First, a quick invitation: Seattle Nice is hosting a live debate for City Council District 5 between Julie Kang and Nilu Jenks. Join us at the National Nordic Museum on October 21 at 6 p.m.

On this week's show: What happens when government agencies can't keep track of millions of dollars? And why aren't Seattle voters more upset about it?

First, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority says it's solved the mystery of the $8 million it previously claimed Seattle and King County owed it. Turns out, according to the agency, it was an accounting error. So how did the agency get something this big so wrong?

Then there's the city's roughly $13 million mistake in overpaying Seattle Police Department employees. How did the city manage to send out millions in extra paychecks? Why did it take so long for the mistake to come to light? And will taxpayers ever get that money back? The police union says it wants the city to sort out its ongoing Workday payroll problems before its members pay anything back.

Meanwhile, the King County Council has approved another well-meaning sales tax increase to help children and families, including those experiencing homelessness, but without a detailed spending plan yet.

Plus, at the top of the show, we talk with Transportation Choices Coalition Executive Director Kirk Hovenkotter about Proposition 1, which would double Seattle's transit sales tax to pay for more bus service.

Thanks to Uncle Ike's pot shop for sponsoring this week's episode! If you want to advertise please contact us at realseattlenice@gmail.com

Support the show

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.

Mayor Katie Wilson joins Seattle Nice, along with Budget Director Aly Pennucci, to defend her first city budget as some City Council members argue she's got her priorities wrong.

Wilson came into office facing a $175 million projected General Fund deficit. Her answer is a budget with nearly $50 million in General Fund cuts each year, no new taxes and a promise to balance the books through 2030.

But some councilmembers are pushing back. They want things like more surveillance cameras, more cops and different public-safety priorities. Some are questioning Wilson's cuts to fire department overtime, and Councilmember Bob Kettle has even floated cutting affordable-housing funding to free up money for other priorities.

So who's got Seattle's priorities right? And if the city spends more on public safety or other priorities, what should the council cut to pay for it? Or should the city raise progressive taxes?

Co-hosts David Hyde, Erica C. Barnett and Sandeep Kaushik also ask Wilson why she decided not to raise the JumpStart tax, whether she thinks Seattle will eventually need 1,400 cops, why she's still clearing homeless encampments, and why she's scaled back her goal of adding 1,000 new shelter units this year.

Thanks to Uncle Ike's pot shop for sponsoring this week's episode! If you want to advertise please contact us at realseattlenice@gmail.com

Support the show

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.

Seattle still needs a lot more housing. But construction has fallen off for some types of housing, and developers say one reason projects aren't getting built is Seattle's Mandatory Housing Affordability program, or MHA.

Seattle City Councilmember Dionne Foster joins co-hosts David Hyde, Erica C. Barnett and Sandeep Kaushik to talk about the fight over MHA and splits on the left over how to build more affordable housing.

Foster's proposal would temporarily slash the fees developers pay under MHA to get stalled projects moving again, without ditching the program. It's pretty similar to an idea Mayor Katie Wilson was considering earlier this year before backing away after pushback from some affordable-housing advocates. Foster also wants the city to study applying some version of MHA in neighborhood residential zones, the former single-family areas, which some pro-housing advocates have opposed.

So how did Foster manage to bring the fee cut back? Will it work? And why has it taken Seattle so long to rethink a program some urbanists say has been holding the city back for years?

Thanks to Uncle Ike's pot shop for sponsoring this week's episode! If you want to advertise please contact us at realseattlenice@gmail.com

Support the show

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.