‘Toot in the wind’: Jake and Spike criticize Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans’ KIRO interview

KIRO hosts Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill voiced their displeasure in Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans’ interview with “The Gee and Ursula Show,” calling it a “toot in the wind.”

“[Her answers] had very, very, very little substance in this interview,” O’Neill said. “But I think it’s worth listening to. We’re in a city where people are genuinely concerned about its future, its current status, and the safety of its residents, and the priorities of our local government, and making sure we’re getting what we’re spending our tax dollars on, and the people we elect are doing the jobs we elect them to do.”

Excerpts from the interview on “The Gee and Ursula Show’

What specifically changed under your administration so far, and we’re early into it, but what specifically did you bring into this office?” Ursula asked.

“I think the big difference for me and anyone else that was running was someone that’s actually worked in public safety before,” Evans said. “I think that really matters when you’re leading an office that is, in part, a prosecutor’s office that has to deal with public safety.”

…

“What are your metrics for success? What do you look at to say, ‘OK, what I’m doing, and my different approach, is going to work?’

“Thank you for that. I think what I want to see, and what I want all of us to feel, is safe as we walk in areas of downtown. I think of the waterfront and how that’s been a great, great, great project, and you can feel safe walking in those areas. And I want all areas of downtown to feel that way.”

…

“There’s this narrative that in Seattle, they just let everybody get away with crime. You go to Seattle; you get to get off the hook. What is your response to that?” Gee asked.

“It’s incorrect,” Evans said. “We are charging people in our office, and I think it’s just a false narrative.”

“… OK,” Gee replied after a pause.

“That was her answer?” Jake asked. “Short and sweet.”

“Yeah, there was a pause waiting for further clarification, maybe validation, maybe some numbers, some information,” Spike said. “We’re arresting people. Give me some numbers.”

Jake compared her answer to something Bruce Harrell said during his re-election campaign in a debate against now-Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.

“One of the moments in Harrell’s campaign, if not the moment, that cost him the election is when he was asked in that debate with Katie Wilson, ‘ What do you say to an eight-time offender?'” Jake said. “Do you remember his answer? He said, ‘I’m not really interested in locking him up. I want to find out what happened upstream.'”

“When you see an answer like that, and that was probably the bellwether moment of that campaign, I agree with you, how do you not learn from that? That response cost the mayor his job. The problem I have with the answer here is if you are going to say, ‘No, no, no, we’re locking people up. It’s a false narrative that we’re soft on crime.’ Back it up. You’re the city attorney. It’s your first 100 days. You’re here to tell the city how the city’s moving forward, how your office is handling the challenges ahead of you that you signed up to take charge of and deal with.”

Seattle influencer goes viral after she was attacked on popular waterfront trail

Earlier this week, a Seattle social media influencer claimed she was grabbed by a stranger in broad daylight while on her daily run along the waterfront trail near Olympic Sculpture Park, and her video warning other women quickly went viral.

“This is not a joke. I mean, the timing of this is actually quite interesting,” Jake said, referencing Evans’ quote about making all of downtown feel like the waterfront. “She’s literally in the studio saying that she just wants everybody to feel safe, and the top story on Mynorthwest is, ‘Seattle influencer goes viral after she’s attacked on popular waterfront.’ Quote, ‘We’re not safe anywhere.'”

“You’re the person tasked with keeping criminals accountable and judged and convicted, getting convictions for criminals in this town,” Spike added. “You got a lead story about a girl who’s attacked at 11 o’clock in the morning in broad daylight in public at the jewel of the city, the waterfront. Someone is attacked in broad daylight, and the video goes viral.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.