A cop is upset with people who engaged in violence and intimidation? That's gold, Jerry! Gold!

It seems that The Big One should need at least 25% of the city's emergency funds.

So Best thinks it's perfectly normal to have neighbors pull guns on peaceful protestors, deny their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech on public property and then falsely call the protestors violent? Weird.

Do any Seattle cops actually live in Seattle?

The Rock buying the XFL rules and re-ignites my dwindling hopes for a pro-wrasslin' style league. Copy/pasting my comments from Nathalie's linked post from last year...

"I remember back when the original league launched and wondering (hoping) McMahon was gonna blend wrestling and football to create a scripted league. It could've worked! Like they follow the players around in the locker rooms and a select few of them have super outlandish and heavily stereotyped personalities. The Florida based team could have some big, meaty commercial fishermen turned offensive linemen, and a couple Cuban refugees who are super quick and hard to catch playing running back and wide receiver. The Texas team is obviously a blend of gristly cowboys and out-spoken Central and South American immigrants.

The Pittsburgh team could have a bunch of old steel mill workers and Seattle could embrace the snowflake narrative and have the flaming, cross dressing dudes (a mainstay of old pro wrestling, Adorable Adrian Adonis was an absolute delight to watch) who became nasty and violent when matched up against their macho/masculine counterparts. And then they also have some MAGA chuds on the team who clash with the effeminate dudes in more compelling locker room footage.."

Make it happen Dwayne. Make Football Great Again!

And can we also talk about how painting these PEACEFUL protestors "aggressive" and "engaging in violent behavior" Best is actively putting them in danger by riling up armed ring wing vigilantes? It's like she's purposely ringing the dinner bell for people to do harm to this group.

Time for a feel-good story!
Gia Fuda found after EIGHT days lost out in the woods near Skykomish.
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/gia-fuda-missing-maple-valley-teen-recovering-in-the-hospital/281-8d1b152a-557f-4d24-9495-4ef92621ac03
Tough kid.
Lucky for her there are a lot of berries to be had right now, and night-time low temps not too severe.

The problem of course is that most of the Council isn't actually engaging with those they represent because most of those they represent are not interested in marching on member's homes in order to express themselves.

How nice it is to have an occupation that doesn't put you in the public eye, especially in politics, government and civil service. You don't have to worry about noisy and annoying disruptions and possibly vandalism taking place on your property, or on your neighbor's property (or in another part of town) because protesters got the address wrong. It's not just one night, you worry about it many nights.

You're trying to do a good job. You know you can't please everyone. It's simply the nature of the job, and their right to protest.

@11 If Carmen Best wants to be out of the public eye, serene obscurity is only a Resignation Letter away.

@6 ... Thumbs up! The challenge is that a lot of players are using it as a spring board into the NFL, but I love the blended concept.

The irony. Slog AM slags the Chief for wanting a bit of privacy at home, and then endorses Judge Salas's plea for better protection of federal judges (after some nut job turned up on her doorstep with a gun and killed her son).

"This brings up a very big question: What does @MayorJenny think an emergency is?"

Earthquake
Tsunami
Volcanic Eruption
Landslides
Bridge Failure

That's five, all off the top of my head in about ten seconds. Can you think of any others?

@9 -- Yeah, that is a good story. She also was "lucky" in that she stuck close to water. It is common for rescuers to find people who are dangerously dehydrated. Sometimes there are people who have water, but are trying to ration it -- believing it better to spread out consumption. This is a bad idea. You are better off drinking the water while looking for more.

This leads me to my next point. The mayor is wrong. She is trying to conserve her water. There is no point. If we run out of money now, or six months from now, it doesn't matter. There is no point is saving money. We should spend it for the current crisis, and hope we get bailed out in the future. That could happen at the state level, or more likely, the federal level. Of course it is risky, but everything at this point involves risk. With the current president, every city and every small business is at risk (unless they are owned by the Chinese -- then they get bailed out).

@17 -- Just about all of those would elicit a national response. FEMA is actually loaded right now. So if we have an earthquake, there will be plenty of federal money to go around. The one exception on your list is a bridge failure. But what bridge? The ship canal bridge that carries I-5 drives? Aurora? Those are state bridges, and would be repaired by the state. The biggest, most important bridge owned by the city has already failed and no amount of money is going to fix that in the couple years.

