Comments

2

Reading SECB endorsements these days feels like if Chapo Trap House smashed your head against a rock a few times.

3

Don't even think about voting for the horrible people The Stranger endorses.

4

Came here to see the reactionaries flail. Was not disappointed. See ya at the polls.

5

Are they all horrible people? Or just well-intentioned but ineffectual in achieving the change they're trying to produce and unwilling to reconcile reality with their ideals and as a result creating a more garbage situation for all Seattle/King residents? (Except for maybe NTK; she might actually just be a click-baity narcissist who lives in the sewer of political social media)

But maybe that's the same as being a horrible person...

6

@5: The latter. The hyperbole is just a garnish.

7

Wow, "now I know who to vote against" is an extremely original take on Stranger endorsements. I am glad we have so many sharp wits around here. Truly clever stuff.

9

The Stranger trying to look edgy while actually having endorsed those in power in City Hall. Here’s to more of the same.

10

The composition of SECB suits me, quite. Well done.

12

Small issue with The Stranger's positions. Cities only have the power to tax granted to them under RCW Chapter 35. Endorsing "taxing the rich" sounds great but will run into serious legal challenges (Hey, do we have a City Attorney who can defend those?) and cost more money than it will generate. See- Income Tax. An inconvenient fact.

13

Well done! The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce welcomes your socialist alternatives. They attract more business and residents to Bellevue.

14

Thomas-Kennedy's past comments (on Twitter and elsewhere) are deeply, deeply concerning, especially her cheerful thumbs-up to the youth-jail arsonists who could have burned down a neighborhood. But yes, the thought of Sara Davison being put in charge of defending progressive, envelope-pushing city policy initiatives is just too much of a threat to the most vulnerable for me to sit this race out. My vote for NTK will be very likely the most uncomfortable one I've ever cast (including for the repulsive Hillary Clinton in '16) and I'm afraid it might prove too heavy a lift for too many voters who self-identify as progressive. I wish Pete Holmes had run a write-in campaign after losing the primary. He very well could have won.

16

@13 You're seriously deluding yourself if you think the problems that will be caused by SECB's preferred candidates will stay limited to the city limits of Seattle. The KCC is now starting to tilt the same way as the SCC so the only thing they are going to do is spread the misery further afield. I think Amazon sees the writing on the wall with this election which is why they announced this week that all employees will be able to stay remote indefinitely based on business need. I'm sure once Oliver is seated, Mosqueda ascends to council president and Mayor Gonzales is sworn in the first order of business will be jacking up the employee tax on all big business to give themselves a new slush fund to play with. A lot of people are going to suffer in the short term (and probably the long term) but you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs right? They won't have any more excuses to use as they will have full control of the city as the SECB rightly notes. At least not until 2022 when the national elections come and then they can start "resisting" the evil R's once again.

If I had to guess I think we'll see a split ticket with Harrell/Davison to keep the moderates happy and Mosqueda/Oliver winning to take the council further left. Ironically it will be Oliver's ascendency to the council that will also spell doom for Sawant and she will get recalled in Dec as many of the non-accolytes who voted for her will prefer Oliver to take on her role to pull the council to the left.

17

@14 (me), oops, I meant Ann Davison (confused her with Sara Nelson because, well, obviously). Wish we could have a few minutes to re-edit these things, like most comment boards allow.

18

The Stranger has no principles other than maintaining its edgy leftist image. Every election cycle they just take the furthest-left positions possible on every single issue and then endorse all the candidates who agree with those positions.

This inevitably results in their endorsing the most extreme candidates in every race, regardless of how experienced they are, how effective they would be in office, or whether or not they are decent people (cough NTK cough).

Then instead of actually describing the candidates, they just copy+paste talking points for those issues and say "such-and-such candidate agrees with us", and devote the majority of each endorsement to smearing the candidate's opponent, usually by insinuating that they're a secret Trump worshipping nazi, or pointing out that they're friends with business owners, property owners, real estate developers, engineers, and other people who have a long-term stake in the future of this city.

