Budget Bickering and Buttigieg Backing

Seattle Nice

This week we take the patented Seattle Nice deep dive into Bruce Harrell's proposed nearly $9 billion budget, examining the Seattle mayor’s priorities as he’s fighting for his political life in what’s turned into a tough election year for him.

David points out how various local media outlets, from KIRO to our own Erica C. Barnett’s Publicola framed the budget news through their own lenses. The discussion also highlights the budget's strategic rollout, with Sandeep noting the mayor’s reliance on a "slick, produced, 15-minute video" in lieu of a traditional speech.

We then get into criticism of the budget, which assumes both sales and B&O tax increases and prioritizes spending on new police hires and, in the face of Trump threats, immigrant and refugee assistance and other supports. Erica criticizes the mayor for boosting spending for what will be ongoing programs with one time dollars, saying he is avoiding tough choices and leaving substantial projected out-year deficits. She argues he should have worked harder to cut the police budget in particular.

Sandeep echoes Erica’s concerns about a lack of fiscal discipline but says his concern extends to potential wasteful spending in all city departments and not just the cops. He also argues the mayor missed a political opportunity by not proposing more bold, innovative ideas.

We also get into the King County Council's recent ban on rent-setting software like RealPage to try and prevent algorithmic price fixing, which follows on the heels of a similar City ban. Finally, the podcast concludes with some back and forth about political endorsements, and specifically the “odd timing” of Pete Buttigieg's backing of Mayor Harrell.

Our editor is Quinn Waller.

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