This Week on PubliCola: May 10, 2025
Ethics rules, a public records lawsuit, and a bar complaint against Seattle's Republican city attorney.
Monday, May 5
Seattle Nice: New Hope for Fentanyl Users
On this week’s episode, Sandeep and I interviewed the Downtown Emergency Service Center’s medical experts about a breakthrough in treatment for opioid addiction that makes it easier for people who use fentanyl to start medication-assisted treatment, and more likely that they’ll stick with treatment once they start.
In response to a lawsuit by the city of Burien claiming that the minimum wage ordinance recently passed by voters is confusing and unenforceable, proponents of the law countersued, alleging that Burien is ignoring the will of the voters. And, the Seattle City Council argues that recusing themselves from votes when they have financial conflicts of interest would deprive voters of representation.
Tuesday, May 6
Seattle Police Guild Sues Police Department Over Public Records Delays
We aren’t the only ones fed up with SPD’s delay tactic of “grouping” public disclosure requests filed by the same person and considering them one at a time; the Seattle Police Officers Guild also says SPD is using the policy to withhold records from requests dating back as far as 2020.
Wednesday, May 7
The Most Common Reason for Past City Council Recusals: Owning Rental Property
As the council prepares to release themselves from longstanding ethics rules just in time for a vote on changes to landlord-tenant law (some council members are landlords and might have to abstain under the current code), we looked back at the relatively few times council members have recused themselves in the past. The most common financial conflict was—drumroll—being a landlord.
Thursday, May 8
The King County Council added more than $300,000 to their district budgets to pay for unanticipated expenses at a time when the county faces a $160 million two-year shortfall. And Seattle Councilmember Rob Saka narrowly failed to convince his colleagues to use speed camera revenues on sidewalks rather than traffic safety projects.
At Ethics Meeting, Moore Says Changing Ethics Code Will Improve Representation and “Transparency”
At a meeting of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, Councilmember Cathy Moore responded to a dozen public comments opposing her proposal to weaken ethics rules, reiterating the claim that recusal was antidemocratic and adding that verbally disclosing a conflict of interest is more transparent than recusing oneself from a vote because of that conflict.
PubliCola exclusive: Seattle Municipal Court Judge Pooja Vaddadi, who’s been effectively prohibited from doing her job for the last year, filed a bar complaint against the city attorney and her former criminal division chief, charging that they fabricated and misrepresented evidence against her in their letter issuing a blanked affidavit of prejudice against her, preventing Vaddadi from hearing criminal cases.
It really is remarkable that on issue after issue, Councilmember Cathy Moore proves herself not really up to the task of meeting the basic standards of good governance for her constituents and for the citizens of Seattle.
I hope that like Mayor Jenny, CM Moore grows weary of having to deal with all of the messiness of democracy and shows herself the door after one term on the council...