Interesting article. The sentiments here track much of what I’ve been hearing. I do think the lack of progress on homelessness is a major factor why many voters are leaving Bruce. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

The Massachusetts millionaire tax is a great example of how raising taxes does NOT cause wealthy people to leave.

Great Nerd Farmer Podcast episode about housing with @natebowling.com and @jessdbateman.bsky.social We are so lucky in WA to have Sen. Bateman’s bold leadership on this critical issue! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Something I find interesting/curious is that City Council is required to have open public meetings and to regularly hear open public comments but there isn’t really a similar requirement for the Mayor even though the Mayor arguably has greater power.

the fundamentals of development right now are *terrible* tarriffs, high interest rates, labor pool being kidnapped. permits in seattle at lowest level in terms of percentage or even number since the '08 recession. and mayor's comp plan won't fix it's not good, folks. bsky.app/profile/holz...

Inbox: The items that should have gotten votes in yesterday's housing committee -- including 14 appointments to the city's renter's commission that Cathy Moore urged her former colleagues to delay -- will now get them in the full Seattle City Council meeting.

just as a reminder - seattle's permitting has fallen off a cliff the number of homes permitted in june of this year is the lowest level in a decade - lower than at any point during covid. this is not good news, folks.

Had the opportunity to chat with Katie Wilson @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social a bit yesterday and here’s what I appreciate most about her. It’s clear how genuine, caring, thoughtful and trustworthy she is. She’s kind of the opposite of an egocentric politician. She’s also extremely strategic….

Seattle’s democracy vouchers deserve renewal on August 5th This summer, Seattle's innovative campaign finance program is up for renewal. A decade of data points to its success.

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

Locals need this too!! Lots of Seattleites do not know where or which direction Angle Lake is.

Let’s go! Couldn’t agree more CM Solomon. We should absolutely pass a statewide income tax, with broad exemptions for peope below a certain income threshold. We should also actually give tax breaks to our lowest-income neighbors by expanding the Working Families Tax Credit.

District privilege systems are bad and Seattle shouldn't implement one IMO

Traffic safety advocates are at Rainier and Charles this morning to mourn the people who are expected to be killed by traffic violence - if the city continues to maintain the existing dangerous conditions in this rapidly growing area close to future light rail.

Community alert: The King County Regional Homelessness Authority has activated its severe heat protocols through Friday morning. Here’s a list of cooling sites throughout the Seattle area:

We’re lucky to have amazing folks here in Seattle like @nondriver.bsky.social and Disability Rights Washington helping us create a more safe, affordable, accessible and inclusive community. And, as noted in this great thread, their work is having positive impacts nationally and even globally!!

In 2021, I was trying to figure out a way to bring attention to how disabled community members who couldn’t drive or couldn’t afford to drive navigated their communities and decided to launch a “Week Without Driving.”

Interesting article with some good quotes from @nondriver.bsky.social

Cities have existed much longer than cars. But over the last century older cities were redesigned to accommodate cars and many newer cities were built around them as the primary mode of transportation. The more “car-centric” a city is, the less livable it is and less character it has.

If Seattle and every jurisdiction in the region followed Bothell’s lead, we could make an enormous difference in housing affordability, creating more walkable and livable neighborhoods, and transitioning away (as we must) from subsidizing and over-reliance on vehicles for daily transportation.

Awesome job Bothell and @masonthompson.bsky.social! Let’s legalize corner stores and cafes everywhere in Seattle and let’s stop taxing housing with parking mandates!

The Bothell City Council just voted 5-1 to drop all minimum off-street parking requirements at the same time that they approved the legalization of neighborhood cafes and corner stores everywhere in the city.

Today's column: “From the sugar cane plantations, to the ranch, to the hotel resort, to those rich millionaires who came from the mainland,” Goo said, “It’s a miracle that any of that land, in some ways, remains in our family.”

NEW STORY // Promised Lake Washington Boulevard Traffic Calming Remains Uncompleted www.theurbanist.org/2025/07/07/f...

Deeply troubling story. A former SPD officer for 33 years who was about to get fired got elected Sheriff in Pierce County. Need to get him recalled asap! www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

This is unbelievable. So now the US can drop off someone wherever they want? To a wartorn country where the US advises travelers not to go!!