Like every year, every endorsement, it's the exact same. The only thing that changes is the tone of the snark, which ranges from merely juvenile to utterly childish and stupid, depending on who gets to write the endorsements that particular year.

19

@13 As a Seattle resident I don't see a single thing wrong with Bellevue (and other nearby cities such as Tacoma) absorbing some of the metro region's economic growth instead of so much of it being concentrated in Seattle. If anything, it should be spread out more than it currently is.

21

@20 Tell me you don't know anything about ecology or land use without telling me you don't know anything about ecology or land use

22

@1, you beat me to it! Best sh*t list ever.

23

F**k the Stranger and their awful election endorsements and propaganda aimed at low information voters that haven’t been in Seattle long enough to see through the bs.

24

@18: Well said. Also, the "you" to whom the Control Board directs its near-commands suggests the Board sees everyone in reader-land as having the same basic view, that "we" just need guidance to dutifully, gratefully vote for The Stranger's picks. And for many years that has been true enough for the Control Board to assume it is still true. Just a reminder, Control Board: "we" are individual voters and can decide for ourselves whom we support. And I think this year that is truer than ever. I have no predictions to make except that The Stranger's influence and credibility will decline, and that it can't just generate support by calling someone a corporate fucker or right-wing asshole, assuming the "you" in reader-land shares that view. Personally, I want to see respectful consideration of diverse views, evidence-based arguments, and concern about genuine character flaws and corruption, not generic insults because a candidate doesn't seem left enough. That seems like too much to hope for, but I'll hold out some hope. And, last: a second Trump presidency is a very real possibility. THAT remains by far and away the biggest threat, not the potential election of, say, Bruce Harrell or Sara Nelson.

25

Ann Davison looked at the GQP during the Trumps reign of terror and thought "yes, I want to be associated with this. We need more of this."

That's not something someone of sound mind does. Her family probably should've sought out some sort of involuntary mental health hold.

26

@14: Holmes is barred by the state's "sore loser law" from running a write-in campaign after he has finished out of the top two in a primary.

27

@25 more like Ann knew she couldn't be far left enough to make the ballot for Lt Gov as a democrat so she switched parties to get an easier path. Probably still not a great choice but I have yet to see any pictures of her wearing a MAGA hat around town, complaining about election results or advocating against getting vaccinated and she did vote for Biden.

On the other hand the SECB and apparently your preferred candidate did celebrate arson, tell the chief of police to eat Covid laced shit and die and numerous other horrible things that have been well documented at this point. Now we find out her campaign manager is a ray of sunshine too with tweets using racists tropes against Carmen Best and misogynistic language for Jenny Durkan.

Which one of these choices is rife with mental issues?

28

Hey SECB, Melissa Westbrook here, moderator/writer of the Seattle Schools Community Forum blog. (Yes, I had shut it down for awhile but know why it reopened? Because there's a lot of shitty stuff happening in Seattle Schools that NO one is covering.)

I concur with your endorsement of Vivian Song Maritz but I sure wish you'd have said more about the need for someone who is Asian to be on the school board, given the horrific attacks on Asians in Seattle and throughout the country. She is yet another wonk like Eden Mack (who you also endorsed for the same position) and will be a good director.

But Brandon Hersey. Look, I absolutely think Hersey cares about kids. Deeply. But because I also know people can be many things - he's a guy on his way up. I'd lay a bet that if something better comes along in his second term, he's gone, baby, gone.

And you bought into his good works stories with Directors Hampson and DeWolf (and I'm betting he told you these stories). Wanna know a good story? Hampson and DeWolf, stated to both be Native Americans, were found nearly throughout all of 2020 to have "harassed, intimidated and bullied" two senior Black staffers - both women -by an independent investigation. I'll put my link to this story at the end but it's not pretty. But Hersey, the only Black member of the Board, remains silent.

