You can get delicious caramel or cheddar popcorn at Bellevue Square.

I doubt this effort will actually lead to a change of “leadership” for the denizens of District 3 however the mere fact that this was approved by the court will have a positive impact on the city. For the first time in her tenure Sawant will actually be held accountable for her actions and going forward it will constantly be in her mind when she is dreaming up her next lame ass stunt for the “movement”. Congrats to Ernie Lou for doing what no one else has been able to do this far.

She lit a match on Capitol Hill then disappeared when CHOP went off the rails and turned into a violent and destructive sideshow. The cancer is still growing on Cal Anderson Park. She should be held accountable.

I can’t wait to vote for Sawant a fourth time while Jenny Durkan sits idly in her mansion, just waiting for the day that the ghostbusters finally come after her spooky ass.

Probably not the right person to cover anything related to the protests since she participates herself (and both tweets and “reports” about it) selectively as both a protester and “member of the press.” Just a propaganda tool. Gonzo journalism is valuable as a thought piece and entertainment, but not in place of actual real-time coverage of newsworthy issues.

That said, The Stranger has long operated without anyone with the word “News” in their title, so this is likely the desired outcome.

@9: Because that’s the alternative, sure.

@2,

How was she not being held accountable for her actions during her tenure when she ran, and won, her re-election campaign?

Anyone want to talk about the actual recall in this comments section?

From where I'm sitting it looks quite damning for Sawant. The judge allowed 4 of the 6 charges to go through (only the 2 related to Sawant's handling of CHAZ were dismissed) and her own lawyers agreed that 3/4 of the charges were true. The only one they contested was the charge that Sawant gave out Jenny Durkan's home address.

If this makes it to an election, a referendum on Sawant herself and a referendum on CHAZ, which she tied herself to, would seem to be an easy decision for the voters of D3. Sawant's strategy of spamming the district with out-of-state volunteers won't be as effective during COVID times, especially since she doesn't have an opponent to demonize. She's already playing defense by trying to demonize poor Ernie Lou, your local old gay hippie who worked at the Three-Dollar Cinema, as some sort of right-wing Trump nut. I'm sure before this is over she'll have turned the poor old fellow into Jeff Bezos.

Also I concur that The Stranger's coverage of politics has essentially become Nathalie Graham's adventure blog as she is often making the news and then covering it the next morning.

@11 the public was not aware of these actions and therefore could not hold her accountable.

5/6 of the charges occurred after she was re-elected.

The most damning charge, that she relinquishes authority in her office to Socialist Alternative, is from early 2019. To my immense frustration, it got zero coverage in the election and nobody knew about it. Maybe this recall effort will finally shine a light.

@11, Yes, she's been held accountable up through the last election. But since then she's descended into uncharted territory of grandiose dysfunction.

@11 13/14 already answered your question but I would add winning an election in not a validation of a candidates moral and ethical actions. I would hope in these times that is an accepted fact.

Since most of the money and support comes from outside her district, my opinion is that her district will reject the recall, since it's not an organic one.

Like the organic city-wide Recall Durkan movement is.

Now, on the other hand, if it was Barr or another one of his fellow travelers trying to Recall Durkan, I'd defend her too. Nobody from outside gets to determine who our elected officials are.

This is an attempt to chill ANYONE in Seattle who defends BLM and the movement to change this city into a far more humane one. I hate politicians. But I voted for her and you right wing assholes need to back off seriously. This is an attack on progressive politicians under some nasty lies and phony allegations. I will be more than happy to vote for her again and encourage others to do so. You neoliberals don’t give a shit about the working class and
the poor. You use people as stepping stones. And you always have.

We will continue to NOT kiss your ass. The fascist mayor should be recalled with her whiny elitist complaints while she practiced genocide on the unhoused among other very disgusting practices such as incarcerating people who were innocent but were/are activists while she was a prosecutor. She got into office with a phony PR campaign and bribery.
Why isn’t she being held accountable????

Yeah, we know you are all about protecting your stinking rotten status quo which kills. So fuck off.

I'd like her to go to prison for what she did and then be forced to clean up the mess where CHOP was located at

The mayor is no more important than any other living human being. And neither are you.

