Happy Tuesday: Did you catch some showers this morning? For those of you who hate what the rain does to your hair (mine gets soooo flat), rest assured you likely won’t see any sprinkles past 8 am. Just clouds and temperatures in the mid 60s. Nice!

Tim Walz: Kamala Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, landed in Seattle last night ahead of a private fundraiser event at Hunts Point Tuesday morning. Groups such as Stop the Sweeps, Resist US-Led War Seattle, Bayan, International Migrants Alliance, Samidoun, South Asians Resisting Imperialism, and many more plan to protest outside the fundraiser. Some saw Harris picking Walz as an olive branch to progressives, but after Walz said that “the expansion of Israel and its proxies is a necessity for the US” in a recent debate, the honeymoon phase has worn off. 

ICYMI: The Stranger’s very own Vivian McCall wrote a comprehensive takedown of the “Treatment First” model to end homelessness, which is peddled by conservatives and 43rd Legislative District State House candidate Andrea Suarez. Please send this to anyone in your life who doesn’t think housing people solves homelessness. I think I may have to pass it along to a few of Suarez’s supporters on the Seattle City Council. 

Stop being poor: In other Suarez news, after I complained on Twitter about my landlord hiking my rent, she told me to simply buy a house. All my oomfies clowned on her in the comments, and rightfully so. Sure, Suarez bought a house in Maple Valley, allegedly while making $47,000 a year. But as Twitter user James Wu found and I confirmed via online records, she bought that house for $144,000, and it’s now worth almost $600,000. Renters would have to make $191,000 to make a comparable purchase. And, as Be:Seattle noted, homeowner-hopefuls need a salary of $214,000 to afford a house in Seattle. 

Other solutions from Suarez: Okay, clearly I cannot buy a house, but Suarez texted me some other ideas last night. For one, she said “enough of the over generous tenant protections.” She claimed many baby boomers don’t rent out their basements because it’s a “pain to get rid of a bad tenant.” She said “no cause eviction should still be an option” because she believes it would open up “thousands of owner occupied rentals.” Let it be known that most evictions end in homelessness for the tenant, so it is hard to argue that making it easier to make people homeless would somehow help the housing crisis. 

For a second idea, Saurez said the state should cut red tape, such as design review and restrictive zoning laws, to encourage more development. She claimed her opponent, Shaun Scott, “doesn’t believe in capitalism so he would be opposed to making it easier for developers to build.” Scott disagrees with Suarez’s characterization. He said he’s supported increasing housing supply his entire campaign, particularly through zoning reform. “From The Urbanist to Tech4Housing to the Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund to State Rep. Jessica Bateman, every organization and elected official who is serious about housing has endorsed my campaign—not my opponent’s—because of my campaign plan for a more affordable Washington with housing for all,” he said.

One year of genocide: Yesterday marked the first anniversary since Hamas’ attack on Israel, in which fighters killed 1,140 Israelis and captured another 240. While elected officials in the US reserved most of their sympathy for Israel yesterday, Al Jazeera broke down the carnage in Gaza over the past year. Since the October 7 attack, Israel has killed at least 41,615 Palestinians, or about 1 out of every 55 people living in Gaza. This includes at least 16,756 children, which sets a record for the highest number of child-killings recorded in a single year of conflict over the past 20 years. As for hostages, Israel holds more than 10,000 Palestinians in prison, many without charge or trial. Israel’s assault has left 96% of Gazans facing high levels of food insecurity, 95% without access to clean water for months, and 75% infected with a contagious disease. Israel has dropped 75,000 metric tons of explosives on Gaza, resulting in 42 million metric tons of debris, which amounts to an estimated $33 billion in damage. Israel has damaged or destroyed about 150,000 homes, 123 schools and universities, 206 archaeological and heritage sites, 611 mosques, all three of Gaza’s churches, 700 water wells, and more than 1,800 miles of electricity networks. 

“Jew haters:” Presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed yesterday “to remove the Jew haters who do nothing to help our country” in his remarks commemorating the deadly October 7 attack on Israel. According to CNN, Trump didn’t specify who qualified as a “Jew hater” subject to “removal,” but he accused various groups of antisemitism, including pro-Palestine protesters, particularly those from college campuses, journalists, and members of the Democratic Party.

