So, we just rebuilt the highway?
Mike McGinn
@mayormcginn
executive director of Americawalks.org, Seattle mayor 2010-13. Advocate. Known cyclist. facebook.com/michaelmcginn, instagram
mikemcginn.coJoined November 2009
Mike McGinn’s Tweets
Two Seattle predictions
1. On homelessness and public safety Harrell will continue the same policies that failed under Murray and Durkan.
2. The Seattle Times Ed board and the Seattle business community will blame Kshama Sawant.
Now that we’re going through another “soft-headed liberals are destroying Seattle” moment, recall that for the last seven years the seattle mayor has been hand-picked by the Chamber of Commerce. Maybe pro big business governance is the problem?
Message to America from WA state about vote by mail:
Election day is weeks long - it starts when ballots arrive.
Election night also lasts weeks - it ends when all the ballots are counted.
No bitching about having to wait for results.
Democracy > your impatience
Was biking on 5th downtown. Car pulled up next to me at light, driver asked why I wasn’t using the bike lane on 4th. I asked why he wasn’t using I-5.
With declining revenues, Seattle will have to make steep budget cuts. Yet the mayor cannot reduce the police force (almost half the budget) by even one officer? Or tax successful corporations with high paid employees? Everyone else going to be told "sorry, recession, no money."
It's a funny thing, but when I was mayor the Seattle Times was sure that crime was the mayor's fault.
Violent crime is up 61% since 2013. Now the Seattle Times blames the city council, not the mayors they endorsed.
theurbanist.org/2022/04/16/sea
I recall Governor Gregoire in my office heatedly asking me if I was trying to destroy Seattle's economy by opposing the waterfront tunnel. Having a hard time finding folks now willing to pay a toll to use it.
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NEW: Transportation Commission Seeks SR 99 Tunnel Bailout from State Legislature theurbanist.org/2022/12/22/tra
I support Lorena Gonzalez for mayor because she is the candidate willing to takes risks to solve systemic issues. Bruce Harrell will just be a third-term of the Durkan/Murray defense of the status quo on corporations, housing, transportation and climate. No real change.
Was the pool wearing a helmet? High visibility clothing? Was it obeying all traffic laws? Does it even pay for roads!
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A car into to the pool @LAFitness in Seattle on 132nd and Aurora. Looks like no injuries except car damage.
Chris Cornell memorial at the gathering space. A lot of Seattle here to share stories and emotions over our loss
Every 3.5 days a vehicle runs into a building in Seattle. Questions:
-Was the building wearing dark clothing?
-Was it using the crosswalk?
-Did it dart?
-Was it looking at its phone?
People - it's the street design!
Behavioral campaigns are not enough
If Magnolia is so concerned about people entering their neighborhood, maybe we don’t need to spend $400 million on a new Magnolia bridge?
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Magnolia residents are using an AI surveillance system that can track who enters and leaves the neighborhood, @M_Hellmann reports seattletimes.com/business/techn
An SPD captain who became an SPD assistant chief ordered this reckless behavior. Not a line officer - a leader in the department. It has taken 18 months to officially come to light.
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Seattle police improperly faked radio chatter about Proud Boys as CHOP formed in 2020, investigation finds seattletimes.com/seattle-news/p
This will not go well. There are Sonics fans in Seattle itching for payback. And they have receipts. #Sonicsgate
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NEWS Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says in a “60 Minutes” interview airing tomorrow that he’s getting close to a self-funded independent presidential run - which is freaking out Democrats who think he’ll deliver the election to Trump theatlantic.com/politics/archi
1. False - cast wasn't rude
2. Deal - When mayor I learned those with less power get to speak to those in power however they please
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The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!
Seattle: Establishment Mayor’s police department tear gasses protestors despite court order against it. Court does not allow recall election. Socialist council member speaks at protest outside of said mayor’s house. Recall allowed. Some lines must not be crossed.
Are there any Seattleites who do not find this heartbreaking?
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One can say "defund the police" is bad messaging - but dang, it sure got everyone's attention!
The goal of the activist is not always the goal of the politician.
Just making one point here - take it or leave it.
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Seriously, what could be the objection now? Give Seattle a shot at NBA expansion, let private bidders upgrade Key for concerts.
