On a train ride from Seattle to San Francisco for Christmas break a year and a half ago, I remade all the Wikipedia maps for the #WAleg legislative districts, because the old ones kinda sucked, and I’m a maps nerd that is good at python. It’s always fun seeing them pop up in random places.

Proud to be a part of a city government that is pushing towards lower costs system wide, so we can #buildthedamntrains from Ballard to Issaquah, and all points spine wide.

"Vaccines protect the body. Stories protect the mind." Proud to see my mom Janice's story shared widely, including in the Seattle Times today. She survived polio in 1953. Her twin brother didn't. We forget these diseases only because of the successes of vaccines. www.seattletimes.com/opinion/the-...

“Ballard extension was struck by a budget. The project remains in critical condition.” We should call out transit reporting for using passive voice to describe cuts. People have agency. Advocates push. Electeds vote. How we talk about it shapes how we think about it. komonews.com/news/local/s...

Light rail forecast: If we do a good job in Issaquah as elected leaders, the next generation of Ballard lacrosse players playing in Issaquah will be taking light rail all the way from Ballard, after we’ve helped figure out how to cut costs, speed permitting, and #buildthedamntrians everywhere

Thank you to King County Executive Girmay Zahilay for joining the 5th LD Dems Fundraiser last night. My favorite quote, "I am committed to advancing the line out to Issaquah," followed shortly by " #buildthedamntrains " Go Issaquah Light Rail!

Update: After strong community engagement, Council voted 5-2 last night to put Issaquah's #Flock / ALPR grant discussion back on our May agenda, now on 5/11. As CM Walsh put it, the motion's goal was "a date certain and public transparency": www.youtube.com/watch?v=xASo...

I worry about increasing authoritarianism in the US. Seeing Hungary, which arguably went further down that path than we have, successfully hold an election to reverse that is inspiring. Let’s hope for a peaceful transfer of power and a return to democratic norms. Looking forward to midterms here…

Update: Flock/ALPR camera meetings previously planned for May/June have been postponed. If you want to stay informed about new dates, email me at [email protected] or our City Clerk to join a notification list. Public feedback is always welcome, even before meetings are scheduled as well.

Longing for the day when most public transit alerts about “Issaquah” aren’t for the Washington State ferry system’s wonderfully named ferry, the good ship Issaquah.

Proud of this. The Issaquah Highlands Council reversed its support for Issaquah's proposed Flock camera purchase. A year ago, many of us, myself included, didn't fully understand the risks. New info came to light, and they owned it. Great leadership example. issaquahhighlands.com/statement-fr...

To nerd out on Sound Transit, read the Policy Opportunity Register from their retreat. It's full of good stuff! These won't close a $34.5B gap alone (cities need to show up with more), but read it if you care about getting trains built 🚃 www.soundtransit.org/st_sharepoin...

Our op-ed in the Seattle Times lays out how we can #BuildTheDamnTrains and deliver all voter approved lines. We want cities to lead the way offering solutions to deliver rail projects. Here’s what that means to Mayor Mullet, CM @kellyjiang.bsky.social and me: www.seattletimes.com/opinion/want...

I RODE A TRAIN ACROSS A LAKE TODAY! IT WAS ON A FLOATING BRIDGE! We are capable of building awesome things. Now we just need to make sure we get out of our own way and #BuildTheDamnTrains

Thank you Issaquah transit advocates for showing up at the ST Board retreat today. Looking forward to the day we can take light rail all the way back from Tacoma to Issaquah!

At the Sound Transit Board of Directors retreat down in Tacoma, along with a great turnout from Issaquah, and an overflowing crowd. Lots of interest in this meeting today where the future of ST3 will be discussed in detail throughout the day.