Now to cops and courts reporter Ashley Nerbovig: 

Seattle City Council votes on Seattle Police Department surveillance: The council votes at 2 pm today on whether to install police surveillance cameras along the Third Avenue corridor downtown, Aurora Avenue, and the Chinatown-International District (CID), according to the Urbanist. The cameras make up a portion of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s technology-assisted crime prevention pilot, which also includes plans to staff up Seattle’s real-time crime center and improve its technology software. The total cost of the project has increased from $1.5 million when originally pitched to $4 million in Harrell’s recent budget proposal. The American Civil Liberties Union of WA has strongly opposed the plan, pointing out that CCTV cameras threaten people’s right to privacy and will likely contribute to the over-policing of people of color. Other organizations have also noted their opposition, including Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, WA People’s Privacy, Chief Seattle Club, El Centro de la Rasa, Massage Parlor Outreach Project, and the Gender Justice League. People interested in adding their voices to the discussion can provide public comment today at 2 pm, or submit written public comment to all council members today before 10 am.

Back to me!

Ghost guns: Today, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Biden administration’s regulation on ghost guns, which are hard to trace because they don’t have serial numbers. Cops have recovered a growing number of these weapons in recent years. In 2018, cops reported finding fewer than 4,000 ghost guns, but in 2021 they found almost 20,000. You can learn more in the 5-4 Pod’s preview of the court’s 2024-2025 term.

Fuuuuuck: The Georgia Supreme Court restored its ban on abortion to consider the state’s appeal on a judge’s recent move to overturn the ban last month. 

Instead of a song, please enjoy this interview 60 Minutes did with presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Her critics flamed her for not talking to the press, and with this interview, her appearance on Call Her Daddy, and more coming this week, she seems to be trying to combat that narrative. However, she says the same shit in every interview, and, though it’s not her fault, the editing on this video makes it difficult to watch. So I’m not really feeling more connection or transparency lol.

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Hannah Krieg is a staff writer at The Stranger covering everything that goes down at Seattle City Hall. Importantly, she is a Libra. She is also The Stranger's resident Gen Z writer, with an affinity for...

51 replies on “Slog AM: Tim Walz Is Here, City Council to Vote on Increased Surveillance, and State House Candidate Andrea Suarez Tells Me to Buy a House”

  1. “While elected officials in the US reserved most of their sympathy for Israel yesterday, Al Jazeera broke down the carnage in Gaza over the past year.”

    Al Jazeera ENGLISH broke down the carnage in Gaza. Al Jazeera ARABIC was celebrating the military “achievements” of the Islamic resistance and gleefully anticipated more of the same:

    https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2024/10/6/طوفان-الأقصى-هل-كان-إنجازا-أم-نكبة

    “Ceasefire now” is a Western demand, not an Arab one.

  2. sans ranked choice voting

    we’re forced to vote for

    the lesser of two evils

    here’s to hoping

    Praying for a Harris

    Administration to iniate

    a Regime Change in Israel

    and an End to bibi’s Genocide

    even of it means bibi gets

    fucking Amnesty for ALL

    of his multitudinous

    malfeasances and

    war crimes on

    Humanity.

  6. “…the expansion of Israel and its proxies”? who are Israel’s proxies?

    I remember a nervous Walz making a hash of that response in the debate – mixing up Israel & Iran.

  9. @2 how would RCV change the outcome of the presidential election? You honestly think any other candidate would somehow get into the top 2?

    Suarez is right about Scott. He may support building housing but certainly not by private developers. He doesn’t believe in private property rights and thinks only the state should build and own housing. She is also right about tenant protections. Seattle has lost over 11k units of smaller housing (1-20 units) that has partially been offset by developments owned by large investors however there is still a net loss of over 4 units. These protections are driving out smaller landlords, benefiting large real estate companies and removing overall rental units from the market but other than that they are doing a great job of protecting tenants.

    https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2023/03/as-properties-drop-14-seattle-small-landlords-speak-up-with-call-for-assistance/

  10. Odd that “Stop the Sweeps, Resist US-Led War Seattle, Bayan, International Migrants Alliance, Samidoun, South Asians Resisting Imperialism, and many more” are protesting Walz and not the Presidential candidate, currently leading in the polls, who is promising to “remove” them. Oh well, I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

  12. @10: “Give us what we want or we’ll give you Donald Trump!”

    It’s a solid play on the part of the activists. I’m not sure the Democrats have a good answer. Probably the best would be to give the activists at least some of what they want.

  13. No word about how Sawant stumped for Jill Stein and basically let the cat out of the bag that they want Harris to lose and are ok with Trump?

