‘She revealed her true colors’: Jake and Spike react to Katie Wilson’s ‘bye’ to millionaires departing WA

In a recent appearance at Seattle University, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said that claims of millionaires leaving Washington are “like super overblown,” and her message for those who leave is, “bye.”

Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill, co-hosts of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, found Wilson’s comments revealing of her character, saying her blunt approach gives Washington’s voters a clearer picture next time around.

“I don’t love that millionaires want to leave. I don’t love that businesses are having a hard time or having to make that decision. I feel so much sympathy for a business owner who wants to invest here locally and wants to see the future of their company grow in Washington,” Jake said. “What I do love is when somebody like Katie Wilson reveals her true thoughts about it, it makes it that much easier for people next time around, when they’re voting to go, ‘Hey, you know what? Here’s how somebody actually feels about this, and these policies contribute to how easy or how hard it is for businesses to thrive, and then down the line, their employees to make a good living.’ So she’s revealing something about herself, which I think is useful.”

“You’re spot on,” Spike said. “Otherwise, you get a slick politician who’s practiced and polished, and says what he thinks the media and people want to hear. Doesn’t show his true self and true colors. And here you have a socialist who said, ‘Bye, take your millions.’ And, ‘Bye, go spend your millions in Miami.'”

Katie Wilson’s first act as mayor-elect: boycott Starbucks

Jake and Spike recalled the moments following former Mayor Bruce Harrell’s concession to Wilson, where “the first thing” she did was attend a protest to boycott Starbucks, a company with roughly one store for nearly every 12,000 residents in Washington.

“Months ago, right after Bruce Harrell called up to say that he was no longer going to be the mayor, the first thing she did, before she even went out and gave a speech, she went over to a Starbucks protest, and she got behind a mic and said, ‘Hey, let’s boycott Starbucks,'” Jake said.

“She’s probably an hour removed from a call from Harrell saying she’s going to be the mayor, and here she is,” he continued. “The very first thing she decides to do is to boycott. I can’t think of another company that’s more closely associated internationally with Seattle than Starbucks. The first thing she does is protest the company.”

Starbucks expanding to Nashville after Ferguson’s conversations with CEO fell flat

Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, is expanding to Nashville. The coffee giant announced in March, alongside Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, that it will establish a corporate operations office in Nashville later this year.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson reportedly had several conversations with Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol ahead of the company’s announcement.

Jake and Spike weighed in on what Ferguson’s conversations with Niccol may have looked like, and what they should have sounded like.

“I would hope that he would say, ‘Hey, you know what? I’d love to hear you out on what you’re going to do to help make it a better place for us to want to stay and do business.’ Now, the downside is it doesn’t sound like that conversation went too great, because shortly thereafter, they announced that they’re expanding to Nashville, and likely going to be headquartered there,” Jake said.

Ferguson had said that Starbucks is an “important part of the fabric” of Washington’s community, but Starbucks is “not the first company” to expand its footprint across the U.S.

Local restaurant CEO says well-intentioned policies have been ‘detrimental’ to business

From a restaurant industry perspective, Ian Courtnage, the CEO of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, noted the state’s policies are well-intentioned, but have been detrimental to the business.

“It’s the accumulation of a bunch of well-intentioned policies that has knock-on effects. And it’s the accumulation of it over time, losing jobs and losing employers, whether they’re moving to Tennessee or whether they’re moving across the water,” he said. “It’s really detrimental for our business. And most importantly, for our people.”

“That’s it. He nailed it,” Spike said. “Their goal wasn’t to bankrupt the state or lose our credit rating by Moody’s, and drive businesses away.”

“Although if it was their goal, they couldn’t have done a better job,” Jake responded. “If it was their goal to turn Washington into a joke of a business climate with the highest office vacancy rate, then congratulations. We’re number one in office vacancy.”

Spike agreed that businesses are struggling but pushed back on placing all the blame on state policy, pointing to the tech sector’s downsizing as an equally significant aspect.

“There’s never been a better time to look for empty office space,” Spike added. “I think it can’t all be delegated to mismanagement or best-intended policies that have had ancillary issues for business leaders and employers. Those are all factors, but you also have a factor in the fact that we have such a high-tech sector employment base, and the tech sector is contracting through no fault of Seattle’s.

“The tech sector exploded when money was free, interest rates were zero, and people could borrow it at will and expand it at will,” he continued. “All those Microsofts, the Googles, the Amazons, they all did just that. They expanded, sure, and by all accounts, they’ll all tell you they over-expanded.”

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.