Seattle Councilmember Morales's resignation raises red flag about Seattle's institutions
Seattle News:
Perhaps the biggest news this week is that Councilmember Tammy Morales is resigning from the Seattle City Council, effective January 6. She announced her resignation about a week after Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck was sworn into office, replacing Tanya Woo, who was appointed by the Council earlier this year. You can read about the resignation here, here, here, and here.
Former Councilmember Andrew Lewis had this to say over on Twitter: “The comparison with Pedersen [referenced in PubliCola’s article] is really illustrative. Alex had a different point of view from most of us, but there were still things we could work on together or amendments that improved a bill. The freezing out and hostility Tammy has faced is unprecedented and unacceptable. Or Licata, who served 18 years as the lone progressive. Despite his politics his colleagues respected him and he got a lot of good things passed on their merit (paid sick and safe leave for one). The curiosity that leads to good ideas breaking through is sorely lacking today.”
While we could all see other councilmembers bullying Morales on the dais live on the Seattle Channel, it sounds like this was the tip of the iceberg in terms of the poor treatment experienced by her and her staff. However, as bad as this is, perhaps even more troubling is the disenfranchisement of District 2 as a result of this behaviort. It should not escape anyone that District 2 is the only Seattle district where people of color constitute the majority. Morales herself seems deeply aware of this, providing this list of actions the current Council has taken in the last year that have undermined her policy work and have been, in some cases, what could be considered anti-democratic:
“Interfered with the ability of our non-partisan Council Central Staff to provide objective policy analysis
Suppressed the will of voters by offering an alternative ballot initiative that would effectively gut the Seattle social housing developer next February
Stifled first amendment rights during public comment by arresting people
Intimidated commenters by having a police presence when any controversial legislation is considered
Witnessed a significant reduction of institutional knowledge through the departure of 3 Council Central policy staff, the entire Council communications team, members of our human resources and finance team, and several legislative aides
Attempted to defund a critical program for addressing anti-displacement and supporting community economic development led by people of color
Passed 11 separate bills to increase the punitive nature of our criminal legal system without any additional meaningful accountability for our police department
And passed a budget that reduces funding for social services for our most vulnerable while dramatically increasing funding for jails, police, and sweeps”
The articles linked above include additional examples, and while this is not the purview of the Seattle City Council, a similar anti-democratic spirit has been shown by the City Attorney’s Office this year in their vendetta against sitting Seattle Municipal Court Judge Pooja Vaddadi. Meanwhile, the City has authorized a major expansion of surveillance technology, including automated license plate readers, CCTV cameras, and real time crime software. And next week the public safety committee intends to take up work on new less lethal weapon legislation that appears to functionally return the City to its pre-2020 status quo in terms of crowd control.
In a national environment in which many Democrats are raising the alarm about the health of our democracy, it’s worth reflecting on how we’re doing locally. And in Seattle, the answer appears to be that we could be doing better.
You can read my article at The Urbanist about OPA Director Gino Betts resigning and Seattle’s troubled accountability system. A new director will be appointed by Mayor Bruce Harrell sometime next year.
One subject I touch upon in that article is the City’s 2025 legislative agenda and how it vastly reduces the number of agenda items relating to police accountability. Indeed, the agenda is significantly shorter and less coherent than its predecessor, as well as being significantly less progressive. The 2025 agenda was passed by Full Council on Tuesday with a few amendments.
Rinck walked on one amendment to state the City’s commitment to exploring progressive revenue options before considering other options for revenues that would put a higher tax burden on lower income and middle income households. She referenced the $10-12 billion state budget deficit over the next several years. Her amendment was successfully added, with Councilmembers Rinck, Cathy Moore, Morales, Rob Saka, and Dan Strauss voting yes, Councilmember Bob Kettle voting no, and Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth, Maritza Rivera, and Sara Nelson abstaining.
Her second walk-on amendment adjusted a housing bullet point to add language to state the City’s commitment to increasing funding specifically to the Housing Trust Fund and other housing programs. It also passed.
Attorney Rory O’Sullivan is the first candidate out of the gate to announce he’s running for Seattle City Attorney next year. More on this from me coming up.
The Seattle Police Department might soon move to be able to use drones as part of their surveillance apparatus. Hard Pressed reports that Seattle’s Information Technology department has determined such technology will need to go through a surveillance impact report process such as that conducted for the recently approved CCTV and real time crime software surveillance technologies. SPD has indicated they would like to use drones for “patrol units, arson and bomb squad, SWAT, harbor patrol, traffic collision investigation squad, CSI and to utilize drones as a first responder.”
For more information, you can read a Wired investigation on a drone program currently being run in Chula Vista, California.
King County News:
The Seattle Times recently ran an article entitled “Are King County’s homeless shelters full?” The answer appears to be a resounding yes.
“Either way, beds were consistently filled at prepandemic rates by late 2022 and by April 2024, were over 95% full — the highest in the last five years. “Generally, shelters are full, functionally full, and that’s been the case the entire time, nearly two decades, that I’ve been privy to the inner workings of this system,” said Alison Eisinger, executive director of Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.”
They are full across the board regardless of type, although tiny home villages to tend to be even fuller. We also know that many people are turned away without a bed. And the article says that in 2023, the City of Seattle cleared almost 2,000 encampments as “obstructions,” sweeps which do not require the City to offer shelter.
King County launched their expanded mobile crisis team program at the beginning of the week, which dispatches teams of two to de-escalate mental health crises and provide connections to services. The expansion adds 10 teams, which gives the County a total of 27 teams, as well as having nine new customized vans. The teams will be dispatched through 988, run for the county by Crisis Connections. The dispatch is strictly voluntary, which means the caller has to agree to have the team come out.
The family of Allen Duane McNutt, a man who died by suicide in the King County in Jail in 2022, is suing King County for $5 million. He was the fourth person to die by suicide that year in the jail, which is also being sued by the ACLU of Washington for not providing adequate medical care.
Last week Executive Dow Constantine announced $11.75 million in participatory budgeting funds being allocated to various capital projects such as community centers, senior centers, and schools, as well as programming such as increased food bank funding, youth classes, and physical fitness programs.
Recent Headlines:
Bad Apples: Cops Allegedly Assaulting Girlfriends, Shifting the Overtime Window, and Bullying Kids
Hoping to process evictions quicker, King County adds two judges
WA suspends recovery clinic accused of misconduct and falsifying reports
Against fentanyl’s deadly odds, Seattle team gets creative to help youth
SPD fires community liaison suspected of selling stolen items, timesheet fraud
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