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Peachfart posted:It looks like he is making GBS threads on Durkan, so I'm guessing they liked that enough to post something by him. I'm fairly sure that's a genuine endorsement of Durkan, in that she lands (by a very long way) closest to his opinions of any of the major candidates. Lord knows the Chamber of Commerce loves her. And that loving editorial is loving fantastic. Gee, I just can't understand why Jenny Durkan would be the only candidate scared to be photographed anywhere near Tim Eyman; it just doesn't make any sense, as long as you don't know the first loving thing about Seattle/Washington politics!
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Jul 19, 2017 08:55
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This was too much work not to cross-post, so: my take on the Seattle mayoral election: I'm pulled in different directions by idealism and pragmatism. The only polling done for this election has been poo poo (landline/robocalls); I was initially going to mention it, but reconsidered as--like I said--it's some really lovely polling, with way too many undecideds to be useful. So, the big 6, in no particular order: Mike McGinn: Former Sierra club attorney, bike activist, former mayor of Seattle (2010-2013). There is a good chance Mike McGinn would make the best mayor of the bunch. I like him quite a bit, and I think he probably learned from his mistakes the last time around. That being said, regardless of what Durkan and The Stranger think, I think he has the longest row to hoe in regards to actually being able to win in the general. Too much loving baggage. He's 2016 Hillary Clinton. If he ends up in the general against Durkan or Hasegawa, I will definitely vote for him, but I think he's literally the worst choice if we want to see a progressive who can get poo poo done sitting in the Mayor's office. Major endorsements: The Sierra Club. Seriously, that's it. Jenny Durkan: First gay U.S. attorney (2009-2014), corporate defense attorney, dispenser of alcohol to minors and racial slurs. Jenny Durkan is the conservative candidate. She's anti-density, anti-transit, and beholden to the major corporations and businesses in Seattle. She's racked up far more corporate donations and PAC spending than the rest of the candidates put together, and she's likely to be the next mayor of Seattle, and almost guaranteed to make it into the general. She's the biggest homeless sweep booster of the bunch (bigger than even Ed Murray). If you're a progressive, your first priority when casting your vote for someone should be beating Jenny Durkan. She tries to sell herself as being pro-police reform, but major endorsements include: Councilman Bruce Harrell (The Stranger's favorite mistake), Councilwoman Deborah Juarez (god, I want to like her, but between this and the police bunker...), the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw, the Seattle Times (whose past endorsements have featured Rob McKenna, Dino Rossi, and Tim Reichart), SPOG puppet/Republican Councilman Tim Burgess, alleged pedophile Mayor Ed Murray (and if you look at his list of endorsements from 2013, they look awfully similar), and worse, Tim loving Eyman (not a joke*). Nikkita Oliver: Activist, attorney, artist. Nikkita Oliver is the Bernie Sanders of this campaign. She's got a lot of progressives very excited, she talks a great game on getting rid of regressive taxation, racial issues, and density. She's not nearly as much of a policy wonk as Cary Moon or Jessyn Farrell, but has more personality than the two of them put together. My only real concern is similar to the one the Stranger put up: can she win the general? Honestly, I think she has a better chance than Mike McGinn (regardless of what Jenny Durkan thinks), and I think she's got a much better chance of making it through the primary than Farrell or Moon. She's an outsider in two big ways: she is the only renter running for mayor (all of the other candidates are homeowners), and she's a member of the Seattle People's Party, which puts her as (I believe) the sole non-Democrat of the major candidates. Many people may see that as a downside, given how hard the Democrats just let us get rolled in the budget battle in Olympia, I think it's a pretty big plus. Major endorsements: Seattle Weekly, Kshama Sawant, Socialist Alternative, Councilman Mike O'Brien (who had the decency to say we shouldn't just throw people into jail for being poor in front of a crowd of NIMBYs), King County Councilman Larry Gossett, a weird dissenting endorsement from a portion of The Stranger's editorial board, and the Green Party of Seattle (notable mostly in that they didn't endorse McGinn, I think). Bob Hasegawa: Labor advocate, State Senator, weirdly obsessed with government banking. Hasegawa's big thing is wanting the government to get into banking, whether at the state level or the city level. Pushing for a municipal bank is his big differentiating factor. He claims to be pro-transit, but doesn't like ST3, and he claims to be pro-density, but wants to bring back the neighborhood councils; that's like saying you're pro voting rights, but want to bring back literacy tests. in practice, he basically comes out as Jenny Durkan if Jenny Durkan wanted a municipal bank, and talked about labor a little more. Him and Durkan in the general is a nightmare scenario. He's probably the biggest partisan in the race (in that he probably has the strongest ties to the Democratic party in Washington). Major endorsements: King County Democrats, most of the Legislative District Democrats (11th, 21st, 32nd, 34th, 37th, 46th, but importantly, not the 43rd, the largest-and-likely-most-liberal LD in the city), somehow-hasn't-resigned-yet King