Metaphor for transportation policy generally
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DANGEROUS WAVES: Don't let this happen to you. Strong winds are causing high waves to pound the shoreline along Lake Michigan. Stay off the the lakefront trail. abc7.ws/3moSnC6
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So let me get this straight: Trump’s DOJ and Durkan’s SPD both want the SPD to be able to use tear gas.
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A wild legal thing happening: DOJ just asked for a restraining order to halt Chief Best's directive banning officers from using pepper spray, tear gas, etc. — which she did because the council banned them. Basically, DOJ wants her to ignore the ordinance.
documentcloud.org/documents/7002
Because I usually biked to work as mayor, TV reporters often began questions about biking by saying "mayor, you are an avid cyclist,..." After the interview I would ask them if they ever called my predecessors "avid drivers"?
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“I’m an avid cyclist but...”
Exactly the problem. We don’t need infrastructure just for avid cyclists, we need it for those new and vulnerable riders who are terrified of the murderous spaces you call streets.
Hold it - if a mayor has no power over police policies and procedures then why did the DOJ want me to sign the consent decree?
The article strives for multiple viewpoints, but elides a deeper truth. Zoning laws, building codes, and review, adopted to prevent bad things, generates the buildings we see. We did this. It is a consequence of treating new homes with suspicion and hostility. These get through
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You've seen them: the boxy, mid-rise buildings with sans-serif fonts and vivid slabs of bright paneling. New developments are starting to look the same, raising fears that cities are losing their unique charm. But in a housing crisis, does that matter? nyti.ms/3XrYic7
I oppose the recall election of Kshama Sawant. Whether or not you agree with all her positions, she is an important voice on Seattle's City Council pushing to rein in the excesses of accumulated power and inequality. To support her, join us at 6 tonight. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regist
Durkan today canceled a bike lane on 35th that had been in the works for years in response to neighbors angry about parking. No concern for safety, no concern for climate. Seattle has a suburban advocate as mayor.
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Supporting #Safe35th is one way we can have a healthier, safer, and more sustainable city. Tell @MayorJenny the safety redesign and protected bike lanes need to happen as planned if Seattle wants to live up to its climate commitments. medium.com/@SierraClubSEA
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Related prediction - the Seattle Times Ed Board, business leaders and corporate lobbyists will continue to decry "divisiveness" even though we will now have the third mayor in a row that they endorsed and financed based on their ability to "bring people together."
Biden is proposing money to remove highways through black and brown neighborhoods. WA legislature is about to raise money to build a highway through such a neighborhood. 509 extension overlaid on a racial dot map.
As the Seattle City Council elections results have now come into sharp focus, it's a reminder of just how wrong conventional wisdom can be. We've heard the insiders tell us for months that Kshama was doomed, and progressives were under siege. Why so wrong? Cuz spin is a tactic
It was never a war on cars. It was a fight for our future. Can we take climate change seriously now? Build housing in walkable communities? Transit not highways? Or will we protect sheltered enclaves for the well-off while more of our neighbors become climate refugees?
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We all knew the fires & smoke would be back, despite the reprieve last year.
We need to take radical steps to build more resilient, equitable communities that reverse our climate- destroying, auto-centric land use.
realchangenews.org/2020/02/19/we-
Sue Bird
16 Seattle Storm seasons
10 All-Star appearances
3 WNBA championships (2004, 2010, 2018)
And four Olympic gold medals
Serious question - any other Seattle athlete with that level of sustained achievement?
The city council member is right. The misinformation came from SPD command staff. And that behavior was kept under wraps by SPD and Mayor Durkan for a year and a half. Add in deleted texts, other SPD misinformation, and defiance of court orders - where is the civilian control?
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This misinformation from SPD led to a fortification of the East Precinct and weeks of violence against the people of Seattle. As @Omarisal says, it was a "strategy planned by the higher ups." We need an investigation outside City process and we need real accountability. twitter.com/Omarisal/statu…
Shaun Scott ran a great race. Over 47% of the vote - despite all the headwind (big $$ against, "he can't win", progressive orgs ignoring him).
47%. That's a better vote % than the business candidates with big bucks in D1, D2, D6, and D7. And almost D3 too.
Who was credible?
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Replying to @ElectScott2019
I hope that my campaign left the city in a better place than we found it. A special shoutout to @SeattleDSA, the @43rdDems, and @SierraClubSEA for seeing what took many time to see.
