Worst mayor ever. Everything this clown does is in secret and behind closed doors. He's our George W. Bush: a petulant empty suit. November 2017 can't come fast enough.

This mayor is as incompetent as he is corrupt. Nauseating piece of shit.

I offer wide exemption for pro-union liberals to tell the police unions to fuck off when appropriate.

I wonder if those really beady eyes are a symptom of high blood pressure.

Contract negotiations between the city and the police guild (I'm not going to call them a union because they don't stand in solidarity with other unions, EVER) should be transparent and under scrutiny from the public, just like the actions of the police themselves. Murray can take his "secret negotiations are sacred" bullshit somewhere else; the royal we ain't buyin' it.

Police unions aren't unions because police aren't workers. These "negotiations" are nothing more than a shakedown by gangsters. Shedding light on them is the bare minimum that should happen.

Can we get the FBI to investigate Murray for anything he might have colluded on with Christine Gregoire and Jenny Durkan?

This is uncanny! Almost the exact same story broke yesterday regarding the mayor of Oakland and OPD and the media down there! (Although, I have to say, in her case it's small potatoes compared to the craziness in the police department that she's been trying to stay on top of).

http://m.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/libb…

"the far right in Wisconsin" Oh, them's fightin' words.

@6:

Actually, SPOG is an affiliate member of the King County Labor Council (although I've never seen a delegate at one of the monthly meetings), so technically they do stand in solidarity with other unions, at least nominally.

The Mayor is correct & heads should roll IF they have violated confidentiality agreement.

When lives are on the line because SPD for decades has been above the law, nothing about this contract should be sacred. Citizens are sickened by the spectacle of the mayor backing up unaccountable killers.

For most people the SPD is just dickish and unhelpful. We don't live in Chicago.

And who would be paying for this ego-fueled misadventure?

Like I often say, Murray acts like Seattle is his own little fiefdom. Of COURSE Murray was proud to be endorsed by SPOG, only the most incompetent and corrupt police union around. They're a smaller, dumber version of NYPD's awful union.

You know what else I often say? WHO will be challenging him next time around? That's the only thing related to Murray that I'm really interested in.

I get no respect, I tell ya!

@14: It's ludicrous to think that the mayor would bring in the FBI without having legal council first. so @13 is probably correct.

Congratulations to The Stranger. What an asshole of a mayor we have.

It's only news if someone doesn't want you know. Otherwise it's just PR. The Stranger broke a news story the way they're supposed to - get sources - and while the Mayor can yell at the source all he wants, yelling at the paper is counterproductive and reveals a fundamental weakness.

I voted for McGinn and I'd do it twice today. Next up, the mayor's unhinged text messages to Tim Keck?

"Brought in the FBI" means surely he must have had thorough legal review? What he said was "in discussions with". After their Plan A: exploring the idea of an investigator they haven't hired yet.

@12 SPOG never stands side by side with its allied unions during times of labor turmoil, where as other unions do. Besides which, police are not laborer, and in fact are antithetical to everything modern laborers are, as police are the handmaids of power and therefore aligned with the forces that seek to hamstring/crush labor in modern America.

It's like calling the only dog in a confederation of sheep a cat by association; when push comes to shove, the dog is there to herd the sheep, not get them a better deal with the shepherd.

Here's an idea for a ballot measure: ban the unionization of the SPD and have the city fully in charge of the hiring/firing practices with all performance records of all police officers available for public review. I mean they are paid with our tax dollars?

Last summer it took 78 minutes to go from downtown Seattle to SeaTac, a trip that normally takes 20 minutes; >5000 people homeless; a three-bedrooms costs more than $2000 to rent, while service workers making minimum wage gets paid around $2,200 BEFORE TAXES! AND this screaming bully is going to waste time and PUBLIC MONEY on hunting down who leaked to journalists?!? NOT Scott Walker, he's Chris Christie! What is he afraid of? His own Bridgegate? Is he a pal of Putin too? Fucking DINO!

WHY don't we have a way of voting no confidence - and have corrupt, stupid politicians remove quickly and inexpensively - like Europe does? Recalls and impeachments cost millions and drag on forever, while everyone suffer morons and grifters in office.

What would make this a federal crime, anyway? How is this even in the FBI's jurisdiction? Would Murray argue that it violates some federal labor law?

I'm generally extremely pro-union, and I've happily belonged to 3 different unions in past occupations. But SPOG disgusts me.

SPOG: Negotiate for the best pay and benefits all you want, but police are public employees with enormous power, and their actions MUST be accountable to the public. SPOG should not be in the business of protecting bad cops who harm the public you claim to serve.

Mayor Murray: I voted for you, and am generally a supporter. But don't hang your rep on this. I know you got endorsed by SPOG (not an endorsement I'd seek or flaunt). But your job as mayor is to represent the people of Seattle. I don't care what you pay cops, but you should be doing everything possible to make SPD more accountable to the public and to bring them into compliance with the consent decree with the Justice Department (which SPOG has blocked in every way they can). Fuck SPOG.

It is to everyone's advantage to develop a police department the public can trust and have confidence in. The police chief, the mayor, and the union. As long as SPOG acts like petulant bullies, and the mayor acts like their paid-off patsy, the problem will only be exacerbated.

Eddie "two pockets" Murray. One day he is in the pocket of the developers, next day he is in the pocket of the police mafia.

@23 banning a public employee police union does sound an awful lot like a Scott Walker move.

Though the job of a cop is obviously way different than the job of a teacher. I don't think "public employee" is the right line to draw here.

@27 "Eddie Two-Pockets Murray" has a nice ring to it.

I hope the FBI tell him to fuck off and investigates some real labor suppression in Seattle: WAL⭐️MART hired Lockheed fuckin' Martin to bust up organizing attempts in violation of federal labor law. (See LM Wisdom)

Unions are GREAT! Awesome Sauce! Fantastic!

Except in the case of Policing where enormous power is handed to flawed individuals. The police should NOT be allowed to unionize.