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Debate over a proposed major change to the Seattle City Council’s conflict of interest rules has former District 3 representative Kshama Sawant and her socialist supporters back in City Hall and Council President Sara Nelson on the defensive over the bill being floated for her Governance, Accountability & Economic Development committee.
Tuesday night during the Young Democrats at UW Candidate Forum, Nelson downplayed her involvement in the proposed changes, saying the proposal was suggested by the Seattle Ethics and Election Commission, not her but that she intended to move forward with the bill in her committee.
Under the proposal sponsored by Councilmember Cathy Moore, council members would be required to disclose conflicts of interest but would still be eligible to vote on legislation related to any disclosed conflict. Currently, members with a recognized conflict must recuse themselves from related votes.
The proposal has been widely criticized but would make the SEEC’s job easier. Currently, director Wayne Barnett and the SEEC must balance a challenging environment of advising the council members on potential conflicts.
Sawant and supporters, meanwhile, have rallied against the proposal. Tuesday, proceedings were halted multiple times by chanting by Sawant and the group in the council chambers during public comment. Nelson stopped the comment period. “After multiple warnings to not interrupt speakers from the Council President, disruptive individuals were asked to leave by security,” a Council statement said. Nelson then led a vote on continuing the proceedings — provided there were no further disruptions.
“Interruptions continued and the Council meeting has resumed remotely,” the next council update read.
The small crowd’s actions were “disruptive to the order of the council,” councilmember Moore complained to Nelson at one point in the proceedings.
“They don’t give a shit about ethics,” a Sawant supporter said, reports The Burner. “Their real goal, of course, is to go after renters rights, is to go after workers rights.”
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I love and miss Sawant. Joy is so damn useless.
Really? Sawant was awful!!! I could not stand her!
Sawant got nothing done. Spent hundreds of millions on housing–yet built no housing. And, she tripled the crime rate.
Due to her terrible record, people have ignored her and she’s desperately trying to become relevant again. She needs to move to Portland to feed her insatiable ego
Actually minimum wage is literally getting something done and the whole point of her showing up is the new council trying to undo her victories. So can it.
Sawant is the worst thing to happen to our district and Seattle. She’s the far left version of Trump.
Not even close. But keep repeating things you read from Rantz or Choe.
My god we’ll never rid ourselves of this meddlesome priest. Not content with being nationally humiliated for helping elect Trump she’s back to gum up politics in a city that has long moved on from the worst of her era’s council.
This is such cope. And a lie. Kamala lost on her own. She pushed for Jill Stein, not Trump, GET OVER IT. My god you guys are OBSESSED WITH THIS WOMAN.
Sll caps generally not good.
Learn to spell.
“She pushed for Jill Stein not Trump. ” LMFAO. Please get a fucking clue.
I thought we had more choices than two people. Did we not? Kamala can’t overcome some third party votes? Oh she must suck then.
Yes. And gosh thought we were done with Hannah Krieg but no we get links to The Burner from Capitol Hill Blog. Pleases no?
Why can’t conservatives spell anything correctly?
“And gosh thought”? “Pleases no”?
You sound like you’re frothing at the mouth with rage because Sawant tried to stop the city council from cutting renters rights and from passing a bill that eroded our already lax ethics laws.
OK. “And gosh I thought…etc.” and “Please no…etc.” Are you happy now? Seriously you demand absolutely correct grammar in posts? With autocorrect continually working to defeat us? I worked as an editor for many years. I know how English is supposed to work. For the record, I am not a conservative in any way. And … whatever. I will refrain from saying but you might want to rethink your antagonism and diddly shit gotcha on grammar issues that don’t apply on stupid ass posts.
your speling is aful.
Oh well. It hes bean mie crass to bare.
Under the existing law, Barnett’s job is clear. If he feels incapable of performing his job, he should resign. I’m sure that for the $215K he’s paid, we would find someone who can do the job.
I volunteer to take one for the team.
Just arrest the offenders. They were asked to leave, and they continued to cause disruptions. Arrest them.
As far as the conflict of interest disclosure, I don’t see why that’s such a big deal – they disclose it but are still permitted to vote on it. Why is Kshama so up in arms over it, dare I ask? Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
“Me Thinks” I’d listen to Kshama before I’d listen to Jar Jar.
Yeah, that’s Shakespeare, dork, not Jar Jar. Misquoted, perhaps, but it’s Shakespeare. Jar Jar said “Meesah”, a questionable and loathesome way of speaking that has a similar emotional effect to what Sawant has on the average Seattleite.
