‘Her budget reads like somebody that is not part of the DSA’: Curley gives Wilson’s spending plan a rare nod

KIRO host John Curley said he was surprised by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s new budget — and not in the way he expected.

“Her budget reads like somebody that is not part of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), an avowed socialist/communist, because she told me she’s a Marxist,” Curley said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “It’s a part of her DNA.”

Wilson unveiled a $9.1 billion budget proposal for 2027-2028 that closes a $175 million inherited General Fund deficit with nearly $50 million in annual spending cuts and no major new taxes. The plan eliminates 128 positions, trims most department budgets by 1 to 8%, and holds the JumpStart payroll tax steady.

Two switches

Curley boiled the budget decision down to basics after Wilson told the audience she’d chosen cuts over new revenue.

“Learn some economics,” Curley said. “You got two switches: money in, money out.”

He said Wilson made the right call by not raising JumpStart, noting that Seattle’s economy and downtown are “fragile.” Wilson herself acknowledged as much in her budget speech, saying raising additional revenue through JumpStart “is not the right move.”

The pandemic money trap

Curley placed much of the blame for the deficit on federal pandemic spending and the cities that became dependent on it.

“The federal government wrote a bunch of rubber checks that they don’t have the money for, and they blasted it out to cities all over the United States, ran the inflation up, sent trillions and trillions of dollars out,” Curley said. “The cities, like hungry animals at a trough, ate up all of that money, took that money, and then added services to their ledger to provide services with no continued money coming in.”

He said Seattle, like every other city, attached ongoing services to one-time money — then ran out of road.

Police funding gets priority

Curley highlighted that 66 additional police officer positions are funded in the proposal, with roughly 24% of the budget going to public safety.

“You can’t have an operating city without laws, and laws are enforced by police. You can’t,” Curley said. “It was the first step of any sort of government.”

He traced the concept back to feudal governance. The original bargain between rulers and the ruled was security in exchange for resources. Curley said it remains the baseline for any functioning city.

Business community approves

Curley noted Jon Scholes, president of the Downtown Seattle Association, welcomed the budget, calling the decision not to add business taxes “important and a helpful signal to the business community,” according to GeekWire.

“[The budget] looks like something that the people that work for the city of Chamber and businesses would certainly like,” Curley said.

He and producer Joe Wallace agreed: it was time to move on from the Bite of Seattle controversy and pay attention to Wilson’s actual governing.

“Move on,” Curley said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

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