Category: This Week on PubliCola

This Week on PubliCola

This Week on PubliCola: January 31, 2026

CARE Team Struggles Under Cop Contract Restrictions, SPD Loses In Court, County Prosecutors Post Lurid Photos, and More

By Erica C. Barnett

Monday, January 26

Two Years In, CARE Chief Amy Barden Says Her Crisis Response Team Still Faces Roadblocks

In a wide-ranging interview with the podcast I co-host, Seattle Nice, CARE Department Chief Amy Barden laid out some the obstacles her team of unarmed first responders still faces in responding to mental health crisis calls. Among them: A contract with the city’s police union that dictates CARE’s working conditions (even though CARE isn’t party to the contract); later in the week, the guild president mocked Barden for her comments.

Tuesday, January 27

SPD’s Obstructive “Grouping” Policy “Violates the Public Records Act,” Judge Rules

A King County judge ruled in favor of the Seattle Times in their public disclosure lawsuit against the police department, whose policy of refusing to respond to more than one public records request from the same person or outlet at a time PubliCola has covered extensively. The ruling should force SPD to end the current, obstructionist practice, but leaves several other issues open, including whether the city should allow “grouping” to continue.

Wednesday, January 28

County Prosecutors Give Lurid Presentation on Sex Work Featuring Unredacted Images of Brutalized Women to Seattle Council Committee

King County prosecutors gave an shockingly graphic presentation about sex work and human trafficking to a council committee on Tuesday, showing unredacted images of brutalized, identifiable women with bloodied and battered faces and bleeding bodies. The prosecutors said showing these women’s photos was necessary to demonstrate how dangerous sex work is; after enough people expressed outrage, Kettle’s office removed the images from the city’s website and apologized for the presentation.

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Thursday, January 29

Three stories from Fizz today:

More Big Changes at City Hall, as Mayor Katie Wilson continues to shake up the departments. This week’s departures included Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections director Brooke Belman, who’s returning to Sound Transit as deputy director, and Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs director Hamdi Mohamed.

Jamie Tompkins has a Podcast: The ex-chief of staff to former police chief Adrian Diaz, who was fired for dishonesty (along with Diaz) after allegedly lying to investigators looking into the pair’s alleged ethics-violating affair, has a podcast that promises to tell her story, “Real. Raw. Rebellious.” It’s unclear what this means, if anything, for her ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit against the city.

Mike Solan Thinks He’s Cute for posting a photo of CARE Chief Barden, stamped “CLUELESS,” on social media and saying that the CARE Team aren’t real “first responders.” Solan capped off his week on Friday by saying police should ignore orders from Mayor Katie Wilson to document ICE activities in Seattle.

Friday, January 30

Police Launching “Neighborhood Resource Centers,” Starting in Magnuson Park

The Seattle Police Department is setting up a permanent “Neighborhood Resource Center” in Magnuson Park and hiring two full-time officers to staff it, with more locations to come. The park has been a source of complaints about loud parties and late-night music for decades, as well as gun violence. It’s also the location of the low-income housing complex where police shot and killed a pregnant woman, Charleena Lyles, in 2017.

New Drug Sensors Lead to Restroom Closures at Four Seattle Library Branches

The Seattle Public Library has installed “air-quality sensors” that detect vapor from drugs like fentanyl and alert staff to close the restrooms down for at least 15 minutes or until the air quality improves. Although public health experts say fentanyl vapor has little or none of the drug in it, staff have reported getting sick from fumes, prompting the new sensors (and frequent restroom closures).

This Week on PubliCola

This Week on PubliCola: September 27, 2025

Cascade PBS Ditches Local News, Harrell Budget Pushes off Tough Choices, Right-Wing Activist Tests Anti-Trans Messaging, and More

By Erica C. Barnett

Monday, September 22

City’s Growth Plan Update Maintains Seattle’s Suburban Character, Including Mandatory Parking

After a whirlwind of meetings to consider more than 100 amendments, the city council passed the first part of a 10-year comprehensive plan update that will allow small apartment buildings in about 30 new “neighborhood centers,” along with a few other modest concessions to the fact that Seattle is a growing, renter-majority city, not a small town with suburban neighborhoods connected by “urban villages.”

