A tale of 2 precincts: The heart of Kerry country

By Erik Lacitis
Seattle Times staff reporter

HARLEY SOLTES / THE SEATTLE TIMES Brenda and Jamie Fackler lean away as one of their chickens flies between them at their Seattle home. She considers herself patriotic and says she tries to judge candidates and issues individually. But she finds herself consistently lining up with Democrats.

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Jamie Fackler, 32 and Brenda Fackler, 29

When Brenda and Jamie Fackler were house-hunting, they avoided the suburbs altogether, wanting instead to live close to downtown Seattle, preferably in a diverse neighborhood.

They are urban dwellers, proud to call themselves liberals and to display a Kerry-Edwards sign in this most Democratic of precincts.

A marketing associate for Saltmine, a Web design and development firm, Brenda Fackler grew up in suburban Chicago, attending Catholic schools. After moving to the Northwest, she got a degree in 1998 from The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

A carpenter who builds houses, Jamie Fackler grew up in Bellingham, working in bars, restaurants and in construction before ending up in Seattle.

Before settling in Judkins Park, they lived in an artists' loft near Georgetown, sharing a common bathroom with other tenants. They looked hard for a house within their budget before buying their two-story, turn-of-the-century home in Judkins Park. It had lots of old-world charm but needed plenty of work.

They make their values known: She wears a pro-choice T-shirt. He talks about George Bush's "remarkable record of ignoring environmental laws."

They are childless but hope to have a family. Just recently they helped plant 40 trees in their neighborhood. They also recently took chicken-raising classes at Seattle Tilth Association and now raise chickens in their big back yard.

"I consider myself patriotic," Brenda Fackler said. She tries to judge candidates and ballot issues not along party lines. But she couldn't help noticing, "on every decision I made, I lined up Democratic."

	HARLEY SOLTES / THE SEATTLE TIMES Joyce and Henry Glenn live in a 6,000-square-foot home, the biggest in Judkins Park. Henry Glenn parlayed real-estate transactions into wealth. But he remembers his poor days — and that, he says, is why he's backing Sen. John Kerry.

Henry C. Glenn, 82

Just up the block from the Facklers three-bedroom home is the biggest house in Judkins Park — a 6,000-square-foot mansion built on two lots and equipped with an elevator, steam showers and remote-controlled gas fireplaces.

It belongs to Henry Glenn, who came here from Kansas in 1941 with $30 he borrowed from his sister. He went to work for Boeing as an electrician and bought and sold rental property on the side, starting with a duplex he bought in 1950 for $4,500.

Though he estimates he's now worth $9 million, his poor days remain vivid in his mind. And that's why he's voting for John Kerry.

"The Democrats have a lot of programs for minority people," he said. "The Republicans more or less come from the business class, so they're interested in people with money."

He remembered that it was a Franklin D. Roosevelt program that helped him, the son of a black farmer, learn how to repair radios, and he has never forgotten his debt to that Democratic president.

He also remembered what it was like in the 1950s for a black man trying to borrow money from a bank. Eventually, he made contact with an attorney who loaned him money to get started. He worked night shifts at Boeing so he could spend days, weekends and even Christmas and New Year's working on his properties.

He and his first wife, who died in 1978, had one daughter. He's now married to Joyce Glenn, 45, who urged him to build the mansion, pointing out that the money won't do him any good once he's dead.

He could have built it anywhere. But he stayed close to the Central Area, he said, because "I wanted to be an example to my own people of what they can do if they want to."

	HARLEY SOLTES / THE SEATTLE TIMES ShawnPaul Hayes, 26, cuts 14-year-old Bryce Martin's hair in the basement bathroom of Hayes' mother's home in Seattle's Judkins Park area, a Democratic stronghold. "[President] Bush is focusing his attention on the rich," Hayes says.

ShawnPaul Hayes, 26

A couple of blocks south of the Glenn mansion, ShawnPaul Hayes rents the basement of his mother's home, where he runs a haircutting business.

A notice taped to a wall provides the specifics: "Drug free environment. Specializing in creative, traditional & ethnic styles. All cuts, $10. All line-ups, $5."

Also on the wall is the kind of picture Hayes considers a must at a shop like his: a framed poster of the 1965 match in which Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in the first minute of Round One.

Hayes is the single father of two young daughters he said he sees on weekends. Their artwork is also displayed on the walls.

Hayes has liked cutting hair since he was a child no bigger than the neighbor kid who came in the other day for a line-up — a pattern cut into his close-cropped hair. Hayes' grandmother used to cut Hayes' hair, and he in turn would practice on his cousins and nephews.

Sometimes, Hayes daydreams about what might be — a fancy barbershop in Las Vegas, say, "with a few lights, a few slot machines."

"When you think about it, the sky is the limit."

Hayes gets his news mostly from television's Q13, which he likes for sports and "upbeat anchors." He's not a close follower of politics but has concluded, "Bush is focusing his attention on the rich. Kerry is more for the middle class, and that's where I fall in."

A 1997 Franklin High School graduate, Hayes worked at a Wendy's, attended cosmetology school on a federal grant, worked at a barbershop, did construction, studied to be a medical assistant on another grant but decided that wasn't a career for him. He worked in telemarketing and, until the weather turned rainy this year, in concrete resurfacing.

"If you're not doing anything, there's trouble to get into," he said.

If a customer requests it, he'll make a house call to give a haircut. He also did work recently for a neighbor whose basement flooded and another whose lawn needed mowing.

"I gotta keep moving," he said, "In Seattle, there is a lot of opportunity. There is a lot of hope."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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