County Sheriff and Mercer Island resident John Urquhart, a ton of unions (FGI), and a bunch of NIMBYs (Seattle Fair Growth, Seattle Displacement Coalition). Jessyn Farrell: Lawyer, public employee, State Senator. If you're looking for someone with a ton of experience in the public sector, Jessyn Farrell is likely your go-to. She probably has the strongest ties to the state Democratic party aside from Bob Hasegawa, and her and Moon fight it out for the wonkiest of the candidates with the most solid policy plans. I felt she had by far the weakest performance of the bunch at the Candidate Jeopardy hosted by NAC and Seattle Weekly, giving a complete loving non-answer to the Final Jeopardy question ("if not you, then who?). Like, seriously, Jenny Durkan did better. That being said, that may not be a fair way to judge a candidate, but in a crowded field, it's enough for me. Major endorsements: Councilman Rob Johnson, C is for Crank (Erica Barnett is a municipal loving treasure), and the Seattle Transit Blog. Cary Moon: Architect, multimillionaire, housing activist. Cary Moon is a perennial housing wonk, and in a less crowded field, would probably be doing a lot better. She was a huge advocate against the Bertha tunnel, and for creation of a bigass waterfront civic center/park to replace the viaduct. Honestly, it's late and I'm tired, so I'll probably say a little less about her than I should, but she's basically a slightly older, richer version of Jessyn Farrell. She pushes a bit more strongly for a foreign investment tax (which I'm a huge fan of), and she doesn't have nearly as many ties to the Democratic party infrastructure, so if you were thinking "I want a policy wonk, but I really hate the state party," she's the candidate for you. Major endorsements: the Stranger (main endorsement, ignoring the side bullshit they did for Nikkita Oliver) and the Urbanist. Anyhow, that's my take on it, while attempting to be as transparent as I can about my biases. There are two pretty clear sides, here, and I don't think any of the four on the progressive side are "bad" choices, really. I like Oliver for a lot of reasons, and will probably end up voting for her, though I haven't ruled out Moon, Farrell, or McGinn. *okay, maybe kind of a joke.
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Jul 20, 2017 18:43
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Peachfart posted:As discussed earlier in the thread: there is no reason to have a foreign investment tax when a vacancy tax is easier to enforce, more effective, and less racially charged. Porque no los dos? I'm a huge booster of the vacancy tax, but I think the foreign investment tax is way easier to enforce; what do you think makes the vacancy tax easier? Personally, I'd like just a plain ol' real estate investment tax, but I recognize that isn't going to happen, as long as we consider the commoditization of real estate to be a universal good.
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Jul 20, 2017 20:42
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Peachfart posted:What people think a foreign investment tax will do: Hello, I'm Mr. Chou. I want to park money overseas in Seattle in real estate. Oh no! A foreign investment tax! ::Yellow menace vanishes, rents are cheap again::
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Jul 20, 2017 23:13
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anthonypants posted:I didn't know there was a resolution making its way through Congress to honor the men who got stabbed on a train by a nazi in Portland, but it looks like the House won't hold a vote on it. We wouldn't want to inflame public opinion against innocent nazis.
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Jul 23, 2017 22:42
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punk rebel ecks posted:I see. I would never in a million loving years rent a place here sight unseen. Maybe if I had a very, very good friend I knew I could trust who I knew has a good eye for scammers look at the place for me. But if they're that good of a friend, I'd probably just crash on their couch while I found a place. If you can't afford to fly here and look at places before you move here, you probably can't afford to move here.
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Jul 31, 2017 05:33
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Washingtonians, don't forget to drop off or get your ballot in the mail today. Unless you're a Seattlite voting for Durkan, in which case please do forget to drop off or get your ballot in the mail today.
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Aug 1, 2017 17:10
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Venuz Patrol posted:i'll be happy to have an actual progressive with ideals i support on the ballot in november. electability is a fake idea Durkan wanted to run against Oliver. I think she'd've been better off against McGinn. I'm happy he's not making it to the general, even though I like him quite a bit.
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Aug 2, 2017 23:16
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Immigrant couple takes advantage of poor, innocent fantastically wealthy poeple.
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Aug 10, 2017 01:11
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FRINGE posted:LA has better drivers and lower housing costs. LA is superior to Seattle in every way. No reason to ever move to Seattle.
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Aug 12, 2017 18:47
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IM DAY DAY IRL posted:I've never been to Louisiana but you sure make it sound great Yeah, whichever LA (city or state) you want to move to is definitely better than Seattle.
