December 2024

“Prince” Diaz out, Barnes in, and the outgoing governor wants to tax the rich

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Housekeeping:

As we reach the end of 2024, I’d like to thank you for joining me for another year of local news, politics, and analysis. And a special thank you to my financial supporters on Patreon, who help to cover Notes from the Emerald City’s hosting fees. 

I’ll be taking the next two weeks off to rest, rejuvenate, and get ready for whatever 2025 brings! I hope all of you have a wonderful end to 2024. 

Seattle News:

I had two stories out in The Urbanist this week: one is an interview with Seattle City Attorney candidate Rory O’Sullivan, and the other is an analysis of the new less lethal weapon crowd control legislation being voted on by Seattle City Council next month.

Big news this week is that Mayor Bruce Harrell fired former SPD Chief Adrian Diaz, who was removed as Chief earlier this year and given a “special assignment” within SPD, continuing to collect his generous salary. You can read about the whole sordid saga at The Stranger, PubliCola, two articles at The Seattle Times, two articles at KUOW, Cascade PBS, or you can go straight to the source and read the Office of the Inspector General’s investigation report.

Diaz had “an intimate or romantic relationship” with his chief of staff, Jamie Tompkins, who he hired and directly supervised. Tompkins didn’t have previous law enforcement experience. A romantic card written by Tompkins featuring an Ewok was found, in which Tompkins compared Diaz to a Disney prince and talked about his kiss. 

How to express true love

Investigators also found multiple SPD employees who said Diaz often talked and bragged about having a sexual relationship with Tompkins. 

The relationship and Diaz’s denials of it violated several SPD policies. Harrell fired Diaz as a result of the investigation’s findings. 

In June, soon after he had been demoted, Diaz went on Jason Rantz’s talk show and said he was “a gay Latino man” to defuse rumors of the romantic relationship with Tompkins. Diaz is now denying allegations of the affair with Tompkins and saying the investigation was flawed.

KUOW also published an interesting piece on how they broke and developed this story.

In another SPD shake-up, SPD Deputy Chief Eric Barden, interim Chief Sue Rahr’s second in command, announced his retirement last Friday, effective immediately. Rahr said Barden is leaving after 38 years to take care of his sick mother. You might remember Barden from a controversy earlier this year when it came out he’d been accused of domestic violence and had allegedly asked a Pierce County deputy to lie about it, a move that resulted in him being placed on the Brady list for dishonest police officers. 

Rahr is appointing Assistant Chief Yvonne Underwood as acting deputy chief and will soon appoint Capt. Lori Aagard to be the acting assistant chief over professional standards.

In MORE big news, Harrell has announced the new permanent SPD Chief: Shon Barnes, the police chief of Madison, Wisconsin, who got some press this week after a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison left three dead. Barnes will need to be confirmed by the City Council before assuming leadership of SPD. You can read more about it at The Seattle Times, Cascade PBS, KUOW, and the City’s press release. 

I will note three red flags that go along with this news. First, there was no public process that went along with the selection of the new Chief. While the public process has often seemed performative to me in the past, I think not having it at all is an unfortunate step in the wrong direction. 

Second, it sounds like Barnes is a proponent of police in schools. In fact, Barnes was at one time a history teacher, and talking to the school resource officer at his school at the time played a role in his decision to enter policing. School resource officers were removed from Seattle Public Schools in 2020 in response to the George Floyd protests. 

Third, Erica Barnett of PubliCola found a 2022 article from Madison about its disparity of arrests: “Less than 7% of Madison’s population is African-American, but Blacks made up 47 percent of those arrested during the first quarter of this year.”

In other news, the CARE alternative response expansion is running behind schedule. Originally CARE was supposed to be covering the entire city by the end of the year. Now it sounds like they won’t be covering that much area until the end of June.

There is more news in the case of SPD Officer Kevin Dave, thanks to The Stranger: “On Wednesday, Seattle Police Officer Kevin Dave admitted to driving negligently when he struck and killed 23-year-old college student Jaahnavi Kandula in a crosswalk last year. In exchange for Dave admitting to the citation, agreeing to pay a $5,000 fine, and attending driving school, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office (CAO) asked the court to waive a 90-day license suspension for Dave.”

