A new report from those data loving folks over at the Washington Policy Center is calling for the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) to table a motion to require new residential construction to ban natural gas due to the inaccuracy of data the councilmembers have received on the proposal.  The SBCC, which banned natural gas on commercial and some high rise residential buildings a few weeks ago, is expected at its meeting tomorrow to discuss making all new residential construction run on electric power and banning natural gas.

The WPC report points out that the data SBBC is using is out-of-date and newer data contradicts the findings concluded from the old data.  For example the old data showed that home construction would go down by moving to an all-electric model, yet the updated data shows it would increase building costs by $83 – $3,400.

Also, the old material states that the ban on natural gas is necessary to reduce carbon emissions. Yet this is based on a 2020 policy environment.  Since then, Washington legislators have placed a statewide cap on carbon emissions, thus this is no longer an accurate statement. (Washington Policy Center report)

The Seattle City Council failed to perform basic, necessary tasks while legislating, which will now cost the city (and thus taxpayers) money, when the councilmembers rushed to appease violent liberal rioters’ “defund the police” demands back in 2020.  The councilmembers all ignored deliberate due process when they quickly imposed their unpopular and disastrous public safety policies. In their haste, councilmembers and city bureaucrats failed to grant proper authority to write tickets to parking enforcement officers, who had been transferred from the Seattle Police Department to the City of Seattle Department of Transportation to reduce the SPD’s authority. When that transfer was completed last fall, all citations written by parking officers were invalid.

All city taxpayers are impacted because of this rush to placate rioters, because now more than 100,000 parking infractions have been tossed out. The city has hired an outside firm to refund payments on all parking tickets written between September 1, 2021 and April 5, 2022.  It is estimated that this will cost the city’s taxpayers $5 million.

This is what happens when city leaders cave into the demands of rioters when setting public safety policies.  Crime rates, especially in lower-income neighborhoods, have skyrocketed. Downtown Seattle still has many boarded-up store fronts as criminals continue to openly sell stolen merchandise and use illegal drugs.  A mass exodus of well-trained and diverse officers has forced the police department to cut back on investigating new crimes, including rape.  And now the city has lost millions due to not one person in Seattle City government being able to recognize the steps needed to make the seamless transfer of parking enforcement from SPD to the Seattle Department of Transportation.  The radical changes to the city’s public safety policies inflicted by the council in 2020 will go down in history as being among the worst set of decisions ever made by a Seattle City Council. (Seattle Times)

It is a rare occurrence when the Seattle Times Editorial Board to completely agrees with Shift on a subject, but it has occurred over Democrat elected officials’ stonewalling any investigation into possible crimes committed by fellow liberal politicians at the City of Seattle when texts were deleted from their phones that related to the 2020 riots.  Shift (in an article posted Wednesday morning) called this failure by Democrat officials a threat to our democracy as one-party rule has made many liberal politicians now feel they are above being held accountable for their actions.  In a Times opinion piece posted Wednesday afternoon, the editorial board criticized Democrat Governor Jay Inslee, Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Democrat King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, Democrat Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz for allowing fellow liberals to commit felonies without being properly investigated.  The Times concludes the editorial by writing, “Any of these incumbents or those seeking higher office later have a chance now to show they care about open government. Or show they don’t. Either way, voters should take notice.” (Seattle Times and Shift)

The Everett Herald is critical of Sound Transit’s “lax” fare collection policies which allow any rider to ride for free while at the same time communities which have yet to be served by light rail – and will have to wait even longer due to lack of funds – are forced to pay higher taxes.  When ST3 was approved by voters in 2016 they were promised that fare collection would pay for 40% of the system’s operating costs.  Yet due to changes in how Sound Transit enforces fair collection (due to “equity” concerns), more people are riding without paying and fares are currently only contributing 5% of the system’s operating costs.  Yet communities which won’t see service for another 20 years in Pierce and Snohomish counties are already paying higher taxes to allow others to ride for free. The editorial states, “It comes down to fairness to those communities that still have a decade or longer to wait before they can make use of a service for which they already are paying taxes. Sound Transit and its board must commit to a fair and equitable system for fare collection. It’s as simple as asking, ‘Ticket, please.’”  (Everett Herald)

City leaders in Seattle and Tacoma continue to use the increase in violent crime in their communities to discuss placing more restrictions on guns, while attempting to deflect criticism that the skyrocketing crime rate has more to do with their own liberal soft-on-criminals policies.  Both Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodwards have echoed liberal talking points on guns as crime trends show that 2022 summer could be very violent indeed, with both cities recording more murders and assaults so far in 2022 than in previous years.  Both mayors have called for more restrictions on guns, as if those who are perpetrating these violent crimes are concerned about breaking new gun regulations, when the city admits abandoning even investigating crimes like rape. (Q13 Fox News)

Staffing levels continue to worsen at the Seattle Police Department, with 200 more officers expected to leave this year. The SPD is currently down to just 838 officers in a department which should employ more than 1,400 officers at full capacity.  Recruiting efforts have fallen demonstrably short of stated goals, with only 22 new hires and re-hires (SPD officers who previously quit but have returned).  At this rate the department will fall far short of its hiring goal of 125 officers this year.  Seattle Police Guild President Mike Solan said, “These numbers indicate an alarming situation, that if we don’t focus on retaining the current qualified officers from leaving, we’re in deep, deep trouble.”

The fear is that qualified officers will not want to work in a city which cares so little for public safety that its department is so severely understaffed. The responsibility for this crisis rests solely on the individual members of the Seattle City Council and their votes to cave into the demands of liberal rioters in 2020.  Those decisions continue to threaten the public safety of Seattle’s 775,000 residents, and any visitors brave enough to come. (MyNorthwest)

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward vetoed a water use plan passed by the city council which imposes fines based on neighbors reporting on their own neighbors who water outside of mandated day, time, and length constraints.  The mayor said she strongly supports efforts to reduce water usage, but this method of enforcement “is not the kind of community I want to create.”   Mayor Woodward sent a message to the city council that her “strong preference is to model a collaborative approach with our community, which I’m happy to help you lead, rather than encourage the likely divisiveness that will result from neighbors monitoring and reporting on other neighbors, no matter how well-intended the desired outcome.” (Mayor Woodward media release)

City of Seattle and Washington State politicians refusing to even pretend to hold fellow liberal politicians accountable for illegally deleting text messages is just the latest example of how one-party rule threatens our democracy.  The Democrats have held control of both the city and state for over a generation, and this has resulted in a ruling class which no longer believes it should stand up for democratic principles.  Democrat politicians have even demonstrated that they are supportive of political violence as long as these illegal activities are performed by those who support their bigger government and higher taxes philosophy.

Remember, liberal and Democrat politicians not only supported the 2020 riots conducted by their far-Left activists, but they made sure that more violence will occur in the future by rushing to pass the irresponsible anti-police measures which rioters demanded at both the city and state level.  The resulting significant rise in crime rates is the direct result of Democrats believing they are no longer accountable for the excesses of their one-party rule.  The 2022 elections brings hope that this will change, as Republicans have put forth a strong slate of candidates demanding accountability which threatens the Democrats’ control of Washington State government. (Click to read full Shift article)

Do you like The Daily Briefing?

Please consider making a contribution to ensure Shift continues to provide daily updates on the shenanigans of the liberal establishment and provides you inside coverage of the 2022 elections which includes exclusive interviews with top candidates.

Forward this to a friend.  It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

You can also follow SHIFTWA on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].