Besides -- this is by no means a huge emergency. West Seattle drivers have been simply driving around. Those that take the bus ride the lower bridge. Trucks use the low bridge. In contrast, there are people who will lose everything they have unless the city acts. They will be kicked out of their home, or lose the business they spent a lifetime building (or both). That is a real emergency, while increased traffic over the First Avenue South Bridge is not.

Seattle's Police Chief lives in Snohomish. What that tell ya?

Interesting article on Vice I ran across: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akz4ae/a-legendary-black-environmental-group-is-back-and-advising-joe-biden.

This election reminds me a lot of 2000. The Democratic front runner -- a former VP -- had a challenge from the left during the primary. Ultimately though, he got the nomination. But that soured some people on the left, who wanted a more progressive candidate. They focused on all the past mistakes, and how centrist he was, ignoring the political realities of the time. Those on the left who talked about the election focused more on how horrible the other guy was, not how good the Democrat could be. In general it was assumed that the Democrat would be more of a caretaker president, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary (the greatest irony, of course, is that Gore would have been the biggest environmentalist to live in the White House since Teddy Roosevelt, yet he lost in part because the Green Party ran their own candidate). Lots of people -- myself included -- said it was the most important presidential election in our adult life. We weren't wrong, of course, and neither are people saying the same thing now.

There are differences, of course. Trump is a sitting president, Bush was running for office. That suggests 2016 was more like 2000. However, four years it was clear that Hillary Clinton would not be an effective president. She would would have been stymied by a Republican Congress and unloved by the press. Her greatest strength would be the veto pen. In contrast, it is quite possible that Biden will pass large, meaningful legislation. The times call out for it. We are not recovering from a recession -- we are waste deep into it.

Another difference is that Gore didn't move to the left after the primaries. Biden has, clearly.

I'm honestly excited about a Biden presidency. I wasn't a year ago. As many have reported, Biden is not overly ideological. He ebbs and flows with the mainstream of the Democratic Party. The party has moved to the left (more towards FDR, and less towards Bill Clinton) which means that many long overdue reforms are quite likely to happen. A lot hinges on whether the Democrats take the Senate, of course, but that remains a real possibility if Biden wins by the expected landslide.

A lot can happen between now and then, of course, but it is quite possible that the pendulum has swung, and we are about to see an end to the Nixon-Reagan--Bush era of extreme right-wing, reactionary policies fueled by underlying racism meant to appeal to ignorant white working class voters (who have been hurt by these policies as much as anyone). If Biden wins, and is successful, we could easily see a long term realignment, in part because of changing demographics, but also because ignorant white voters remember how important progressive policies (like Social Security) are.

Look, as many have been telling you, you won't get change marching in neighborhoods where the rich and powerful are not.

This is what they Fear.

This is why they resist it.

They don't WANT to change.

They want you to be their serfs or servants.

Not their masters.

@19 yeah, it's not like anti-abortion protesters have ever demonstrated at the homes of doctors who provide abortions... Oh wait, yeah they have; you're absolutely full to the brim of shit.

Shorter @10:

"I'm completely disinterested in engaging in any meaningful civic discourse on any topic, particularly ones that don't affect me directly - so, why isn't the City Council paying attention to ME?!?"

Best fired chemical weapons a few miles away from where I live, and I spent most of last week breathing in those chemicals downwind.

She can't deal with peaceful protests on her street? That's fine, I can't deal with her chemical weapon attack that damaged my eyes, throat and lungs. Maybe she should quit.

Durkan is partly right. A worldwide pandemic should really be something that gets a federal response instead of a state or local one. It's too bad we don't have any sort of federal agency specifically for emergency management. Throw it on the pile of good ideas we only thought to codify into law after Trump congealed into office, I guess.

@23: "Your violent tactics will not be forgotten." Yeah, that cuts both ways. Amazing how pissed off people get when generations of oppression get such a perfect example to coincide with historic levels of incompetence and disregard for welfare, huh?

@36: "The principal source for the dossier is a low level employee at the Brookings Institute "America's pre-eminent liberal think tank"

HAHAHAHAHAHA - and [sic] - throughout, but especially to that bit. Feel free to lay the URL on us for this "source" you're getting this stuff from, you stable genius, you.

@19, 38, 39: How's the campaign going to outlaw the coronavirus? Have you made any headway yet? You'll keep us posted, won't you?

@36 - So, 2-3 years from now when there has been not one single indictment regarding your fantasy "biggest political fraud" in history you'll be back on these pages issuing your mea culpa, right?

@22: "Just about all of those would elicit a national response."

