"Another advantage of the federal invasions is less obvious: to some cops and the unions that represent them, this season of repression promises to extinguish the expectation that police might have to answer to the locally elected officials who allocate their budgets and authorize their mission."

Today's transportation committee agenda was preempted by a long "double click" from Rob Saka on how the super bowl parade went. Saka is very happy to report that there were no arrests and only "minor" traffic incidents. No mention from Saka of the preventable tragedy in Capitol Hill Monday.

Drivers are not ok. I was documenting the effectiveness of a new No Turn on Red sign, and took a photo of a driver making a turn on red. He jumped out of his car, ran at me, tried to grab my phone, and then called the police on me.

Drivers are not okay. A driver got out of their car and brandished a knife at and threatened my coworker before work yesterday morning.

Drivers are not okay. I gave a guy shit for running a red and he turned around and found me on the next street over to throw a water bottle at me while using the kind of slur that insecure straight men tend to reach for.

It was our SEPA legislation which exempts most housing projects from unnecessary SEPA process delays. Urbanist coverage here. www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/07/s...

Earlier today, @mayorofseattle.bsky.social signed two @council.seattle.gov bills to speed up housing & shelter production. The legislation, sponsored by @cmeddielin.bsky.social, could cut development timelines by up to 12 months, including for 1,000 emergency housing units planned for this year.

King County Council candidate Toshiko Hasegawa issues a statement on Monday's fatal crash in Capitol Hill.

Sad to say that WA's MDU bill died yesterday when it failed to get a House floor vote before cutoff. Dissappointing to see so many legislators unwilling to be bold on housing during a housing crisis. WA's ADU bill took 5 years, and all that delay did was make the housing shortage worse.

@seattledot.bsky.social @mayorofseattle.bsky.social @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social We voted to change the status quo. When something as unacceptable & avoidable as a pedestrian fatality occurs, we need immediate attention to find out why & action taken to improve safety. You can do this, & you must.

We found that not only do police play a huge role in going from department to department selling technology on behalf of companies, but police also put out press release and give reporters statements and statistics created by company marketing departments that may not always be accurate.

!! Something I've been working on for a year is finally live!! A report from @eff.org , @justjournalism.bsky.social, and IPVM geared toward journalists but important for law makers and the general public decoding the nefarious ways police and surveillance tech gets sold, marketed, and deployed. 🧵

Believing in the proposition that we should use taxes to fund robust government services is pretty fundamental to being a Democrat. Is @governorferguson.bsky.social a Democrat? Unclear to me.

Would you rather have a stable state government that can effectively deliver services or two sales tax holidays?

Having to design bespoke scooter corrals to appease Pioneer Square's business advocacy group is one reason why we Can't Have Nice Things.

It’s time that we ban right turns on red citywide as an initial step towards building a transportation network that prioritizes people.

Traffic safety is frequently identified as the top public safety concern, and yet it has not been given the necessary attention and policy action to make meaningful change. We can't continue to be shocked and appalled by these incidents—we need to act.

I don't want to be a vulnerable road user. I just want to get around.

This whole stretch is a highway sewer death trap. Snapped this recently where sidewalks at Boren and Columbia were closed on *both sides*

How is this a system?

We don't need to "promote" road safety, we need to *engineer* it! Our road should be designed and built to be safe, even if that means driving takes longer or parking is harder to find.

CALL FOR ARTISTS: we’re supporting an art competition for new street pole banners in the Chinatown-International District in partnership with the CID Business Improvement Area. Winners receive cash prizes. Apply by March 25: sdotblog.seattle.gov/2026/02/17/d...

I appeared as an expert witness before the Joint Committee on AI at the Houses of Oireachtas (parliament of Ireland) to discuss "AI: truth and democracy" this morning. You can read my opening statement here: www.oireachtas.ie/en/publicati...

If a 27 year old woman was randomly killed on the streets of Capitol Hill by *anything* other than a motor vehicle it would be all over the front pages this morning. Cars are the thing that make me fear the most for my safety in this city and yet this is how the local paper of record responds.