The Trump administration just dropped 8 immigrants — who they were previously holding in a shipping container in Djibouti — into war torn South Sudan. Cruel. Inhumane. There aren’t words to describe how disgusting this is. We’ll keep fighting. abcnews.go.com/amp/US/trump...

Any updates on who might be applying?

One of my favorite annual @democracynow.org traditions is that we always play this video of James Earl Jones reading Frederick Douglass's speech "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" If you've never read or heard the speech, it's well worth your time.

Short primer on how regressive and bad for workers this bill is. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100... www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

This is bad, but it's made worse by @governorferguson.bsky.social and #waleg having rejected a proposal to raise $3 billion per year for WA's public schools earlier this year and made schools more vulnerable. Once again: we cannot protect our state from Trump unless we're willing to tax the rich.

It will also add trillions in additional debt from the party who claims to care about the debt and will threaten and cause government shutdowns over the debt limit whenever a Dem is President (and when spending is for working people), but happily run up the debt to cut taxes for billionaires.

Democrats in #waleg and @governorferguson.bsky.social should call a special session to pass new taxes on the rich and big corporations to backfill federal cuts especially to health care. The rich and big corporations can clearly afford it - it’d essentially restore the rates they’re paying now.

Under Trump’s proposed tax cut give-away to the wealthy, “Top income-earners would see about a $12,000 tax cut under the House bill, while the package would cost the poorest Americans $1,600, the CBO said.” More reason for us to tax the wealthy in WA! #waleg www.seattletimes.com/business/sen...

Homelessness is a policy failure, not a personal one—and we cannot criminalize people for a failure of the government that continues to let rents skyrocket while wages stay the same. That’s why today, I was proud to introduce the Housing Not Handcuffs act with @frost.house.gov.

It would actually be really interesting to see a state or municipal government explicitly tie business taxes to federal appropriations or tax rates. Kinda like reverse SALT. Could shift the incentives for big WA companies to push down federal rates a bit.

I now have 2 neighbors with Tesla Cybertrucks on Beacon Hill! Something is very wrong. 😩😬😵‍💫

Interesting to compare notes with what’s happening in the Bay Area.

Smart, sensible, progressive proposal out of @alexis4seattle.bsky.social’s office. * 76% of businesses now paying tax would pay no tax; * 90% would see their tax bill go down * $90 million in new progressive revenue

The Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development has kicked off planning for the Graham Street infill station area in Southeast Seattle. Project Page: www.seattle.gov/opcd/station... A public survey is open through July 20: survey.alchemer.com/s3/8345627/G...

This is disturbing and distressing news. WA will likely need to call a special session if this enormous federal tax give away occurs. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

The state revenue forecast shows that projected Near General Fund revenue through 2029 increased by around $8 billion from the March 2025 forecast. But b/c that estimate is lower than what lawmakers assumed in their budget, the governor’s office is already calling for more cuts to the budget. (1/3)

INBOX: More than 50 Washington State legislators and local elected officials have written an urgent letter to Gov. Bob Ferguson to demand he take all possible actions to help bring home Tuan Phan, a Vietnamese American who was deported to South Sudan and is currently in Djibouti.

The American people do not want to begin a war with Iran, and Trump does not have the unilateral authority to start one. I'll keep speaking up on behalf of my constituents, the overwhelming majority of whom don't want to be dragged into another forever war.

Wow. Congrats @shasti.bsky.social!!! Just the right person to help lead the party right now.

Congress has the sole power to declare war – full stop. The idea that the US would potentially deploy a bunker buster bomb in Iran w/out Congressional approval not only flies in the face of our Constitution, it would also rope us into another forever war that Americans do not want.

Interesting to see CM Moore as the sponsor. She certainly keeps people guessing.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho didn't hold back when expressing his anger and "contempt" after agents with Homeland Security attempted to gain access to two elementary schools earlier this week.

The blockbuster horror film "Sinners" features the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in a short, impactful scene. For some Choctaw, it is the first time they've heard their language and seen their culture accurately portrayed on screen.