Know what part Hersey played? He was the director leading the board meeting the night that this independent investigation report vote was taken. And he put forth a motion to waive a board policy that every single agenda item have documentation. So that no one could read this terrible report. Or maybe it was to protect his friends? You could ask him.

Know what else he voted for? To raise the threshold for budget items that would need a Board vote from $250,000 to $1M. And, staff only has to "notify" the Board quarterly. Man, that's some hands off oversight there and Hersey said yes to it.

He also voted to move more and more agenda items at Board meetings to the Consent agenda. What that means is that the Board, when voting for many items, will NO longer do it on an individual basis for each item but all items are lumped in to one single vote. Hersey and others on the Board voted to include the $1B district budget into this.

No real public discussion or oversight of a $1B budget? C'mon kids, they can do better.

SECB, next time, ask better questions so you don't get snowed or better yet, ask me.

29

Sorry, here's the link to the story about the finding from an independent investigation that the president of the Seattle School Board, Chandra Hampson, and Director Zachary DeWolf had requested that says they "harassed, intimidated, and bullied" two Black senior SPS staffers - both women - several times over 2020.

https://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2021/10/but-what-did-seattle-school-board.html

30

Sorry, last but not least, the complaint by the two black women at SPS who said that Seattle School Board directors, Zachary DeWolf and Chandra Hampson, harassed, intimidated and bullied them. (The two women also accused them of racism, sexism and intersectional harassment but neither director had any of those charges upheld.)

https://www.postalley.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Scarlett_Al-ansi-Letter-to-School-Board_09.18.2020.pdf

31

@25: Just because the GOP is having its problems, doesn't mean that good people (like Ann Davison) shouldn't work from within it to return the party to its classic foundations.

32

These reactionary comments by the same commentators are to be expected. They are simply ok with corruption and brutality by those in power. They need to get their boots off of our necks. After all they must have their cheap labor pool available at all times and then blame the poor for being desperate.

We, the rest of the ordinary struggling folks, want Gonzalez, Oliver and Kennedy in office period.

33

The people and ideology in power are Gonzales, Oliver and Thomas-Kennedy. Stop doubling down in stupid and vote for change.

34

The Stranger comment section is increasingly looking like a 4chan meet up. Good to see what the core of Davison's support looks like and I didn't even need to visit her home state of Texas to do it.

35

@33 The most powerful officeholder in the city is the mayor, who has not been an economic justice advocate for eight years. that’s the last time we had a progressive mayor, and it was the opposite gridlock as we have now: 2010-13 saw a progressive mayor blocked by a corporate council and by the time the council had flipped, we had corporate mayors Murray and then Durkan. You can’t say the left has failed Seattle when it has never had an unobstructed opportunity to implement our ideas, unlike the corporate sector has again and again, notably in the 15 years after WTO that so I have a growth of Amazon and lots of building permits approved for office building but not for housing, and set the stage for many of Seattle’s other problems as well. It’s just like the federal government - those politicians on the side of the wealthy don’t always win but they were interesting enough to go out the works and then blame the progressives for the results of inaction.

36

clarification/typo: “notably in the 15 years after WTO that saw the growth of Amazon [bringing vast numbers of new employees here] and lots of building permits approved for office buildings [Newly approved by this corporate city government in the middle of the first decade] but not for housing [It seems no one bother to plan for where is these new folks would live, or it wasn’t politically possible to build social housing at scale or even upzone] and set the stage for many of Seattle’s other problems as well [they just kind of ignored it as more Black folks and poor folks and disabled folks were pushed to the suburbs and the slumlords and the streets until it couldn’t be ignored and they threw HALA at it as an afterthought, whereupon my Wallingford suburbanite neighbors still threw a fit.]