Chop was doing just fine until the neonazis and cops destroyed it.

21 and the rest. You continue to be brainwashed tools for the Trump regime but can’t snap out of it even if they grind you into the dust.

Nathalie Graham is on the right side of history.

Oh, not all of you are Trumpers. Some are neoliberals who are panic stricken at the idea that anyone would not be a DNC robot or a corporate democrat. It amounts to the same thing. Same shit different name.

It's great to compare SCC Insight's coverage to that of The Stranger. SCC Insight is a lot more clear on the main point:

"Judge Rogers flatly rejected all of Sawant’s defenses, finding all four charges factually and legally sufficient."

(https://sccinsight.com/2020/09/16/judge-certifies-recall-petition-against-sawant/)

While The Stranger gave Sawant's defense, SCC Insight noted the judge found Sawant's defense to be completely irrelevant:

"He [the judge] didn’t attempt to determine whether the key assertions, that Sawant led the protest, knew Durkan’s address, and knew that it was confidential) were true — nor did he need to. He simply determined that evidence was presented that voters might conclude would be a basis for those conclusions, and that if they are true then they are violations legally sufficient for a recall."

So, if all goes well, voters in District 3 will consider four grounds for recalling CM Sawant, any one of which would suffice:

(1) She violated City Ethics Code by allowing a private organization, Socialist Alternative, to participate in the hiring and firing of City employees;

(2) She used city resources to support a ballot initiative, and knowingly failed to comply with public disclosure requirements required for such use of our civic resources;

(3) She knowingly endangered the health of City workers, by illegally opening City Hall during COVID-19 pandemic, when City Hall had been closed specifically to prevent spread of COVID-19;

(4) She and Socialist Alternative led a threatening, intimidating, and vandalizing crowd to Mayor Durkan's residence, when location of Durkan's home was legally protected from disclosure.

(Little wonder, then, that CM Sawant's most passionate supporters here instantly resorted to name-calling and other personal attacks upon CM Sawant's critics, rather than addressing these charges.)

@ It isn't possible to "end human suffering" by doing the things you want done- human suffering can never be ended or even reduced through harder-line policing or more tax cuts for the rich or by treating substance useas a crime rather than a social and public health issue. No city has ever reduced human suffering by letting police violently suppress protest, And the Capitol Hill Precinct was always a categoric failure at doing anything but increasing human suffering.

Sorry, that should have been "@21".

@34/35: Reading comprehension can work for you only when you read all of the words. Not just some of the words, or even most of them. Reading all of them is required.

For example, @21 never claimed we could "end human suffering"; rather, @21 claimed we could "end the human suffering that Sawant has inflicted on Seattle." Now, that is itself a very large claim, as CM Sawant's failed policies have inflicted loads and loads and loads of needless human suffering upon Seattle. Instead of engaging with @21's actual claim, you mentioned a number of things not in @21's comment:

"harder-line policing"
"more tax cuts for the rich"
"treating substance useas a crime"
"letting police violently suppress protest"
"Capitol Hill Precinct"

As @21 never even mentioned any of these topics, how you could possibly conclude @21 "want[ed them] done" must remain a mystery.

Instead of rambling on about topics which neither @21 nor anyone else has mentioned here, perhaps you could comment on the certified recall petition for District 3's Council Seat? Maybe then we can indeed discuss how removal of CM Sawant from office for her several malfeasances (see @33 for details) could help us "end the human suffering that Sawant has inflicted on Seattle."

36: since the recall is a right-wing effort, it's obvious that the things I listed are what the people who want Sawant recalled would prefer.

And the phrase "end human suffering" was not qualified in that post. It implied that Sawant has caused a massive increase in "human suffering", and that's absurd.

Even if we assume the CHAZ/CHOP caused "human suffering"- there's little evidence that it did and there's no evidence that having the cop shop stay on the Hill would have prevented any suffering- Sawant didn't cause CHAZ/CHOP and couldn't have done anything to prevent it. CHAZ/CHOP was spontaneous and created solely by the activists involved.