They believed in my us when most hedged bets or took the easy way out.
I am forever grateful.
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Remember this when those that get money to build highways tell you it's essential. It's a regressive tax transfer to certain interests, also paid for with bad health and a destabilizing climate. They are addicted to the construction dollars, and a powerful lobbying coalition.
How do we tax the hell out of this? t.co/BEbVS3Lhxe
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Bring back corner stores
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This whole debate around businesses only operating on loud, dangerous arterials is dumb. Here is Lighthouse Coffee. It's in an entirely single family zoned area legal by way of legacy--it was here before zoning.
It's now illegal to be recreated. (cc @holz_bau)
All the older people asking young people to curtail their lives, give up income, study remotely, all so that we can be safe - can we agree on something? Can we support livable wages, paid sick leave, universal health care, affordable housing? Seems like a fair deal to me.
Seattle Times expressing concerns about making it easy to vote. Hmm, who does that sound like?
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This is a GOTV tactic and one that has been deployed by other campaigns. In 2013 on the McGinn campaign we targeted precincts hit the streets with mobile printers and turned out our voters. Now city establishment is crying foul? I wonder what is different? seattletimes.com/opinion/editor
On point. You want zero emissions? Build walkable neighborhoods connected by electrified transit
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Electric vehicles are overrated.
Elon Musk will tell you Tesla is crucial to solving climate change--but they won't save us. To solve our transportation-related carbon emissions, we need zero-emissions transit and dense, walkable cities.
Watch
youtu.be/SLz1Q71GTy0
I was a lawyer and a mayor. Rules on gifts are simple. Dinner at old friend's house - OK. Newly acquired billionaire friend with interest in government actions pays for private jet flight and $1000 a night resort - Not OK. How can S. Ct. justices not get this?
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Our story:
Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court
propublica.org/article/samuel
Exclusionary zoning in action. WA considers bill to allow backyard cottages statewide w/o restriction. Late amendment allows neighborhoods to be exempted after two hearings. Wanna guess which neighborhoods have lawyers and power to opt out? Redlining lives
Remain surprised that in a recession the Seattle Mayor and City Council want to grow the police force budget. Seriously, the sky won't fall if officer levels go back to 2010 levels. It didn't then either.
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Replying to @mayormcginn @CMAndrewJLewis and @CMDanStrauss
The police force will see attrition as a normal course of business. Stop hiring, accept the resignations and apply the savings to something else. It's a starting point to deeper change. We reduced the force by 36 officers through attrition in 2010, and crime went down that year.
Westlake between downtown and the lake.
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Paris is investing £225m to transform the iconic but car-choked Champs-Élysées boulevard into an “extraordinary garden.” Among other things, 140K on-street parking spaces will be removed. Bold city-building leadership from @Anne_Hidalgo & team. Via @TheB1M
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Seattle had a head tax until 2009, when the Chamber of Commerce threw their weight around during a recession and cowed the council. They preferred then that we cut human services. They still think they're the victims
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David Horsey cartoon | Seattle City Hall's proposed head tax will affect more than Amazon. st.news/2FC4Kos
Chris Hansen keeps improving the offer
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If approved, our new street vacation petition puts Seattle in the best position to bring back the @NBA and @NHL! sonicsarena.com/news/article/t
The power of just running more buses
KUOW reporting confirms that Durkan had lost control of the police.
Imagine you arrive alone at a popular restaurant and the tables are full, except for one big table for eight. The staff says "hey - that's reserved" but you sit down there and demand service. That's you driving in the bus lane. And the table is actually for 50.
In January, when new elected officials are sworn in, will be Seattle’s most senior elected official.
The premise of the rally supported by Seattle police officers was that votes, particularly from cities with significant Black populations, shouldn't count. That alone is a problem, whether or not the officers then stormed the Capitol.
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Replying to @davidlgutman
Solan also confirmed that the two SPD officers now on leave were, in fact, at the pro-Trump rally. He said he was concerned by "what appears to be their guilt by association for merely exercising their constitutionally protected first amendment rights”
seattletimes.com/seattle-news/p
Sanders delegates, alternates (and fans) from precinct 36-2121 #WAcaucus
I am struck by Seattle's lack of urgency, innovation and creativity in dealing with our drug crisis. Is a return to the war on drugs all we have? We need an all hands on deck approach, not just a criminal one.
