A New Sheriff in Town

Katie Wilson, the new Mayor of Seattle, is known for being a strong supporter of reformed policing. While critics have tried to paint her with the “defund” brush, her pre-campaign rhetoric, her campaign, and her early governing suggest nothing of the sort. In fact, her choice to retain the increasingly controversial Police Chief, Shaun Barnes, was a clear signal that she isn’t fixing for a fight with SPD. Mayor Mamdani of New York seems to be taking a similar approach.

However, a (totally predictable) rumor had already started–that Wilson had made it so cops are no longer allowed to arrest someone for doing drugs in public, ever. Soon KOMO was doing its Republican duty (remember the Jimmy Kimmel incident?) and “reporting” it as the truth. But it was not true. In fact, it appears from Publicola and Capitol Hill Seattle blog’s reporting, the KOMO report was just an amplification of loudmouth MAGA influencer Mike Solan, the head of the police union. 

Wilson released the following statement, which the publisher of the Capitol Hill Seattle blog delightfully referred to as a “spanking.”

She said “enforcement of the possession and public use ordinance in priority situations” will continue while “the LEAD framework and other effective responses to neighborhood hot spots are implemented with an appropriate level of urgency, sufficient resources, and a commitment to results.”

“You’ll know when I announce a policy change, because I’ll announce a policy change,” Wilson said.

A characteristically polite spanking, but a spanking nonetheless. 

The lie started with Chief Barnes (accidentally or purposely) misreading a memo from the prosecutor’s office and sending out his own confused memo. Then Solan whipped up the glee-filled media frenzy of fake claims. 

The Chief was already on shaky ground. Between this ridiculous episode and the recent lawsuit accusing him of ugly discrimination, I’d be minding my Ps and Qs if I were him. 

Fortunately, we don’t have to think about Mike Solan for much longer. He’s stepping down. Good frickin’ riddance! He’s been a cancer on Seattle politics and public safety. Now that he got Mayor Harrell to sign a contract that locks in tens of millions of wasted dollars per year and gets nothing in return, he can ride off into the MAGA influencer sunset with Brandi Kruse, Jonathan Choe and all the other right-wing grifters whose local public-safety agenda and claims are often indistinguishable from those of Bob Kettle, Maritza Rivera and (former!) Council President Sara Nelson.