On this episode we debated the City Council’s plans to get tough on graffiti by introducing civil penalties up to $1,500 per violation. The change would make it easier to fine taggers. Erica questioned the council’s priorities and aesthetics, and pointed out that graffiti is already a crime - a gross misdemeanor. Sandeep mostly spoke in favor of the new measure, citing studies that find tolerance for graffiti can lead to more crime. But he also questioned the value of going after taggers as oppo...
Jul 14, 2025•40 min•Season 4Ep. 36
PROGRAM NOTE: We hope all you Seattle Nice fans will join us for a live taping of the podcast at 7 pm on July 15 at the next meeting of the 43rd District Democrats, held at the Erickson Theater on Capitol Hill, 1524 Harvard Avenue. We’ll be previewing the upcoming primary, and there’ll be a chance for audience questions. Council President Sara Nelson, flanked by homeless services and treatment providers and neighborhood representatives, held a press conference last week to announce that she is i...
Jul 07, 2025•42 min•Season 4Ep. 35
This week, we're talking taxes—specifically, the new business and occupation (B&O) tax proposal that City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Mayor Bruce Harrell dropped, seemingly out of the blue, last week. The tax includes a big exemption that the business community has been seeking for a long time; however, above that threshold—$2 million in gross receipts—the tax will go up substantially. Because B&O taxes are based on gross receipts, they hit high-grossing, low-margin businesse...
Jun 30, 2025•44 min•Season 4Ep. 34
The King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) launched in 2020 with great fanfare. But now, with up to to a fifth of its staff facing layoffs due to budget shortfalls, it may be facing a slow death by a thousand cuts. In this week’s episode, with David still gallivanting in parts unknown, Erica and Sandeep take a hard look at the current state of KCRHA, and ask a pointed question: What purpose, exactly, does this diminished and largely neutered agency serve? As Erica reported on PubliC...
Jun 23, 2025•32 min
With David away for a second consecutive week, Erica and Sandeep seek out the inimitable Josh Feit, news editor of the Stranger back in the olden (golden) days, to buffer their conversation with convoluted references to 50-year-old Joni Mitchell records. We start with the increasingly off-putting saga of King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson, who remains defiant in the face of a unanimous vote by the King County Council (minus the absent Reagan Dunn) urging him to resign over allegations he st...
Jun 16, 2025•48 min•Season 4Ep. 31
After less than 18 months in office, Councilmember Cathy Moore, representing District 5 (North Seattle), announced she will be resigning her position effective July 7. Swinging into immediate action, Erica and Sandeep (David is away, gamboling and gallivanting in distant parts) weigh in on this emergency episode of the podcast with their red hot takes on this surprise bombshell announcement. While Moore ascribes her decision to step down to personal and medical reasons, speculation is rampant th...
Jun 03, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 30
This week Erica has the scoop on allegations of stalking and harassment against King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson. We also debate Cathy Moore's decision to withdraw a bill that critics say weakens the council’s ethics standards. Plus, we discuss the anti-trans demonstrations and counter-protests at Cal Anderson Park and City Hall that resulted in over 30 arrests. Mayoral Candidate Katie Wilson blamed Bruce Harrell for permitting a "fundamentalist, anti-trans “family values” protest in the ...
May 31, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 29
We're so excited to release our interview with Shattered Glass director Billy Ray, who was kind enough to indulge all our questions about our favorite movie, like: What happened between the scene where Chloe Sevigny confronts Peter Sarsgaard for firing Stephen and the next day, when she leads the team in applauding him for his brave decision? Where does Shattered Glass rank in the pantheon of movies Ray's written over the course of his career, which include blockbusters like The Hunger Games and...
May 30, 2025•47 min
A Seattle City Council committee advanced legislation last week that will eliminate a requirement that council members abstain from voting on legislation that presents a financial conflict of interest. Under the new, lower standard, the council will merely have to disclose any financial conflicts before voting—allowing council members, for the first time since the 1980s, to vote in their own financial interest. Sandeep thinks disclosing a conflict of interest before voting should be enough; Eric...
May 26, 2025•39 min•Season 4Ep. 27
Representative Adam Smith of Washington’s 9th Congressional District, who made headlines recently for his pointed criticisms of progressive urban governance, joins us to talk about what Seattle should expect in the era of Trump. Smith believes local governance failures and missteps in blue cities like Seattle contributed to Trump’s big win in 2024. But he joined Seattle Nice to talk about the aftermath. We get into the impact of Trump’s MAGA agenda on Seattle and King County, including potential...
