The original measure funds social housing by taxing the wealthy, and the council’s alternative does neither. by Hannah Krieg

After weeks of beating around the bush, Council Members Maritza Rivera, Cathy Moore, Bob Kettle, and Tanya Woo proposed a competing measure to the citizen-run initiative, I-137, which would fund social housing with a new tax on businesses that pay any employee more than $1 million. Instead, the council wants to avoid imposing new taxes on big business, the interest group that paid for their seats on the council, by raiding the City’s JumpStart payroll expense tax. 

The move marks the latest example of the new council disregarding the priorities the City legally obligated JumpStart revenue to pay for—affordable housing, Green New Deal initiatives, and equitable development. Not only would their alternative pit different kinds of non-market-rate housing against each other on the February ballot during a housing crisis, it foreshadows the council’s intent to balance the looming $260 million budget shortfall by attacking programs that benefit the working class rather than by further taxing corporations or the wealthy.

House Our Neighbors! (HON) gathered more than 26,000 verified signatures in favor of I-137, which would impose a 5 percent tax on companies for every dollar over a million they pay to a Seattle employee annually. The revenue, a projected $50 million per year, would fund the Public Development Authority (PDA) that 57 percent of voters approved in HON’s 2023 campaign. According to affordable housing developer Ben Maritz’s math, the PDA could pay for 2,000 units of housing over 10 years with such a tax. 

The council considered I-137 on Aug 6, hours before the deadline to put the measure on the November ballot, which would likely see a larger, more progressive turnout. The council had three options: Pass the initiative outright, put it on the ballot, or put it on the ballot with a competing measure. Citing unspecified legal concerns, the council voted 7 to 1 to delay action, dooming the initiative to a lower-turnout election in February. 

For weeks, advocates speculated that the council may cook up an alternative at the request of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Seattle Times Editorial Board, and the Mayor. But no one fessed up—Woo even denied her intention to do so. 

Finally, on Monday the council unveiled an alternative that would use $10 million in annual revenue from JumpStart–a volatile pot of $230 to $300 million a year–to fund the PDA for a five-year pilot period. Maritz estimated the alternative would pay for 250 to 375 units in its five-year lifetime. 

In a press release Monday night, supporters of the alternative presented their measure as the pragmatic choice. Kettle said the council alternative would provide “safeguards for taxpayer funds.” 

But the alternative actually reveals the council’s intent to strip existing safeguards that stipulate how the City must use JumpStart, turning it into a slush fund for the general fund. These safeguards came about in part to protect the intention of the tax and to appease corporate interests that criticized the City for not mapping out a plan for the revenue. Additionally, the “taxpayer” who Kettle and his colleagues advocated for in the press release is not the same taxpayer that shoulders the disproportionate burden of Washington’s regressive tax code. 

“The City Council would rather take money from low-income programs than from millionaires and billionaires,” says HON Policy and Advocacy Director Tiffani McCoy. 

In the press release, Rivera said the alternative forces the development authority to “demonstrate proof of concept, rather than the City simply handing over a blank check to yet another new agency with no track record of creating housing.” 

McCoy blamed the PDA’s “track record” on the City for delaying its start-up funds. Limiting funding with the new alternative may similarly destine the PDA for failure.

“Pilot programs with shoestring budgets don't work when you're in a housing crisis of this magnitude,” McCoy says. “And if they want to see a proof of concept, they should look out their damn windows at Montgomery County, Maryland. They should look at Chattanooga, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, California, Hawaii… [Social housing] is not radical. This is all over the world, and this idea that we need to do a ‘proof of concept’ just shows an inability to do math.”

Besides, the alternative would not prove the concept of social housing. The council’s alternative would lower the cap on renters’ incomes from 120% of the area median income (AMI) to 80% AMI, undermining the cross-subsidization model of social housing that voters approved in 2023. This move makes the program yet another affordable housing developer, McCoy said. 

In fact, according to HON’s lawyers’ analysis, the alternative may not fit the standard of an appropriate competing measure because the city council could theoretically enact both initiatives.

