Monday, November 18
Last-Minute Amendments, Lack of Transparency Characterize New Council’s First Budget
The city council, which has six new members, raced through this year’s budget process, wrapping things up about a week earlier than usual. The process was less transparent than any budget in recent memory, with last-minute amendments and few opportunities for the public to get a clear sense of what the council was doing, much less weigh in, before consequential votes.
Tuesday, November 19
Seattle Nice: Dow Constantine’s Legacy as King County Executive
On this week’s episode of the podcast, we talked about the county’s longest-serving executive, Dow Constantine, and his imprint on the county, including the light rail system, public health, ballot measures that have funded human services, shelters, and mental health care, and his big plans to redevelop Pioneer Square.
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Thursday, November 21
With Only Morales Voting “No,” City Council Passes Budget That Repurposes JumpStart, Cuts Jobs
Big-picture, the 2025-2026 city budget prioritizes police, funds unprecedented surveillance to enforce new laws designed to penalize sex work and drug use, and cuts dozens of jobs, including the people who work to reduce workplace discrimination and keep the city’s critical IT systems running.
Despite an ongoing structural deficit, the budget also includes more than $100 million in new spending, funded with the JumpStart spending tax, which the council permanently converted from a dedicated funding source for affordable housing, Green New Deal priorities, student mental health programs, and other spending categories into an all-purpose revenue source for the city’s general fund.
Saturday, November 23
Office of Police Accountability Director Out, Local Capital Gains Tax Loses Momentum, and More
Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the departure of Office of Police Accountability director Gino Betts on Friday afternoon; Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr and OPA employees recently raised concerns that Betts had slow-walked major investigations on serious alleged misconduct while focusing on minor misconduct cases. Also, the council’s vote against Councilmember Cathy Moore’s proposed capital gains tax grew more lopsided at the full council meeting, a bad sign for its future passage. And Joy Hollingsworth dismissed Logan Bowers, her extremely online (and extremely opinionated) staffer, just before the budget vote.