And more stories—and podcasts!—you may have missed for the week of October 26.
By Erica C. Barnett
Monday, October 26
Greater Seattle: Wilson’s Sweeps and Nelson’s Disappearing $30,000
Josh zeroes in on a fact that City Council critics of Mayor Katie Wilson seem unwilling to acknowledge: Under Wilson, the Unified Care Team has done more encampment sweeps than when Bruce Harrell was mayor. And, he argues, former councilmember Sara Nelson got away with using anonymous funds to finance a PAC that’s promoting a council candidate—even though the PAC returned the money.
Tuesday, October 27
Council Budget Amendments Already Top $80 Million in New Spending—and That’s Before the Big Stuff
The city council majority, which larded the 2026 city budget with “one-time” spending on new programs, is livid that Mayor Wilson’s budget closed the deficit they created by getting rid of some of their unfunded programs. Now, they’re proposing to add many of those programs back while also adding new ones, at a potential cost of more than $100 million (as a meeting that took place after this post revealed).
Thursday, October 29
Ex-Burien City Manager’s Excessive Complaints
The city of Burien finally handed over the investigation report that preceded former city manager Adolfo Bailon’s departure. It reveals that in addition to repeatedly calling 911 on homeless people in the park near his office, Bailon filed a barrage of apparently frivolous complaints against city councilmembers, city staff, and regular Burien residents.
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KCHRA Elaborates on Money Troubles (and Lays off Key Staff)
At a King County Council committee meeting, the regional homelessness authority’s chief operating officer, William Towey, said the agency’s recently revealed $16.7 million in overspending happened because the agency consistently overestimated how much money it would bring in, to the tune of a quarter billion dollars. Seattle and the which are taking back control of the region’s homelessness contracts, will have to shoulder the cost of the KCRHA’s poor financial choices.
In other KCRHA news, agency CEO Kelly Kinnison laid off one of the agency’s last two HR staffers as well as its top expert on HMIS, the complex homelessness tracking system that is one of the KCRHA’s few remaining responsibilities
Friday, October 30
$18.7 Million for Office Space. Cuts for Public Health. King County Has It Backward.
In a guest post, Harborview nurse Ryan Talen argues that King County Executive Girmay Zahilay’s costly return-to-office mandate would be better spent on health and human service programs to replace the ones that are being cut, both in Zahilay’s proposed budget and through federal funding reductions that will eliminate health care for millions.
Also this week: I was on City Cast Seattle’s November Guide episode, where we talked about how we’re keeping ourselves busy and warm this fall, as well as what’s on your ballot this week.
On Seattle Nice this week we talked with with Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans and Criminal Division Chief Jenna Robert about the city’s new Connection Court, which pairs access to services with strict requirements for people who opt in. People who accumulate additional criminal charges or fail to participate in services will get kicked out to mainstream court, where they’ll face penalties including potential jail time.