    Here’s what Sawant had to say:

    “The election has already started. Absentee ballots have been sent. We need to catch up rapidly. We need everyone here to get active. We need to be clear about what our goals are. We are not in a position to win the White House, but we do have a real opportunity to win something historic, we could deny Kamala Harris the state of Michigan. And the polls show that most likely Harris cannot win the election without Michigan.”

    https://www.nj.com/politics/2024/10/harris-vs-trump-spoiler-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud.html

  14. @12 As if Harris/Walz don’t already support 80%+ of what the protestors want. But I suppose the honeymoon glow is off.

    FFS, SMH, TLA. I have little patience for absolutists from either end of the spectrum.

  16. I am a renter and I want lower rent. I don’t agree with Saurez about much but she is correct that excessive renter protections means less rental housing, esp from small landlords who typically offer lower cost rentals and do not have the scale or deep pockets to absorb losses from a bad tenant.

  17. Besides the MAGA fanatics, you will not find another group of people wishing for Trump more than the far left activist crowd. It allows them another four years of performative temper tantrums. That is literally their identity and what matters to them. Look how quickly they walk away from their cause de jure as soon as it’s not trending with their like minded tic toc friends and bots.

  18. Donald Trump vowed yesterday “to remove the Jew haters…” which undoubtedly includes pro-Palestine protesters.

    And yet those same protesters are saying they won’t vote for Harris because she doesn’t pass their unreasonable ideological purity test on one single issue.

    If Trump wins, I hope this is one campaign promise he keeps. Let them sleep in the bed they’ve made.

  19. @14: From the progressive point of view, though, why shouldn’t they hold the White House hostage? These people sincerely but wrongly believe that Israel is committing a genocide in Palestine, and they also sincerely believe the supposed genocide should be the most important issue in US politics, and they also sincerely believe that the Democrats have enabled this genocide. Their theories as to how and why genocide-enablement has supposedly become US policy typically veer into Protocols-of-Zion-style conspiracy theorizing, but again, as silly as all of this is, it is all very sincere on their part. Wrong, but sincere.

    Given all that, why shouldn’t they threaten to throw the election to Trump? From the progressive point of view, it’s not like Trump is worse than the Democrats. On “genocide,” they think he’s the same as Democrats. So if they can use him to bully the Democrats on the issue of “genocide,” the progressive stand to make serious gains, and if the progressive ploy backfires and Trump returns to the White House, well, at least the progressives haven’t lost anything.

    Not saying any of this progressive thinking represents good political science or an accurate view of the world. But given that this is their thinking, then I can certainly appreciate their maneuvers vis-a-vis holding the White House hostage.

    Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, anti-Israel progressives aren’t too squeamish when it comes to hostage-taking! 😂

  20. @9 No, but if Congressional and Senate races used ranked choice voting, instead of first past the post, It would be possible to see the two major parties to fracture into progressive and corporatist Dems on the center and left of center, and the GOP to split into traditional conservatives and MAGA on the right and far right. Granted, in this election you would see everyone but MAGA uniting behind the corporatist to block Trump. But in the future we could see a year where the white working class that is part of MAGA now, but liked Bernie in the Democratic primary in 2016 uniting with the progressives against Wall Street.

  21. Progressives should be careful what they wish for – there’s a good chance they’ll get it (while spurning mainstream Democrats). Bibi learned this lesson the hard way a year ago (things in fact can get much, much worse).

    The positive is a few more clips of Comrade Sawant saying the quiet part out loud should end her political relevance (outside the DSA / SA / TS echo chamber).

    For those not CIS white males, make sure your passport is up to date (I know mine will be).

  22. I think Kamala Harris is making hay while the sun shines. That is: she is open to media interviews as long as she stays strictly on message, repeating only what she has said before with amazing fidelity. All the while Trump and his advisors know that ‘the Donald’ is unlikely to do anything other than damage his chances at re-election.

  26. @20 maybe but we already have top 2 in WA state for those races and more often than not you end up with the extremist candidate vs the moderate whether it be MAGA/Republican or Progressive/Democrat so I’m not seeing how RCV would change that dynamic. The only time I see RCV having an impact is when you have a traditional primaries with top candidates advancing to the general but even then I think the candidate that wins most likely wins in either scenario.

  27. @26 I think the Alaska system could work pretty well–the primary selects top the 4, RCV from there in the general. That weeds out all of the nonserious candidates early. It would prevent a shutout of one party or the other like nearly happened in the Lands Commissioner race this year. It’s not going to get someone like Mullet elected governor though.