Cascade PBS Lays Off News Staff, Citing Federal Cuts

Cascade PBS, which owns the 18-year-old news website Crosscut, announced it will be eliminating all local news coverage and laying off 16 news staffers. While Cascade justified the decision by citing $3.5 million in federal funding cuts, critics asked why the station couldn’t cut elsewhere, or delay cuts in light of a recent surge in donations.

Tuesday, September 23

Seattle Nice: CARE Team Expansion and a Missed Opportunity for Neighborhood Businesses

On this week’s podcast, we discussed Mayor Bruce Harrell’s recent proposal to raise sales taxes 0.1 cents—as authorized earlier this year by Gov. Bob Ferguson—to fund, among other public-safety programs, the expansion of the CARE team, a group of social workers that responds to calls that don’t require police. We also dug in on the council’s rejection of a comp plan amendment that would have allowed new corner stores to stay open past 10pm and allow bars close to where house owners live.

Wednesday, September 24

Harrell’s Latest Budget Spikes City’s Deficit by Piling On New Spending In Election Year

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s election-year budget, released in a slick Seattle Channel-produced video on Tuesday, piles on even more new programs than last year’s despite ongoing revenue shortfalls as the nation heads toward a possible recession. The budget plunges the city into the red immediately after next year, and funds many critical long-term needs, such as immigrant protections, with one-time funds.

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Thursday, September 25

The Siren Song of Forced Drug Treatment

In a guest editorial, HaRRT Center co-director Susan E. Collins explained why calls to forcibly remove people from the streets and place them in locked treatment facilities are misplaced. An expert in her field who is sober herself, Collins brings stats and research to an emotional conversation about how to help people who may appear incapable of helping themselves.

Mayoral Candidate Wilson Withdraws from KOMO-Sponsored Debate, Citing Sinclair’s Censorship of Jimmy Kimmel

Katie Wilson announced that she wouldn’t participate in a debate co-sponsored by Sinclair affiliate KOMO TV unless the conservative media company reversed its decision to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel’s show. (Harrell said she was being “hypocritical” because she supported moving an anti-trans hate rally in the city’s LGBTQ neighborhood to a different park.) Sinclair reinstated Kimmel the following day.

Friday, September 26

New Poll Tests Messages on Initiatives Opposing Trans Girls in Sports, Student Privacy

Brian Heywood, the right-wing megadonor who tried to kill the state’s long-term health insurance and Climate Commitment Act through voter initiatives last year, is testing messages for two new initiatives this year. The first would ban tran girls from school sports; the second would allow parents to snoop into their kids’ school counseling records, among other privacy violations. One test message claims that “men” are now playing against girls in public schools.

Digging into Harrell’s Campaign “They Aren’t From Here” Homelessness Talking Point

In campaign messaging and in his budget speech (arguably a campaign speech in itself!) Harrell has claimed that 70 percent of people who are homeless in Seattle are actually from somewhere else, using the stat as an argument that Seattle is doing more than its fair share to address a countywide homelessness problem. But that statistic turns out to be deeply flawed.

Councilmember Rivera Questions 2026 Funding for CARE Team, LEAD Diversion, and Equitable Development Initiative

City Councilmember Maritza Rivera launched into the council’s 2026 budget process by telling city department staffers that she still lacks enough information, nearly two years into her term, to know whether the LEAD diversion program, the CoLEAD encampment resolution program, and the Equitable Development Initiative are working. She also said she doesn’t support “Housing First,” then described it—inaccurately—as handing out housing to people with complex needs and leaving them there.

This Week on PubliCola

This Week on PubliCola: September 21, 2025

Seattle’s plan for growth, CARE team expansion, and more stories you might have missed this week.