The Office of the Inspector General released an audit this week of “Disciplinary Determinations for SPD Sworn Personnel.” PubliCola reported it found that the majority of the time, officers receiving discipline have punishments at the minimum or below of recommended punishment, due to Diaz’s decisions. The same finding was in the 2021 audit, meaning previous Chiefs leaned in a similar direction discipline-wise. It will be interesting to see if Shon Barnes bucks the trend in this regard. PubliCola reports: “The audit also found that there is still a massive backlog of 106 officer appeals awaiting arbitration, with most of those (82) still unresolved since the 2021 audit.”

Washington State News:

Governor Jay Inslee is going out with a bang by proposing a state wealth tax, a 1% annual tax on worldwide wealth of more than $100 million. Just to be clear, anyone who has more than $100 million is very, VERY rich. He is also proposing to raise taxes on businesses, with a temporary 20% tax increase on about 20,000 businesses with high revenues, followed by a 10% across-the-board business tax increase. 

Here is a flavor of the arguments in favor of the wealth tax and against the wealth tax. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this in 2025. 

Inslee’s budget also includes $5.5 million for additional security for Seattle during the World Cup in June of 2026.

Recent Headlines:

“Prince” Diaz out, Barnes in, and the outgoing governor wants to tax the rich Read More »

Seattle revisits less lethal weapons after SPD received 15,000 complaints in 2020

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Seattle News:

On Tuesday, Seattle’s public safety committee met to discuss SPD’s 30×30 initiative to hire more women officers and the new proposed less lethal weapons legislation transmitted from the Mayor’s Office. 

In the presentation and discussion about 30×30, topics discussed included providing more mentorship opportunities for women, providing places for them to pump breast milk, and providing more flexible childcare options. But what was more striking was what was not discussed, namely, the findings in last year’s 30×30 report that SPD is often a toxic working environment for women due to harassment and an old boys’ culture. Indeed, women officers said they wouldn’t recommend other women join the department.

The less lethal weapons legislation would allow SPD to use less lethal weapons when SPD officers judge there is imminent physical risk of injury to anyone or significant property damage. As written, it would allow any officers ranked lieutenant or higher to be able to authorize crowd dispersal. It removes the private right of action for people injured by crowd control weapons; while there are state and federal rights to sue, they are less robust and make taking legal action more difficult. It also allows SPD to begin using newly developed weapons and change their crowd control policy without any outside oversight.  

SPD’s current draft crowd control policy is in conflict with two pieces of legislation about less lethal weapons from 2020 and 2021; even though neither of those ordinances were able to go into effect, the City can’t submit the crowd control policy to the Court overseeing the consent decree until and unless they resolve the discrepancies. City leaders are pushing for this new legislation to be passed in the expectation that they will then finally be released from the consent decree.

Councilmember Cathy Moore expressed concerns about this new legislation, particularly about the use of blast balls and relying on SPD policy instead of having fortifying legislation. Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who does not sit on the public safety committee but was attending the meeting, also expressed concerns.

Any amendments to this bill will most likely be due before the council’s winter recess, meaning by Friday, December 20. The bill will be heard in committee again on Tuesday, January 14, with a possible full council vote as early as Tuesday, January 21. 

You can read more coverage on this legislation here and here. 

Meanwhile, people are responding to Councilmember Tammy Morales’s announcement last week that she is resigning from the council effective next year. An op-ed ran in The Stranger this week, entitled Tammy Morales’s Resignation Exposes a Pattern of Institutional Abuse Against Southeast Seattle Electeds. And The South Seattle Emerald interviewed Morales: here is an interesting quote: 

“According to Morales, the silencing of District 2 constituents is disenfranchising the South End. “It’s not just anti-democratic, it’s also disenfranchising the South End. It’s one thing for me, as a duly elected member of the city’s council, to not be able to get my work done on behalf of my constituents — that’s one thing. It is also an issue, though, when community members show up in chambers and are also gaslit, which is what’s happening,” explained Morales. “There is no acknowledgment that [City Council’s] behavior, their proposals, are leading to this dissatisfaction. Instead, constituents get blamed for being misinformed or just confused or disrespectful. That is the classic definition of gaslighting — manipulating [by] not acknowledging that it was [the council’s] own behavior that led to this in the first place, and just blaming the public.””