  29. I can understand the pro-Palistinian factions protesting Walz – as misguided and unproductive as they are, once you realize that they are fine with electing Trump, protesting the presidential ticket makes sense. It’s idiotic, but it is consistent with their actions of the last 6 months or so. Or in Jill Stein’s case of the last decade or so. But why the fuck is Stop the Sweeps there?

    Also, if I had a basement apartment, there is no way in hell I’d rent it out to anyone except a close friend in this legal climate. And I am not the only one. The City needs to think hard about their anti-landlord policies while there are still some rental units left.

  30. I am convinced that a certain element of “the left” fantasizes about living in the second act of “Cabaret” – and that includes those Stranger writers who apparently compose their stories during study hour. (Hannah dear, do let me know when your commencement is, for I shall want to send a card)

    For all of those purity voters out there, I can assure you that your non-Harris (or non-vote) will make the life of Palestinians – the people who you are always fussing over – even more intolerable than it is now, should trump get elected.

    Remember what your Auntie Catalina always says: Sometimes “the lesser of two evils” is a whole lot less evil than whatever evil you think they are going up against – and enabling that greater of evils makes you part of it.

  31. @30: Happy NOW, progressives? Now you got a lecture from Catalina Vel-DuRay! Please sit with that and rethink your lives! 😍😍

  33. nyt:

    Antisemitism

    and Threats Directed at

    Officials Over Storm Response

    Online posts have threatened violence against

    FEMA officials. A research group found that

    the X platform has been one of the main

    drivers of misinformation.

    A wave of antisemitic rhetoric and online threats has been leveled at state and federal officials in North Carolina in recent days as they respond to the destructive aftermath of Hurricane Helene, according to a report released on Tuesday by a nonprofit research group that studies online platforms.

    Researchers with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, the nonprofit, found that on X, the social media platform, 33 posts that contained misinformation about the flood response had together generated more than 160 million views as of Monday.

    The posts have driven many of the false claims that have been swirling since the remnants of Helene decimated western North Carolina with extreme flooding and mudslides.

    “The speed and impact of the falsehoods and half-truths in the wake of the Hurricane Helene response illustrate just how unprepared platforms, government and the media are for the deluge of misinformation, hate and violent threats that will come in the wake of a contentious event,” the researchers wrote.

    –by Eduardo Medina; Oct. 8, 2024

    oodles

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/us/north-carolina-floods-antisemitic-social-media.html

    trumpf’s Already blaming

    ‘the Jews’ for his Landslide

    Loss, bibi’s inciting anti-Jewish

    Insanity and MUX* bought Earth’s

    Biggest Platform to spread the news

    right there’s your

    Antisemitism

    and It’s NOT anti-

    Genociders tho they’re

    a Most Convenient Target

    *the Planet’s

    ‘Richest’

    Man.

  35. oh

    and

    Just in case

    this may’ve been

    Overlooked: ‘here’s to hoping

    Praying for a Harris Administration’

    –@2

    RCV means

    the Electorate

    may be more equal

    than corporate sponsorship

    or at Least

    worth a

    Listen.

  36. @7, edited:

    Israel’s held 15,000

    Dead CHILDREN

    Accountable

    for

    fucking

    10/7 when

    1,200 Israelis Died

    and fb’s banned

    ‘Zionism’ -ist’

    – istic’ etc to

    Protect the

    Reich wing

    so look for

    MUX to

    follow

    suit.

  37. WHOA

    nyt:

    Months

    Before Ethiopian

    Crash, Boeing Turned

    Aside Carrier’s Questions

    Ethiopian Airlines appeared to foresee the deadly confusion its pilots would face if flawed software in the Boeing 737 Max failed. Boeing chose not to provide the guidance that the carrier was seeking.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/us/politics/boeing-ethiopian-airlines-crash-questions.html

    if it’s Boeing

    you may be going

    but The Question is

    Will you Be Coming Back?

    either get some

    Stakeholders onto

    your Board of Directors

    Boeing or run our

    once-vaunted Aerospace

    Leader right into the Ground:

    your profiteering

    can only get

    you so far.

  38. @36: “Israel’s held 15,000

    Dead CHILDREN

    Accountable”

    The pro-Palestinian side has demanded war, war, and more war ever since 10/7, a practice they continued at their recent Seattle rally, so perhaps you might explain to them how children should probably not be called ‘martyrs to the strugge’?

    (Just a thought, because, you know, nobody in power in Israel or America has listened to you yet.)

  40. “The pro-

    Palestinian side

    has demanded war, war,

    and more war ever since 10/7.”

    –@Wormtongue,

    making Orwell

    & trumpf!

