This Week on PubliCola: Funding Treatment, Fining Taggers, Testing Campaign Messages, and More
Also: Does it matter if the police chief is out of town on the weekends?
Monday, July 7
The More We Love’s first contract with the city is for 10 beds for women trying to leave the sex trade. According to the contract, the shelter is is “intentionally low barrier to enter and has high accountability to stay.” Women with substance use disorders “are asked to commit to a pathway towards recovery to stay in the shelter unit” after what the contract calls a 72-hour “recharge” phase. The maximum stay is 30 days.
Seattle Nice: Sara Nelson Proposes Funding Treatment With New Public Safety Sales Tax
On this week’s podcast, Sandeep and I discussed Council President Sara Nelson’s “Pathways to Recovery” proposal, which—if passed—will commit up to 25 percent of a planned local sales tax increase to addiction treatment services. We agreed that if the city is going to increase the regressive sales tax, it should all go to expanding treatment options, not more funding for cops.
Tuesday, July 8
Council Advances Bills Expanding Power to Prosecute and Fine Graffiti Taggers, “Nuisance” Properties
The council’s public safety committee advanced two bills their advocates argued are critical to public safety in Seattle on Tuesday. The first allows the city to pursue civil cases against taggers (in addition to criminal charges), fining them up to $1,500 per tag. The second dramatically expands police leeway to go after business and property owners for civil and criminal violations that happen on or around their property.
Wednesday, July 9
In First Four Months, Seattle’s New Police Chief Spent Most Weekends Out of Town
New police chief Shon Barnes, whose family still lives in Wisconsin, spends the majority of his weekends out of town, with nothing on his official schedule starting most Friday afternoons. His new spokeswoman, a former corporate communications consultant and writer for USA Today, responded to detailed questions, including “who is in charge when the chief isn’t here?” with an all-time brushoff that ended “thank you for your interest in SPD.”
Two stories in Wednesday’s Afternoon Fizz: A poll testing negative messages against mayoral candidate Katie Wilson told voters the soft-spoken, wonkish longtime advocate has no convictions and is basically the second coming of Kshama Sawant, so look for that misleading mailer in your mailbox soon.
And a prosecutor has declined so far to charge King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson for stalking and harassing his ex after he was arrested last week for repeatedly showing up at her house despite a restraining order.
Friday, July 11
Former City Councilmember Debora Juarez submitted her application for the open District 5 City Council position that was just vacated by Cathy Moore. Juarez reportedly already has the support of a strong majority (perhaps as many as eight) council members for the appointment, for which 21 other people also applied.
In Friday’s Afternoon Fizz: John Arthur Wilson dropped out of the race for King County Executive, but says he’ll remain in his current position, despite intense pressure for him to step down. And the head of We Heart Seattle, a group that “cleans up” encampments, criticized the heads of two longtime organizations that embrace harm reduction, accusing them of enabling drug users instead of using more punitive approaches.
Saturday, July 12
PubliCola on Hacks and Wonks: Mayoral Polling, Council Vacancy, Graffiti Crackdown, and More
I went on Crystal Fincher’s Hacks and Wonks podcast this week, where we talked about the city’s relentless focus on graffiti, the appointment process for the city council’s most recent vacancy, a recent poll that attempts to paint mayoral candidate Katie Wilson as a “loud,” “angry” radical with no core convictions, and more.