The guy picked his niece to be senior deputy mayor
The guy picked his niece to be senior deputy mayor. City of Seattle

In case you forgot: Councilmember Kshama Sawant's recall election almost feels like a distant memory. It was a week ago that the Stranger Election Control Board got tipsy at Sawant’s Chop Suey election night party, and on Sunday, maybe we’ll go again for her victory party, also at Chop Suey, which has become something of a favorite for Sawant’s crew. Sawant is still ahead, and it's very unlikely the Recall campaign will make a comeback, which Sawant knows—she's already declared an "apparent" victory and roasted her Democrat colleagues.

As of Monday night, Sawant earned a 309-vote lead with 450 challenged ballots that have until the end of day Thursday to get cured. To see if King County Elections has counted your vote, look here. And check out Rich’s latest post about it, but don’t fucking bother him; he’s now on vacation – or as much vacation as the man is willing to take.

Family is everything: Mayor-elect Bruce Harrell promised Seattle the brightest minds in his administration. Harrell announced his first round of administration picks in a Monday news release. Harrell appointed his niece and campaign manager Monisha Harrell as senior deputy mayor. The last person in that job, Tiffany Washington (who will become a newly created "deputy mayor of housing and homelessness" in Bruce's admin) made over $100 an hour according to city wage data. I wish my uncle would give me a job like that wow.

Compassion Seattle will not die: Harrell also appointed Tim Burgess as director of strategic initiatives. The former council member and emergency mayor most recently helped craft the now-defunct Compassion Seattle. Harrell liked the pro-sweep initiative so much, that after a court ruled it so unbelievably illegal, he urged the current council to adopt similar policies, which he promised to bring to the mayor’s office anyway.

SnOw BaBy!!! I don't have any fancy forecasts, but a quick look out my window showed no sign of snow. However KIRO 7 reported delays for multiple school districts in Pierce, Thurston, and Lewis County.

Green guy: Governor Jay Inslee proposed a slew of climate initiatives in anticipation of the coming legislative session. Urbanists will like that he got a little anti-car. He said, “The amount of carbon emissions that we will have to reduce to meet that legally binding commitment is equivalent to the emissions of taking 1.3 million vehicles off the road.”

Fuck cars… sorta: Inslee wants to spend $100 million a year to give tiered rebates to encourage buying electric vehicles. So, it’s a bit “car positive,” but I’m no environmentalist. Buy a new zero-emission van for under $80k or a sedan for under $55k, Inslee wants to give you $7,500. Buy a used zero-emission vehicle, he’ll give you $5,000. Even buyers of zero-emission bikes could see $1,000 rebates if the Legislature likes the idea.

Goodbye González: After six years in office, Council President Lorena González said farewell to her colleagues on the council. González sorta put all her eggs into one basket when she decided to run for mayor instead of defending her seat. In January, Fremont Brewing co-owner Sara Nelson will fill González’s seat, making a once solidly progressive seat an almost guaranteed vote for the council’s minority moderate faction. But since the socialist hung on to her seat, Seattle Channel fanatics may have plenty of political clashes to tweet about.

Wronging workers rights: The council memorialized GonzĂĄlez as a champion of the working people, but Twitter had a different take, since the council just voted via Zoom meeting to establish a new date to end hazard pay.

Nine years have passed since a school shooter killed 20 six- and seven-year-olds at their elementary school. Those with the power to keep students safe at school have not been moved to adequately do so. In the years following, too many students died in their classrooms from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida to most recently, Oxford High School in Michigan.

Union-busting but make it *festive*: This lovely mailer came from the Freedom Foundation in Olympia.

Tough time to work for a school district: Last week I reported on the ongoing saga at a Bellevue area high school (a student alleged violence; the school didn't do enough for her liking; students walked out; the school expelled the alleged victim; she came back last week, HATED how she believes the school privileged her accused abuser, and left). Well, now students, parents, and teachers are protesting the Monroe School District and fighting for classrooms free from racism, hate, and discrimination. KING 5 said that the protesters want the district's superintendent to resign for not doing enough to prevent those things. Schools, man.

The pill: Pfzier said their experimental pill to treat COVID-19 appears effective against the very terrifyingly-named Omicron variant. Sounds like a transformer but I digress. Anyway, the FDA should decide whether or not to authorize this pill and another competing pill soon. The AP has the story.