Monday, September 15

What That Day-Long Comp Plan Hearing Was About

The city council spent the week blasting through amendments to Phase 1 of the long-delayed comprehensive plan, the framework for growth across the city. I took a look at the ones that came up most often during a day-long public comment period on Friday, including amendments about trees, social housing, parking, and density.

Seattle Nice: Does Police Surveillance Make Us Safer?

On this week’s podcast, we discussed the new police cameras that are going up in so-called “high-crime areas” around Seattle. Are police cameras effective at preventing and solving violent crimes—the stated purpose of the legislation—or are they another expensive tool to make it look like SPD is taking care of people’s safety in marginalized communities?

Tuesday, September 16

Police Department Acknowledges Using AI, But Says It Isn’t “Substantive” Enough to Label

Under the city’s AI policy, every city department is supposed to get specific permission for new AI tools like ChatGPT and, if they use AI “substantively” in their writing, clearly label the content as AI-generated along with the name of the tool. After resident filed a complaint against the department over several blog posts and internal communications that seemed AI-generated, SPD acknowledged to PubliCola that they have used AI, but denied using it for anything more than grammar checks and similar non-substantive edits.

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Wednesday, September 17

Late-Breaking Comp Plan Change Would Restore Low-Density “Donut Hole” Between Capitol Hill and Central District

In a last-minute amendment to the comprehensive plan her committee has been discussing for months, Council Joy Hollingsworth proposed reducing density in her district by preserving the existing, low-density zoning on an area between Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the Central District. Although Hollingsworth would end up pulling the proposal for now, the amendment was one of several big last-minute proposals that the public had no chance to see or weigh in on.

Thursday, September 18

Tiny House Village in Southeast Seattle Remains Stalled as Winter Approaches

Plans to open a new tiny house village in Southeast Seattle have stalled over an apparent lease dispute, according to the organization, Nickelsville, that has been trying to work with the Harrell administration to open a shelter at the site since 2023.

Friday, September 19

Harrell Proposes New Sales Tax to Expand CARE Team, Fund Treatment, and Backfill Budget

Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed a new 0.1-cent sales tax and rolled out a plan to spend it. About half the money would backfill spending on existing programs, like LEAD and CARE, that currently get funding from other sources. The rest would expand non-police public safety programs, including expansion of the CARE Team from 24 to 48 members—a win that indicates CARE may get more concessions from the police union in its next contract, currently in negotiations.

 

This Week on PubliCola

This Week on PubliCola: Funding Treatment, Fining Taggers, Testing Campaign Messages, and More
A page from Police Chief Shon Barnes’ schedule.

Also: Does it matter if the police chief is out of town on the weekends?

Monday, July 7

The More We Love Launches Six-Month “High Accountability” Out-of-Town Shelter for Commercially Exploited Women

The More We Love’s first contract with the city is for 10 beds for women trying to leave the sex trade. According to the contract, the shelter is is “intentionally low barrier to enter and has high accountability to stay.” Women with substance use disorders “are asked to commit to a pathway towards recovery to stay in the shelter unit” after what the contract calls a 72-hour “recharge” phase. The maximum stay is 30 days.

Seattle Nice: Sara Nelson Proposes Funding Treatment With New Public Safety Sales Tax

On this week’s podcast, Sandeep and I discussed Council President Sara Nelson’s “Pathways to Recovery” proposal, which—if passed—will commit up to 25 percent of a planned local sales tax increase to addiction treatment services. We agreed that if the city is going to increase the regressive sales tax, it should all go to expanding treatment options, not more funding for cops.

Tuesday, July 8

Council Advances Bills Expanding Power to Prosecute and Fine Graffiti Taggers, “Nuisance” Properties

The council’s public safety committee advanced two bills their advocates argued are critical to public safety in Seattle on Tuesday. The first allows the city to pursue civil cases against taggers (in addition to criminal charges), fining them up to $1,500 per tag. The second dramatically expands police leeway to go after business and property owners for civil and criminal violations that happen on or around their property.