That’s not the only legal trouble that could head the council’s way. 

Former City Attorney Pete Holmes says that the City Charter, which is analogous to the US Constitution for Seattle, requires the council’s consideration of initiatives to take precedence over everything other than appropriations and emergencies. 

“With polling suggesting strong voter support for I-137, Council's failure to submit it to a vote in the high-turnout General Election begs the question whether the delay constitutes a voter suppression tactic in violation of the Charter,” Holmes said in a message to The Stranger. “Council should at least explain what has prevented timely consideration of this citizen initiative.”

If HON can’t fight the alternative on its legality, McCoy says she’s confident they can organize against it. Tonight, HON will hold a Q&A session about the alternative, they’ll voice their dissent at the council’s vote on Thursday, and they’ll ultimately make their case to the voters that their initiative brings about the vision of social housing that Seattle already approved. The council’s version, they’ll argue, does little more than protect the wallets of the ultra-wealthy.

From respiratory illnesses to dementia, wildfire smoke increases a number of health risks. As Canadian summers get hotter and drier, here’s everything you need to know

I was listening to the radio today when I heard someone ask a NYT journalist why the former president would spread lies / conspiracy theories about Haitian immigrants during the presidential debate with VP Kamala Harris, effectively doubling-down — as he often does — when challenged on the facts.

The journalist gave a wordy, unmemorable, polite answer as is common on TV.

But the answer is simple. Mr. Trump is a racist.

In the presidential debate this week, he boasted a lie that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating pet cats and dogs, because he is a racist.

In the same debate, he expressed no regrets for calling for the death penalty for 5 Black kids even though they were found innocent in the Central Park Jogger case, because he is a racist.

He began his political career, which had not existed prior, by spreading the Obama birther lie, because he is a racist.

In an Oval Office meeting, he called African countries “shit hole” countries, because he is a racist.

He called neo-nazis “fine people” after they marched in Charlottesville, screaming “Jews will not replace us!” because he is a racist.

He instituted a Muslim ban during his first weeks in office, because he is a racist.

He said that Judge Curiel, the judge in the fraud case against Trump University, could not be impartial because he is of Mexican heritage, because he is a racist.

He shakes his fist about immigration in lieu of working on immigration (a real problem) not because he cares about the economic impact but because he is a racist.

He targeted Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, effectively destroying their lives, because he is a racist.

Mr. Trump is a racist, and he uses his racism to fuel anger, resentment and division for his own personal gain. And his racist behavior provides cover for others.

The fight over Critical Race Theory (CRT) was racist.

Book bans are xenophobic, homophobic and racist.

The fights today over DEI in education are racist, and it is infuriating to watch Kentucky’s universities bowing to the pressure.

In the opening minutes of Mr. Trump’s recent interview with the Association of Black Journalists, he was hostile, vulgar, and disrespectful of the Black women interviewing him and said about VP Kamala Harris, “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

It’s not like there is some looming mystery to solve. He behaved this way and spoke in this manner because he is a racist.

Racist.

Not racially charged, not racially motivated, not tinged with racism. The word you are looking for is ‘racist’.

The two Springfield residents who started the smear against Haitian migrants. I encourage you to read the entire article, and keep in mind that every one of these attacks begins when one shithead decides to open their mouth and spit out some hate.

NewsGuard identified and tracked down the two people central to the claim: Erika Lee, the Springfield resident who wrote the original Facebook post, and Kimberly Newton, the neighbor who had provided her with a third-hand account of the rumor, making Lee’s social media post a fourth-hand account: the alleged acquaintance/cat owner; Newton’s friend; Newton; and Lee, who posted it on Facebook.

In exclusive interviews, NewsGuard spoke both with Lee, a 35-year-old hardware store worker who has lived in Springfield for four years, and Newton, her neighbor and a 12-year resident of Springfield. The interviews reveal just how flimsy and unsubstantiated the rumor was from the beginning — based entirely on third hand hearsay. Yet it quickly gained traction and, remarkably, found its way to Trump’s lips on a national stage.

