Seattle and King County on a bumpy road due to Trump administration chaos
What I’ve been working on:
I’ve had four articles out at The Urbanist in the last two weeks, which is more than usual, hence the delay in this edition of Notes from the Emerald City.
Top of mind for me, I’ve been working on two pieces covering local impacts of the Trump administration thus far.
Seattle and King County Grapple with Federal Disinvestment and Threats primarily covers the financial and budgetary impacts of the federal administration on Seattle and King County. Long story short, we’ve got a rough ride ahead.
Seattle Gears Up to Fight Back as Trump Eviscerates Funding, Rights primarily covers the impacts on civil rights and vulnerable communities, including coverage from Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s first meeting of the Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes. I also cover the danger to the Pacific Northwest’s electricity supply and how the University of Washington is being impacted (although there is more recent news on that in the recent headlines below as well).
I hope these two articles can get people up to speed on what’s going on and prepare for the struggles ahead.
I wrote a piece about new SPD Chief Shon Barnes, who appeared before the City Council’s public safety committee for the first time at the end of February after being on the job for one month.
Finally, I covered Mayor Bruce Harrell’s recent proposal to renew Seattle’s democracy voucher program, going over the program’s successes as well as reforms that might be needed. This program is the first of its kind in the country, and after 10 years, we have some idea how it is working.
Other Seattle news:
This week, there was new coverage of the surveillance pilot starting soon in Seattle, and it includes a map with the proposed locations of 20 CCTV cameras in the CID.
The CARE department presented to the public safety committee this week. In a testament to how busy I’ve been writing, I haven’t yet watched it, but I heard some councilmembers were criticizing the program. More on this when I’ve had a chance to catch up.
The City Attorney’s Office is requesting to add more staff to their Federal Response Team in response to President Donald Trump’s chaos. No details yet on how many staff or how much this might cost.
PubliCola reported on a $40,000 two-day media training held by SPD in March and June of 2024, saying, “This is how-to-boil-water stuff: At some point, someone probably has to tell you how to do it, but it probably doesn’t require hiring a $40,000 consultant.”
Prism reported on the backchannel coordination between Seattle’s Federal Monitor for the consent decree, Antonio Oftelie, SPD’s general counsel Rebecca Boatwright, and SPD’s then-Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives Chris Fisher. The article cites conversations between the three at some length. As the article states, “While the Seattle Police Department (SPD) struggled with accountability in 2020, the federal monitor tasked with overseeing police reform was privately seeking input from the very department he was meant to regulate, according to documents obtained by Prism.”
New media analysis
A new Media Matters analysis of online shows found that 9 out of the top 10 online shows they assessed were right-leaning. Right-leaning online shows had nearly five times as many followers and subscribers as left-leaning online shows.
Over a third of the shows said they were apolitical, but when analyzed, 72% of those “apolitical” shows were found to be right-leaning. Of the top nine right-leaning shows (only one left-leaning show makes the top ten at all), four are identified as news and politics, with the other five being instead called comedy, education, and society and culture.
As an increasing number of Americans rely on these online shows and podcasts for their news, we can expect the impacts of this disparity to continue to grow.
Recent Headlines:
Seattle housing, homelessness crisis would grow if Trump cuts HUD
After Prop 1A’s Victory, Seattle Leaders Should Think Twice Before Doing Landlords’ Dirty Work
Homelessness is soaring among Seattle students. School support workers are on the front lines
Burien sues organizer of voter-approved minimum wage measure set to start in April
Divest SPD: Cop who collided with WSP off-duty crashes again on the job
Divest SPD: A cop accidentally fired a gun inside a homeless shelter
Divest SPD: WSP trooper still not charged for killing immigrant despite ample evidence
The bills that are dead and still alive in the Washington Legislature
Student privacy vs. safety: The AI surveillance dilemma in WA schools
Op-Ed: Ann Davison and the Republican Politics of Suing Donald Trump
King County Auditor’s report: Civil Asset Forfeiture: Increased Transparency Would Improve Accountability
Debate heats up over Ferguson’s request for $100M to hire more police in Washington
Washington among the bottom of states in public defense funding
Metro Reopens Little Saigon Bus Stops, Citing Improved Safety
Ice accessed car trackers in sanctuary cities that could help in raids, files show
UW, WSU face federal investigations as part of Trump’s anti-DEI campaign
Safer Cities: Three things to read this week
Election Season:
Eddie Lin Pushes Housing in Council Bid to Represent Southeast Seattle
Ry Armstrong Lays Out Progressive Contrast Against Mayor Harrell
Katie Wilson Jumps In Seattle Mayor Race as Progressive Coalition-Builder (While I may be biased due to my affiliation with The Urbanist, I think this interview is the best of bunch on Wilson’s views on public safety in particular.)
PubliCola Questions: Seattle City Council Position 9 Candidate Dionne Foster