‘We kicked this can 7 more weeks down the unsafe city road’: Jake, Spike rip Mayor Wilson for delaying camera decision

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson made her first press availability in weeks on Wednesday, but her answers on surveillance cameras, a housing task force, and the recall effort left Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill, co-hosts of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, unimpressed.

When KOMO reporter Chris Daniels asked Wilson whether the Bite of Seattle shooting and polling showing 75% of voters support cameras had changed her position on expanding the city’s CCTV system, Wilson said she is waiting for the results of a privacy and data security audit expected in late September.

“We’re continuing to follow the course that I laid out earlier this year,” Wilson said.

Spike wasn’t having it.

“We just kicked this can seven more weeks down the unsafe city road,” he said.

Jake said the answer showed a leader unwilling to adapt to a changed reality.

“The sign of any good leader is the ability to do one thing when you run into a roadblock: pivot,” Jake said. “Wouldn’t it be refreshing if she said, ‘Hey, when I was originally running and talking about those things,’ this is pre-Bite of Seattle mass gang shooting, ‘I’m more open to cameras now, and we’re really leaning into wanting to discover how to make sure we protect people.'”

Instead, Jake said, Wilson buried her head in the sand.

“She just says, ‘We’re just going to stick to the same course that we’ve been doing,'” Jake said. “You have people out there — literally active shooters who are out there — they’re still investigating, who now know, like, ‘Hey, if we’re going to do something, we got till late September to get it in.’

“You’ve got to have the leadership to recognize that maybe the people who are in your ear telling you no CCTV cameras don’t know what they’re talking about,” he continued.

Reporter calls Wilson’s appearance ‘carefully controlled’ as camera questions mount

Jake pointed to KOMO’s Chris Daniels, who described the event as a “carefully controlled public appearance,” and said Wilson was literally sidelined by an aide who told her not to answer certain questions.

“Why do they find it to be that Katie Wilson literally has to be walked around like a child and told how to say things, what to say?” Jake asked.

Spike said the answer is simple: inexperience compounded by a hollowed-out staff.

“She has no skills with regard to how to convey her platforms or her messaging or information in general to the city,” Spike said. “And compounding that is no team in place to help her do the job.”

Spike noted any good leader surrounds themselves with people who know how to do the job.

“A lot of people she first brought on board were long-time associates of her in other capacities who weren’t ready for prime time,” he said. “And the people that are in these chairs today aren’t ready for prime time.”

Spike and Jake torch the housing task force

Wilson announced a Housing Production Task Force to streamline the city’s permitting process, which she said would provide “rolling recommendations.” When Daniels pressed on how a task force with recommendations due in September 2027 helps build housing now, Spike launched into a riff that had Jake cracking up.

“A task force researches the best ways to plug holes,” Spike said. “They do in-depth studies and research. They’re looking at the best ways to plug holes. What kind of materials can be used in hole plugging? What kind of hole-plugging materials are long-lasting? That’s going to take about six weeks to figure out. Then, once we find the right materials, we find what is the best hole-plugging technique that we can employ that is cost-effective to the city.”

Jake argued that the city’s approach to housing development is driving investment to neighboring cities.

“Bellevue fixes the entire problem by saying, ‘We’re not going to force you to do that, but if you give to low-income housing, we’ll let you have tax-free on that property for 12 years,'” Jake said. “You’re incentivizing people to invest money with you instead of penalizing.”

‘We’re getting what we voted for’

Spike closed by borrowing a line from fellow KIRO host Gee Scott.

“To quote Gee Scott, which I often love to do: We’re getting what we voted for,” Spike said.

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