Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

x close
The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Extra Fizz: Ferguson to Support $20 Metro Fee

City   June 23, 2011 at 10:01 am Erica C. Barnett

King County Council member Bob Ferguson now says he’ll support a proposed $20 vehicle license fee to help stave off a $60 million annual revenue shortfall at Metro.

In a voice mail to PubliCola this morning, Ferguson said he “will be supporting the fee.” That brings the number of Democrats on the council who definitely support the fee to four, with only Julia Patterson’s vote in doubt. (We have a call out to Patterson’s office inquiring about her current position on the fee, and to Ferguson for more details about his decision to support it).

The county council can put the two-year fee, which would provide $25 million a year for bus service, on a countywide ballot with a five-member majority. In practical terms, that means that all of the county’s five Democrats would have to support it; the four Republicans on the council have all said they do not support the fee.


  • Blue Light

    Another Democrat supports another tax, er, fee.

    And in other breaking news:  dog bites man.

  • mj

    This just puts it on the ballot for the public to decide.  If you don’t want it, Blue Light, no one’s forcing you to vote for it.

  • Monster

    If I were a republican i would support it, but I would extract a pound of flesh in turn. I would demand a full and independent review of sound transit and metro to see how funds have been spent and how they can be more effiecitenly spent in the future, and the heads of those agencies to be removed.

  • Monster

    The problem is more people then you think will vote against it.

  • Blue Light

    but one of their non-profit allies has conducted a poll that shows 110% of likely voters will support it…

  • Guest

    Those independent reviews have already happened.  Sound Transit is pretty much always going through an independent review – via independent financial auditors, independent performance auditors and their own Citizen Oversight Panel.  Metro went through a very thorough performance audit in 2009, had every one of their service allocation and performance measure practices reviewed by the Regional Transit Task Force in 2010 and just passed a new set of service guidelines and strategic plan through the Regional Transit Committee (soon to be adopted by the County Council).  If these agencies had to go through any more independent reviews they wouldn’t have any resources left to run the buses. 

  • http://www.twitter.com/joeszi Joe Szilagyi

    If a majority supports a tax increase for a targeted purpose, it must be a good thing then. Why shouldn’t a local community be free to tax themselves if they want to? 

  • http://manywordsforrain.blogspot.com/ Mr Baker

    And as a result it will become pretty clear that the bus service will focus on value (getting people to work) and less on the political will of less valuable council districts. Lay the potential service reductions on top of that and you will see the Republican councilmember’s districts get hammered by not passing the fee.
    Until now the positive and negative service changes were out of balance.
    If I were a Republucan I would look at the proposed service reductions in my area before I committed either way.

  • Jakers

    If the majority supports it, then we must follow the will of the voters. Oh, and since the majority of voters vote in a majority of democratic representatives, wouldn’t it makes sense, @Bluelight, that they pass tax increases to provide the services the populace want?

  • Monster

    Oh I totally agree Joe, a local community should be able to tax themselve to oblivion if that is what there “vaules” are. But that being said they should also guard against those who would take advantage of their good will.

  • Monster

    Oh I totally agree Joe, a local community should be able to tax themselve to oblivion if that is what there “vaules” are. But that being said they should also guard against those who would take advantage of their good will.

  • http://www.twitter.com/joeszi Joe Szilagyi

    Yeah, well, elect more Republicans to King County positions, and there you go. Can’t? Maybe King County isn’t the right place to live then as a Republican. Don’t know what else to really say. When is the last time someone with an (R) after their name was elected to a post in Seattle? NYC? LA? SF? Boston? 

  • http://www.twitter.com/joeszi Joe Szilagyi

    Yeah, well, elect more Republicans to King County positions, and there you go. Can’t? Maybe King County isn’t the right place to live then as a Republican. Don’t know what else to really say. When is the last time someone with an (R) after their name was elected to a post in Seattle? NYC? LA? SF? Boston? 

  • Mek

    Didn’t you know, Monster is a republican, you can’t ever paint him into a corner like that. Maybe earth isn’t the place for a monster to live….but then again, if he moved to place where republicans were in control, he would lose all the benefits he hates to be taxed for.

    Waiting for his response that tells me that I made a bunch of incorrect assumptions about him and that I’m a homo.

  • Tax and Run

    So when is Ferguson run for AG?

  • Monster

    for every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar that cannot be spent to help the citizens of the county.

  • Monster

    for every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar that cannot be spent to help the citizens of the county.

  • Monster

    mek you are a homo and a terrible troll.

  • Monster

    mek you are a homo and a terrible troll.

  • Monster

    @szilagyi:disqus also  why should I leave the place I was born and raised? 

  • Monster

    @szilagyi:disqus also  why should I leave the place I was born and raised? 

  • Richard Pelto

    As someone who lives in Ferguson’s district and a long-time democrat, I am appalled at his voting record where he has consistently voted for measures that encourage rapid population growth. Its impacts make a mockery of his cant about environmental integrity, his “solutions” for road gridlock, waste disposal, and sewer impacts. No wonder there isn’t a tax increase he doesn’t like.