LMAO!!!!!!
okayyyyy
bruh. Google it. You live with the same blind self-preservation of false reality that Trump does. Probably why all your opinions sound like Goodspaceguy.
They didn’t break any law, goofy
It’s a big deal because anyone who could possibly profit from laws being changed should be required to recuse themselves from any vote related to those laws. If they want to vote on those laws they should be required to fully divest and separate themselves entirely from the business interest.
I love your ironic take on the relaxing ethics rules in the era of corporate corruption.
The current ethics rules are much more classic and strict. The new law proposed by Sara Nelson is very much in line with Trump’s politics.
“Person I don’t like is opposed to people I do like engaging in a little self dealing, what’s the problem?” is how we got here in every way.
Yes. Sarah Nelson is Trump. Her plane should be delivered shortly. As for Chi Chi, Sawant campaigned for Jill Stein and against Harris. Do you think many erstwhile Trump supporters voted for Stein? No? Well, enough erstwhile Harris supporters voted for Stein, delivering certain states to Trump. You just cannot cure stupid.
How weak does your party have to be to let a Kshama Sawant throw you off at the margins?
I have no party but Kshama is nails on the blackboard. Do people still give her credence in any way?
No, thats the funniest bit about all these shitlibs stomping their foot about her sway. Socialist Alternative who was her main hands on help for a lot of the street campaiging has moved on, people like me think shes a rudderless joke at this point given affiliation with the whole Stein orbit, nobody who already didnt like her like her even less.
Shes done, she had her time, she isnt a player at all but for scapegoating and deadenders who think theres anything at all to the Stein-types.
And like, thats the thing about her this whole time – people only liked her as an anchor against the rest of the council, for trying, for not being an Amazon fuddy duddy, and being a thorn in the side of many. Absent the seat, shes not much anymore by anyone’s accord.
This is somehow really reassuring to me. Hope is restored and I will sleep well tonight. I am not being sarcastic. I have never understood how so many bought into this fake for so many years.
I mean, I voted for repeatedly and would go to rhetorical bat for her always for the reasons above and then some but I also am willing to let go. Politicians are always going to be politicians to me, no matter their stripe, you have to cut bait on them when they are done, and goofing around and not helping.
But also, part of why I left the Democratic Party is because the partisans dont think about politics like this and after 16 years, it actually got worse with Hillary’s loss. I was morose, knew it was gonna be bad, i voted for her from D3 and it didnt really count. And people wanted to blame randos around the country and not the actual executive head of the campaign herself for not pulling put all the goddamn stops which the campaign didnt. I refused to blame a nebulous set of people for failing the country as a whole over the political party operation, and a lot of shit followed from there.
Im not a typical Leftist, but its because I spent half my life as goalong Liberal.
In a closely divided country, every vote counts. Back to stupid.
You know that isnt true by how most our votes in D3 didnt help Kamala one iota.
Perhaps not calling others stupid would be a step in the right direction.
Have you seen the Yam-Bo flags? Trump is jacked! No weakness.
Uh, don’t disingenuously pretend like she didn’t completely change Seattle, and the nation. She’s both someone who used to be effective, and obnoxious, a deterrent to her own causes and self absorbed at the same time.
Point is what?
She was a great fit for D3, pushed the needle the right direction in a few ways, and flipped the right people shit, but no, she didn’t completely change Seattle and the Nation evidenced by how we’re still in this shit pot and it’s getting hotter.
I’m more than happy to credit her with her time spent in office and the things she did, but nobody is attached to her for it the way one might expect, not the way she might have hoped for.
Stein got 0.56% of the popular vote. If the Democrats can’t overcome that margin, they have much bigger problems.
We do have bigger problems, yes. Trump. And all the local progressives that equate anyone not identifying with every progressive concept as Trump adjacent.
Bingo
Yes. Dems are fucked.
Cope and seethe Glenn. Joy is on borrowed time and will be voted out immediately. Useless windbag for business owners.
Sorry but you sound like a really awful angry person.
If what you said was true…Yeah…But it’s all BS.
Fact is that people voted for Trump. Not believing he’d do what he said he’d do. Like a dictator for example. They thought he was kidding.
The fact Trump won has more to do with a nearly ambulatory POTUS running for a 2nd term he said he’d never run for. Then deliberately sabotage every other candidate in the race. Namely keeping their names off as many state ballots as possible to ensure Joe’s 2nd term.
