(Image: City of Seattle)
It’s been a while since District 3 representative Kshama Sawant stood completely alone on full Seattle City Council votes. But even the representatives more prone to smaller government leanings like District 4’s Alex Pedersen of Northeast Seattle didn’t join the Central District socialist in her most recent nay votes at the council.
Tuesday, Sawant’s three votes against the bills were only opposition to a set of legislation establishing Seattle Public Utilities solid waste rates for 2023-2025 for things like recycling, garbage, and composting services.
“I do appreciate all the work SPU staff has done to make those rate hikes smaller than they were previously projected to be because every penny counts,” Sawant said. “However, at a time when inflation is out of control and workers’ paychecks are stretched farther and farther, and with a recession predicted, they will have a rough landing for ordinary people.”
“Elected officials have an obligation to make sure utility rates are covered by increasing taxes on big businesses and the super rich instead of any rate increases on working families,” Sawant said.
The 8-1 approvals came as the council typically considers rate-setting legislation for one of SPU’s three utilities each year, with rates being set for a three-year period as City Hall shifts the way it plans the department’s budgets.
According to the city, the new rates will increase solid waste rates by 2.2% on average for the next three years.
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Paying more for Recology to make banging noises at 5am in front of our buildings, how exciting
This might be one of the most privileged comments I’ve ever read on here.
“I live in a society that collects my trash with no effort from myself but I’m still going to complain about it.”
Just paying a premium for that personally catered wake up service
As someone who once lived through a 3-week garbage strike in July, I can assure you that the alternative—no pick-up at all—is worse than you can imagine.
Hillery, you might want to check your pickup zone with SPU. We started getting the same treatment a few weeks ago. It turned out the apartment buildings in our area were actually in a residential zone, not commercial, and should not have been getting pickup before 7 am. That has since been corrected.