“I’m not sure I’m the most credible source because I don’t actually know the person who lost the cat,” Newton said about the rumor she had passed on to her neighbor, Lee, the Facebook poster. Newton explained to NewsGuard that the cat owner was “an acquaintance of a friend” and that she heard about the supposed incident from that friend, who, in turn, learned about it from “a source that she had.” Newton added: “I don’t have any proof.”

Not having proof didn’t stop Newton – who likely didn’t hear the story from anyone except her internal monologue – from passing the story along to Lee. After all, Newton claims she was subjected to an unpleasant experience by several Haitians a few years ago.

“I think it was two years ago now, I went to the [Bureau of Motor Vehicles] to renew my license or my tags. I can’t remember, but I was sitting in the BMV, and the only way I know to describe it is I felt like … I was transported, because all around me it was people talking a different language. … I felt like I was the minority,” she said.

That’s her story, anyway.

And there’s Lee, a tRump supporter, who is now claiming that she didn’t mean to do any harm and is upset that people say she’s a racist. She also claims to be scared for her safety and her daughter’s safety.

She and Newton should be more worried that the city of Springfield will present them with a bill for the clusterfuck they caused.

Lee’s since-deleted Facebook post first appeared in a private Springfield Facebook group called “Springfield Ohio Crime and Information” earlier this month (Lee could not recall the exact date). The post said: “My neighbor [Newton] informed me that her daughters [sic] friend had lost her cat. … One day she came home from work, as soon as she stepped out of her car, looked towards a neighbors house, where Haitians live, & saw her cat hanging from a branch, like you’d do a deer for butchering, & they were carving it up to eat.”

How does this shit sound remotely plausible to anyone with two brain cells? It doesn’t. Being plausible, rational or logical isn’t the point. It just has to be about someone the audience hates. If the Republican Party were even a quarter of the political party it once was, this bullshit would have bobbed around the racist right wing toilet bowl before it was flushed to make room for the next dump. But the GOP has peeled off the lid to the septic tank and likes to swan dive into the sewage.

And if you’re wondering what will be next out of the chapped piehole of TFG, I’ll give you a hint: Cannibalism.

The post Let’s hear from the real victims of the anti-migrant attacks in Springfield appeared first on Lawyers, Guns & Money.

My idle associations with dying—the smell of decay, the proverbial light going out, the coroner’s office, corpses in the sewers under Las Vegas, Halloween, my grandfather’s last, unpleasant, frustrating months confined to a bed—had nowhere to go when I first started learning about Earth, a Washington-based company that recently opened their second human composting facility here in Las Vegas. Visiting their website, I felt like I’d stumbled across a standard conservation group, or maybe a slightly pretentious yoga studio. There were pleasant, neutral-colored serif fonts, a looping video of moss and trees and sunlight breaking through a forest canopy and people happily trudging through the undergrowth in slow motion. The vibe isn’t death so much as what death might yield: greenery, abundance, a new purpose. Earth, a name I continue to smile at, provides what they prefer to call “transformations”: a human body is “gently” turned into soil via a proprietary machine, which accelerates the decomposition process by monitoring and manipulating the climate conditions inside. 

To illustrate the simplicity and non-invasive nature of Earth’s procedure, the company provides an easy-to-read graphic whose brevity borders on condescension. First, the freshly-washed body is placed in a biodegradable shroud. Then the body is placed in the vessel, which is lined with a blend of organic mulch, wildflowers, and woodchips. Over the course of anywhere from 30 to 45 days, the body is then broken down on a molecular level, the temperature inside the vessel reaching as high as 131 degrees. Both temperature and moisture content are monitored to ensure the decomposition, and elimination of pathogens, is complete. At the end, the mulch combined with the body’s decomposed matter yields around 300 pounds of compost. Up to five quarts of compost are returned to the family. The remainder is carted off to one of Earth’s two conservation lands in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington or the Sierra Foothills in California. All of this sounds fairly straightforward, which is the point.