37

PREVIEW
I am Norman Sigler, candidate for Port of Seattle Commission position #1. I am endorsed by the 34th Legislative district representing West Seattle, Vashon, White Center& Burien. I also received 60% of the vote by the King County Democrats (shy of the 67% needed for endorsement). The Stranger reached out to our campaign prior to the primary but decided not to interview candidates not appearing on the primary ballot. They were to interview us before the general. I requested an endorsement interview for the general election and was told there would be none due to a lack of fundraising by our campaign and lack of staff time by the Stranger. since when is the Stranger concerned with rich campaigns. The Stranger endorsed Calkins four years ago with zero environmental experience.. ” Our choice: Ryan Calkins, a guy who resembles a pre-man-bun Ken doll. (The SECB reserves the right to judge male candidates on their looks.) Calkins either has the energy and ideas to actually make the port commission accountable or does a good job of faking it. Only one way to find out which it is—put this classic Ken on the port commission. A former president of an import company, Calkins is a transit/enviro nerd and recognizes that the port has a huge capacity to fund and shape local housing and transit policies. He likes bike lanes, density, and electrifying the port vehicle fleet. He doesn't like fossil-fuel projects like Shell or that natural-gas plant proposal in Tacoma. Also, he says he's going to do something about that long-ass walk from the airport light-rail station to the actual airport terminals through the fucking parking garage. Seriously, whoever made that walkway so long should be locked in a basement and forced to read Mitch McConnell/Paul Ryan slash fiction for the rest of their lives.”

I guess I didn’t deserve the respect to be interviewed for an endorsement because I don’t look like a Pre-man-bun Ken Doll and I wasn’t “president” of my family’s business even though my past experience in the aviation sector will add valuable expertise to the Commission especially regarding SeaTac international airport which represents about 75% of all Port of Seattle operations. More can be found about our campaign here www.NormanSiglerForPort.com.

P.S. After 4 years as a Commissioner, where is the moving walkway from the Link Light Rail station to the terminal?

38

i wish the stranger would make a note of their too clever by half Machiavelli strategy blowing up in our faces here my endorsing NTK in the primary in order to try and ice out davidson instead of who they admit was probably the best candidate, Pete Holmes, leaving us with this toss up mess in the general, obscene tweets and all.... right wingers have a point in that the uproar over Kathy Lambert's mailer is hypocritically unmatched among liberals for tweets about the police chief "eating covid laced shit and dying" and other gems. sigh.

39

@8 What makes you think that everyone living in Seattle is aspiring to a cute two-bedroom place in Capitol Hill? I know several people who are struggling just to afford a studio apartment. Or others who are getting into their late 20's who still have roommates. I don't know why people think that others only live in cities just to have a "swanky" lifestyle as opposed to, say, living close to their jobs? Also, "develop a skill set for a better job"?? You know that every economy relies on low-wage labor and service workers, right? How will office workers go to work in a clean office or buy their morning coffee and lunches? Maybe show these people some dignity and respect. Living in the suburbs, btw, isn't any cheaper when you consider the cost of owning and maintaining a vehicle and that much of the housing in the suburbs is larger, so even if it's cheaper per sq. ft., the bigger units still cost about the same as a smaller place in the city.

@19 Cities outside of Seattle shouldn't have to develop just to accommodate SEATTLE's economic growth. Seattle needs to build for it's own economic growth. If there's extra demand outside of the city because people WANT to move there, then sure, but people working and living in Seattle have been begging for more housing because we want to stay here.

This kind of mindset (saying that low-income people should just move out of the city and into the suburbs) is basically saying that Seattle should only be a playground for the wealthy. I don't want to see Seattle turn into San Francisco, where service workers and low-income workers waste up to 2 hrs one-way getting to work (as a said earlier – there will still be a need for service workers in the city, hello!) That’s less time with family, more logistical issues with childcare, etc. – and for what, because they’re poor? Have a heart and treat low-income workers with dignity. More housing will make it more affordable for EVERYONE to live in the city. Oh yeah, but I forgot about the NIMBY property owners who don't simply want to maintain their property values - they want their investments to continue increasing 25% every couple years to the detriment of everyone else!

It's so funny to me, btw, that people advocating against better housing policies are the same folks yelling that "Seattle is dying" (with a growing economy and more workers moving to the city.) LOL, ok.

I still have yet to see anti-progressives give me a real reason to vote for Harrell instead of González. They just keep saying that progressives and socialists on the council have apparently “ruined” the city. They don’t give any explanation how Harrell’s policies will make housing more affordable (they just tell you to get a higher paying job as if the need for lower wage workers will magically disappear when you find one.) Or how sweeps will keep homeless people from coming back or moving to another part of the city (let’s just jail them at a cost of $50,000/yr instead of finding them housing for less than that - because scary socialism.) Seattle voters are smarter and more nuanced than that and I think that’s why Harrell supporters in the comments are so scared. I see absolutely no difference between Durkan and Harrell’s policies – at least with González there’s some chance of progress.

40

@AJ Worsham, you bring up some interesting points, however the current progressive city council has in fact been able to push through a fair few parts of their agenda despite Durkan, either overriding a mayoral veto or thanks to Durkan inaction. All the renters’ rights regulations come to mind, for example, plus defunding (at least some of) the SPD. https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/council-again-fails-seattle-with-police-defunding/
Also, Gonzalez may talk a good progressive game but has been inconsistent. She voted for the head tax on Amazon et al, but then was part of the backroom deal with Durkan to renege on that vote -- you know, the one that violated state Open Public Meetings Act law. (Ironic that the only one not part of that shady deal was Councilmember Sawant, so often criticized for her ethics.)
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-to-pay-3500-to-settle-one-of-two-lawsuits-contending-city-council-broke-states-open-meetings-law-before-head-tax-repeal/
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/second-lawsuit-alleges-seattle-city-council-head-tax-vote-broke-open-meetings-law/
The question is, do any of these actions by the current city council represent what Seattle voters really want? That's the part that's not clear. This election will be a revealing test. Cause it feels like city government has been pretty much operating rogue, especially during the pandemic, without much regard for what voters think or hope for their city.

42

Pretty weird to simply ignore King County Council District 7 after endorsing in that race during the primary. It would've been prudent to say "no good choices" after The Stranger's preferred candidate didn't get through the primary, rather than simply hoping their failure to mention the race this round would go unnoticed.

43

Yes indeed, let's stop enforcing criminal laws against misdemeanor theft and assault. After all, these are victimless crimes, or if there are victims, they are undeserving of justice. Nicole Thomas-Kennedy for City Attorney!

44

Order vs Chaos. You decide.

47

Are we hiring for fashion or for competence to do a job that takes administrative chops, hard work, compromise and collaboration? Some here tick the competency box, others do not.

48

The only thingTim Eyman hasn't done is suck Trump's weenie. so a thousand times yes, vote to maintain Advisory Vote No. 36.

Anything to keep the Republicans at bay.

This is a great advisory ballot and these are crucial races, so follow the Stranger recommendations.

It is crucial to get these fat-ass whiteys like Reagan Dunne (yes, he's named after Ronald Reagan) off the King County Council, so punch it twice for Kim Khangn Van.

These Port races are crucial and we need a changing of the guard, so follow the Stanger advice scrupulously and get some young, well-educated people into Port leadership.

Vote for Kennedy so we can stop this revolving door treatment of criminals, which would saved untold taxpayer resources.

Don't listen to the powers that be, like Bezos, who probably still shaves his hairy scrotum and sends selfies to hapless recipients.

49

@43: I trust that is pure sarcasm.

50

Damn reading this makes my head hurts, are the Slog writers 19? This is the stance and type of writing that continues to divide us. What will it sound like when we get Trump in 2024? Even if a democrat is elected president there is zero chance they have control of either the house or Senate. The left needs a better approach then bashing the right and businesses. Hey its ok to be a democrat and want junkie encampments swept!

55

@14: Is writing in Holmes still an option? NTK is too far left for me, but I have never voted for a Republican in my life. I really don’t want to start now.

56

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUVkmhr7fmE

63

The jails and prisons are exploding with poor people who can’t afford a lawyer or bail money and supply the corporations with cheap and easy solutions for labor. Labor that undermines the labor on the streets by helping to keep benefits and wages low. This works so well for the ultra rich but not for workers and keeps the prison system going.

Most homeless became homeless because they lost their jobs and paychecks.

People become desperate to survive. Maybe read the book Les Miserables for a look back on desperate people and brutal classism and reasons why.
About one quarter of homeless persons are employed but obviously cannot afford housing costs.

What a depraved system that must be changed. And we will work to change it.

64

Definitely vote the Stranger progressive ballot and throw these bastards like Reagan Dunn out of office and get more women and minorities in government.

The foregoing comment is so true--you don't need a degree in criminology or economics to ascertain that the system is all screwed up and driving people onto the streets--literally.

These progressive leaders like Gonzales, Kennedy and Oliver are a definite step in the right direction to address these compelling problems afflicting Seattle.

The Port of Seattle recommendations are very compelling and point the way to more intelligent and compassionate leadership.

The Stranger may be our only newspaper since The Seattle Times sold out to the Elks Club and the Republicans.

67

I voted for a lot of women today, none of whom were recommended by The Stranger. I did vote for one recommended candidate for Port Commissioner, because they did seem like the right candidate. We'll see.

Of course, I voted against every tax.

70

@67: Agreed, we need more women in positions of leadership, and always vote against those stealth taxations that further extract wealth from middle-income folks who need their financial resources for medical care and shoes.

Not everyone is a wealthy Clinton Democrat with an extra home in the islands, although I support these distinguished progressive candidates who offer respite from the turgid so-called leadership of Constantine, Dunne and Steinbrueck or whoever that clod incumbent on the Port of Seattle is.

Vote The Stranger recommended ballot, although you should investigate those pernicious tax offerings.

Okay to vote for fire protection and schools—every child deserves a decent education and no one wants the barn to burn down.

71

@63: "Most homeless became homeless because they lost their jobs and paychecks."

Most?

72

Surely, we will be giving Lorena the Kathy Lambert treatment after her racist ad against Bruce, yeah?
Surely...

73

One true fact I have learned living in Seattle is that the more money spent on homelessness the worse the problem gets.

74

@73: I hate to quote Ronnie Ray-gun, but it works here: "If you want more of something, subsidize it; if you want less of something, tax it." I'm not advocating taxing the homeless, but we've basically hung out the "Free Lunch" sign and are just baffled, BAFFLED that people come here to soak up the goodies (and drugs) in Freeattle.

76

If the SECB ever changes their endorsements (like one of their endorsed candidates royally fucks up btwn Oct 13th and Nov 2nd), where would they update their endorsements? This right here page (not its comments page, of course)? Doesn't happen often, but occasionally.
Thanks in advance.

77

Gee do you insist that i vote for the racist for mayor? I might have to differ...

79

With the exception of the tax levies and charter amendments, which I support, this is the perfect list of who not to vote for if you want change and real progress on addressing the drug/homelessness/crime crisis. The Stranger endorsements represent the status quo path Seattle has been on for 10 years: elect increasingly more extreme ideologues with no accountability, qualifications, or interest in making this a world class city. I have come to believe that they actually want to make it worse because it radicalizes the population, supports their narrative, and seems to get them re-elected. Vote for change by rejecting The Stranger’s list of extremists and narcissists.

80

Endorsing NTK, Damn... Isn't that the movie scene where a lit zippo is flicked over the shoulder as they walk away ?
To all the new transplants, when you look around greenlake, downtown or Aurora and you think to yourself "How did it get this bad?" That's the results of 25+ years of Stranger endorsements.

82

Second time I'm finding myself in much agreement with Stranger endorsements. I voted for Gonzalez, Mosqueda, Oliver, Thomas-Kennedy, Nguyen. I agreed with their Port choices choices, the advisory and charter amendments.

On the school board stuff ... this was the problem for me in the election. I've been very affected by the covid issues. I find it disturbing there's been so little discussion of this, especially in terms of the school-related elections. Two of the Stranger candidates seem so well qualified otherwise, and in terms of their own humanity as teachers, that they got my vote, regardless - albeit with some concerns about this huge community silence.

But ... I just couldn't go with Maritz because, although she worked towards a remote option for families, and obviously safety standards - - she's been essentially so driven, from what I can see, FBO reopening the schools -- which, to me, has been (bottom-line and across the entire country) criminal. She has also been so aligned with these very wealthy families and she literally moved to be able to run. Plus she opposed the right of teachers to collectively bargain for their own protections in this pandemic. They had to just take their decisions.

I find her intelligent and conscientious, attentive to all kinds of detail - she's obviously a hard-worker, but I especially couldn't overlook this covid issue. And .. the other candidate didn't give me, as a voter, any information or reason to support her. On covid, just says, "Well we have to go back." Nothing else. Yet she has a degree from Bank St? She's a teacher? Her website looks like she didn't even bother to put much effort into it. And I think she could do much better if she was better - I mean, there's so much to attack Maritz on if she herself had any sense of values and perspective. Plus Maritz doesn't even have a teaching background while she does, along with her degree from a top school in education. So I found this pathetic - even the Seattle Times - who endorsed her - had no argument except that Maritz moved and I gather she didn't.

So I exercised write-in. But very disappointing not to have a better choice there. I couldn't support either. And I think the whole community deserves a better discussion - in addition to the criminality of what you're doing with children and families - also because the reopening of schools affects everyone in a pandemic - sending masses of unvaccinated children back into these buildings - which does to stem a pandemic, but makes it harder to do so.

And frankly, while I feel generally good about everyone I voted for, I found every candidate in the election, on every side, a disappointment on this subject. But the schools - I found this absence of discussion especially problematic.

83

@82 Correction of a typo in there .. 'Sending mass of unvaccinated children back into these buildings - which does NOT stem a pandemic, but makes it harder to do so." You're literally fueling the pandemic, whether you want to admit it or not.

I support the School Strike 2021 which started in the U.K. You can find more information on twitter. It's international, and it does have some support in Chicago and NY, I believe. But where's Seattle? It's just one more example of the weak mindedness of the American left, in my view, that no one to speak of has supported it here. That group has made some of the most intelligent and courageous statements on the criminality of these schools reopening along with the attempted normalization and minimization of the mass infection of unvaccinated children with covid. The Republican governors in states like Florida are total scum who belong in jail cells - but the Democrats are not up to par by a long shot, themselves. And people are truly asleep at the wheel on this. Our country should be a general strike "just" on the schools and pandemic in and of itself.

86

Nikkita Oliver’s $3 million taxpayer shakedown in exchange for stopping smashing windows is troubling. The no bid contracting process funneling the money to Oliver’s organization with no checks and balances through Tammy Morales’s office stinks of cronyism and corruption. They are not the type of people (Oliver or Morales) that we should be electing to city council.

87

@55 Sure. Write in Holmes if it makes you feel better (I considered it) but @26 is correct that it won't make any difference. Write-in votes are only counted for those who pre-register as write-in candidates, and the state's "sore loser" law (which i was previously unaware of) disqualifies Holmes from registering as such.

I'm very reluctantly going with NTK because Davison is a right-wing-adjacent horror show, as can easily be seen from her Twitter feed full of favorable Fox News clips and supportive statements from cryptic white supremacists. But I sure don't feel good about it. To my mind, those tweets of hers would disqualify any candidate in a race with even a borderline-acceptable liberal opponent. I sure wish the Stranger had thought more strategically and stuck with Holmes in the primary. He's at least 90% of where NTK is on misdemeanors and is electable; I fear she is not.

88

Do you really want to live in Gotham? NTK is a grave threat to all of Seattle residents not just small business and property owners. Her positions and actions are extreme. She has no business in government or law. She should be disbarred. Reject Nihilism even if it means you bite you tongue and vote for Davison or write in Pete Holmes.

89

Mosqueda has created "$100 million more in bike, pedestrian, and transit projects"

While the West Seattle Bridge sits idle for over a year, and the Ballard and Magnolia bridges are known to be deficient.

What is wrong with this picture?

90

Mosqueda puts on a great performance of progressive values, but what has she done for the citizens of Seattle? Has the quality of life in the city improved under her leadership? The answer is clearly no. Vote for change.

91

The Stranger loves the status quo. This city has gone to hell in the last 5 years. We need something different instead of double down on failure.

93

The babbittry of the Seattle electorate is unnerving.

Here we see people protesting the status quo in the streets, nevertheless the turgid “business as usual” mentality is lurking within the mass political psychology.

This would be a great opportunity to throw the pro-developer corporatists out of office and vote the progressive Stranger ballot recommendations.

Per usual, The Seattle Times is recommending a conservative, pro-business slate of candidates when we need to address the homelessness and gun violence social decay with vigor.

Don’t allow the real estate developers to get in the driver’s seat and let Seattle become further socially stratified.

The torpor we endured under the Durkan administration should be reason enough to vote for progressives like González, Thomas-Kennedy and Oliver.

Also, stand-up with Sawant and agitate for proactive homelessness solutions and worker rights.

Remember to vote for Nguyen and the roster of Port candidates to get some fresh horses in Port leadership.

This election is an excellent opportunity to get more energetic leadership and make Seattle more socially evolved and livable, with more sidewalk cafes for example, as opposed to tent campers and transients intimidating downtown visitors.

94

@88 Of course no one wants to live in Gotham. But some of us understand that the economic and political forces that underlie Seattle's visible distress were not caused by progressives (no matter how abrasive their personalities or how awful their tweets) and that electing a stealth-Trumpian city attorney who is hostile to the whole idea of equitable, restorative justice is not going to improve ANYTHING. Unfortunately, because some people on the left just couldn't accept nine-tenths of a loaf, we are now likely to find that out the hard way.

95

@94 Some of us also can see complexity. Capitalism needs to be reigned in, we need a larger social safety net AND the encampments are primarily the result of drugs and Seattle progressives have grown the problem by allowing camping in parks and attracting thousands of drug addicts from across the country to live in our parks and green belts.

96

There is really no good reason for the "advisory vote" language to be as it is: the language of anything put on a ballot should be as neutral as possible- phrases like "the Legislature imposed, WITHOUT A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE" are deliberately biased to favor a vote against whatever revenue measures are being discussed.

The state constitution gives the state legislature the authority to pass tax measures- why should there be terms like "without a vote of the people", phrases which imply that any tax passed by a freely-elected group of legislators who must all face the voters at least every four years- two if they're in the state House, who- is intrinsically illegitimate?

If these advisory votes are to go on, the language should be made neutral, changed to something like "the legislature passed (insert revenue measure here). Do you support or oppose this measure.

It's not as if there was any justification for putting in language designed to favor one outcome over another- and it's not intrinsically illegitimate for the Legislature to approve taxes. That's what legislatures are there to do, for god's sakes.

97

33: vindictive, spiteful anti-houseless/anti-activist authoritarianism is not "change"- & it's not positive change to start running Seattle like NYC under Koch, Giuliani or Bloomberg, or in any way that borrows from Philadelphia under Frank Rizzo or Singapore under Lee Kwan Yew. None of Seattle's problems can be solved by throwing more people in jail or running more people out of town. None of that is anything but self-indulgence for the privileged and the lucky.

Seattle does not need "the great cleansing fire".

98

Nah, I don't think so for the city races. I like progressives who can actually get shit done. What we have are a bunch of talkers and incompetents.

99

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRVaDprzkHk

100

Well done, as usual


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