Opinion

Seattle City Hall sign and steps.

Op-Ed: Seattle Should Ban Employers from Discriminating Against Unhoused Job Applicants

In the middle of a homelessness crisis, Seattle is still allowing employers to reject qualified job applicants simply because they don’t have a permanent address. That’s discrimination, and the Seattle City Attorney should lead the way in banning the practice.
Tenants hold signs saying "hold bad landlords accountable" and "everyone deserves dignified housing" and "SROC stands against abusive landlords" and "workers rights = renters' rights"

Op-Ed: Five Ways to Lower Rents in Seattle

Here are five things Seattle leaders could be doing to lower your rent, in observance of Affordable Housing Week.

Op-Ed: Seattle Public Schools Enrollment Practices Starve Schools and Harm Students

School board directors Sarah Clark and Joe Mizrahi break down how flawed enrollment practices are harming students, and may ultimately lead to school closures across the city.

Op-Ed: Ants — Has Seattle Strayed from its Public Art Mission?

For more than 20 years, Paragon has stood as a striking piece of public art along the Duwamish River. But the City of Seattle is moving forward with dismantling it, citing deterioration. Artist Don Fels details how things got to this point.
A photo of the Seattle City Hall with tall glass buildings illuminated at dusk in the background.

Op-Ed: Lowering Ethical Standards to Allow Elected Officials’ Self-Dealing is a Terrible Idea

A proposal set to drop this week at the Seattle City Council would loosen ethics standards for councilmembers with potential conflicts-of-interest. Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson breaks down why that's a terrible idea.
A strip mall

Op-Ed: Little Saigon Forges a Plan for a Safe, Beautiful Neighborhood 

Friends of Little Saigon is launching an effort called Phố Đẹp or Beautiful Neighborhood to break the cycle of disinvestment and neglect and create true community safety. For Seattle’s Vietnamese community, the intersection of home and hope is Little Saigon.
Shane Esquibel answers a call coming through on his smartwatch, as Scott sits and looks in from the Governor's waiting room, adorned with official portraits of governors long past.

Op-Ed: Why Educators Staged a Sit-In in Governor Ferguson’s Office

Last Wednesday, Rep. Shaun Scott and a group of educators sought a meeting with Ferguson to voice concerns about social service cuts, but were rebuffed by an out-of-office governor more focused on appeasing the rich. Perhaps the state would be better off if the governor vacated the office permanently, Collin Reid opines.
A gray and white midrise building with an orange art wrap.

Op-Ed: Opportunity Zones Fail to Address Urban Disinvestment Crisis

The theory was that opportunity zone tax incentives would spur the revitalization of underserved neighborhoods. But in practice, they have often failed to produce meaningful benefits for long-time residents. In cities across America — from Baltimore to Oakland, Cleveland to Atlanta — the pattern is painfully clear: investment comes, but equity does not.