May 16, 2025•51 min•Season 4Ep. 26
A new way of administering buprenorphine—a gold-standard medication that combats opioid addiction by reducing the need to use drugs like fentanyl to function—is helping people reduce their fentanyl use without the painful withdrawals that keep many users away from other versions of the medication. The new protocol, which the Downtown Emergency Service Center started using on a pilot basis last year, is less complicated and doesn't require people to "kick" drugs before starting treatment, making ...
May 05, 2025•45 min•Season 4Ep. 25
First up, why are state lawmakers planning to decimate a successful Seattle homeless program? Then, things get a little cheeky as we discuss the lawsuit over alleged “lewd behavior” at Denny Blaine Park. Plus, Mayor Bruce Harrell throws down the gauntlet with an impromptu push-up contest at a middle school. Is he the "world's best mayor," or just really good at flexing? Tune in and find out! Quinn Waller is our editor. About Seattle Nice It’s getting harder and harder to talk about politics, esp...
Apr 26, 2025•33 min•Season 4Ep. 24
Four city council candidates are vying to represent one of Seattle’s most progressive districts, District 2 in SE Seattle, and Erica’s been talking to them. We debate and discuss the issues and the candidates. But the real drama? The potential closure of the Virginia Inn, which has been operating near Pike Place market for 120 years. David pokes fun at Sandeep and Erica's sentimental reminiscences. Nostalgia is a helluva drug, but if you wax nostalgic about the potential closure of a restaurant ...
Apr 22, 2025•33 min•Season 4Ep. 23
It’s day 81 of the Trump administration as we record this episode (on Friday morning) and things are getting … alarming. Seattleites are increasingly freaking out about the chaos and insanity in the Other Washington, and who can blame them? Middle school students in West Seattle were rushed inside because someone thought they saw an ICE vehicle (spoiler alert: it was just plain ol’ SPD). And Erica's got the grim details about how Trump's "slash and burn" cuts are starting to hit local homelessne...
Apr 13, 2025•28 min•Season 4Ep. 22
It's the first week of April, and things at the City Council are heating up faster than a sunny afternoon at Denny Blaine Park. First up: CM Cathy Moore initiates a debate over developer profits and offers a controversial proposal to expand the Mandatory Affordable Housing program (MHA) to Seattle’s current single-family zones. We ask: why can’t we quit bickering and build more shit? Then, rising gun violence. A critical audit of the City’s prevention efforts is raising tensions between Council ...
Apr 05, 2025•48 min•Season 4Ep. 22
This is a special preview of an episode of a new podcast, Blue City Blues . Click this link to hear the entire episode wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Humphreys: Why Drug Reform Failed In West Coast Blue Cities The wave of bold new decriminalization-centered approaches to drug policy reform that swept West Coast cities from San Francisco to Vancouver, B.C. starting around 2020 has failed, according to one the nation’s leading drug policy experts, former Obama White House drug policy adviso...
Apr 01, 2025•24 min
Breaking: Council President Sara Nelson tells Seattle Nice she’s open to considering new progressive taxes to fund drug treatment and that she supports involuntary commitment for people who are “severely impaired through years of addiction.” We also dive deep into the epic battle over Sara’s plan for affordable “workforce” housing near the stadiums. Why were some urbanists opposed? Did billionaire Chris Hansen pull the strings? What really went down at the marathon city council meeting before th...
Mar 25, 2025•47 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Check out a preview of the latest episode of Are You Mad at Me?, the podcast about the movie Shattered Glass hosted by PubliCola co-founders Erica Barnett and Josh Feit. Shattered Glass, starting Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, and Steve Zahn (among many other names you'll recognize), is about a journalism scandal in the late 1990s in which a reporter, Stephen Glass, was found to have fabricated dozens of stories for The New Republic, Harpers, and many other traditional media...
Mar 17, 2025•16 min
Sandeep says Dow Constantine will be the next CEO of Sound Transit. Is Dow the best pick? Was the process a flawed example of cronyism? And why is the transit agency's CEO pay so high? We also discuss progressive activist Katie Wilson entering the Seattle mayor's race against Bruce Harrell. Does she have a shot against Harrell's record and "One Seattle" leadership style? Don't miss our in-depth interview with Katie Wilson where she self-criticized the left on the politics of homelessness in rece...
Mar 14, 2025•42 min•Season 4Ep. 21
The latest explosive headline about Bruce Harrell's 1996 arrest isn't great news for a mayor who is up for re-election later this year. We discuss the fallout and the fact that a mystery challenger is expected to join that race next week. Speaking of politics, we also discuss Erica's interview with Dionne Foster, who is challenging City Council President Sara Nelson. Foster is challenging Nelson from the left, but some of her positions don’t sound that progressive. Is that smart politics? Also, ...
