I think it's time for Ms. Sawant to move on. There are a shitload of people in this town who make nothing like $$$$ a year but who rely heavily on Amazon employees who are well-compensated. Baristas, record store workers, artists, housecleaners, waitresses, hardware store clerks...you name it. I don't like being blackmailed by a company to retain a regressive tax structure and it's worth discussing that issue sanely...I sure as hell don't think the answer is for a Councilperson to bellow Marxist, existential threats to Amazon's very existence on Day 1 of their move to find "HQ2." Christ, she makes me want to leave town, too.
If McIllwai is right, the City Council deserves our thanks. Amazon is by far the worst thing that ever happened to this city. I had just about given up on Seattle, but this latest news gives me hope. Let Amazon set up shop somewhere else, then threaten to shift more and more operations there if Seattle doesn't do its bidding... and our response should be "Don't let the door hit you on the ass." It is a truly evil company in every way, and their departure would be like the German Army leaving Paris.
@1-- "Baristas, record store workers, artists, housecleaners, waitresses, hardware store clerks..." as if any of those people can still afford to live in Seattle. (Maybe, if they're holding down all those jobs at once).
This just sounds like bullshit from pro-business groups. Read the whole passage:
"We are looking for a location with strong local and regional talent—particularly in software development and related fields—as well as a stable and business-friendly environment to continue hiring and innovating on behalf of our customers.”
They found it in Seattle -- now they are looking for it elsewhere. Seattle is still very business friendly, because we keep graduating smart people from our various universities. We also attract people to the area, who figure that it is more affordable than the Bay Area. But Amazon has growing pains in the region. Some of what made this area a good value is disappearing because they have become so big. This has not only pushed up the cost of housing (making people in the Bay Area think twice about moving) but has also meant that it is tougher to get people from other companies (like Microsoft). Chance are, Amazon will locate in someplace that has much higher taxes (like California or New York) and it will be because they have a bigger pool of potential employees.
Just because they are opening up offices elsewhere doesn't mean they are giving up on Seattle, not by a long shot. Amazon did not just spend hundreds of millions of dollars hiring people and erecting towers just to pull up stakes and move out. They are here to stay.
Good riddance! Amazonians are entitled, rude and a blight on the culture of this city. Get out and take your stupid name tag with you, before someone strangles you with it.
@2 - I chose that list of professions SPECIFICALLY because I know at least one (and in some categories many more) person who holds down that job and who lives in Seattle. I'm not arguing your point that afforidability is at crisis levels, but not everyone who makes your coffee is driving in from Gold Bar.
> So, which is it? The tax is illegal and won't
> be allowed to stand, meaning Seattle's
> regressive tax structure will remain as it is?
> Or the tax is a legal and looming threat to
> business in Seattle?
Don't play dumb, Heidi - this is an actual valid question. Do you think the answer is obvious? What is it, then?
"his can be achieved only by building powerful movements that are independent of the politicians and parties that have aided and abetted corporations like Amazon"
Hey remember last time Sawant advocate for building up a movement rather than voting for Clinton, how did that turn out? Seriously CM Sawant uses every to advocate more power for her damn party.
Also
"Amazon has similarly been using its monopoly power to gobble up swathes of prime Seattle real estate, and extract plum deals from the city’s Democratic establishment."
Ummm...where's any evidence of this? Plus remember the people had a chance to own this land but the people voted and rejected it.
Yeah, fuck amazon. Who needs those 50,000 jobs? Who needs those trade jobs during the construction investment? Who needs that peripheral economy that thrives around an employer that large? Not us! Couldn't possibly be our fault they're taking those jobs elsewhere either. I mean, who gets offended when we say "fuck you" to them at every turn? Or when we levy taxes aimed specifically at their employees?
The denial and mental gymnastics that Seattle leadership are going to have to exercise to squirm their way out of responsibility for this MASSIVE loss of potential good for the city will be epic.
And let's hear it for 2,3,4,and 7. The first round of trust fund babies who don't need a good job, so why would anyone else! Cheers!
For all the people who hope that Amazon will disappear and we'll suddenly be back to Seattle of 1980, I got news for you: That ship sailed a long time ago, and it's not coming back. Time to grow up and face the facts.
This is how the wealthy manipulate. It's a tax on them, but by falsely arguing it's a tax on good jobs they pit the masses against themselves and use that leverage. Don't fall for their distractions.
I'm shocked that Amazon hasn't set up a secondary HQ before now. I bet most people on here don't realize how fucking huge Amazon is at this point and it makes a lot of sense for them to have another HQ located in another part of the country.
Ah, more from the "the business climate in Seattle is TERRIBLE - that's why ONLY 1,000 people are moving here every week!" crowd. It's like they've never even heard of Yogi Berra...