The election settled this-the voters didn't want to replace Sawant with someone who'd have put corporate power before human need, as Egan Orion would always have done- that's what being "pro-business" means after all, it means treating everything other than short-term gain for the few as irrelevant- and they don't want it now,

Clearly, Sawant could not have prevented the protesters going to Durkan's house-they did that on her own and they'd have found the place no matter what.

And it doesn't really matter if she let people into city hall- city hall belongs to the people, and was never meant to be the exclusively private domain of the politicians and the staffers.

Also, there's no indication that anybody who deserved a staff job was denied one due to anything Sawant's party did.

@37: "... since the recall is a right-wing effort,"

Evidence for which includes?

"it's obvious that the things I listed are what the people who want Sawant recalled would prefer."

I prefer exactly none of those things, and I want Sawant recalled for the excellent reasons which the certified recall petition listed. (See @33 for details.)

'It implied that Sawant has caused a massive increase in "human suffering", and that's absurd.'

@21 did not 'imply' that, it stated it outright. You just happened to miss it, until I kindly pointed it out to you. You're welcome.

"Even if we assume the CHAZ/CHOP caused "human suffering"- there's little evidence that it did..."

During the brief and miserable existence of the CHUMP, at least six persons were violently assaulted there, and two of them died. That's not enough to trigger your "human suffering" threshold? How many hospitalizations and/or violent deaths do you require?

"The election settled this..."

Three of the four certified charges cover actions CM Sawant took after re-election. How, exactly, were the voters to know? In any case, an election does not confer unlimited license upon the official to take any possible action, legal or not; that is in fact why we have a recall process.

"Clearly, Sawant could not have prevented the protesters going to Durkan's house..."

She went there herself, as part of that crowd; she just admitted that in court. What mysterious force in our universe suddenly became powerful enough to silence her megaphone?

"And it doesn't really matter if she let people into city hall- city hall belongs to the people, and was never meant to be the exclusively private domain of the politicians and the staffers."

It was closed to protect city workers from a global pandemic. No one has a "right" to infect anyone else with a preventable disease. Again, please do tell us how many workers would have to sicken and/or die of COVID-19 before your concern threshold for "human suffering" is reached.

"Also, there's no indication that anybody who deserved a staff job was denied one due to anything Sawant's party did."

That very point was just certified as credible in court, actually. Involving a private organization in public business is a violation of the City Ethics Code, and that organization's refusal to provide records pertaining to their participation not only suggests the have something to hide, but it allows public business to take place without public scrutiny. That you're actually defending that last point shows how little you actually care about "the people" for whom you claim to speak.

As an elected official you are responsible to keep people in your district safe, she let Chop go on for far too long. Police and paramedics couldn’t get in while shootings happened. I am pro-business because what would I do to make a living if businesses weren’t around. Besides COVID-19 the riots cause businesses to closed permanently in some cases or move out which cause people’s jobs which affects their lives and donations to charities for some who donate. The BLM group lost my support when I kept on waiting for them to speak out against the rioters, looters, and the violent criminals attacking businesses and they didn’t speak out some are supporting this or part take part in the destruction as a BLM member. That hurts whatever chances of equality people hope for because people may look to these people as to what black people are like and what will people think if every stereotype are checked off.

Sawant had no power to stop any of the violence. Nobody there was under her command, for God's sakes.

@40: "Sawant had no power to stop any of the violence. Nobody there was under her command, for God's sakes."

So, she somehow lost both her megaphone and her desire to tell other people what to do? The latter was clearly on display when she illegally opened City Hall to the spread of COVID-19. In the CHUMP, she told people the violence there was all fomented by the right wing -- even though she's never presented any evidence to support this. By blaming her usual right-wing bogeymen, she was distracting attention from the real causes of violence in the CHUMP -- not helpful for the situation there, to say the least.

But did she cause it? No, and the petitioners had removed those charges from their petition before it was certified by the judge, so I'm wondering why you even mentioned it.

I'm also still wondering how much violence and misery the CHUMP needed to produce before you would admit the CHUMP "caused human suffering." Apparently, six violent assaults, two of them ending Black lives, simply wasn't enough for you. Please do tell us: what body count do you require before your personal standard for "human suffering" is reached?