News Oct 26, 2022 at 12:28 pm

Enforcing Workers Rights, Sorta Copying the Social Housing Initiative, and Worrying About Low-Income and LGBTQ White Kids

I'll be your budget tour guide. Please keep your hands in the vehicle at all times. Lester Black

Comments

1

“And maybe you could give some credit to HON. The campaign worked hard to educate the public on the topic. Maybe they also swayed some council members along the way. Morales said in an email that she will be voting yes on I-135.”

HON could not collect enough signatures with volunteer labor to get I-135 onto the November ballot. HON could not collect enough signatures with paid signature-gatherers to get I-135 onto the November ballot. HON could not collect enough additional signatures during the post-deadline grace period to get I-135 onto the November ballot. Only after all of that signature-gathering could they try yet once more, and finally get I-135 onto a special ballot in February.

Based on this record, the Stranger expects voters to approve I-135?

2

"Also, they said they tried to introduce a similar amendment last cycle, but no one even seconded the amendment"

Weird, where was champion of the people, Kshama Sawant, when this similar amendment was up for consideration?

3

Sawant is such a clown. She had weeks to put forth a budget amendment to raise the payroll tax and have it be part of the regular discussion. She knew what was in the Mayor's budget and also knew there was going be a revenue gap. So what does she do? She waits until the very last minute to try and walk something on and can't even get a response from her colleagues on it. Her ability to govern in any meaningful way is sad to watch.

btw the entire council is still working remote during this debate. How long are they going to continue to work remote and not interact with the public. The only benefit is Sawant can't "pack the chamber" with her crew of loonies to start chanting and harassing other council members but they need to get to City Hall.

5

@4 try just up in Vancouver BC, it's like a three hour drive. Works fine.

8

@7 the main difference between the two is who is allowed to live there. Public housing usually has some sort of income requirement to live there and is reserved for those who are living in poverty. Social housing has no such restrictions and thus anyone can live there from a meth head to a tech bro. Most of the time these are built on city owned land but operated by a private developer. Anyone living there agrees to pay a fixed percent of their income so you end up in a situation where higher earners pay more and lower earners get subsidized. In theory it sounds more workable than "the projects" however creating yet another government agency to oversee it is where it loses me. Certainly there are ways to incentivize this type of solution without direct government oversight.

https://www.npr.org/local/305/2020/02/25/809315455/how-european-style-public-housing-could-help-solve-the-affordability-crisis#:~:text=Social%20Housing%20Vs.,Americans%20barred%20from%20economic%20opportunity.

10

“Morales also expressed disinterest in expanding the Seattle Promise program right now, arguing that it seems to serve more white students than students of color.”

Martin Luther King once noted that most of the Americans living below the poverty line were white. That was because most Americans were white. Ditto the city of Seattle right now. Provide educational opportunities for everyone, or means-test them if you want. But giving blatantly racist reasons for restricting educational access to all, like CM Morales just did, will cost you.

Want to lose elections in liberal Seattle? Keep denying everyone educational opportunities based upon logic MLK already rejected, then call anyone who disagrees with you a racist.

11

The city has a long history of utter failure when it comes to real estate development. Just take a look at the big empty hole across the street from City Hall. They had every opportunity to just sell it and invest the money in social services, but they had to put all kinds of nonsense restrictions on it.

Or, look at the corporate giveaway during the (I think) Rice administration, where they basically gave away the Dexter-Horton, Arctic Club, and City Light buildings in exchange for that horrible penis building that the private sector could never fill.

I'm all for new ideas for housing, but the council should have absolutely no say in it. Form a commission or something.

12

Pedersen and Nelson support the mayor's illegitimate budget items. Impressive butt-kissing, Alex and Sara!

13

@8 is correct


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