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Wednesday, July 9

In First Four Months, Seattle’s New Police Chief Spent Most Weekends Out of Town

New police chief Shon Barnes, whose family still lives in Wisconsin, spends the majority of his weekends out of town, with nothing on his official schedule starting most Friday afternoons. His new spokeswoman, a former corporate communications consultant and writer for USA Today, responded to detailed questions, including “who is in charge when the chief isn’t here?” with an all-time brushoff that ended “thank you for your interest in SPD.”

Poll Tests Message that Katie Wilson is “Angry,” “Divisive,” and “Loud”; No Charges Yet for County Assessor Accused of Stalking

Two stories in Wednesday’s Afternoon Fizz: A poll testing negative messages against mayoral candidate Katie Wilson told voters the soft-spoken, wonkish longtime advocate has no convictions and is basically the second coming of Kshama Sawant, so look for that misleading mailer in your mailbox soon.

And a prosecutor has declined so far to charge King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson for stalking and harassing his ex after he was arrested last week for repeatedly showing up at her house despite a restraining order.

Friday, July 11

Former Councilmember Juarez Applies as “Caretaker” for Vacant Council Seat, Along with 21 Other Applicants

Former City Councilmember Debora Juarez submitted her application for the open District 5 City Council position that was just vacated by Cathy Moore. Juarez reportedly already has the support of a strong majority (perhaps as many as eight) council members for the appointment, for which 21 other people also applied.

John Wilson Drops Out of Race He was On Track to Lose, We Heart Seattle Lashes Out Against Harm Reduction

In Friday’s Afternoon Fizz: John Arthur Wilson dropped out of the race for King County Executive, but says he’ll remain in his current position, despite intense pressure for him to step down. And the head of We Heart Seattle, a group that “cleans up” encampments, criticized the heads of two longtime organizations that embrace harm reduction, accusing them of enabling drug users instead of using more punitive approaches.

Saturday, July 12

PubliCola on Hacks and Wonks: Mayoral Polling, Council Vacancy, Graffiti Crackdown, and More

I went on Crystal Fincher’s Hacks and Wonks podcast this week, where we talked about the city’s relentless focus on graffiti, the appointment process for the city council’s most recent vacancy, a recent poll that attempts to paint mayoral candidate Katie Wilson as a “loud,” “angry” radical with no core convictions, and more.

This Week on PubliCola

This Week On PubliCola: April 13, 2025
CARE Department Chief Amy Barden

Monday, April 7

City Settles Discrimination Lawsuit by Black Police Captain Demoted by Former Police Chief Diaz

PubliCola reported exclusively that the city had settled a discrimination lawsuit filed by Police Captain Eric Greening for nearly $1 million, including attorney fees; Greening sued the city after former police chief Adrian Diaz demoted him, claiming Diaz did so in retaliation after Greening raised concerns about discrimination at SPD.

Seattle Nice: Fees for Housing, a Lightweight Condemnation of “Defund,” and a Critique of Seattle’s Response to Shootings

On Seattle Nice this week, we discussed City Councilmember Cathy Moore’s efforts to make it more costly to build middle housing, Ron Saka’s resolution denouncing past efforts to reduce spending on police, and a new audit that says the city should adopt a different approach to gun violence than it has in the past.

Tuesday, April 8

Grim Outlook for Local Homelessness Programs Under Trump’s Slash-and-Burn Cuts

At a meeting of a new city council committee focusing on the impacts of federal funding cuts and other changes, housing funders, service providers, and the regional homelessness authority described a grim future for people who are homeless or unstably housed in the region, as federal funding cuts and affordable housing scarcity threaten to push more people onto the streets.

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Wednesday, April 9

Seattle’s CARE Department Chief Amy Barden and Her Husband, Former Deputy Police Chief Eric Barden, Have a Podcast

On the first episode of Amy and Eric Barden’s new podcast, BomBardened, the pair interview Ginny Burton, a recovery advocate who works with men in prisons. Burton, a former drug user, opposes housing first and other widely adopted harm reduction strategies such as medication-assisted treatment, saying that maintenance drugs like buprenorphine just get people high—a belief that is contrary to medical consensus.