Amazon dropping $1.4 million into the Seattle City Council elections
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To anyone feeling discouraged about last nights results (include me) remember this:
Elections are the scorecard, but they are not the game. What happens on the ground between elections is where it's at now.
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In its oversight capacity, the Seattle City Council should request the WA Attorney General to do a complete investigation into SPD's deception and Durkan's deleted texts.
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Durkan was one of two who signed the consent decree for DOJ. She clearly believed then that a mayor was accountable to the public and the legal system for police behavior. I’m honestly blown away any mayor would claim “not my job” when it comes to how police treat people.
Why would anyone appoint an oil industry lobbyist to be in charge of environmental protection in the NW? Hey, let’s hire one of the people who brought us “smoke season”???
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Casey Sixkiller, a former oil lobbyist, got himself appointed as a senior EPA official in the Biden admin. Cool, cool, cool. eenews.net/articles/ex-hi
Reports now are that 5 seattle police officers responded to Trump's call to go to DC to nullify an election. Does Seattle want them making street level decisions on who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?
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The premise of the rally supported by Seattle police officers was that votes, particularly from cities with significant Black populations, shouldn't count. That alone is a problem, whether or not the officers then stormed the Capitol. twitter.com/davidlgutman/s…
The first bill I vetoed was an anti-panhandling statute. Durkan's first veto will be funding for affordable housing. I had the wrong city council!
Lived here since age 7. Now a parent of a three year old boy. No criminal record. A work permit under DACA. Deporting him is wrong.
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ICE arrested a DACA recipient with no criminal record in Seattle. He's currently locked up in a detention center. reuters.com/article/us-usa
I remember a conversation with Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times (author below) where he was just befuddled by my position that we did not need to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct.
Climate arson
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Tonight the WA House passed an $11.8 billion 2-year transportation budget.
A press release from @WAHouseDems lists "sustainable transportation" investments that total 0.1% of the budget, and "active transportation" spending of another 0.1%.
Oh and these highway expansions:
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Whatever you thought this year's Seattle city council elections were about - Amazon putting in a million and a half dollars to buy it should give you pause. You won't be the only person to see that maybe it's not a good idea to let Amazon buy the city council
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Surprise: Amazon is trying to tilt the Seattle City Council elections in their favor. I'm with the Seattle council members and activists who continue standing up to Amazon. Corporations aren't people, and I have a plan to get big money out of politics. nytimes.com/2019/10/18/tec
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I would like to say he got my logic - that 5th was just the route we both preferred. But that would not be truthful. He did not seem to get it.
Democrat Senators should shut down the Senate until Trump ends his illegal and discriminatory ban on Muslims and refugees
Biggest issues in Seattle: homelessness and crime.
Biggest Seattle priority for state lawmakers: wider highways to whisk suburban commuters in and out of the city. Using pandemic relief funds. WTF.
This is a big deal. A US Senator and a leader of the Green New Deal calling to stop endlesss highway expansion and invest in the right infrastructure. Too many democrats at every level of government continue to boost highway expansion as good infrastructure. The tide is turning.
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Endless highway expansion is bad for our cities, public health, and the planet. We need to invest in green infrastructure—sidewalks, bus stops, bike lanes, public transit—that will make our cities work for people, not just cars. twitter.com/sam_d_1995/sta…
In a sane world USCG and SPD would be corralling Shell's arctic drilling rig, not clearing its path. #ShellNo
Shutting down ICE
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I’m curious to hear your thoughts. What is the appropriate outcome? A misdemeanor? A fine? Community service? Nothing? twitter.com/brandikruse/st
Just noticed this report. After tolling (and pre-pandemic), the SR99 tunnel was carrying 55k cars a day. Less than the Ballard Bridge. Less than half the original viaduct traffic (110-130K a day). For $4B - a helluva mobility strategy.
wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/

Build a transportation system that works for the 25% without drivers licenses. Everyone will benefit from sidewalks, bike lanes and transit.
You are all on notice:
“When it’s done, people will be very, very happy with it,” said Friends of Waterfront Seattle, “It’s all about people taking the time to understand what they’re looking at it. It doesn’t lend itself to explanations on Twitter.”
Change this and we change the world.