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Aug 12, 2017 20:28
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therobit posted:I haven't kept track of the Seatle PD's protest response. Here in portland they see to be solidly in the "pro Nazi" column. Your governor seems to be taking a strong anti-Nazi stance. Is there a chance that police will actually police these guys or is it gonna be them looking the other way while a bunch of antifa kids get beat to death? Two pro-Milo people showed up with a gun planning to shoot people, and when they did, only got charged with assault. So... yeah, pretty much pro-Nazi.
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Aug 14, 2017 07:24
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anthonypants posted:Let me make it up to you. https://twitter.com/KING5Seattle/status/897223115914326017 His defense being "I'm not a Nazi, I'm just okay with people who are."
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Aug 15, 2017 06:19
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On the one hand, a citywide dress code for baristas is bullshit. On the other hand, those loving bikini barista stands are pretty universally criminal enterprises.
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Aug 18, 2017 01:46
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I feel like there've been several articles I've read about them and how they're generally shady as poo poo. I think this is one of the better ones: http://archive.seattleweekly.com/news/954445-129/seattleland-sex-the-cream-in-those
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Aug 18, 2017 04:15
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Remember, Kathleen O'Toole is a real reformer! And we definitely shouldn't make the contract negotiations between the city and the police union public, nope. That would only hurt us... somehow.
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Aug 30, 2017 19:01
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seiferguy posted:This article about Pam Roach is something else: "Yeah, sure, my own party said exactly the same thing about me, but this is a partisan witch-hunt."
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Sep 4, 2017 02:26
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seiferguy posted:I haven't seen any indication that Amazon wants to leave Seattle. From what it looks like, Amazon realizes they've hit max capacity here and wants to expand elsewhere. Which I think is fine because Amazon's growth has severely hosed the area up, and anymore was unsustainable. I don't know that I'd go as far as them having "severely hosed the area up," but yeah, I'd like them to stay about where they are for the moment, if only because so much of our economy is dependent on them, and I'd like to see us diversify a bit.
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Sep 7, 2017 23:19
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seiferguy posted:Yeah, Seattle's economy heavily relies on them now, but they sure as gently caress contributed to ruining the housing market, as well as gentrification of Cap Hill. I don't think speculators/investors absorb nearly as much of the blame for the housing crisis as they deserve (and no, I'm not talking just about foreign investors).
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Sep 8, 2017 00:38
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HEY NONG MAN posted:https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3831792&perpage=40&pagenumber=1527#post476254699
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Sep 10, 2017 20:26
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silicone thrills posted:
Crosscut, C is for Crank, the Urbanist, the Stranger.
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Sep 12, 2017 21:42
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IM DAY DAY IRL posted:https://twitter.com/pdx_resistance/status/907662804416524288 Clearly, they need paid administrative leave, and then more training.
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Sep 15, 2017 14:44
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GodFish posted:uber for cops, what the gently caress is this evil bullshit If this is an app I can use to get a cop a ride out of town, I'm in.
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Sep 21, 2017 23:48
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Dino Rossi is officially running for Dave Reichart's seat. Here's hoping he has as much success with this election as he has in the past.
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Sep 22, 2017 23:54
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anthonypants posted:It should be pretty safe to assume that people advocating for a "Cascadia" state are libertarians at best.
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Sep 25, 2017 21:18
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Relevant Tangent posted:You can't secede and if you were somehow able to you'd immediately have to go to war with Oregon and Idaho. California would crush whoever was left. Fix the boat, because there isn't another one to flee to. Who said anything about going it alone? California's getting hosed even harder than we are.
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Sep 28, 2017 08:04
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Relevant Tangent posted:It's not progressive to give up because politics is hard and you're tired so you're looking for an easy way out. I'm not saying "let's just get out and gently caress the po-lice and then everything is going to be unicorns and rainbows." I'm saying that the current situation is a pretty hellacious, and that we ("we" in this case being "the West Coast") are being pretty severely disenfranchised, and far from that continuing or being mitigated, the people in power are doing their best to make that worse. That being said, I don't see more traditional means of influence bringing about any of the systemic change that would be necessary to bring an end to said disenfranchisement. Secession would be a complete loving poo poo show, but on the other hand, "just relax and let it happen" is also a complete loving poo poo show. Threatening secession is one of the only leverage points we have to drive that sort of systemic change. Not that it's going to happen, anyhow, but a man can dream.
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Sep 28, 2017 23:18
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IM DAY DAY IRL posted:no, you don't understand, when the disenfranchisement watermark hits white males that means it's finally time to burn everything to the ground because.............. uh i've been uncomfortable for the last six months??? I don't know. And if I were only concerned with the disenfranchisement of white dudes, I'd be cheering on the current administration. They're hyper-enfranchising white dudes, at the expense of just about everyone else.
