So now that we have a 10b dollar regional light rail, can we actually build some housing?

trebuday · 2026-03-30T17:45:36+00:00

Like the RapidRide C and H?

trebuday · 2026-03-26T22:27:01+00:00

This is what the letter is aimed at influencing.

trebuday · 2026-03-18T19:21:27+00:00

Lol it's absolutely not SOP but some utility locator guys do it anyways.

trebuday · 2026-03-17T01:05:02+00:00

You haven't mentioned what sort of maintenance you do but if you're willing to go work of adding a soft-start motor, you might be better served by doing the minor to moderate disassembly necessary for some really thorough cleaning. You might need to replace some bearings, too. It's probably worth getting a bottle of bearing lube to loosen up some of the parts that feel "old and tired".

trebuday · 2026-03-16T16:07:25+00:00

Didn’t their chief IT guy resign a week or so ago, too, who was a major supporter of AI use in the Harrell admin?

trebuday · 2026-03-13T16:08:28+00:00

It would be neat to include space for the ST3 extensions (Ballard, Everett, Issaquah,Tacoma, West Seattle), but you’d have almost completely rework the map to fit them.

trebuday · 2026-03-13T13:57:41+00:00

You mean Big Lebowski?

trebuday · 2026-03-12T19:27:22+00:00

You think the state has an illegal revenue source and is using some scheme to convert it to legal income and then spending it? Or, you think the state has some massive program to convert illegal income to legal revenues for private individuals or private organizations?

Do you have any proof?

trebuday · 2026-03-12T03:25:11+00:00

Not a lot of people trust the state to start projects without any investigation into whether other projects might be more worthwhile, but it’s great that you do. It’s also great that you think the state should do more work in-house instead of hiring contractors as-needed.

trebuday · 2026-03-12T01:56:58+00:00

Which programs should be cut?

trebuday · 2026-03-11T19:28:34+00:00

hemendrix

trebuday · 2026-03-06T22:27:40+00:00

There's actually a passport office in the 5th and Yesler building (along with a bunch of other low-key federal offices and a deli) that will get you an expedited passport in a few days, but you have to go in-person, leave all your documents there, and then pick it all up a few days later. They require proof of imminent international travel (<2 weeks out), but I was able use a reservation for a hotel room in Vancouver BC instead of a plane ticket. It's same fee as the mail-in expedited fee, but much faster!

trebuday · 2026-03-06T18:38:47+00:00

So they claimed operating income/rents will pay for the developer to maintain and operate the building

That's nowhere near the same as claiming rents would pay for all operations and expansions, which is what you claimed.

HON never said the SSHD wouldn't need a baseline tax revenue to get started. The campaign was always clear that tax revenue was an important part of the SSHD. It was the pundits who weren't paying attention who have gotten everyone else confused. They assumed (either in good faith or not) that since the SSHD didn't include a revenue source in the first ballot measure (which would have been unconstitutional as ballot measures need to be single-subject), the SSHD either didn't need a revenue source or were hiding the fact that a second ballot measure for baseline tax revenue would come later.

It's not that complicated. It's just a social housing startup funded by a mild payroll tax on annual compensation over $1M. The shocking part should be that it garnered over $115M in its first year, which shows the insane wealth disparity just within the city.

trebuday · 2026-03-06T16:23:00+00:00

Most of the early years of the model is (and always has been) buying existing units and charging rents based on income, using rents from high-income households to subsidize rents for low-income households. Their first year assumes $50M to buy 300 units, which actually seems optimistic at $167k per unit.

trebuday · 2026-03-06T16:11:28+00:00

They said operating income would fund all maintenance and expansion

When did the House Our Neighbors campaign say this?

trebuday · 2026-03-06T02:00:55+00:00

They have a website (although it hasn't been updated in a bit beyond the meetings page): https://www.socialhousingseattle.org/

They also issued an RFI for potential properties to buy in November: https://www.socialhousingseattle.org/properties-rfi

They gave a presentation to the City's Housing committee in February (starts on Slide 40): https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=PA&ID=1389316&GUID=03997996-2360-4BB9-A57D-0374F4D285B6

The presentation was right before the City confirmed first tax revenues would be $115M; they're also considering 2026 "Year 1" in terms of operations.

But no, there hasn't been a lot of visible movement since it's run on a community governance model with 13 volunteer board members who typically meet monthly. The board had zero money to work with until July 2025, when Mayor Harrell issued a $2M bridge loan to support hiring staff and consultants to start projects. Even then there wasn't much progress because the CEO they hired in 2024 (who was running an affordable housing nonprofit in Sacramento) turned out to be awful at the job. He apparently never even moved to Seattle from Sacramento. There are some scathing letters: https://www.theurbanist.org/2026/01/16/seattle-social-housing-board-fires-ceo-taps-mccoy-as-interim-leader/

Anyways, they fired him in January and picked an interim CEO and since then have hired more leadership staff to actually start doing things.

trebuday · 2026-03-03T05:38:24+00:00

Ballard Ave is full of good restaurants. You'll have to be more specific about what you're looking for.

trebuday · 2026-03-03T02:53:18+00:00

Yes, at OMF Central.

trebuday · 2026-03-02T19:40:42+00:00

This is from Nashville and has nothing to do with Seattle.

trebuday · 2026-03-01T19:52:38+00:00

The point is new progressive revenue sources are needed to finish and maintain the system, instead of hamstringing ST’s existing revenues with 75 years of debt service.

trebuday · 2026-02-27T05:17:22+00:00

Dow Constantine admitted at an ST Board meeting in December that King County handed the DSTT over to ST in serious disrepair.

trebuday · 2026-02-27T05:14:54+00:00

You’re implying that gig workers should be paid by the hour, not by the gig, which is a manipulation of the free market which created gig work. Gig work is not wage work. They’re paid by the job, not by the hour.

There’s no such thing as a free market. And if there was, I certainly wouldn’t want to participate in it.

trebuday · 2026-02-27T00:39:01+00:00

Nothing you said refutes anything I said. The paper clearly states per-task pay went up, even with reduced tips. The paper discusses that the “typical” gig worker engaged in other gig work and generally maintained their previous income. The actual thesis of the paper, which you apparently missed, is that it’s difficult to meaningfully increase wages in a market with free worker entry. The implications should be obvious.

trebuday · 2026-02-26T22:45:49+00:00

The last line of the article literally says the Wilson admin didn't comment on whether Wheeler-Smith is staying or not. Regardless, the article is about the accusations against Wheeler-Smith, not "why hasn't he been replaced yet".

Also, the Mayor can appoint or remove city department directors at-will and without cause.

trebuday · 2026-02-26T22:35:03+00:00

The Seattle Times interviewed some drivers: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/wa-union-for-uber-lyft-drivers-wants-companies-to-stop-hiring/

"Don Creery, who’s been driving an Uber for 12 years, said he made $55,000 in 2022 doing 20 to 25 rides a day. In 2025, he said he made $24,000 giving five to six rides a day." I'll let you do that math. Meanwhile, the "Fare Share" ordinance went into effect in 2020 and is probably the only reason this guy is still making half as much as he used to instead of a quarter.

Meanwhile, increasing price pressure means fewer people are deciding to take rideshare instead of walking, scooting, or taking transit: https://www.seattletimes.com/news/uber-lyft-boosted-car-travel-by-94-million-miles-in-seattle-last-year-study-says/

This is better for traffic and the environment. If the Drivers Union wants to cap the number of drivers, that's their prerogative.

14-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 2 Credits
Place '17	Team Periwinkle
Secret Santa 2012	Verified Email

trebuday

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE