Councilmember Rob Saka on Leadership, Potholes, and Public Safety
Photos by Susan Fried
In this segment of The Day With Trae, host Trae Holiday sat down with Councilmember Rob Saka, who stepped into his role representing District One of the Seattle City Council in January 2024. District One comprises the neighborhoods of West Seattle, South Park, SoDo, Georgetown, and Pioneer Square, all communities in which Saka underscored his dedication to building up through engagement, such as small business listening sessions and walking tours.
"We went neighborhood by neighborhood and met with small business owners and their workers just to learn about some of the issues in those individual neighborhoods," Saka shared, reflecting on his outreach efforts and emphasizing the aim of empowering himself as their chosen representative to better craft policies that resonate with the needs of his district.
Holiday and Saka explored his background. Upon completing his studies at Kent-Meridian High School, he was drawn to an Air Force recruiter station. He was spurred by a blend of patriotism post-9/11, familial legacy, and a desire to better his circumstances.
"I did it because it was out of a patriotic sense of duty, but my father had also served so kind of a legacy of service, if you will, and then selfishly as a kid from Kent," Saka said. "My dad was a frontline warehouse worker in Kent. My economic opportunities coming out of high school were somewhat limited."
Serving for approximately a decade, Saka navigated the military ranks, ultimately attaining a commissioned officer position. He simultaneously pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Washington, courtesy of the GI Bill, before venturing into law school. Drawing from his experiences as a lawyer and his involvement in various organizations like the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and the Loren Miller Bar Association, Saka emphasized his dedication to advocacy, community empowerment, and representation, leading him to run for Seattle City Council.
"I'll just say in Seattle politics in particular, "There's a lot of well-intended people who purport to speak on behalf of people of color, and Black people and immigrant refugees and acting like they know what's best," Saka said.
He continued, "We need to be in these spaces and in the seats making these decisions. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with me on policy, I think people from these backgrounds and from these communities need to be the ones in the room making the decisions at the time. I didn't feel like I had a lot of support on the public safety front, and I wanted to better center the voices that I felt were more representative of [the] community."
Now seated on the City Council, Saka eagerly shared his anticipation for the journey ahead, emphasizing his commitment to key priorities.
"Public safety, always near and dear, always looking for opportunities to better center community voices, including by hiring more police and making sure we have more prevention, community programs and resources in place," Saka said.
He continued, "I have the pleasure and, frankly, [the] honor of serving as the chair of the Seattle Transportation Committee, and so anything and everything transportation-related is really top of mind."
Nicknamed the "King of Potholes," Saka told Holiday of his priority to swiftly address this issue by prioritizing the prompt filling of potholes and implementing preventive maintenance measures to uphold a resilient transportation infrastructure across Seattle.
"It's the underlying work that matters and the impact of the work. One of the outcomes I want to see ideally by the end of my tenure on the council, whatever that is, is to make a real tangible difference in people's everyday lives," Saka said. "And potholes, quickly filling those, is one good example in my view of doing exactly that."
For the latest on Saka's contributions to the Seattle City Council, visit his official council member page here. While there, you can subscribe to his newsletter for updates from Saka and his team on significant developments and initiatives in Seattle.
To hear more news about Seattle politics, tune in to Trae every weekday at 11 am on all Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel.
