SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Durkan’s State of the City promises more of the Freeattle we know

Feb 19, 2019, 5:41 PM

state of the city, jenny durkan, seattle...

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan delivers the 2019 State of the City speech. (Seattle Channel)

(Seattle Channel)

Mayor Jenny Durkan delivered her State of the City address on Tuesday.

There was a lot of interesting new information in her speech. First off, we are, I’m thankful to report, still a sanctuary city. Durkan says that the federal government won’t “turn our local law enforcement into immigration cops,” and that we will “protect our neighbors.”

I’ve asked many different people what the immigration status was of the man in a Northgate apartment who decapitated a woman. I was told he was from Honduras, but we are not allowed to even ask about his immigration status.

When you talk about protecting our neighbors, did sanctuary help or hurt that woman who was decapitated? Did sanctuary help or hurt the police officers who will have to live the rest of their lives with the trauma of having had to shoot and kill that man? You tell us about the wondrous benefits of sanctuary, but why don’t you let us know the immigration status of that man?

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There was more good news from the State of the City — Seattle is giving away even more free stuff. Low-income residents will get free Orca cards. College is free, transportation is free, everything is free in Freeattle.

I’m wondering something. Do these low-income residents getting free Orca cards have smartphones that they pay for themselves? Could they afford transportation simply by prioritizing it? Do they smoke? Let’s give them free cigarettes; it’s unfair to make them pay for their own cigarettes. Let’s give them free smartphones. Heck, let’s give them Whoppers at Burger King, because those are tasty. Everything is free. Yay, Seattle!

The other thing that Mayor Durkan was incredibly proud of was how the city came through the snowstorm. The city did fine, for the most part. While I may be a vigilant watchdog of government, I can’t say enough good things about those public power employees. The men and women out working in the middle of the night in freezing temperatures restoring people’s power — that is money well-spent by us, the taxpayers.

But do you know what else we did? We snowplowed bike lanes. You would have to be suicidal to ride a bicycle on snowy, icy downtown streets. But the Seattle Department of Transportation put five bike-lane-sized snowplows out to plow for bicycles. What an incredible waste of money.

Maybe the reason neighbors had to shovel their neighbors’ sidewalks is because you people at SDOT wasted your time snowplowing bike lanes that no one in their right minds would use during a snowstorm.

Durkan also praised Seattle commuters for clearing up the streets during the viaduct closure by taking public transit. Do we have any idea how Jenny Durkan got to North Seattle Community College for her State of the City address? I’m sure she walks the walk as much as she talks the talk.

She probably took the light rail from downtown to Husky Stadium, and then rode a Lime Bike up to Roosevelt, and then hopped on a bus to the college. I’m sure she wouldn’t be a hypocrite when it comes to choosing public transit.

But perhaps the best part of the State of the City was when Durkan recognized the members of the Seattle City Council who are not seeking reelection: Mike O’Brien, who wants to tax the poor as much as possible; Sally Bagshaw, who wanted to look into taxpayers buying heroin for addicts; Rob Johnson, who used his council position to scam a job with the Seattle NHL team so they can try to put another LID on the Queen Anne neighborhood; and Bruce Harrell. Let’s applaud them. What a group.

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Dori: Durkan’s State of the City promises more of the Freeattle we know