Downtown Seattle Association CEO: Seattle doesn’t have a spending problem, it has a results problem

Jon Scholes, the president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, claims Seattle doesn’t have a spending problem; it has a results problem.

“We’re really good at the spending,” Scholes said on “The John Curley Show.” “I think we’ve got a results problem, both locally and nationally. We’re spending more locally and spending more at the state level when it comes to general fund revenues than we ever have before. Would any of us disagree that we’re not getting the results we would like?”

The conversation about whether Washington has a spending problem came after former Washington Governor Christine Gregoire publicly broke with many fellow Democrats over the state’s tax-and-spend strategy, warning lawmakers that they risk driving businesses and wealthy residents out of Washington.

Gregoire sharply criticized Democratic lawmakers and Governor Bob Ferguson for relying on new taxes to address Washington’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall instead of cutting spending while speaking at the Association of Washington Business Spring Summit in Vancouver earlier this month.

“I think in some ways it’s starting to shift … there’s a narrative and a conversation now finally being had within the Democratic Party and within the Progressive Left where we’ve raised a lot of taxes, and we’ve created a lot of bureaucracy and rules and regulationss that have gotten in the way of things that we say we value, whether it’s building housing or building high speed rail or whatever it may be, and and so I think that’s a good conversation to have,” Scholes said.

“I hope local electeds here in Seattle and King County are taking note and having those same conversations, because far too often the metric of success here within our city and county has been, how much money did we spend relative to last year,” Scholes continued. “Do we look at what we actually delivered? Are there fewer people on the streets? Are there more public restrooms open? Is there less crime in our neighborhoods? Those are the things that we all want to see, not just more money going out the door.”

The national perspective of Seattle

“How much does it concern you that this kind of national perception of Seattle?” KIRO fill-in host Tim Gaydos asked.

“I think it does matter. The vibes matter. How people perceive our city when they’re thinking of investing a lot of capital here, whether it’s to build housing or open a retail store like Barnes & Noble did a few weeks ago in our downtown, or locate a company to put a bunch of jobs here and sign a big lease,” Scholes said. “They want to understand the vibes and the predictability. What’s the tone and tenor of the political leadership there that’s going to give me some indication of what the next five or 10 years might be if I’m signing a 10-year lease or I’m making a big capital bet on a place. The vibes and the tone and tenor matter, and those things have not been helpful.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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