‘Another rookie mistake by Mayor Wilson’: Gee and Ursula clash over who stalled Seattle’s free school lunch plan

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson had a plan to provide free breakfast and lunch to every Seattle Public School student this fall, but was stymied after the Seattle City Council and Council President Joy Hollingsworth “blindsided” her at the last minute.

The plan included drawing funds from taxpayers through the approved school levy, but after the first two years, the cost of universal meals would be paid for through the state’s recently passed millionaires’ income tax.

Now that long-term funding is in question, as an initiative to repeal the income tax is on the November ballot, leaving the future funding of the universal free lunches up in the air.

Hosts split over who deserves the blame for the stalled plan

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin, co-hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, went back and forth on who is to blame for the stalled plans, while Gee asserted the council went behind the mayor’s back, but Ursula believed it was a common mistake of the mayor biting off more than she could chew.

“Mayor Katie Wilson, she came up with a very good plan,” Gee said. “I’m not trying to get into it, but I don’t like what’s going on behind the scenes. I don’t care what anybody says, this pause is absolute trash. Any type of pause on this right here, I’m out.”

“I look at this as it’s another rookie mistake by Mayor Wilson,” Ursula responded. “You don’t promise something like everyone gets a free lunch without first making sure that you have the money to do it. There’s clearly so much dysfunction going on at City Hall. The mayor and the council aren’t even on the same page. They’re not even talking to each other.”

Gee insists the funding was already in place before the council ‘blindsided’ Mayor Wilson

Gee questioned why the blame would be placed on Mayor Wilson if she was stopped at the buzzer by the council.

“You blame Katie Wilson for this? This right here?” Gee asked.

“The fact that she said this was going to happen, and promised it,” Ursula responded.

“The Seattle City Council came in the day before to do this; it actually blindsided the mayor,” Gee said. “The mayor had it all earmarked and prepared for universal lunches.”

“She had where the money was going to come from?” Ursula said. “I understand your passion for it, I’m just wondering if they say they don’t have the money for it …”

“They had the money; it was already earmarked for Seattle to get universal school lunches. Boom, no questions asked,” Gee responded. “At the last minute, Seattle City Council comes up with this. Again, I’m not saying that I’m against what they are talking about. I just don’t like the either-or. I don’t like the pause, and I’m never going to agree with this pause. They’re basically saying they will pause and start it back up in 2027. I’m never getting behind that.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.