Still thinking about KUOW's Week in Review Friday, where former city attorney Ann Davison downplayed the role of alcohol in traffic fatalities and Sandeep Kaushik framed a 0.05% BAC level as "nanny state" (but surveillance cameras around the city that could be accessed by the federal gov are not).

I don’t think most people realize just how little the United States has traditionally spent on public media.

"Safety cameras" has to be one of the most chilling phrases I've heard in local politics. Like "necessary censorship" or "friendly wiretapping." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/why-...

Bizarre that a 27 year old woman was killed in the heart of the city last night and it isn't even above the fold on the Seattle Times website the following morning. The only story about it is a brief couple of paragraphs from last night. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

@staterepjuliareed.bsky.social did #waleg dems lose urgency on a privacy law after Carlyle left? Doesn't seem like Rep. Kloba's HB 1671 got a senate companion this year or last. Forgive if I'm misreading. And asking you because you're accessible here :-)

I watched him personally help derail the nomination of popular reformer Gigi Sohn to the FCC at the behest of the telecom and media lobby, so I maybe have thoughts

Sitting with the fact that if you run over someone and they become trapped under your car until first responders can lift it off, and then the person who you hit dies, you get to walk away if you come up clean on a drug and alcohol test.

These tax bills moving out of the senate are great, but we really need to end the cap on property tax growth. It’s a destructive crisis for cities and town all over Washington

A driver crashed their car into one of the buildings at Capitol Hill Station on Saturday night.

I'm not letting this go (yes, I'm doing more than posting on bsky)

When we teach police officers that large and small rules do not apply to them, it directly encourages the disregard for public safety evident in police shootings, violence against protestors, and reckless driving.

Hundreds of thousands of audit logs spanning a month show police are searching a national database of automated license plate reader data, including from school cameras, for immigration-related investigations. Read the full story ⬇️

It's a refreshing change of pace to see interim land use controls used for a purpose like this, compared to, uh, protecting facades in Bellevue or stopping middle housing production in Clyde Hill, but we've gotta do something about SEPA.

My understanding is that CM Rinck is proposing interim regulations around new and expanded detention centers rather than permanent ones is...permanent ones would require SEPA review. Of halting the expansion of detention centers.

Close a downtown freeway ramp so I know you’re serious.

It's disappointing, because there is a lot of Seattle history worth celebrating (and also a lot that needs to be somberly remembered), and these efforts are giving historic preservation a bad reputation.

In recent years, Seattle historic preservation groups have: 🪜 blocked removing ladders at Gasworks where 3 have died 🅿️ blocked housing to keep a historic parking garage in Pioneer Square 🏠 blocked housing in wealthy neighborhoods because of "historic" Craftsmans 🚙 tried to keep cars in Pike Place

jeeeeeeesus: theintercept.com/2026/02/10/g...

See, I thought that when large groups of people gather in solidarity, department policy is to show up in riot gear

SDOT should be taking advantage of these accidental experiments where construction closes a street to car traffic temporarily to measure the impacts 📏📋👀. Pike and Bell have both been closed to traffic recently. Could we install permanent diverters or convert these to people spaces permanently? 🌳🪑🍽️⛹🏽‍♀️

"Few opportunities in the levy are greater than on Rainier Ave, where repaving, safety work, and transit upgrades...all converge, especially around Judkins Park Station...the road remains incredibly dangerous...even as it welcomes thousands of additional neighbors via significant housing growth." 💯

I come back to this open letter (from 2020) a lot, and I’ll give it the last word. amazonemployees4climatejustice.medium.com/amazon-emplo...

Congrats to Mt Baker “Community” Club for successfully eliminating all upzones near Hunter Blvd. Wouldn’t want any renters getting access to the lake!

This sort of indifferent or contemptuous exploitation of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit ROW by SPD is rampant. Blocked bus and bike lanes, crosswalks, curb cuts, sidewalks, ped plazas. SPD almost exclusively experiences the city through windshields, so they wouldn't block car access.