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Seriously, in the fight against climate change highways are a huge blind spot for elected officials. R’s deny climate change is real, D’s deny the role of highways and transportation generally. It’s their brand of climate denialism.
As Putin uses oil as a lever for power, WA expands highways. As wildfires and flooding gets worse from climate change, WA expands highways. How much tragedy does it take to change?
Municipal broadband as a public utility could have helped transition to online learning by connecting every household and school. Comcast-funded politicians killed it in Seattle. The legislature put schools on austerity while Boeing got tax breaks. There's a pattern here.
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School leaders in Seattle have said our district is too big and diverse to transition to online learning in the face of coronavirus, writes columnist Danny Westneat. Yet they're trying exactly that in … Los Angeles? bit.ly/2WDPYts
After the downtown shootings "the get tough crowd" are calling for the same policies that have failed so far - more cops, arrests, and jail sentences. Meanwhile our leaders starve the programs that go at root causes: LEAD, youth violence prevention, prisoner reentry.
It’s disgraceful that any elected Democrat is raiding the general fund to expand highways when education and housing are woefully underfunded.
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NEW: Don't Widen Highways, Invest $2 Billion in Affordable Housing Instead theurbanist.org/2022/02/18/don
Congress should prohibit states and cities competing for corporate facilities by offering tax breaks. It's a race to the bottom that impoverishes communities and enriches the wealthy.
"We must stop widening roads—it’s time our leaders learned from many decades of research and experience with induced demand that adding lanes leads to more driving, not faster commutes."
We're in a legitimacy crisis. Our election system elevates leaders who don’t have majority support from the public. That mismatch adds up over time. True nationally (electoral college, gerrymandering, judicial appointments) and locally (odd year elections).
If you don't want homeless people camping in your neighborhood then you have to provide shelter. That's not just an opinion - that's the law. twitter.com/7im/status/103
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Every mayor since 2013 has been endorsed by the Seattle Times. Under those mayors crime has increased. And we are supposed to listen to the Seattle Times on public safety?
I imagine that people in the future will ask “why didn’t they act when they heard the climate change warnings? What were they thinking?” So I decided to visit the tunnel ribbon cutting to report what they were thinking.
I would say my range reduced, but I got a much deeper understanding of things within range. I was experiencing my community more fully walking or biking.
Nine years of corporate mayors
"There were 97 shootings per 100,000 people in 2022, compared with only 38 in 2013 — a more than 300% increase, according to the Downtown Seattle Association’s review of SPD data."
Are they worried people won’t use it?
Misleading scare tactics implying that the I-5 Columbia River crossing is unsafe. The term "functionally obsolete" is about function - e.g., "not enough lanes". Feds use the term "structurally deficient" to address safety concerns. has written about this.
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Both spans of the Interstate Bridge are considered functionally obsolete by the Federal Highway Administration. The longer they go without replacement, the more their condition will deteriorate.
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"From 1993 to 2017, states laid down 30,511 new miles of freeway lanes in the hundred largest urbanized areas — a 42 percent increase in highway capacity."
And it solved nothing
politico.com/news/2021/07/1
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Pretty much everything wrong with transportation decision making in one quote. Well-off driver elected to office votes for billions to subsidize commutes by well-off drivers. Climate? Whatever.
If you're ever wondering why a city with such progressive values isn't really that progressive - check out these maps.
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The new "Moms For Seattle" PAC claims to be "a group of normal moms, concerned about crime in our neighborhoods."
Here is a map of everyone in Seattle who has donated to the PAC.
The red one shows real estate prices. The blue one shows crime.
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And this isn’t just on the climate deniers (as awful as they are). Its also on every Democrat who postured on climate while claiming they had to satisfy the fossil fuel industry, the highway builders and the wealth hoarders. They knew the consequences and looked away.
Holy crap city hall - this is our deputy mayor’s resume? prisonlegalnews.org/news/2021/jun/
Is single family zoning meant to exclude blacks and other people of color? Well, one white supremacist thinks it is.
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Trump in tele-town hall last night on Biden: “They're going to bring people, eliminate single-family zoning, they want to eliminate single family zoning, bringing who knows into your suburbs, so your communities will be unsafe and your housing values will go down.” Per @DJJudd



