Just because you toss Kshama Sawant into every single argument doesn’t make a sound argument. Covid happened. Not Kshama. She just happened to find the right timing. Much like MAGA Madam Flowers Rachele Savage. Trying to take advantage of a moment in time before it passes.
Fact is? All the militarised zone shit’s happening and/or in the pipe. Things are getting a teeny bit better everyday. In fact? It’s so bad I don’t shop in the SODA Zones anymore. I simply go outside the zone and enjoy my shopping. So saying it’s some kinda lawless, ungovernable hellscape is completely false. That was 2022. Not 2025.
People want to get theirs before Trump gets booted and the backlash hits. They couldn’t wait to claw back 309 million from housing and clean energy. They couldn’t wait to roll back wage increases. Now they can’t wait for the tax cuts at the expense of the poor in the most regressive tax state in the union!
But you are not greedy right? You are different. You know better. Right? Ya don’t. Ya just don’t.
Could have used your help, but you were busy slandering everyone at every chance, instead of building coalitions.
actually? I was in Skagit county. Raising my 5 kids by myself.
But I’m here now :O)
The help is here and helping already!
eh? I’m talking about help as part of a coalition to prevent Trump from winning election. I’m talking about your divisive attitude, which helped to create a world where right leaning centrists chose to vote MAGA because the most spiteful, obstinate progressives showed little maturity or interest in the well being of those not like them when given even the smallest amount of power. Sawant was the face of this problem. She squandered a brief run in power by being a stubborn, bloviating fool and turned off everyone outside of the farthest left. I’m saying we could have used your help when we were all trying to prevent this. Congrats on failing to build a coalition. Congrats on making Skagit more MAGA.
The elusive coalition you speak of had the head of the elusive coalition basically tell the entire progressive wing they were wrong about Israel and there was nothing to do about it, and if they didn’t like it that was their problem and they just had to suck it up, and at this point you should be able to recognize that all you’re talking about is unilateral falling in line with the status quo as the sole preventative measure against Fascism.
In fact, every time one of you pipes up about a coalition, there’s literally nothing active on your side of the equation that must be done to bring others into it. They just should and bury their own principles and values and vision of how things should be and go along with whatever the Democratic Party thinks is best for campaign purposes in a single election. In fact, every time one of you pipes up about a coalition, it’s nothing more than ‘you shouldn’t exist for any other reason than a vote, because right wing people are more important an electoral prize and are worth punching other coalition members for’
Fact is though Kshama sucked. For over 10 years I had no representative because she didn’t give a crap about anything that didn’t align with Socialist Alternative. Fuck Kshama Sawant.
You sound like a really angry person, Stumpy.
Have you seen a therapist for your lack of self awareness lately?
yeah, but dude…”W” was in office I had no rep. Trump I got no rep…
We can cry about lost elections and past politicians or move on. The fact she shows up at a council meeting is not the end of anything. VOTE!
The point is Sawant did not represent her district. She was a shill for Socialist Alternative and nothing more. You may be aok with that. I am not. I agree: VOTE.
She represented the district that voted for her. So she did it. She won reelection and avoided a vote to toss her out.
That’s winning in my book
This is true and I share all your sentiments. I do vote whenever I get the chance ( and hoping against hope I will continue to be able to), but the whiplash between the extreme far-left Seattle politics that ruled the city for a decade and is raring to reestablish itself, and the “Oops we lost our democracy” shit going on nationally makes me totally effin crazy.
This will be the last place in America where Democracy dies. The last. For lots of reasons. The history of Seattle makes me confident of that. We’ll always be Seattle.
The extremes’ come from being comfortably uncomfortable.
“How much will they accept?” is business. It’s governance. It’s a single widowed Dad with 5 kids and out of options or answers.
Billionaires shouldn’t exist. Period. Full stop.
We should not have to fight billionaires either. It is in fact billionaires that need the microscope. Not the poor buying a candy bar with food stamps. Who…By the way The Mars candy lobby makes it so. Not slimy poor people. Most poor folks don’t even vote or protest. That’s a fact.
School lunches = food lobby billionaires.
Parents have been screaming for decades about shitty school nutrition. They finally got them eating Lunchables! for fuck sakes!!! They serve that shit for lunches! I wouldn’t let my kids eat that shit. Not kidding. My kids have never had a Lunchable. 5 kids? Box of Ritz, Block of cheese and lunchmeat and a banana. Milk. Juice. That’s it man. Sometimes it’s all you got. Out of real cups. Not sucked out of a Capri Sun pouch. Cheap as possible w/o compromises.
