SoDo Housing Plan Advances, Republican City Attorney Says Trump Immigration Order Violates "Local Control"; Rob Saka Says No to New Restrooms, Yes to Cars

Today's Afternoon Fizz.

The city's most deadly areas for people walking, biking, and rolling are in South Seattle, including Rob Saka's West Seattle district.

1. A proposal from Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson to allow up to 990 units of housing near the city's two stadiums as part of a new "makers' district" passed out of Nelson's committee last week, but it faces an uncertain future at the full council, where two staunch opponents—Bob Kettle and Dan Strauss—will make their case that allowing apartments in a historically industrial area will decimate the city's maritime industry.

The Port of Seattle and maritime industry unions have argued that allowing people to live near the stadiums—primarily on First Avenue South—would add so many cars to the area that trucks moving to and from the industrial waterfront would get stuck in traffic, making Seattle less competitive with other port cities. They also argue that the proposal reneges on the city's promise to preserve existing industrial zoning in perpetuity, and that it's a dangerous and environmentally unhealthy place for people to live.

In a 13-minute speech, Kettle hit all the highlights of this argument, saying the area is vulnerable to a Love Canal-style environmental disaster, that the Port itself is vulnerable "in a cutthroat shipping industry," and that the geology of the area, which was built on unstable "fill," would leave residents vulnerable to liquefaction in an earthquake, even if the new buildings were built according to modern earthquake standards.

"How about if you're walking your dog in this little area, in this little neighborhood, you know, what happens?" Kettle said. "You're trying to play catch with your kid, or you're trying to bring in your groceries—a code-enforced building is not going to help you when you're out there walking the dogs."

Proponents argue that the area hasn't been industrial for years (besides entertainment businesses like the Showbox SoDo and a strip club, it's mostly abandoned and underutilized warehouses), and note that hotels and offices are already allowed in the area under the industrial lands update the council passed in 2023. (And, of course, the maritime workers who oppose housing also work every day in the same liquefaction zone).

"If thought this would this was going to damage irreparably the port, or put it into a position within 100 years where it would not be a strong, viable entity, I would not be doing this," Nelson said.

The proposal, which passed 3 to 2 (with Mark Solomon and Maritza Rivera supporting Nelson and Joy Hollingsworth joining Kettle in opposition), will go to the full council on March 18.

2. City Attorney Ann Davison put out a statement last week denouncing efforts by the Trump administration "to coerce local authorities and to commandeer local jurisdictions into carrying out the duties of the federal executive branch, while punishing those who dissent."

Davison is a Republican who was active in the "Walk Away" movement headed up by "Stop the Steal" conspiracy theorist Bradon Straka, one of the January 6 rioters who was later pardoned by Trump. She ran for City Council against Debora Juarez, lost, ran for lieutenant governor as a Republican, lost againagain, and became city attorney after defeating a police abolitionist in the backlash election of 2021.

Davison issued the statement after joining a lawsuit that accuses Trump of violating the Constitutional separation of powers by unilaterally directing the government to withhold federal funds and take legal action against "sanctuary" jurisdictions, like Seattle, that bar police and other officials from assisting with federal immigration enforcement.

Davison's statement stuck mostly to the strict legal questions raised by the federal order (although it did take a moment to praise "our diverse, vibrant, and invaluable immigrant communities.") "This is an issue of federal overreach into areas of local control," the statement said.

The statement marked a departure for Davison, who has not previously weighed in on partisan politics. Whether Davison voted for Trump, Harris, or another candidate in 2024 is unclear; her office did not respond to a question about whether she supported Trump. Her past campaign donations include small contributions to former Republican secretary of state Kim Wyman and Joshua Freed, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor who went on to head the King County Republican Party and condemned Republicans who voted for Trump's impeachment after the January 6 riots.

3. City Councilmember Rob Saka took a couple of strong stands in the past week.

First, during a presentation about an audit that found deficiencies in the Seattle Parks Department's cleaning and maintenance of park restrooms, Saka argued against expanding public restrooms.

"[M]embers of the public always want to expand the number of restrooms, not just in Seattle, but in LA and across the country ... and I don't—I'm not sure that's the best approach here in Seattle at this point, at this juncture, unless and until we're in a better position to make better progress on addressing the cleanliness and accessibility [and] properly maintaining our existing restrooms," he said.

Had Saka been around five years ago, he might have been aware of a different audit from the same office—this one recommending that the city open more 24/7 restrooms, specifically to help people living unsheltered who have "extremely limited options to avoid open urination and defecation, especially during the night." Had he been on the council the following year, he might have taken part in a debate over whether homeless people deserved access to restrooms and running water during the pandemic (the city decided they didn't, and homeless Seattle residents experienced repeated outbreaks of hepatitis A and shigella.)

Then, during a presentation on traffic violence earlier this week, Saka apparently felt compelled to respond to a comment made by Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck about her decision to live car-free. "I appreciate Councilmember Rinck's point of view," Saka said, but noted that even in dense San Francisco, where he vacationed recently with his family, people still have cars.

"As vibrant as their transit system is, I was struck by the fact that nearly every street, arterials and non-arterials alike, on both sides of the road, there was there was parking!," Saka said. "Parking! Available on both sides of the street, [Which] again, highlights the importance of choice! These modes are a choice. And even in San Francisco, the second most dense city in our in our country, people still choose to drive."

One thing Saka may not have noticed, especially if he wasn't driving, is that it's incredibly hard to find a parking space in most of San Francisco. There are simply too many cars for the limited number of spaces, and most neighborhoods have residential parking zones, restricting visitors to no more than a couple of hours. Except in areas with heavy car traffic (like downtown, where some parking lanes convert to driving lanes at rush hour), Seattle also generally has parking on both sides of the street.