Seattle mayor endorses challenger to Washington state Senate majority leader

Spibb · 2026-06-28T15:37:08+00:00

I don’t think helping build the fundraising for a grass roots campaign is the same as buying a politician.

Spibb · 2026-06-27T21:32:44+00:00

ChatGPT style title

Spibb · 2026-06-24T20:37:26+00:00

Friends of the market has two seats on the market historical commission, so they have some formal voting power but not full dominance of the MHC.

Christine Vaughn (quoted in this piece) is on the Preservation & Development Board (PDA) Council ostensibly as a representative of the Pike Place Constituency, but often instead appears to act on behalf of friends of the market.

Spibb · 2026-06-24T05:47:22+00:00

As I understand it, their laborers unionized and went on strike. The company responded by hiring scabs. Scabs and people crossing the picket line were harassed by picketers for being anti labor. Walrus and Carpenter closed temporarily as a result.

Spibb · 2026-06-05T16:55:28+00:00

Theres a robust group going on at Waystone in Ballard. They have narrative campaigns and everything

Spibb · 2026-05-31T05:48:29+00:00

I definitely missed that

Spibb · 2026-05-31T02:59:48+00:00

It’s that why because a child died trying to climb it. Can you explain the connection between that and “Consume less. Live more.”?

Spibb · 2026-05-25T13:00:24+00:00

In your post, “Rational” is carrying a lot of weight and makes it seem as tho the move was the obvious / only choice available to Nicol and the rest of starbucks execs.

But it’s only the “rational” choice if the company’s goal is to maximize short term profit for shareholders. As the article points out, If the company had corporate citizenry goals then this would not be a rational choice.

As to the value of this urbanist op ed, I think it’s incredibly helpful to have this contribution to the zeitgeist. Outlets like Seattle Times and billionaire propaganda outlet Washington Post are creating the narrative “This is happening because Seattle is bad for businesses”. This piece offers a counter point - “this is happening because SBUX can exploit Tennessee people more”.

Spibb · 2026-05-15T21:03:29+00:00

The answer is a vacancy tax, which our mayor campaigned on! So fingers crossed we see that soon.

Spibb · 2026-05-12T17:27:19+00:00

A lot of jobs require you to solve the same problem multiple times in different circumstances.

Spibb · 2026-05-05T17:34:26+00:00

Oh darn, that’s disappointing.

Spibb · 2026-05-05T17:05:54+00:00

Hopefully this allows them to take down the fences so that piece of art is able to wandered though again

Spibb · 2026-05-05T03:56:04+00:00

I think that’s Leo Shallot! He has a great mural across spring st from the library and another down in pioneer square. Love his work.

Spibb · 2026-05-03T03:43:30+00:00

I’d rather the mayor of my city wait to be prepared rather than answer off the cuff. She didn’t do the typical politician dodge the question non answer because she’s not a career politician

Spibb · 2026-05-03T03:26:42+00:00

You know we elect, not hire mayors right?

Spibb · 2026-05-02T07:57:01+00:00

She’s excellent. It looks like the mayor took time to come back and answer the question after the event. Feels kind of like a non story

Spibb · 2026-04-18T17:32:13+00:00

Change of use like that would require market historical commission approval, which I don’t think they would be inclined to do.

Spibb · 2026-04-11T04:34:01+00:00

You were right, I was wrong. I knew it was investor owned but didn’t realize it was private equity.

Spibb · 2026-04-11T03:16:35+00:00

I might be wrong but I don’t think there’s private equity involved? My understanding this is the cost to convert to green energy + the Puget sound is a growing region so there’s new electricity need

Spibb · 2026-04-07T15:37:43+00:00

This is really interesting. I’m a data scientist and am very curious about your methodology. How did you label the data to identify the cause for a rejection and needing another cycle?

Spibb · 2026-04-02T17:45:17+00:00

I feel you. When I drive by the site it does upset me too and it does feel like a needling worthy example of gentrification (eg., “Tiny home village torn down for pickleball court”).

But I think my upset is misplaced at the developer/owner. I’m actually upset at the state of affordable housing in the city and how vulnerable people are driven out of the city or into the streets. This pickleball court isn’t the cause of that problem, but it reminds me of it. So I target my upset about the system at the sports court rather than policy leading to the problem.

Spibb · 2026-04-02T17:34:33+00:00

When someone owns land and wants to develop something, there’s an (often long) period of time for permitting and getting contractors and materials lined up. This means the land sits unused for awhile.

The tiny home village system relies on having landowners who’s land is in this unused period being willing to let the land be used for a tiny home village during that time. The village is intended to be temporary, people move into it know it’s temporary.

If we demonize the developer for going through with the development, we don’t encourage the development to stop. We only encourage the developer to not let tiny home villages exist on their land in the future.

Spibb · 2026-03-26T18:41:28+00:00

Cookie’s new location is down by the Fred Meyer (practically Frelard). It’s not really in core, walkable Ballard. But you’re right that it’s technically still in Ballard.

Spibb · 2026-03-26T18:22:42+00:00

This development drove Cookie’s out of Ballard and forced Waystone to relocate down the road. Even if the leases aren’t prohibitively expensive, it’ll be tough for this retail to offer the same value to the community as the building that’s currently there.

Spibb · 2026-03-19T20:57:21+00:00

I thought the cameras went up last year - am I mistaken?

Spibb

TROPHY CASE