Mar 08, 2025•33 min•Season 4Ep. 20
What do you call it when Mayor Bruce Harrell raises eyebrows with alleged praise for Trump advisors, a totem pole stands in the way of a park opening, and a tree divides a neighborhood? Just another week in Seattle! In this episode, we dive into Mayor Harrell's comments at a downtown business event , where he appeared to praise tech advisors to Donald J. Trump like Elon Musk . Was it an off-script gaffe, a calculated appeal to the business community, simply a fact about tech innovation leaders, ...
Feb 28, 2025•37 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Joy Hollingsworth was elected to the Seattle City Council in 2023 to replace Kshama Sawant in District 3. Her victory was part of a centrist wave. But Hollingsworth sometimes finds herself on the more progressive side of council legislation. Does she see herself as a swing vote? She also gets candid with us about Seattle’s racial politics, and how some white progressives seem more interested in speaking for Black people rather than listening to them. Our editor is Quinn Waller. Send us a text! N...
Feb 20, 2025•42 min•Season 4Ep. 18
In this members-only episode we take a closer look at the style, the substance and the politics of Tuesday's State of the City Address by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. This episode is a free preview. To hear the full episode just sign up at any level that's right for you at patreon.com/seattlenice. If you are already a member, here's how to access your member-only episodes automatically: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041347732-How-to-use-your-audio-RSS Thanks everyone for your ...
Feb 19, 2025•17 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Nearly 6 in 10 Seattle voters said yes to Proposition 1A to fund social housing after the first ballot count. It's shaping up like a big win for the more progressive side in Seattle politics. Why did voters move left this time? Is Seattle's pendulum swinging in a more progressive direction as we head into a big local election year? Is there really a pendulum? Send us a text! Note that we can only respond directly to emails realseattlenice@gmail.com HEARTH Protection : Do not let fear make your w...
Feb 13, 2025•29 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Two longtime political journalists, Erica C. Barnett and Josh Feit, explore all the reasons that the 2003 film Shattered Glass, about the rise and downfall of former New Republic journalist Stephen Glass, is the greatest journalism movie—nay, greatest movie —of all time. In the inaugural episode, we dissect some of our favorite scenes from Shattered Glass, and tell you why you should watch this iconic movie. Quotes: "Is anyone interested in hackers?" "The building's closed on Sundays." "He fed u...
Feb 11, 2025•53 min
SODA Seattle's new drug "stay out zones" are barely being unforced . Erica said this was the predictable result of bad, "performative" policy by council. Sandeep defended the policy but said more enforcement is needed, echoing this comment by City Council President Sara Nelson. She called on Mayor Harrell and other leaders to do more. Will "One Seattle" be put to the test this election year? SoDo Sandeep and Erica were both on Sara Nelson's side about a controversial proposal to add housing in S...
Feb 07, 2025•47 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Our special guest this week is new Seattle City Council appointee Mark Solomon, who has vowed to serve as a "caretaker" for the District 2 position previously held by Tammy Morales, who resigned last year because of what she called bullying and gaslighting by her newly elected council colleagues. Solomon lost to Morales in 2019 and sought the citywide council seat that ultimately went to the person Morales defeated in 2023, Tanya Woo, making him the second person voters rejected in favor of Mora...
Feb 03, 2025•43 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Our special guest this week is Katie Wilson, the general secretary of the Transit Riders Union and an advocate for affordable housing, who argues that the left has failed to acknowledge some critical realities about homelessness, ceding the issue to "Seattle Is Dying" demagogues. Our editor is Quinn Waller. Your support on Patreon helps pay for editing, production, live events and the unique, hard-hitting local journalism and commentary you hear weekly on Seattle Nice. Send us a text! Note that ...
Jan 27, 2025•41 min
Seattle Nice makes some predictions for 2025 that you won't hear anywhere else. We are joined by guest star predictor Josh Feit, one of the co-founders of PubliCola . Our editor is Quinn Waller. Special thanks to our Patreon donors who make this podcast possible. Send us a text! Note that we can only respond directly to emails realseattlenice@gmail.com HEARTH Protection : Do not let fear make your world smaller. Thanks to Uncle Ike's pot shop for sponsoring this week's episode! If you want to ad...
Jan 18, 2025•40 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Seattle Nice brings you a deep dive debate on the two competing "social housing" measures that are on the ballot for the February special election in Seattle. Tiffani McCoy, the co-Executive director of The House Our Neighbors Coalition, made the case for Proposition 1A. And Jessie Clawson, a Seattle land use attorney and partner at McCullough Hill, advocated for the City Council's alternative, Proposition 1B. Our editor is Quinn Waller. Send us a text! Note that we can only respond directly to ...
Jan 16, 2025•50 min•Season 4Ep. 11