Since the Seattle Fire Department’s new Buprenorphine Pilot Program began, 48 patients have been treated with buprenorphine.  

In the seemingly never-ending stream of legal action brought against the City related to the Seattle Police Department, SPD Lt. John O’Neill brought a tort claim against the City last week saying he’s experienced discrimination and retaliation by command staff and leaders. O’Neill was a named party in the lawsuit filed by four women SPD officers alleging gender discrimination and sexual harassment this past summer. The Seattle Times reports that “the claim says interim police Chief Sue Rahr, Deputy Chief Eric Barden and “several other members” of police leadership and of the K-9, media and crime scene investigations units were involved in or witnessed the treatment alleged by O’Neil.”

The Seattle Times had an interesting article this week about results of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s downtown activation plan, which appears to have moved many unhoused people and drug-seeking people to the Chinatown International District (CID) instead. There is speculation that folks might ultimately try to return to “the Jungle,” the greenbelts south of the CID, which were cleared out in 2016. The state later fenced off most of these greenways in an effort to remove homeless encampments. 

King County and WA State News:

The next WA state legislative session begins in January, and a few gun control efforts are being lined up now; namely, putting an excise tax on bullets and firearms, passing a permit-to-purchase bill, banning open-carry in parks and public buildings, and Governor-elect Ferguson’s idea of a gun buyback program.

In good news, gun violence in Seattle and King County is on the decline this year, following national trends. But it is still a pressing problem.

There is a lack of detox beds for teenagers in Washington State. There is currently no law guaranteeing youth have access to detox programs. As a result of this dearth, many kids end up trying to detox at home with their families instead. The Seattle Times found there are currently only two detox beds for youths available state-wide.

Recent Headlines:

Seattle revisits less lethal weapons after SPD received 15,000 complaints in 2020 Read More »

Seattle Councilmember Morales’s resignation raises red flag about Seattle’s institutions

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Seattle News:

Perhaps the biggest news this week is that Councilmember Tammy Morales is resigning from the Seattle City Council, effective January 6. She announced her resignation about a week after Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck was sworn into office, replacing Tanya Woo, who was appointed by the Council earlier this year. You can read about the resignation here, here, here, and here.

Former Councilmember Andrew Lewis had this to say over on Twitter: “The comparison with Pedersen [referenced in PubliCola’s article] is really illustrative. Alex had a different point of view from most of us, but there were still things we could work on together or amendments that improved a bill. The freezing out and hostility Tammy has faced is unprecedented and unacceptable. Or Licata, who served 18 years as the lone progressive. Despite his politics his colleagues respected him and he got a lot of good things passed on their merit (paid sick and safe leave for one). The curiosity that leads to good ideas breaking through is sorely lacking today.”

While we could all see other councilmembers bullying Morales on the dais live on the Seattle Channel, it sounds like this was the tip of the iceberg in terms of the poor treatment experienced by her and her staff. However, as bad as this is, perhaps even more troubling is the disenfranchisement of District 2 as a result of this behavior. It should not escape anyone that District 2 is the only Seattle district where people of color constitute the majority. Morales herself seems deeply aware of this, providing this list of actions the current Council has taken in the last year that have undermined her policy work and have been, in some cases, what could be considered anti-democratic:

  • “Interfered with the ability of our non-partisan Council Central Staff to provide objective policy analysis 
  • Suppressed the will of voters by offering an alternative ballot initiative that would effectively gut the Seattle social housing developer next February 
  • Stifled first amendment rights during public comment by arresting people 
  • Intimidated commenters by having a police presence when any controversial legislation is considered 
  • Witnessed a significant reduction of institutional knowledge through the departure of 3 Council Central policy staff, the entire Council communications team, members of our human resources and finance team, and several legislative aides 
  • Attempted to defund a critical program for addressing anti-displacement and supporting community economic development led by people of color 
  • Passed 11 separate bills to increase the punitive nature of our criminal legal system without any additional meaningful accountability for our police department 
  • And passed a budget that reduces funding for social services for our most vulnerable while dramatically increasing funding for jails, police, and sweeps”

The articles linked above include additional examples, and while this is not the purview of the Seattle City Council, a similar anti-democratic spirit has been shown by the City Attorney’s Office this year in their vendetta against sitting Seattle Municipal Court Judge Pooja Vaddadi. Meanwhile, the City has authorized a major expansion of surveillance technology, including automated license plate readers, CCTV cameras, and real time crime software. And next week the public safety committee intends to take up work on new less lethal weapon legislation that appears to functionally return the City to its pre-2020 status quo in terms of crowd control.