No, they SHOULD elicit a national response. Just as a potential global pandemic SHOULD have elicited a national response -- a national response that could well have stopped it in China. (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/how-white-house-coronavirus-response-went-wrong/613591/) So, thank you for making exactly Mayor Durkan's point.

"The biggest, most important bridge owned by the city has already failed and no amount of money is going to fix that in the couple years."

Yes, but it will absorb resources until it is fixed, replaced, or fixed then replaced. So we're already spending our emergency resources on our local problem. Thanks again for supporting Mayor Durkan's point.

"That is a real emergency, while increased traffic over the First Avenue South Bridge is not."

Yes, because of the global pandemic -- the global pandemic which resulted from us NOT having that national response -- traffic is much reduced now. As you've noted, the bridge will be out of service for years. Before then, people will likely go back to work as before. Months ago, our neighboring citizens of South Park eloquently expressed their concern for what the already-increased traffic was already doing to their diverse, child-friendly, working-class community:

"Our community members have raised the following concerns:

● Speeding and increased traffic in the neighborhood (Cloverdale, 14th & Dallas Ave S.)

○ Concerns about the safety of children crossing Cloverdale to get to school, the library, the community center etc.

○ Concerns about vehicles “whipping” onto Dallas Ave S. after crossing the bridge endangering pedestrians and cyclists (Dallas leads to the Duwamish Trail – a safe cycling route to downtown).

○ The increasing traffic back-up at the intersection of 5th & Cloverdale
● Increased pollution due to the increase in traffic
● The need to mitigate the impact on the already slow and often delayed 132 & 60 bus service"

There's a lot more: https://westseattleblog.com/2020/04/west-seattle-bridge-closure-how-its-affecting-south-park/

Please do read it all; it's a great example of citizens politely and respectfully petitioning their government -- our government -- for a redress of grievances.

@19 Ahem
https://www.ocregister.com/2013/06/28/anti-abortion-group-protests-at-home-of-hoag-doctor/

@17: Also
https://archive.thinkprogress.org/abortion-protesters-wont-be-punished-for-chalking-your-neighbor-is-a-monster-outside-doctor-s-home-7c73366ac6b5/

Sorry! the above was for @19, as is:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/04/08/abortion-foes-strike-at-doctors-home-lives/eb12de3f-cd10-4496-b924-65d4408089cf/

@45: Ask and ye shall receive
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/04/23/protesters-gather-outside-whitmers-lansing-residence-over-stay-home-order/3015735001/

@45: And
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/protesters-outside-governors-mansion-in-carson-city-attract-police-presence

@45: Also:
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/coronavirus/article_74ee2aee-8cbf-11ea-92b4-bbf81f80e40c.html

@51: Well there ya go 3 recent incidents of right wing protests at the homes of three different political officials in 3 different states.
So to recap, you make the claim that: "only the fringe left thinks it’s okay to go to private people’s residence to “protest”
And are met with links regarding anti-choice protests at private people's homes.
You double down and scoff "Find me current right wingers protesting at media figures and politician's houses right now or even recently. They don't".
To which I provide you links to the contrary.
Would you like to roll again or are you going to do what you usually do when pewned here and disappear in a cloud of your own farts?

We received a postcard from the city today telling us about plans to put in a dedicated bike lane along Beacon Avenue, from the Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge to 39th Ave S. I immediately called both Morales and Durkan’s office to object to it. With all the problems the city has, and all the deferred infrastructure, and all of the issues surrounding homeless, we are still using taxpayer money for these silly vanity projects that will benefit a handful of citizens, and frustrate a great many others. Worse yet, the city is still employing people to come up with these plans?

City government, which I am part of, needs to look at its headcount, and immediately start tightening its belt, because this isn’t going to get any better for a long, long time.

Durkan did the right thing. The council needs to start acting like adults.

@47 -- So you are saying that increased traffic in West Seattle is an emergency, but thousands of people being evicted is not? Seriously?

Bad traffic isn't an emergency. If it was, there are tons of places around the city that need "emergency" funding. The delay for buses is minimal. If you drive, you encounter traffic -- yeah, join the party.

Fuck man, if you were even paying attention you would know that the city has already planned on giving West Seattle extra money to deal with the situation -- assuming the TBD proposal passes. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/new-tax-plan-would-spend-less-on-seattle-bus-service-more-on-low-income-and-west-seattle-programs/

So now you are saying that we should use even more money (from the emergency fund, no less) to help West Seattle? On what exactly? A new bridge?

