David Brewster, a founding member of Post Alley, has a long career in publishing, having founded Seattle Weekly, Sasquatch Books, and Crosscut.com. His civic ventures have been Town Hall Seattle and FolioSeattle.
There's one big hitch, however. Will Durkan stick around and run for (or be elected to) a second term in 2021? Many are betting that she wants out. If so, does the long game last enough to pay off? Or just long enough to elect a more radical mayor in 2021?
"Theatres need to stop worrying about how they can reopen in a reduced form, and look out for other models of production in different spaces and to different audiences."
We should focus on being a good place to live, tapping our great ability to create urban neighborhoods. We have terribly underinvested in this as we have rapidly built apartment towers without the needed urban amenities such as schools, playgrounds, and safe open spaces.
The main killing field will be Seattle's downtown, where restaurants were once buoyed by tourists, office workers, business visitors, arts-audiences, and shoppers -- all in steep decline.
Seattle media exhibits a growing monoculture of reporting that is too-predictably sympathetic to victims and underdogs. "Follow the victim" has supplanted the old mantra of "follow the money."
Durkan has governed as if there really is a Center in Seattle politics. Certainly there used to be: a progressive business/legal community; pragmatic organizations such as the Municipal League; and good negotiating partners in minority communities and labor. Now--not so much.
One positive step was the emergence of Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who happens to be the current budget chair and who knows how to consult with business for their views and to get other councilmembers on board.
It is extremely unlikely that the council would heed her advice and investigate and punish Sawant, even though few on the council harbor any affection for the boundary-pushing socialist.