SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Taxation without representation in council’s Seattle City Light resolution

Jul 31, 2018, 4:23 PM

Seattle City Light...

(Seattle Municipal Archives)

I cannot imagine a more useless city council than what we have here in Seattle. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda has introduced a resolution that would allow Seattle City Light to sell off surplus properties for less than market value. Under her resolution, they would prioritize development that leads to low-income housing.

Man, what a racket that is for the developers. Did it occur to anyone that some developers might have sunk their claws into the Mosqueda and the rest of the city council members? As soon as you toss out buzzwords like “low-income housing,” everyone is all over it.

Now there is a problem with Mosqueda’s resolution; it’s illegal. You’d think that Bob Ferguson would come in and sue — oh wait, he’s too busy suing the Trump administration. The Washington State Supreme Court has said in the past that Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities cannot spend rate-payer money on non-utility items. Homeless shelters are a non-utility item. But in the scam that is the Seattle City Council, this is a way to pass a tax hike on you and me without calling it a tax hike. Selling off Seattle assets for less than market value is a tax increase — but they don’t call it that.

RELATED: Dori says lunatics are running Seattle

As I’ve talked about before, I don’t live in Seattle. I don’t get a vote on any of these people on the council. So when they say, “Hey, let’s sell off Seattle assets for less than market value,” that’s taxing me, as a rate-payer, without any representation. That is pure taxation without representation, the issue that started the American Revolution. But in Seattle, we’re going back to the days of kings and queens with the royalty that is the Seattle City Council. They get to impose taxes on us.

I can just hear the council supporters now: “But it’s for low-income housing! Surely, Monson wouldn’t be so heartless that he would complain about us subsidizing low-income housing?”

It is illegal. Seattle City Light cannot do that, as the Supreme Court has ruled. And so, there will be lawsuits. The Seattle City Council will lose. Bob Ferguson won’t do anything because he only goes after people who aren’t Democrats.

Is this just going to be another big giveaway to the Low-Income Housing Institute? Another way to subsidize LIHI Director Sharon Lee’s $180,000 per year salary in the racket that is homelessness around here? It’s not enough that we spend a billion dollars a year on homelessness and watch the problem get worse and worse?

Oh and by the way, Seattle City Light is the mismanaged racket that had massive, multi-million-dollar cost overruns. They missed a $5.4 million light item for sales tax. A bunch of incompetent buffoons. Who in the world does a budget that includes purchasing stuff and doesn’t include the sales tax? Has anyone been fired for that? No, of course not — it’s just taxpayer money. There’s plenty more where that comes from; we’ll just jack up the rates of the taxpayers. And now the council is talking about having Seattle City Light sell off property to the homelessness racket under market value.

Man, developers get rich off of homelessness. The people who run organizations like LIHI make their $180,000 per year. Seattle City Light has one of the highest-paid CEOs in government, and they just missed a $5.4 million line item. Yeah, I’d say it’s quite a racket.

It’s quite a clown show around here.

Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump underwater amid explosions, wi...

Associated Press

Six months on, the Iran war has changed the Middle East, but not in the way its architects had hoped

It’s been six months since the United States and Israel attacked Iran with the perennial goal of transforming the Middle East through military force. The region has changed, but not in the way they had hoped. The Islamic Republic survived the assassination of its top leaders and weeks of heavy bombing, and found a potent […]

2 hours ago

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington makes his closing arguments to the jury in the Lindsay Clancy mur...

Associated Press

Jury in Lindsay Clancy trial to resume deliberations Friday

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial were set Friday to resume determining whether she was responsible for her actions when she killed her three children in 2023. Clancy admits that she strangled her children, but her lawyer said she did it because she’d lost her grip on reality due to postpartum […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Asian shares mostly gain after upbeat results for Nvidia and others lift US stocks

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher Friday in Asia after Nvidia and other technology stocks led an advance on Wall Street. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1% to 6,841.50, while most other regional markets logged moderate gains. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices slipped. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8% to 66,682.88, […]

2 hours ago

Workers installing bulletproof glass around the podium at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in pre...

Associated Press

Civil rights groups make urgent plea for voting rights in DC, ahead of midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters are expected on the National Mall on Friday for a rally in support of voting rights and racial justice ahead of the midterm elections, following a wave of changes to voting laws and redistricting that civil rights groups have condemned as detrimental to Black Americans. The 2026 “Defend the […]

2 hours ago

President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse, Friday, Aug. 14, 20...

Associated Press

Trump used to say he saw a quick end to his Iran war. Six months later, he claims he’s in no hurry

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump arrives at an awkward moment for his presidency on Friday as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran reaches the six-month mark, a notable milestone for a conflict that the Republican leader repeatedly assured Americans would be a “little excursion” lasting a matter of weeks. The war isn’t over, though Trump […]

2 hours ago

FILE - Members of the National Guard stand watch on Beale St., Friday, July 17, 2026, in Memphis, T...

Associated Press

Autopsy shows Tennessee National Guard fatally shot 20-year-old armed man in the back

Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a federal anti-crime task force in Memphis fatally shot an armed 20-year-old man in the back, according to an autopsy report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, contradicting police accounts that said the man was facing the troops when they fired. Authorities have said that Tyrin Johnson turned toward […]

3 hours ago

Dori: Taxation without representation in council’s Seattle City Light resolution