Kent City Council candidates Satwinder Kaur, Neet Grewal clash at forum

The Kent City Council race between incumbent Satwinder Kaur and challenger Neet Grewal heated up during a Candidate Town Hall last week downtown at Kent Lutheran Church.

Kaur and Grewal, who are running for Position No. 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot, called out each other a few times during their one-on-one session at the Oct. 1 event sponsored by the Seattle-based African American Leadership Forum along with Kent Lutheran Church, Kent Kadre, Vocal Washington, the Coalition of Immigrants, Refugees and Communities of Color and the Dare2Be Project.

Grewal, during a portion of her answer to introduce herself, said she likes to focus on human consciousness and what brings us together as people.

“I don’t care about outside things that are outside of Kent,” said Grewal, according to a YouTube video of the forum. “I care about Kent. That’s why I’m running here in a nonpartisan race because I want to be able to have us look past these issues of party politics.”

Kaur, who has held the council seat for eight years and is the current council president, responded during her introduction to Grewal’s comment about not caring about things outside of Kent.

“I do want to highlight one comment here that my opponent actually was the person who created that big fuss about Charlie Kirk a couple of weeks weeks ago at KSD (Kent School District board meeting), Kaur said. “So when (she’s) saying that I only care about the issues for Kent, she shouldn’t have done that.”

Grewal quickly shouted out a response.

“That was the Kent School District which does pertain to Kent,” Grewal said.

One of the moderators then reminded the candidates about conduct during the forum.

“Just to reiterate the rules, no speaking out of turn and respect your opponents,” according to the statement.

Grewal spoke during public comment at the Sept. 24 Kent School Board meeting against Superintendent Israel Vela’s decision to keep flags raised Sept. 12-14 rather than lower them to half-staff, after directives from President Donald Trump and Gov. Bob Ferguson, following the fatal shooting of Kirk, a right-wing conservative activist.

Later in the forum, the moderator asked Kaur and Grewal for their thoughts about tiny houses and support for the homeless.

Kaur responded first and described how the council had recently passed a comprehensive plan to look at all types of housing, including transitional housing. She talked about the city’s work wth South King Housing and Homelessness Partners and the housing to be built near light rail in Kent on the West Hill to provide better services.

“Those individuals are able to get to the services that they need and the resources that they need making it easier,” Kaur said. “So transit-oriented development is highly what I definitely support.”

Grewal began her response to the same question with a quick jab at Kaur.

“Well, the question was do we or do we not support tiny homes and I never heard an answer to that question,” Grewal said about Kaur’s answer. “So I’ll give you my stance which is the last time we tried to pass tiny homes, the community actually got together and we had over 500 residents sign a petition saying please don’t do this in our community. Let’s find different alternative methods. So what I support is not about what Neet wants, it’s about what the community that I promise and one day vowed elect to represent wants.”

Grewal added that Kaur was the only council member during the 2022 tiny home debate to support tiny homes.

Kaur and two other members initially supported a proposal for tiny homes, but all seven members later agreed at a follow-up meeting to halt the project, according to Kent Reporter articles.

Grewal said if tiny homes came up as an option again, she would support whatever residents want.

“If our community wants tiny homes, then I will find a way to negotiate and mediate that,” Grewal said.

Although the city council is a nonpartisan position, each candidate was asked about their political leanings. Grewal emphasized that she is an outsider and an independent.

“I have been in both parties,” Grewal said. “Sometimes I disagree with and sometimes both parties I agree with. And also, I’ve taken pictures with national figures that are right wing that are left wing, but you know, as tends to happen, they only like to circulate the right wings ones because that’s kind of a touchy topic around here. But that’s OK.”

As far as her political leanings, Kaur said her decisions on the city council are about focusing on issues that are about the community.

“That is why I have the endorsement of my colleagues who are Democrat and Republican on city council and our local electeds serving on the King County Council and others,” Kaur said.

Kaur ran as a Democrat for the 47th Legislative District Senate seat in the August 2022 primary, but failed to advance against fellow City Council member Bill Boyce, R-Kent, and Claudia Kauffman, D-Kent. Kauffman defeated Boyce in the general election.

Shoker vs Song

The other City Council race forum at Kent Lutheran featured Andy Song and Sharn Shoker. Both are competing for Position No. 5 to replace Brenda Fincher, who decided not to seek reelection.