    PROUD

    af.

    you just Make Shit Up

    as you Go, dontchya

    Minitrumpf

  41. @38

    “(Just a thought,

    because, you know,

    nobody in power in Israel

    or America has listened to you yet.)”

    –@Wormtongue

    you pull more shit

    outta your ass than

    an Infinite number of

    monkeys’d Ever dream

    Possible. what’s your Secret?

    (you Definitely Need to get your

    diarrhea cum logorrhea

    Checked, wormmy).

    [friggin’ STAT].

  42. @30 “purity voters out there, I can assure you that your non-Harris (or non-vote) will make the life of Palestinians – the people who you are always fussing over “

    Standing up for human dignity is the bare minimum. If you can’t do it, you can’t be trusted about anything else.

    I’ll blame you and rightwing Democrats (so called moderates) if Harris were to lose this election. You are repeating the same mistakes that plagued Clinton and as per usual you dismiss critical concerns as trivial.

  44. @40a: The pro-Palestinian protestors demanding war is literally a year-old story:

    ‘The protesters made their demands clear in their rallying chants: … “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” and, “We don’t want two states, we want 1948,” (https://www.thestranger.com/news/2023/10/16/79212000/as-a-ground-invasion-looms-thousands-in-seattle-protest-for-a-free-palestine)

    In case this point was somehow missed, the Stranger helpfully linked the word “intifada,” above, to this descriptive article: “…Palestinian tactics centered on suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and sniper fire — which Israel met with even deadlier force. The conflict petered out in 2005, but not before about 1,000 Israelis and 3,200 Palestinians were killed.” (https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080066/israel-palestine-intifadas-first-second)

    So, the protestors’ demand for war — or, if you don’t like that word, chronic armed conflict — was made clear.

    (You commented multiple times on that headline post. Did you not read it, or did you not understand it?)

    @40b: Evidence of anyone “in power in Israel or America” listening to you, please. (Quote and url.)

    @41: “I’ll blame you and rightwing Democrats (so called moderates) if Harris were to lose this election.”

    Of course you will. (Why do you feel the need to state this?)

    We know who you most definitely won’t blame, @13:

    “The election has already started. Absentee ballots have been sent. We need to catch up rapidly. We need everyone here to get active. We need to be clear about what our goals are. We are not in a position to win the White House, but we do have a real opportunity to win something historic, we could deny Kamala Harris the state of Michigan. And the polls show that most likely Harris cannot win the election without Michigan.”

    Having Sawant oppose her, in favor of electing Trump, is another of Clinton’s “mistakes,” in your world, correct?

  45. Oh do put a sock in it, averagebob dear. Save your piousness for Sunday morning.

    A Harris administration means (worst case scenario) the status quo, which is horrendous. But that’s the worst case scenario. A President Harris may very well break with the current administration.

    A trump administration keeps trump out of jail, and means cranking up the death and destruction, both in Gaza and the West Bank. That keeps Netanyahu in power (and also out of jail), and gives the trump family unlimited opportunities for graft and land development (golf resorts on The Mediterranean, new housing for settlers, private prisons and internment camps)

    A trump administration also means the fall of Ukraine and imperils much of eastern Europe.

    So take your pick. The “rightwing Democrat” path or whatever it is you are advocating for.

  47. @39, @45: So, the persons who advocate for a war should bear absolutely no responsibility of any kind whatsoever for the consequences of that war?

  48. “Save your piousness” then ” the status quo, which is horrendous”

    which is it? How does protesting the “horrendous” amount to “piousness”? Quit talking from both corners of your mouth at once.

    “A trump administration keeps trump out of jail, and means cranking up the death and destruction, both in Gaza and the West Bank”

    I think you’ll have a very hard time convincing people that it can get any worse for Palestinians. Democrats are doing nothing to stop it and Harris won’t stop it either.

    “So take your pick. The “rightwing Democrat” path or whatever it is you are advocating for”

    I am arguing for a break from the status quo that is the only way to bring on board the many who don’t trust the Democratic establishment that sold out many times. Harris parading around with Cheney is the opposite of what she should do:

    Endorsements from Republicans and CEOs won’t help Kamala Harris win

    Only a quarter of battleground voters think the country is going the right way. Why is Harris touting the approval of the elite?

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/09/election-harris-republican-endorsements

  50. So Sawant is willing to burn the entire fucking world down to make a point about the Palestinians (and, BTW, the Palestinians won’t be helped a bit by said Trump-induced fire). Point taken. Fuck her and DSA.

Comments are closed.