Thursday, April 10

Bad News for the City Budget: New Forecast Slashes $241 Million from Last Year’s Projection

A new city budget forecast—the first since Trump took office—predicts that Seattle will take in $241 million less than previously anticipated over the next two years. Most of the new shortfall projection comes from a cooling JumpStart tax, which relies overwhelmingly on revenues from just 10 companies. The grim outlook could force real cuts this year—although with the mayor and council president up for reelection, there are strong incentives to put off tough decisions until after this budget cycle.

Friday, April 11

Spending on City’s New Payroll System Tops $32 Million; Saka Spouts Off About Tech Workers, COVID School Closures

The city’s troubled new payroll system, Workday, has cost the city at least $32 million to implement, according to documents detailing 18 change orders (so far) in the city’s contract with the consultant Deloitte. And at a meeting about the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise Levy renewal, Councilmember Rob Saka criticized Seattle’s lengthy school closures during COVID and said the city needed more homegrown tech workers from under-resourced communities who “look like” him, rather than immigrants on H1-B visas.

City Council, homelessness, housing, Jails, King County, This Week on PubliCola

This Week on PubliCola: March 29, 2025

Cathy Moore earmarks $1 million to The More We Love, Sara Nelson talks housing in the stadium district, SCORE’s director defends the troubled jail, and more.

Monday, March 24

SCORE Director Calls the Jail “Safe and Secure” Despite Recent Fatalities and Claims of Substandard Care

After PubliCola reported on substandard conditions at SCORE, a regional jail in South King County where at least 11 people have died over the last two years, jail director Devin Schrum defended her record to a sympathetic Renton City Council committee, calling the jail “human -centered” and safe.

Tuesday, March 25

Cathy Moore Directs $1 Million for Survivor Services to The More We Love, Bypassing Competitive Bidding Process

Providers who assist victims of sex trafficking and other types of commercial sexual exploitation have spent months preparing collaboratively for a competitive bidding process for more than $1 million in new funding for a “receiving center” for survivors. Last week, they learned that Councilmember Cathy Moore had chosen to circumvent this process, awarding funds directly to The More We Love, a group that also holds the city of Burien’s homeless encampment response contracts.

Wednesday, March 26

JumpStart Revenues Flatten and Council Questions Plan to Mandate Earplug Sales at Venues

Last year’s JumpStart payroll tax revenues came in $47 million shy of forecasts—a potentially significant problem if the trend keeps up, since the city chose last year to use the tax, which was supposed to be dedicated mostly to one-off capital projects, to fill a $250 million-plus general budget gap. And Councilmember Dan Strauss’ proposal to require “loud music venues” to sell earplugs to patrons ran into some skepticism from his colleagues.

 

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Thursday, March 27

Seattle Nice: Council President Sara Nelson Talks About Housing in the Stadium District, Addiction Treatment, and More

Council President Sara Nelson was our special guest on this week’s podcast, where we talked at length about her successful proposal to allow new apartments in the city’s stadium district (and I asked her if this housing, located in a busy commercial area, was just a distraction from the real need for new apartments in every neighborhood.

Friday, March 28

Burien Racks Up Big Legal Bills Defending its Homeless Ban; More Glitches in Seattle’s New Workday Payroll System

The city of Burien, which completely banned sleeping outdoors last year, spent more than $200,000 in 2024 fighting a lawsuit by the Seattle King County Coalition on homelessness and several unsheltered Burien residents. And the city’s glitchy new payroll system, Workday, gave some city workers unauthorized vacation days and failed to pay others for premium pay they were supposed to receive in lieu of benefits.

Public Defense Union Raises Concerns About Constantine’s Pick for DPD Director

SEIU 925, the union the represents nearly 400 public defense attorneys and other staffers, raised questions about interim director Matt Sanders’ ability to lead the department amid low morale and concerns about caseload standards, and endorsed another candidate over their current boss. King County Executive Dow Constantine announced he picked Sanders for the job shortly before Sound Transit announced Constantine will be the transit agency’s new CEO.