Unlike Kaur and Grewal, Shoker and Song didn’t take jabs at each other and even admitted to similar stances on a few issues. Song is a current member of the Kent School Board.

When asked about his political leanings, Song said he tries to look at how decisions impact people.

“Regardless if you’re a Republican or if you’re a Democrat, health care does not discriminate,.” Song said. “When it comes to looking at things like my endorsements and where my voting history has run, currently I sit on the Kent School Board. I vote with my conscience on what I think is going to be in the greatest good for the community. I have voted for and against the majority of our board and I commit to doing the same on the city council.”

Song said his endorsements vary.

”I have endorsements all the way from King County Democrats, King County Young Democrats,” Song said. “I have endorsements from more conservative-leaning city council members (from several cities) all the way through the state Legislature. And so my approach to politics really is to stay somewhere in the middle because that’s where I truly believe most of the American people are. People just want to be able to know that they can get their their bills paid, their kids are going to get a good education, they’re going to be safe, they’re going to be able to go out and live a fulfilling life, and through all of my work with these communities, I pledge to continuously do the same.”

Shoker said it’s exciting for her to run for city council because it is a nonpartisan position.

“It gives us the opportunity to be able to work across party lines to ensure that we’re working on practical solutions for the residents of Kent,” Shoker said.

Shoker, however, pointed out that she has the endorsements of Democrats of all the legislative districts that cover Kent.

“I also have the endorsements of our (Kent) City Council members like Satwinder Kaur, Brenda Fincher, John Boyd, and I also have the endorsement of Bill Boyce, who, you know, when he gave me his endorsement, he said, you know, Sharn, I know we’re not going to see eye to eye on everything, but I know that you’re somebody that I can work with on practical solutions. And that is a compliment I hold so dearly because that’s what I’m committed to.”

Shoker said compromise is needed.

“There’s way too much divisiveness going on right now, and that does not move us forward,” Shoker said. “So, we need to ensure that we’re working across the aisle to ensure that the everyday things are taken care of when it comes to our community. And I think we can see that here even with, you know, Andy and I on the forum today (Oct. 1). We have very similar answers. And Andy’s also endorsed by Republicans as well.”

The two candidates also were asked if they agreed with protecting our vulnerable families, populations from ICE raids.

“No family should live in fear of separation,” Shoker said. “No family should be afraid when there’s a knock on the door, when they’re going to work, when kids are going to school, when we’re accessing health care. …and I’ll leave it there.”

Song agreed with the community protections, which have been set by the state leaders.

“I think we also need to work with our state legislators and lawmakers in ensuring that there’s going to be protections and equal rights to ensuring that those who are who are most vulnerable and also those who just look like the profile of those that might be targeted by ICE,” Song said.

Song said his mom was adopted and he grew up with a white grandfather and a Mexican grandmother.

“I come from a very diverse family and have a very diverse understanding of what some of these lived experiences look like, what people are truly experiencing out there,” Song said. “My perspective on the Kent School Board, one of the things that we’re seeing is a drop in enrollment and also a lack of community involvement from families because of their fear, because of the uncertainty of what the political climate might do in terms of their vulnerability, because of their ethnicity, the way that they look, or their immigration status.”

Song credited Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla for his role in upholding the state law.

“I fully support the city of Kent and the current initiatives that we have through our partnership with Chief Padilla,” Song said. “I think he’s done an amazing job up until this point in making sure that there’s equal justice and social justice given to our immigrant and rural populations.”

Watch the video

Catch the Oct. 1 Candidate Forum from Kent Lutheran Church on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/live/7IjbbY251rA.

The audio of the forum goes silent for about 40 minutes, including the second portion of the Kaur-Grewal forum and the first part of a forum featuring King County Council District 5 candidates Steffanie Fain and Peter Kwon.

Next forum

Kent City Council candidates Kaur, Grewal, Song and Shoker will face off again during the Kent Black Action Commission 2025 Candidates Forum from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 at the Kent Commons Green River Room, 525 Fourth Ave. N.

That forum also is expected to feature Kwon and Fain; King County Council District No. 7 candidates Pete von Reichbauer and Maya Vengadasalam; King County executive candidates Girmay Zahilay and Claudia Balducci; and 33rd Legislative District state representative Democratic candidates Edwin Obras and Kevin Schilling.