My point of that exercise is how can someone with that? And we ain’t gotten into the inherited mental health issues the kids get etc. Where do you find the time to vote at a polling place? You don’t. And if you try? It’s an hour or more in line to vote every time there’s an election for anything? That’s simple manipulation of the process and unneeded. It’s a feature. How does a dude like me make a difference on ANY regular basis? I mean shit? How the hell would I ever know what is real or not? What really matters or not? I am just trying to get myself through life in the best shape possible. Just like everyone else.
But for a person to be involved and lift up others on top of all that?
It changes what you think about people. About the why in things around us. Then you become aware of the same things in new ways and that’s how solutions are created.
Nobodies life story is ever complete.
It’s almost like these noisy know-nothings are too young to remember the effect Ross Perot had. Must we relearn this idiotic lesson?
This dude is old enough. What’s that point?
The point is – learn from your mistakes. You are telling people to move on from “crying about lost elections”. The crying is reflection, something you never seem to do. Move on, sure, but reflect and do it differently. Banging the Sawant drum in 2025 is the fastest way to destroy the progressive agenda. Compromise, people. Find middle ground and quit making perfect the enemy of good.
lmao, this is the richest fucking shit coming from someone who watched two campaigns barf on themselves against Trump because the entire Democratic Party is a marketing agency that calls itself a political party, and still thinks everyone else in the world besides themselves has some soul searching to do.
You middle ground is likely ‘you miserable assholes better support Gavin Newsom in ’28 having learned your lesson’
I say it’s worse. It’s a seniority sorority.
They anoint people into leadership.
This is too apparently true. I don’t really dislike him but Newsom will/would be a disaster nationally as was Clinton, the anointed one at the time. Yes let’s nominate the most despised politician in the country because it’s her time. And I did vote for her because, the alternative. No party here but would be interested from Dems to hear who they like that they think could actually win and maybe start to bring the country just a little more together? (As if. Yes as cranky as I can be, I can be kind of naive…) Pete Buttigieg? Beshear? Pritsker?
“This is too apparently true.” Jerry Connolly died today/yesterday some time. Dying in office is all they have. It’s their life and they can’t imagine not having power. It’s corrupted the entire party almost. There’s always Bernie :O)
“Yes let’s nominate the most despised politician in the country because it’s her time.”
Could NOT have said it better myself.
As for possible candidates?
I think we have no idea who will emerge. I think it’s a complete jump ball this time around. There’s so many pissed off and frustrated people in congress being held back by a nearly ambulatory leadership.
Bernie and Alex could win. Bernie would have won had they not stolen it from him at the convention. But we really need the young people in our party to vote? They sat home and some voted Trump to spite the Dems. never thinking he’d win. Kids these days…sheesh.
I love Jasmine Crockett and those folks. I think Pete is getting more and more traction. He’s a A+ restaurant quality surrogate. So you can plug him into any roll and he’d soar. POTUS included.
But yeah…We’ve been around long enough to know that it can be hard predicting the POTUS nominees from election to election.
One thing we will see? A flood of new candidates on the D side. “Run for Something” is really cookin’.
it’s America. We can disagree. How we do it is kinda subjective.
I am a armchair historian. Late 1880’s to 1920′ is where we are currently as a nation. We are an oligarchy who openly crimes. Greed is a sickness. It eats at them. 300 billion is not enough.
How you fight that is not easy. I don’t pretend to know. But I do know this. W/o coalitions we get nothing done. It may not be perfect. But we need an internal firing squad in the dems side.
Your time frame probably correct. I would narrow it: 1913.
That’s not a bad spot to push the pin…I was thinking a-z kinda scale. But yeah, we are right there.
yeah just let the rich and powerful do whatever the hell they want right? that certainly has worked well at a national level, why not let that trickle on down to us.
oh and yes the cops have so little to do and the jails and courts are empty and disused… let’s spice it up by arresting a bunch of nonviolent protestors speaking their mind at a public meeting.
It was obvious. They came in to arrest the first person with a peep. Hair triggered. It’s pathetic.
I empathize with Wayne’s challenge keeping up with reviewing all the conflicts of interest. I believe him when he says it is a challenge because he is the most ethical city employee. However, we do not need to introduce more opportunities for corruption to solve this issue. The City Council should increase Wayne’s budget to add more staff to evaluate conflicts of interest.