Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 8h

Do you know the scope of the data that SPD has turned over to ICE? Did they give ICE a list of names and addresses for anyone ever arrested in Seattle?

Egregious either way

1 1

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 1d

In 2024, Tiffany Washington abruptly cancelled permits for a tiny house village only weeks before it was scheduled to break ground.

So instead of 15 tiny homes for people currently living outside, we get a vacant overgrown lot.

ericacbarnett.substack.com/p/tiny-house...

Tiny House Village in Southeast Seattle Remains Stalled as Winter Approaches

The village, now whittled down to just 14 tiny houses, has been in the works since 2023. The latest hurdle: A lease agreement between Nickelsville and the city.

ericacbarnett.substack.com

3 7

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 1d

Oh look, another example of Harrell’s terrible management skills

Tiffany Washington, Deputy Mayor for Homelessness, refused to fill hotel rooms that the city paid for. Reason? She doesn’t like the program lead

Not the first time Washington has acted in favor of more homelessness, either

ProPublica @propublica.org · 2d

NEW: After paying for hotel rooms to shelter homeless people, Seattle deliberately left them vacant.

By the end of 2024, taxpayers were spending $4,200 a month per empty room at a time when thousands of residents were without a roof over their heads.

Seattle Spent Millions on Hotel Rooms to Shelter Unhoused People. Then It Stopped Filling Them.

Early last year, the city signed a $2.7 million lease extension to continue using a hotel’s rooms as shelter space. Yet despite committing to pay the rent, the city stopped sending people there.

www.propublica.org

1 11 38

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 1d

Oregon has other constitutional limits that make their property tax system comparably ridiculous

www.orcities.org/application/...

www.orcities.org

1

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 1d

That’s definitely real, and reminds me of this Portlandia sketch. (Watch until the very end for full effect)

Portlandia - Overbearing Dog Rescue

YouTube video by Parachute Adams

youtu.be

2

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 2d

Huh, I think of MA liquor laws as pretty Puritan. Happy hour drink specials are illegal, and the state legislature caps the number of liquor licenses for each city

But then WA has our stupid rules about barriers/demarcations

1 1

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 2d

What part of Harrell’s tenure as mayor shows successful management of people and/or budgets? Honest question

I see $100 million wasted to hire one net new police officer, comp plan years behind schedule, toxic work environment, bad hires (and then defensiveness)

1 1

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 2d

Candidate A ran small non-profit, built a highly engaged volunteer base, and organized volunteers to enact policy change

Candidate B managed a few people at a time as a lawyer and city councilor. He’s in charge of 10k people now but it’s not going well

If management is sole criteria, I pick A

1

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, it absolutely is. But basically no one is qualified to be a big city mayor before they actually become one. People experienced in managing giant organizations and budgets are typically uninterested bc they’re making $$$$$ in private sector

1

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 2d

-as legal counsel for a non-profit, advising the board to discredit victims of sexual harassment
-killing LWB transportation safety project bc a few rich people complained, despite years of public process
-denying permits to tiny house village for literally no reason other than nimby

2 11

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 2d

Don’t forget
-threatening the Office of Labor Standards with funding cuts if they investigated his men’s club for wage theft
-creating such a toxic workplace in mayor’s office that his nepotism hire (niece Monisha Harrell) went public

1 1 9

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 2d

Before becoming mayor, Harrell had hardly any management experience. He was a lawyer, then city councilor.

And his mgmt track record in mayor’s office is pretty bad. His employees’ union endorses Wilson. His own niece went public about sexist and toxic workplace. Adrian Diaz, Pedro Gomez, etc

1 8

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 3d

Volunteer Park dahlia garden is popping off #seattle

Beautiful red pink dahlia with other colors of dahlias in the background

4

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 4d

Don’t forget this chinless wonder

Screenshot from post video showing face of older white man wearing ERO tactical vest and baseball cap. Because of fat on neck and face he has no chin whatsoever.

1 2 5

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 4d

Even Duck Duck Go is pushing an AI chat

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 4d

This is Seattle’s current homelessness strategy

The adorable cat does not deserve to be compared to Bruce Harrell, but they have the same strategic mindset

And people living in tents aren’t playing a cute game. They are real people trying to survive. Someone’s child, sibling, parent

a cat is playing with a toy on top of a table .

Alt: GIF of orange kitten trying to stop someone’s fingers from emerging from holes in a cardboard box. Every time the kitten hits a finger, it reappears in a different hole.

media.tenor.com

1 5

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 4d

So mean, and also so ineffective!

Sweeps don’t solve homelessness. They don’t even appease heartless ghouls like Louise Clauss.

Bruce Harrell and Sara Nelson are wasting taxpayer money on this performative cruelty.

Seattle Bike Blog @seattlebikeblog.com · 4d

This is so mean.

Whenever Louise Clauss sees a tent in a Lake City park near her home, she pulls out her phone, takes a picture and sends it to city officials via Seattle’s Find It, Fix It app to report an “unauthorized encampment.”

Within days, she says the city usually responds to her complaint by removing the encampment, only for her to find the same tent and person in a nearby park. So she files another complaint.

She is part of a record number of people reporting homeless camping to the city.

More than 50,000 reports were made in the first eight months of this year, a 66% increase compared to the same time period last year, despite Mayor Bruce Harrell’s claim that the number of tents has dropped 80% since he entered office.

1 1 5

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 5d

I’d like to emphasize that this is the intersection with the Maserati and Alfa Romeo dealerships.

Bruce Harrell embraces the wealthy indeed.

3

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 5d

“When a driver inevitably kills someone here, don’t come crying to us”

1 2

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 6d

I just called the mayor to tell him to stop this stupid and wasteful use of SDOT resources.

206-684-4000

9

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 8d

Oh, is that this Royal Esquire Club? publicola.com/2021/10/29/f...

The men’s club that stole wages from five women who worked there? And then Councilmember Bruce Harrell threatened to defund the Office of Labor Standards if they didn’t drop the investigation?

That Royal Esquire Club?

Former OneAmerica Head Files Ethics Complaint Against Mayoral Candidate Bruce Harrell - PubliCola

By Erica C. Barnett Rich Stolz, the former head of the immigrant rights group OneAmerica, has filed a formal complaint…

publicola.com

1 3 5

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 8d

Espresso Vivace across from REI

2

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 18d

If the weather cooperates, picnic at Parc des Buttés Chaumont, a gorgeous park with a macabre history. La Cave de Belleville is a good place to shop beforehand for wine, cheese, and sausage.

Ble Sucre for croissants (and anything else they make.) That whole neighborhood is great too

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 21d

I know Hollingsworth wants her own @seattlechannel.bsky.social puppet but this is not the way

6

Kate Macfarlane @katemacfarlane.bsky.social · 21d

In the end:
- local govt doesn’t actually understand the work that was done
- lots of time/$ wasted on coordination btwn different companies
- lots of time/$ wasted in procurement processes. Each company has to spend time/$ marketing itself, which ultimately gets passed onto the client

3