By Erica C. Barnett On this week’s episode of Seattle Nice, we discussed Mayor Bruce Harrell’s election-year budget proposal,… The post Seattle Nice: Harrell’s Election-Year Budget, King County’s RealPage Ban, and Mayor Pete’s Endorsement appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Former City Councilmember Cathy Moore, who quit the council, effective July 7, after serving just a… The post Former Councilmember Moore Edited Legislation, Wrote Interview Questions for Her Potential Successors, After Leaving appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
1. On Friday, Mayor Bruce Harrell accused his opponent, Katie Wilson, of “darkening” his photo in a social media post, blaming… The post Black-Led Group Responds to Mayor’s Claim They “Darkened” His Skin; Real Estate-Backed Harrell PAC Tops $1 Million; Police Chief Disparages PubliCola appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
Cascade PBS Ditches Local News, Harrell Budget Pushes off Tough Choices, Right-Wing Activist Tests Anti-Trans Messaging, and More By Erica… The post This Week on PubliCola: September 27, 2025 appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett At the city council’s first meetings on Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed budget this week, Councilmember… The post Councilmember Rivera Questions 2026 Funding for CARE Team, LEAD Diversion, and Equitable Development Initiative appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett On the campaign trail and in his slickly produced Seattle Channel budget video, Mayor Bruce Harrell… The post Digging into Harrell’s Campaign “They Aren’t From Here” Homelessness Talking Point appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Some Washington state voters received a poll this week testing messages on two new initiatives… The post New Poll Tests Messages on Initiatives Opposing Trans Girls in Sports, Student Privacy appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Update: On Friday, Sinclair announced it would air Kimmel’s show. “I’m pleased that Sinclair Broadcast Group… The post Mayoral Candidate Wilson Withdraws from KOMO-Sponsored Debate, Citing Sinclair’s Censorship of Jimmy Kimmel appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Susan Collins When big cities struggle with visible addiction, one solution that inevitably resurfaces is forcing people into treatment.… The post The Siren Song of Forced Drug Treatment appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2026 budget proposal is an election-year proposal that piles on funding for priorities… The post Harrell’s Latest Budget Spikes City’s Deficit by Piling On New Spending In Election Year appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
1. In a last-minute endorsement (of sorts), Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison sent out a mass email on Saturday urging voters to support the city council candidates who have consistently supported legislation—which will almost certainly pass later this summer—that would empower her to prosecute drug users for simple possession and for using drugs, other than alcohol and marijuana, in public. The law would incorporate a new state law into city law, granting the city attorney the authortiy ...| PubliCola
Members of the Burien City Council listen to testimony about an encampment just outside City Hall at a meeting in March.By Erica C. Barnett| PubliCola
By Paul Kiefer A long-awaited announcement by Interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz outlining a plan to phase out low-level…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett On Tuesday, PubliCola exclusively reported (via Bluesky) that the anti-LGBTQ organizers of the August 30 “Revive…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett This post has been updated to include more information about SDOT’s pothole budget. Several recently elected…| PubliCola
Google image of the site before demolition; the “million dollar house” is the white house in foreground, with the closest tree to the property visible on the right.1. More than 400 people have signed a Change.org petition imploring the city to “Save Three Sisters Park in Ballard,” which the petition page describes as “a trio of trees that must be over 100 years old” that, the petition claims, are now threatened by development.| PubliCola
By Ron Davis Mayor Bruce Harrell just released a 20-year plan to give up on the housing crisis. With its…| PubliCola
1. City employees who were told earlier this year that they wouldn’t receive pay for retroactive wage increases until October—a delay some workers described as a “zero-interest loan” to the city—learned this week that their wait will be shorter, with payments coming in July.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett At the end of a grueling, sometimes tearful three-and-a-half-hour meeting Monday night, the Burien city council…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett On Friday, the last few people who have been living in tents outside Burien’s city hall…| PubliCola
by Josh Feit I have repeatedly argued in this column—and long before— that liberalizing our land use code is the…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Councilmember Cathy Moore came out swinging against the extremely modest, geographically limited density increases Mayor Bruce…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The city council’s comprehensive plan committee, chaired by Joy Hollingsworth, spent much of its two-hour meeting…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Our special on the Seattle Nice podcast this week was new Seattle City Council appointee…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett On Friday, January 31, two reporters from the Stranger, Hannah Krieg and Ashley Nerbovig, resigned their…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett With surprisingly little discussion, the Burien City Council passed a new law on Monday night criminalizing…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The six men selected by the Seattle City Council as finalists for the District 2 city…| PubliCola
By Josh Feit Before I get to last week’s quiet yet encouraging news out of Olympia—House Democrats removed single family…| PubliCola
PubliCola columnist Josh Feit and PubliCola’s hoary original publisher (and Seattle Nice contrarian) Sandeep Kaushik are joining Erica here to…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness and three homeless Burien residents, represented by the Northwest Justice…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The Burien City Council capped off 2023 by holding an executive session last Monday to discuss…| PubliCola
by Josh Feit Urbanists, YIMBYs, and transit advocates are understandably excited about the pro-housing legislation that state senate transportation committee…| PubliCola
By Josh Feit No, you’re not reading the headline incorrectly. If it wasn’t for state Rep. Bateman (D-22, Olympia), who…| PubliCola
By Ryan Packer House Bill 1110, which allows new multifamily housing near transit stops, will impact residential neighborhoods in cities…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett In an unusual move, King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall announced Monday that her office is…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett For months now, the city of Burien has been locked in a stalemate over how to…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Mayor Bruce Harrell finally released a draft Comprehensive Plan for the next 20 years this week,…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Last August, Seattle’s Department of Planning and Community Development produced a draft update to the city’s…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The Burien City Council voted Monday night to ban unsheltered people from sleeping in public spaces…| PubliCola