Nobody thinks a tax on jobs during a near depression is a good idea.

“But that said: who cares if they get sued for passing the tax?”

I don’t know, but if you’re going to go to all the trouble of passing this tax, why would you invite even the possibility of it getting thrown out on a procedural error? The governor’s order only lasts until the end of the month; I can’t believe a three week delay at this point is going to make that much of a difference.

This tax isn't going to happen.

Bitter Rich is really the most entertaining Rich.  This may be a tough pill to swallow right now but I'd like to offer a few counterpoints to this screed against the establishment.

The governor's proclamation does not apply to SDOT's action to open streets as it is not subject to open meeting laws.  To complain about that in relation to not having public input on the largest tax increase in the history of Seattle is shoddy.
The tax was never going to pass.  Durkan is not going to sign it and they probably don't have the votes on the council.  So the legal challenge is a red herring.  Most likely Mosqueda and Gonzalez are doing what politicians are supposed to do and work with the rest of the council and the mayor to craft a bill that will pass.
This is really the MOST important thing.  Passing this tax would almost guarantee austerity budgeting next year.  To pay for the "Covid relief" the tax was going to raid the funds of the other levy's available of which there is $314M.  The hole in the budget is $200M-$300M so if you remove that $200M for this where are you going to come up with the money to plug the budget this year?  Passing an income tax will take 2 years to set up and collect, same with capital gains.  No, the only way to plug the budget this year is to tap those accounts at the end of the year when the deficit is known and then find a way to replenish them in the future.
This tax also does NOTHING to help prevent austerity budgeting in the future.  It comes with a companion spending plan that is all NEW spending.  Even if you agree with creating a slush fund for LIHI/Share to build tiny house villages all over the city to suggest passing this tax would prevent austerity budgeting is dishonest and misleading.

My favorite part of this whole soap opera though is that once again councilmember Sawant finds herself on the outside looking in.  Apparently she found out about this decision minutes before she was scheduled to give a press conference.  If there is any doubt how little respect she has amongst her colleagues despite all the fake nicety they bestow on each other every meeting this should be a clear signal that she is viewed as nothing but a contingency to be managed.  It does make for great theater though!

Sawant's and Morales' proposed tax is badly crafted, badly flawed, and badly timed. I'm all for a host of proposals and measures to help alleviate the suffering of the homeless and jobless at this time--but not the Sawant/Morales proposed tax. And many on the council were already fed up with Sawant's sanctimonious, self-important condescension, as in everyone but her and those who support her are corporate tools, centrist sell-outs, and compromised cowards. Lisa Herbold, Lorena Gonzales, and Teresa Mosqueda are not cowards and sell-outs or right-wing Nimbys or corporate tools. I disagree with them about a lot of things, but they deserve more respect than Sawant offers them, and certainly they did not hysterically "wave around" papers making crazy claims. They understand how extremely divisive, wasteful, unpopular, and litigation-breeding this proposal is, and they did not want another media circus to distract from consideration of proposals other than Sawant's. And remember: Sawant recently asserted that her proposal--and ONLY her proposal--could help Seattle past problems resulting from the coronavirus. The other council members feel exasperated and refuse to be Sawant's fan club and sideshow. And, good. They shouldn't be intimidated by an implicit "Are you a real progressive?" litmus test. There are other--and better--proposals out there to help people through this crisis.

@7 especially: I'm shocked - SHOCKED - that a Seattle Progressive supports doing Any Nice Thing Except This One On The Table Right Now. Who would have expected local pious Seattlites, who care So Much for the poor and suffering, that they would support the only real bill that helps those same poor and suffering at the expense of the literal richest man on the planet?? Ah, well. My faith in the Seattle Process and in the ability of Nice Seattle Liberals to do the right thing is being shaken yet again.

Droll, even clever in some instances, but ultimately irrelevant commentary. Dismissed!

Didn't anyone read the fable 'the grasshopper and the ant' ?