel of transportation experts was a dissenting opinion--like that of Save Our Valley, which includes foundation members George Curtis and Angela Ford. Save Our Valley is a Rainier Valley community organization fighting for a tunnel alignment through the valley.

Toussaint is a Northwest native: born in Portland, Oregon, Toussaint grew up under the shadow of Mt. Si and is a Mt. Si High School alum. Toussaint attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. and finished her degree at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. With a degree in public policy and organization development, Toussaint cut her teeth in community politics as a member of the Brighton-Dunlap Community Council. In 1990, state senator Dwight Pelz hired her as a legislative assistant, and she was introduced to electoral politics. Toussaint is presently vice-chair of the King County Civil Rights Commission and a member of the WTO Accountability Panel addressing planning and preparation. Toussaint is also a softball coach and the mother of two daughters--Sondra and Ariana.

So how does a self-proclaimed "good government, neighborhood-based" organization whose largest constituency is the neighborhood politicians and activists who comprise community government in this city actually become a good government, neighborhood-based organization?

Perhaps the answer might be Angela Toussaint.

Livingston has tapped Angela Toussaint to fill his role as administrator and mobilize the troops for "Beat the Mayor" 2001, when Paul Schell is up for re-election. Toussaint, a well-known community organizer, caught Livingston's eye with her adroit management of Dawn Mason's City Council campaign.

And Toussaint may well take the foundation where members say they want it to go.

Toussaint picked up two big lessons from last year's campaign. Number one: Never discount name recognition. The Compton Report beat Dawn Mason, said Toussaint.

Number two spoke directly to the Civic Foundation: "We cannot," said Toussaint, "have our success hinge solely on our ability to elect candidates to office."

Lesson number two has spurred the Civic Foundation board of directors and Toussaint to rethink development of a neighborhood organization.

The question for the board and myself, said Toussaint, is this: Who are we and what are we for?

The answer?

"We are for neighborhood development and citizen power," replies Toussaint. "And the Civic Foundation is perfectly poised to be the player."

Despite last year's electoral drubbing, the Civic Foundation is a major player, said Toussaint. Toussaint points out that the foundation had $60,000 to spend on the City Council races.

We've organized money, remarks Toussaint, now we have to organize the people.

And it's clear that Toussaint's goal is to build on what that money represents--the people behind the checkbooks.

How?

"Quid pro quo," replies Toussaint. "Politics is quid pro quo."

Toussaint sees the Civic Foundation as a vehicle to help neighborhoods fight their own battles and unite them to fight the big battle.

So what is the big battle?

Toussaint takes her time with the question.

If the goal, replies Toussaint, is to elect public officials who feel directly accountable to their constituency, then you must develop a constituency that has the skills to remind public officials of this when they forget who put them into office.

At present, observes Toussaint, because Seattle's communities lack cohesion, City Council can play communities against one another with impunity. She wants the Civic Foundation to change that, to give incumbents a clear message: "You may have won the election but your seat is not secure."

In order to pull neighborhoods together and develop citizen power, Toussaint and the board are hard at work on a strategy that will bring people together around a common goal. One rumor making the rounds is that the Civic Foundation will launch an initiative drive to amend the manner in which City Councilmembers are elected so that Councilmembers are elected by district rather than at-large. Toussaint is mum, saying only that "when you have an at-large City Council, the City Council represents downtown."

Toussaint is more articulate regarding her long-term goal for the organization. She is intent, she said, upon making the Civic Foundation "a name you can trust."

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