Which Seattle City Council Members Have AC? And Which Council Member Saved Someone's Life on Friday?
Zoom to figure out the life-saver. ouncilmembercay anday ausstray  Sponsored INTIMAN THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2021-22 PROGRAMMING Celebrate Intimans move to Capitol Hill and the return of the live arts after COVID with three joyous productions! Today's 106-degree temperature widened the divide between the haves and the have-nots in Seattle: those who have air conditioning and those who do not. Some of us scurried back to our cool offices to grind out a workday; some others sardined themselves into their local library branch along with the rest of their neighborhood (but not the Seattle Central Library! ). I asked all the Seattle City Council members how the heat was treating them. I didn't ask Mayor Jenny Durkan because if her lakefront Windermere home didn't come with AC, she should seriously ask for a refund. Mostly, I just wanted to know whether Seattle's unairconditioned population is represented in Seattle City Council. During this important investigation, I also learned District 6's Councilmember Dan Strauss saved some guy's life on Friday. At-large Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda has a window AC unit. On Friday, she told me that she and her husband planned to put the unit in their baby's room to keep that little cherub cool. "We might all huddle around it," Mosqueda said. "I do not have air conditioning," District 7's Andrew Lewis texted me. "So I am dealing with the heat with, like, fans." He waited for a beat and then texted again. "I would add the fans are not very effective, so its pretty miserable." Council President Lorena Gonzlez, who recently relocated to a rental home after a deadly condo fire, doesn't have any sort of AC. She has a basement that tends to be about 10 degrees cooler, though. That's where she'll be during the worst of the heat, she said. Tammy Morales, who is worth around $3 million, said her District 2 home had AC but that it "was no match for heat." Her house stayed around 84 degrees yesterday. "We'll be in the basement today." She and her family will be downing sweet tea and mainlining watermelon to stay cool. Dan Strauss doesn't have cool air in his life either, but he can usually find some near the water in his beloved Ballard. He referred to Seattle's waterways as "the best air conditioner we have." But, Strauss stressed that people need to remember to wear their personal floatation devices and only swim in spaces "in your ability level." Then, Strauss launched into a story about how he ~saved a drowning guy's life~ on Friday. "I wouldn't say that," Strauss said when I paraphrased his story as "saving a drowning guy's life." Strauss clarified: "I provided assistance to a swimmer in distress." Okay, so he saved a drowning guy's life. On Friday, Strauss was kicking back at one of Ballard's pocket beaches when he observed a swimmer who swam out beyond the pilings "and into the navigation channel which has current," Strauss explained. The swimmer fought against the current to no avail. People watching on the shore could tell he was stuck. People debated calling 911, but Strauss had a kayak next to him. He hopped into it and paddled out to help the man. "Im a strong paddler, but it was hard to get that person back into shore," Strauss said. "There's a lot of drag paddling two people. Bring a personal floatation device if you're going to go in [to the water] after someone." Last week, a father died after trying to rescue his son who had fallen out of a boat in Lake Washingtona lake that took more lives over the weekend. Council members Kshama Sawant, Alex Pedersen, and Debora Juarez did not fill me in on how they're faring during the heatwave.