For the Eastside Transportation Partnership meeting this morning, Councilmember @kellyjiang.bsky.social and I just happened to randomly choose Zoom backgrounds about light rail... ST staff noted that Issaquah residents have been HIGHLY ENGAGED with the board. Let's keep up the momentum Issaquah! 💜🚋💜

Issaquah's 2026-27 Housing Work Plan goes to Council on Monday. 16 changes to make homebuilding in Issaquah more feasible. This came from the administration, but is based on our retreat, homebuilder feedback and staff thoughts. Feedback sought: what should be sequenced sooner? What are we missing?

Issaquah City Council has a vacancy we'll be filling soon. Applications for appointment close 4/1. We have a growing majority focused on housing, walkability, and transit, and want to keep that momentum. If you're an Issaquah resident who's ready to help build a better Eastside, apply or reach out!

Showing up in person remains the best way to get the attention of electeds. Unfortunately those that can afford to aren’t necessarily representative of their broader population. It’s sad to see lower barrier comment methods like this become effectively useless. Hopeful for a better method.

WA's legislative session ends in a week and it's hard to tell which housing bills are still alive. We've been tracking them at liveableissaquah.org/wa-housing-bill-tracker.html. Just updated: HB 1345 passed both chambers, HB 2266 passed the Senate. Three bills need House votes by Mar 6. #WALeg

Traffic cameras were built to count cars. I trained computer vision on Issaquah's public feeds to count the people instead: pedestrians and cyclists the city isn't tracking. Even on our busiest roads, there are a lot of people out there. Analysis soon, images now → liveableissaquah.org/humans.html

Lots of great Issaquah folks at yesterday's Sound Transit board meeting, but 7th grader Michael Miller gave the best public testimony I've ever heard. He'll be 28 when the Issaquah line opens. He's not asking for something now, he's asking us to build the right future www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYAy...

Issaquah is packing the room for today’s Sound Transit board meeting, advocating for a better future for all of Sound Transit. You love to see it!

I 💙 Public Comment

I’ve never seen this many people at city hall for any reason. Over 100 people showed up to support light rail to Issaquah, including electeds from Sammamish, Maple Valley, and Snoqualmie. I’m proud to be on a team that’s working hard to find creative solutions to build light rail faster and cheaper!

Just keep swimming Issaquah. Let’s build the thing.

Build the damn trains! Our op-ed on how Issaquah can lay the tracks for a more financially sustainable future for ST while delivering on all its promises is up on The Urbanist. Check it out and please let us know your thoughts!

This is what an abundance mindset looks like in transit planning. We won't fight for a perfect station alignment. We won't bog things down in process. We'll be flexible (even if it's bright blue, IYKYK). We want to be the example other cities follow and approach planning with a fierce urgency of now

Lots to learn from Bothell’s dad:

What's going on in Bothell 👇

We appointed Paul Adair to the Issaquah council last night. On housing affordability: "More supply and more density is the only way you can start tackling this problem." You can watch his interview question responses here: youtu.be/luu5nzJ7c7I?... I'm really excited to see Paul join the council!

When I was running for Issaquah council, a story I often brought up was the corner candy store where I grew up that is illegal to build in Issaquah today. Bad on its own, but representative of our broader land use problems. Hope this gets passed into law, and hope cities even comply in advance!

It's prefiling season in Olympia. Not much big housing stuff filed yet, but some interesting technical fixes are trickling in. These aren't THE solution to the housing crisis, but they're still worth pushing. HB 2151 is an interesting case study in how regulatory friction stacks up. #waleg 🧵 1/8

Just published the latest W-NOMINATE ideological scores for WA State legislators! This measure shows where lawmakers fall on the political spectrum based on their voting patterns, not rhetoric. See the full visualizations: wagraphs.com/W-Nominate/ #WALeg 🧵1/5

The Upthegrove Normalization is this election's hottest way to spot outliers in progressive WA issues. Take a precinct, and see if it over or under-performed Upthegrove, the progressive Public Lands candidate. For example, look at this map of Seattle Prop 1 (transit) after Upthegroveing it.🧵(1/5)