SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: It’s report card time, and Jenny Durkan gets a D

Nov 28, 2018, 5:27 AM

jenny durkan, income tax...

Former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, left, is administered the oath of office for Seattle mayor by U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones on Nov. 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

In honor of her one-year anniversary as mayor of Seattle this Wednesday, the Dori Monson Show took a cue from its news partner KIRO 7and decided to give Mayor Jenny Durkan a grade for her first 365 days in office.

“I give her a D — she’s not quite a failure yet, but I haven’t seen any improvement,” Dori said. “Crime is worse. Homelessness is worse. Money being squandered is worse. Break-ins are the worst in America, for property crime, we are the worst [major] city in America.”

That’s not to say that Durkan could not improve her grade in the future — but she would have to put in some serious extra credit hours to turn the city’s failures around.

“If somebody came in and we actually had crime go down, and people safe walking down the streets, and cars that don’t get their windows smashed every couple of seconds,” Dori said, then he would start handing out honor roll grades.

Dori criticized the mayor for saying that a chunk of the city’s new $5.9 billion budget will go toward helping Seattle’s “least advantaged.”

“I hate phrases like that. Why are any of us the ‘least advantaged?'” Dori asked. “That’s such a bizarre turn of phrase. The reality is, we all have the same opportunities.”

He elaborated, “I know from personal experience that being in poverty doesn’t mean you can’t climb out of it — it means you’ve got to make some decent decisions along the way.”

Dori also had a good laugh when Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who just announced her retirement, told KIRO 7 that Durkan is doing well because she “knows her department heads, knows who she can trust and rely upon.”

“Is that the standard these days? She knows her department heads … Is that what we’re grading our city on these days?” Dori laughed. “We’ve got a lot of crime out there. We’ve got a lot of problems. But the mayor knows her department heads now.”

You may be wondering if there is any past mayor of Seattle whom Dori would give a grade that would make parents reading a report card proud. The answer is yes — but you have to go back to the 1990s.

“I like Norm Rice — he was a good guy,” Dori said of the mayor who served from 1990 through 1997. He added that Rice was the last Seattle mayor to have the guts to come on the Dori Monson Show.

In Dori’s view, the mayor’s office just went downhill after that.

“Greg Nickels, we got a dusting of snow and the entire region was paralyzed,” Dori said. “Why? He did not want to put salt on the street because he was afraid it would wash into Puget Sound — which is all salt water.”

RELATED: Cato Institute on why Jay Inslee gets a failing grade

Texans cheer as a crowd gathers at the Texas State Capitol in Austin to celebrate the results of th...

Associated Press

Democrats won back support from five key groups that shifted toward Trump in 2024: The AP Voter Poll

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic candidates made up significant ground among key demographic groups in the 2026 midterms, according to The AP Voter Poll, reversing many of the gains President Donald Trump made with the traditional Democratic coalition in the 2024 presidential election. The AP Voter Poll, a sweeping survey of more than 100,000 voters in […]

5 minutes ago

A voter casts their ballot at Seattle City Hall. (Photo: Steph Chambers, Getty Images)...

Charlie Harger

Harger: Voters fired Republicans in D.C. and doubled down on Democrats in Olympia

Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate. As of Wednesday, they’d won 228 House seats and led in 34 more. They’d won at least 54 Senate seats.

13 minutes ago

The sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol, as seen reflected in the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool, on El...

Associated Press

Democrats usher in a new era with their resounding sweep of the House and the Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are riding their sweep of Congress into a new era, eager to meet voter demands for change with plans to tackle high costs of living and confront President Donald Trump’s final years in the White House. In a nationwide romp, Democrats ousted Republicans from coast to coast, with many surprising places […]

37 minutes ago

spain wa train crash...

KIRO 7 News Staff

College students from Washington severely injured in Spain train collision

Two college students from Washington state attending California Polytechnic State University were severely injured in a high-speed train crash in Spain.

55 minutes ago

Democratic House candidate Bobby Pulido arrives at a polling location at the University of Texas Ri...

Associated Press

Trump-backed Republican redistricting sought a midterm edge. It didn’t work

WASHINGTON (AP) — At the urging of President Donald Trump, Republicans in eight states redrew the boundaries of dozens of congressional districts over the past year while angling for an edge that could help them hold onto a slim House majority in a tough midterm election. Ultimately, it didn’t work. Republicans lost most of the […]

1 hour ago

seattle revel restaurant close...

Regan Gallo-Fenz

Last call for Revel: Seattle diners have until Dec. 20 before doors close

Fans of Fremont's Revel restaurant have until Dec. 20 to dine one last time. The Korean-inspired restaurant has been serving Seattle customers for 16 years.

2 hours ago

Dori: It’s report card time, and Jenny Durkan gets a D