Seattle City Council
by Krist Novoselić (December 13, 2024)
Last week, Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales announced that she was stepping down from her elected position. In her resignation letter, a sour Morales paints the council majority as bullies assaulting democratic norms.
Consider the notion: #PoorTammy got run out of the council by a bunch of anti-democratic bullies. This is the current narrative within Seattle’s constellation of Progressive advocacy media. As usual, they are demonizing their opponents. And the allegations against the council majority are nonsense.
CM Morales said the council majority “stifled first amendment rights during public comment by arresting people.” But she makes this serious allegation without providing context.
I have watched Seattle city council public hearings with the recent big issues. Public testimony goes into overtime at these packed hearings as the Council allows as many as possible to be heard. Public testimony is an important right and part of the process. It’s a shame that some people take advantage of this right as a means to exhibit grandiosity.
Then there is the shouting. In one example of unruly behavior, six people were arrested in February for aggressive behavior in council chambers. Here is the context CM Morales did not provide: The council had paid for housing distressed immigrants who were living in Tukwila. When the Seattle funding for the Tukwila hotel ran out, shouting activists stormed chambers demanding more money for the immigrants. Some individuals pounded the large glass walls separating chambers from the foyer. This alarmed Councilmember Cathy Moore, who called security. The disrupters were then taken into custody.
Morales’ resignation letter turns reality on its head. She stated the council “intimidated commenters by having a police presence when any controversial legislation is considered.” But activists banging on large glass panels is clearly intimidating. And their harassment of the council does not stop there.
Members of the city council majority have been subject to demonstrations in front of their homes. Radical activists hoot and holler to actively disrupt the private lives of public servants and their neighbors.
This is a strategy to make public service unbearable. Such intimidation seeks to exhaust an incumbent to the point to where they don’t choose to seek reelection. When successful, the tactic offers the political benefit of creating an open council seat in the next election.
This is one reason Morales’ bully narrative falls flat – she never had to experience such harassment in front of her home. Radical activists are her supporters and don’t harass her. It’s terrible Morales plays the victim card considering how many people are actually suffering.
The council majority wants to avoid global issues. Unlike the previous council, the current body has declined considering resolutions regarding foreign affairs. But they inadvertently waded into foreign policy by lending a hand to immigrants in Tukwila. As a result, they got bit by radicals. It makes sense for the council to shy from the global issues in the future.
U.S. foreign policy has been dominated by neo-conservatism for decades. This has destabilized countries and displaced people, many of whom eventually find their way to Europe or North America. This is a matter for our federal representatives (even if they are pro-war dinosaurs). There has been plenty of protesting. And now there needs to be a broad-based electoral coalition advocating peace. Let city government focus on local matters.
I was sorry to read about Morales’ public service causing her “mental and physical well-being to deteriorate.” She was in the political minority on the council and was apparently frustrated her policy proposals were not gaining traction. That’s politics. But it’s not necessarily bullying.
Newly elected councilmember Alexis Rinck, now the lone progressive on the council, needs to do the right thing and denounce the harassment of her colleagues in chambers and at their homes. Let’s not lose sight of the stability our democratic process provides. That process is suffering, and it is not aided by incumbents bailing on their seat when things get heated or don’t go their way.
CASCADE PARTY of WASHINGTON
PO Box 28004
Seattle, WA 98118