Budget debates, Trump-era worries, speeding cops, and more.
By Erica C. Barnett
I was busy watching (and live-posting about) the City Council’s budget committee meetings this week, so posting on the site was a little light on Thursday and Friday (more on that at the bottom of this post). Beyond the budget, this week’s posts included a piece by Josh about what’s worrying him this week, news about SPD’s internal policy on speeding, a post about (yet another) anti-trans group renting space from the Seattle Public Library, and more.
Monday, November 11
Capital Gains Tax, JumpStart Spending Plan Top Council’s Budget Agenda This Week
Big-picture, the biggest proposed changes in the city’s 2025-2026 budget are an amendment from budget chair Dan Strauss to end the city’s short-lived commitment to spend the proceeds from the JumpStart payroll tax on a list of specific categories, including housing and youth mental health, and an effort by Cathy Moore to pass a 2 percent tax on capital gains that would impact fewer than 1,000 people in the city. The council is currently poised to gut JumpStart and reject capital gains.
Tuesday, November 12
Three Things I’m Worried About: Trickle-Down Bullying; Martial Law; and Acquiescence
Josh Feit writes about what’s worrying him about Trump’s victory, including a resurgence of abusive social behavior, harsh crackdowns in the very cities that progressives wrongly consider “blue islands”; and a widespread posture of resigned acquiescence among liberals and leftists who are exhausted and confounded by Trump’s victory
A micro-example of the new City Council’s approach to the budget (in general: blustering confidence about policy prescriptions combined with righteous indignation at any suggestion that they don’t know everything already) is Maritza Rivera’s proposal to spend city resources researching whether King County’s sobering center could be a locked facility for people arrested under the city’s new anti-drug laws. As I reported, Rivera never reached out to the county, and they have no interest in changing the purpose of a facility that’s been around for decades.
Seattle Police Department Updates Its Emergency Driving Policy
Almost two years after officer Kevin Dave struck and killed 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula in a crosswalk while driving 74 miles an hour, SPD has updated its policy on speeding to include more detailed, but still imperfect, guidelines about when emergency driving is allowed.
Wednesday, November 13
Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon filed a formal complaint against a local public commenter for advocating for a higher minimum wage in the city, accusing her of breaking a law that bars public officials from electioneering. And the Seattle Public Library is once again renting its facilities to an anti-trans group, saying it can’t refuse to rent to any person or organization unless they explicitly threaten violence.
Thursday and Friday, November 14 and 15
As I mentioned, I’ve been updating readers about the city’s budget discussions on Bluesky, so if you aren’t following me there, you’re missing out on a lot of fascinating real-time updates and analysis that provide insight into how the council, and especially the five brand-new members, is navigating the complex budget process and each other this year. Follow me, PubliCola, and the podcast I do with Sandeep Kaushik and David Hyde, Seattle Nice.