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Sep 29, 2017 00:25
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IM DAY DAY IRL posted:interesting that the influx of calls for secession are happening now despite this being the unofficial playbook for the US since its inception 🤔 But hey, if you've got better ideas, other than "poo poo sucked before now, so if we try to change it now, it's somehow hypocritical," I'm certainly open to them. Peachfart posted:lol at the guy who wasn't born in the PNW that wants to succeed from the USA. But hey, don't worry, every time someone says this poo poo to me, I call one of my California friends and encourage them to move up here. It's worked several times now. Ham Equity fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Sep 29, 2017 |
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Sep 29, 2017 00:55
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DrNutt posted:I thought the transplant hate was traditionally directed at Californians who were loving up our state en mass. I didn't realize there was any antipathy toward transplants in general. I don't see how you could miss it if you're in Seattle. People born in Washington are worse than vegan Crossfitters.
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Oct 3, 2017 17:14
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Not knowing anything about the new chief, I have difficulty imagining what could possibly be in her background that would justify hiring her in spite of the fact that she came from Oakland.
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Oct 4, 2017 23:15
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anthonypants posted:Our old police chief shot a guy last year and lied about it so we kinda needed a new one, and she's been trying to get a police chief gig out of state since at least 2015. Oakland would love a scandal that was just their chief shooting one of his friends. That department is a loving tire fire.
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Oct 4, 2017 23:49
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ElCondemn posted:Nazi's in Seattle, apparently a bunch of them are tech workers, who would've guessed 20-something shut-ins would be a bunch of racists?
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Oct 5, 2017 05:28
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anthonypants posted:Also a slumlord, because she called him a slumlord. And not without reason. Hey, he was totally just about to fix all the problems with those buildings!
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Oct 6, 2017 20:02
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therobit posted:I'm against rent control in general because it does little to keep rents down overall and it like winning the lottery for the people who get a controlled unit. Additionally it its usually paired with laws that make it really hard to get a tenant out, and I kind of think that a property owner should be able to charge what the market will bear and get a different tenant if they so choose, as long as the process is not abusive and there is no discrimination based on protected status. And I don't even like rent control; I think you may as well give out lottery tickets, and give out more tickets to people who've lived in a place longer. Rent control isn't means-tested, and in now way targets people who need it more, it mostly just helps people who get lucky, or have lived in a place longer. I think we should have stricter rules on when you can increase rent (landlords should have to give a minimum of 60 days' notice on a rent increase of up to 10%, and 90 days' notice if going above that, and tenants should only have to give 15 days' notice if they're vacating following an increase), but I think the key to lowering rents is a combination of several things. As far as people who have trouble affording housing, we should make it way more expensive to buy a waiver of the affordable housing allotment, and it should probably be at around 15% of new construction. Aside from just having affordable housing for people to live in, there are substantial societal benefits to having low-income housing mixed with regular housing, and the waiver fees should reflect that. In order to compensate for that, we should be raising height requirements, and waiving parking requirements.
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Oct 7, 2017 18:13
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Peachfart posted:Even better, limit rent increases to 5% annually, only higher if the landlord can prove a need for the increase such as a rebuild or massive upgrade. I do not sympathize with landlords, but this winds up hard-screwing tenants as well.
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Oct 7, 2017 19:09
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Peachfart posted:5% annually is far above inflation, and in most cities wouldn't be sustainable. And to combat housing costs we should also increase property taxes(esp on single family homes) and use the money to build dense low-income housing. There are forces on housing prices other than inflation. If it were possible to limit year-over-year increases to 5% and not have a negative impact on prices over the long-term, yeah, sure, I'd be in favor of it. But like I said, all that does is cause landlords to frontload rent prices, since they know they won't be able to raise prices down the line, and make it harder for people to move. Philosophically, I'd really love to limit rent increases, but there's no real way to force that through straight regulation. Reducing rent prices just isn't that easy. Peachfart posted:Yes please, build the first bunch in Magnolia. I want to see some NIMBY tears. gently caress yeah. anthonypants posted:How do you force a developer to do this? Ham Equity fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Oct 7, 2017 |
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Oct 7, 2017 20:08
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Xand_Man posted:I'm as much in favor as affordable housing as the next guy but rhetoric like this does more harm then good. I know at least 3 'landlords' who are barely scraping even or running slightly negative when factoring maintenence and taxes. The law should distinguish between large-scale property owners and the fixed income grandma who has a rental property. Like, seriously, fixed income grandma going broke renting property needs an examination for dementia/Alzheimers ASAP.
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Oct 8, 2017 00:10
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therobit posted:A major repair or a bad tenant can wipe out years of profits for someone that is not operating dozens of units.
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Oct 8, 2017 03:45
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therobit posted:I look at about 100 tax returns with rentals per month. You can absolutely loose your rear end. Yeah, I'm sure. "I had to buy this new computer... to run Quicken for my rental property." "I had to buy this car to drive to my rental property." "I had to buy this boat to keep an eye on my beachside rental property." "Look at all this money I'm spending on my rental property!"
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Oct 8, 2017 03:54
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