In a national environment in which many Democrats are raising the alarm about the health of our democracy, it’s worth reflecting on how we’re doing locally. And in Seattle, the answer appears to be that we could be doing better.  

You can read my article at The Urbanist about OPA Director Gino Betts resigning and Seattle’s troubled accountability system. A new director will be appointed by Mayor Bruce Harrell sometime next year.

One subject I touch upon in that article is the City’s 2025 legislative agenda and how it vastly reduces the number of agenda items relating to police accountability. Indeed, the agenda is significantly shorter and less coherent than its predecessor, as well as being significantly less progressive. The 2025 agenda was passed by Full Council on Tuesday with a few amendments.

Rinck walked on one amendment to state the City’s commitment to exploring progressive revenue options before considering other options for revenues that would put a higher tax burden on lower income and middle income households. She referenced the $10-12 billion state budget deficit over the next several years. Her amendment was successfully added, with Councilmembers Rinck, Cathy Moore, Morales, Rob Saka, and Dan Strauss voting yes, Councilmember Bob Kettle voting no, and Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth, Maritza Rivera, and Sara Nelson abstaining. 

Her second walk-on amendment adjusted a housing bullet point to add language to state the City’s commitment to increasing funding specifically to the Housing Trust Fund and other housing programs. It also passed. 

Attorney Rory O’Sullivan is the first candidate out of the gate to announce he’s running for Seattle City Attorney next year. More on this from me coming up.

The Seattle Police Department might soon move to be able to use drones as part of their surveillance apparatus. Hard Pressed reports that Seattle’s Information Technology department has determined such technology will need to go through a surveillance impact report process such as that conducted for the recently approved CCTV and real time crime software surveillance technologies. SPD has indicated they would like to use drones for “patrol units, arson and bomb squad, SWAT, harbor patrol, traffic collision investigation squad, CSI and to utilize drones as a first responder.” 

For more information, you can read a Wired investigation on a drone program currently being run in Chula Vista, California. 

King County News:

The Seattle Times recently ran an article entitled “Are King County’s homeless shelters full?” The answer appears to be a resounding yes.

“Either way, beds were consistently filled at prepandemic rates by late 2022 and by April 2024, were over 95% full — the highest in the last five years. “Generally, shelters are full, functionally full, and that’s been the case the entire time, nearly two decades, that I’ve been privy to the inner workings of this system,” said Alison Eisinger, executive director of Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.”

They are full across the board regardless of type, although tiny home villages to tend to be even fuller. We also know that many people are turned away without a bed. And the article says that in 2023, the City of Seattle cleared almost 2,000 encampments as “obstructions,” sweeps which do not require the City to offer shelter.

King County launched their expanded mobile crisis team program at the beginning of the week, which dispatches teams of two to de-escalate mental health crises and provide connections to services. The expansion adds 10 teams, which gives the County a total of 27 teams, as well as having nine new customized vans. The teams will be dispatched through 988, run for the county by Crisis Connections. The dispatch is strictly voluntary, which means the caller has to agree to have the team come out. 

The family of Allen Duane McNutt, a man who died by suicide in the King County in Jail in 2022, is suing King County for $5 million. He was the fourth person to die by suicide that year in the jail, which is also being sued by the ACLU of Washington for not providing adequate medical care. 

Last week Executive Dow Constantine announced $11.75 million in participatory budgeting funds being allocated to various capital projects such as community centers, senior centers, and schools, as well as programming such as increased food bank funding, youth classes, and physical fitness programs. 

Recent Headlines:

Seattle Councilmember Morales’s resignation raises red flag about Seattle’s institutions Read More »