This Week on PubliCola: April 19, 2025
The City Council grapples with bleak budget news, PubliCola interviews candidates for City Council District 2, and much more.

Monday, April 14
New Council Committee Shines a Light on Bleak Impacts of Trump Funding Cuts
The city council isn’t merely facing a major revenue shortfall—it also has to decide how to respond to major federal cuts to programs that help give Seattle its progressive, welcoming reputation. We spoke to the chair of a new committee dedicated to responding to these issues (which, we’d argue, every council committee should also be focusing on) about how the federal changes are already impacting Seattle.
Seattle Nice: Is the City Ready for Trump 2.0? (Spoiler: Nope!)
On this week’s podcast, we discussed the upcoming city budget, which is the main venue for elected officials, including the council, to prioritize and support programs and services that benefit Seattle residents. So far, though, there’s little indication that the council is treating the one-two punch of local shortfalls and federal cuts as the emergency it is.
Tuesday, April 15
PubliCola Questions: District 2 City Council Candidate Jamie Fackler
Jamie Fackler, a building inspector for the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections and steward with one of the biggest unions representing city employees, is running for the Seattle City Council seat currently held by Mark Solomon, who replaced Tammy Morales after she stepped down earlier this year. Fackler says he'd work to improve public safety by investing in the social safety net.
Wednesday, April 16
PubliCola Questions: Seattle City Council District 2 Candidate Eddie Lin
Second in our series of interviews with District 2 council candidates is assistant city attorney Eddie Lin. Lin, who represents the Office of Housing, told us he wants to see deep investments in youth gun violence prevention.
Thursday, April 17
Councilmember Saka Looks for the Bright Side in Grim Local Revenue Forecast
During a grim presentation on the city’s latest revenue forecast, City Councilmember Rob Saka pressed city budget staffers for good news—in the form of unanticipated revenues from the Club World Cup, tourism, and cruise ship traffic—but found little.
KCRHA Holds Closed Session on “Federal Funding Impacts,” Approves Loan to Address Deficit Spending
The regional homelessness authority’s governing board, currently made up entirely of elected politicians, went into executive session to talk about unspecified “federal funding issues” with the agency, but did not fill the public in on what those issues are. At the same meeting, the board approved a cash transfer from King County—a separate government that provides some of the agency’s funding—to improve the KCRHA’s persistent operational deficit.
Former Police Chief Inadvertently IDs New Top SPD Hire
Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes plans to hire his longtime associate Alex Ricketts as his chief of staff. Former police chief Carmen Best inadvertently spilled the news on Facebook last week in a post that included a photo of Ricketts and a caption referring to welcoming Barnes’ chief of staff. SPD’s last chief of staff, Jamie Tompkins, resigned last year after an investigation concluded she lied about her alleged affair with former SPD chief Adrian Diaz.