Mayor Murrey, cm Sawant, cm Herbold, cm O'Brien. They don't take responsibility, scapegoat, and govern to their vanity. I like Hope & Change. It's time for some change.
@16: how is my comment "trust fund"? amazon announced this publically; they want a bidding war between cities vying to be HQ2. that is pretty obvious, and its not a "good riddance" judgment to say it.
groveling, in the form of tax benefits, is undoubtedly part of the package that will be assembled no matter how progressive the city selected is.
It makes sense to set up another HQ elsewhere. When the Big One hits here, how are people going to have their toilet paper delivered to their door if the South Lake Union servers have succumbed to liquefaction?
One of those wretched Amazonian creatures here (who hates the company, for the record, but I don't see any of you folks stumbling over yourselves to pay my rent). @23 is spot on. The last few years have seen operations severely disrupted (during peak, no less) by inclement weather, particularly a few major storms in India. Site diversification is the new big thing for us ops drones, and someone must have finally pointed out to the bald bastard in charge that HQ is well and truly fuckt if/when the big' hits.
And seriously, Amazon owns like twenty office buildings in this city, including two fuckin' huge ones they just built. There are almost 50k employees here. That shit ain't moving anytime soon, whatever happens with the income tax.
Hey Sawant, you moron, Boeing is unionized. Heavily unionized. So much so they moved a significant production line that would have meant huge money for Seattle and Everett in large part to escape the machinists union because it was regularly doing work stoppages. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/busin…
Unions are not the answer, and if you think they are, then you must be drinking rather heavily and have lost some brain cells. And if so, you may need to get your kidneys checked and verify that you don't need dialysis. Seriously, that much alcohol and I am worried for your life. You may need a very serious detox program and some good AA groups to help you out. Do more than one AA group, I don't know if the amount of alcohol that you must drink on a regular basis could be helped by just one group. Alcohol poisoning is a very real threat at that blood alcohol level.
@1-- "Baristas, record store workers, artists, housecleaners, waitresses, hardware store clerks..." as if any of those people can still afford to live in Seattle. (Maybe, if they're holding down all those jobs at once).
Somewhere willing to grovel. Like Ohio.
"We are looking for a location with strong local and regional talent—particularly in software development and related fields—as well as a stable and business-friendly environment to continue hiring and innovating on behalf of our customers.”
They found it in Seattle -- now they are looking for it elsewhere. Seattle is still very business friendly, because we keep graduating smart people from our various universities. We also attract people to the area, who figure that it is more affordable than the Bay Area. But Amazon has growing pains in the region. Some of what made this area a good value is disappearing because they have become so big. This has not only pushed up the cost of housing (making people in the Bay Area think twice about moving) but has also meant that it is tougher to get people from other companies (like Microsoft). Chance are, Amazon will locate in someplace that has much higher taxes (like California or New York) and it will be because they have a bigger pool of potential employees.
> be allowed to stand, meaning Seattle's
> regressive tax structure will remain as it is?
> Or the tax is a legal and looming threat to
> business in Seattle?
Don't play dumb, Heidi - this is an actual valid question. Do you think the answer is obvious? What is it, then?
"his can be achieved only by building powerful movements that are independent of the politicians and parties that have aided and abetted corporations like Amazon"
Hey remember last time Sawant advocate for building up a movement rather than voting for Clinton, how did that turn out? Seriously CM Sawant uses every to advocate more power for her damn party.
Also
"Amazon has similarly been using its monopoly power to gobble up swathes of prime Seattle real estate, and extract plum deals from the city’s Democratic establishment."
Ummm...where's any evidence of this? Plus remember the people had a chance to own this land but the people voted and rejected it.
The denial and mental gymnastics that Seattle leadership are going to have to exercise to squirm their way out of responsibility for this MASSIVE loss of potential good for the city will be epic.
And let's hear it for 2,3,4,and 7. The first round of trust fund babies who don't need a good job, so why would anyone else! Cheers!
groveling, in the form of tax benefits, is undoubtedly part of the package that will be assembled no matter how progressive the city selected is.
do you disagree?
And seriously, Amazon owns like twenty office buildings in this city, including two fuckin' huge ones they just built. There are almost 50k employees here. That shit ain't moving anytime soon, whatever happens with the income tax.
Unions are not the answer, and if you think they are, then you must be drinking rather heavily and have lost some brain cells. And if so, you may need to get your kidneys checked and verify that you don't need dialysis. Seriously, that much alcohol and I am worried for your life. You may need a very serious detox program and some good AA groups to help you out. Do more than one AA group, I don't know if the amount of alcohol that you must drink on a regular basis could be helped by just one group. Alcohol poisoning is a very real threat at that blood alcohol level.