Listen, dumb-shit, there is no way that Seattle is going to afford a new West Seattle bridge on its own. It will need help, either from the state, or the federal government. There is not much that will be done for a while, because unlike an earthquake, it isn't a fucking emergency. It is just a broken bridge -- next to another bridge, and three miles from another bridge.

@56 -- So you think the city is spending too much money on bike lanes? Seriously? How much do you think the city spends on bike lanes, compared to other transportation projects, or other projects in general?

I'll give you a hint -- it ain't much. You could cancel all the new bike lanes in the city and it would hardly be noticed. Canceling a long awaited bike project (after most of the work has already been done) would be stupid. Even the mayor is not that stupid.

The anti-choice zealots make for a good cautionary tale. They're totally convinced they have the one true and correct answer, they don't hesitate to make their political agenda personal, and they use threats and even terrorism whenever they feel like it.

They've also lost every major fight they've picked for fifty years. Coincidence? I think not.

We could do well by learning from their example. Stay away from politicians' residences, families, and other personal aspects. Don't like their policies? Protest at City Hall; that's one of the reasons we built it in the first place. Or go to the places those policies get implemented, and show all of us how the resulting injustices affect real people.

@56
Sorry Ms Vel-DuRay, but I was biking on Beacon Ave S yesterday.An augmented bike lane would be great - there aren't many in south Seattle.
Although fixing the potholes wouldn't hurt, either.
God knows, if many of the pot holes had names, they'd be old enough to vote!

@59: Agreed.

pat dear, let me quietly murmur that south Seattle has, among other things, the Mountains-to-Sound bike trail, two "neighborhood greenways", a big chunk of Lake Washington Boulevard, Wilson Avenue, the Chief Sealth Trail, and S Dearborn Street. You can see it all here.....

http://seattlecitygis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a24b25c3142c49e194190d6a888d97e3

And Ross dear, even if the savings are "minimal", they're still savings. We need a new Ballard Bridge, a new Magnolia Bridge, and a new (or completely overhauled) West Seattle Bridge. We have people living on the streets (and there will probably be a lot more of those people in the future), we have a massive public health crisis, and we have a tax base that has all but collapsed.

I'm not anti-bike. I live on one of the neighborhood greenways, I and I enjoy it very much. I'm just pro-responsible government. We have many more pressing needs and the city needs to learn how to prioritize. The go-go days are over for a bit. The worst has not hit us.

@57: "So you are saying that increased traffic in West Seattle is an emergency..."

The community which is actually being impacted by it regards it as an emergency, yes. I was merely pointing out they live in the path of that traffic, and they do not agree with your dismissive assessment of that traffic. And remember -- that traffic will, in all probability, get a lot worse before the West Seattle Bridge returns to service.

(You make good policy proposals sometimes. Those proposals could be even better, if you'd actually listen to the citizens and communities who would be impacted by your proposals.)

"...but thousands of people being evicted is not?"

There is a legal moratorium on evictions.

"So now you are saying that we should use even more money (from the emergency fund, no less) to help West Seattle? On what exactly? A new bridge?"

I was merely noting there are plenty of other emergent problems we do and might face, and we should not spend all of our funds on just one problem. Your hysterical huffing, repeated denial of what affected communities actually say, and name-calling all suggest you don't have a counter-argument -- and you know it.

Dear Mrs. Catalina, I bring excellent news! You have an opportunity to tell SDOT all of your divine thoughts on how traffic-safety improvements are merely expensive frivolities: "Attend the online presentation 5 to 6 PM Wednesday, August 12" (https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/bike-program/protected-bike-lanes/beacon-hill-bike-route)

This will save you from further exhausting effort in contacting Mayor Durkan (who really does have larger issues to concern her, dear), and your delightful CM Morales, who could not possibly care less about what you think -- or about any other detail of actual governing work. (She is a champagne radical, after all, and doing labor is the entire reason why she even tolerates the poors.)

Tensor, I really don't care what the mayor's priorities are, or CM Morales for that matter. I am their constituent. It is within my rights to contact them

I can tell you that SDOT could care less about my thoughts on it either (or really anyone's for that matter). It will be the typical Seattle "public outreach" - some Bright Young Things from the department will do a PowerPoint, and then every nutjob with something to say about the zoo, smart meters, and chemtrails will spout non-sequiturs. All the pro-bike people will make positive comments, and the whole thing will be filed away somewhere, with the pre-determined consensus that it enjoys broad support. That's how one justifies one's program and one's job in the city.

I know how the sausage is made, dear. It's just in my nature to call the councilperson and mayor's office. That's the way I was raised.