Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan's decision not to seek re-election didn't come as a total surprise, but it certainly creates uncertainty for our city going forward.
When I write that it's not a surprise I mean that in today's political climate where verbal personal attacks, threats of violence, and name calling — the politics of personal destruction — are so common I understand the Mayor's decision. Add to this ugliness the illogical populism of the far left and far right and we have a mess that makes governing all the more difficult. (Unrelated, but important, see below for Anthony Robinson's discussion of being wrong versus being evil.)
Mayor Durkan's decision to focus on the significant challenges we face instead of a re-election
campaign is honorable and certainly consistent with her style, her integrity, and her commitment to public service. It certainly won't help recruitment of similarly committed candidates, however. (The last Mayor to serve a second consecutive term was Greg Nickels who left City Hall at the end of 2009.)
Aso making news this morning is a new report — Stretched Thin: An Analysis of 10 Years of Calls for Service to Seattle Police — by Scott Lindsay on the demand for police services. The report is based on publicly available datasets of 911 calls over the past 10 years. The report shows why careful, fact-based decision making is crucial when seeking changes in how we police cities to keep our residents safe. Unlike the City Council's recent approach which has been driven more by ideological preferences and the loudest voices, Stretched Thin documents who most needs police services and how the demand for these services has grown in recent years while the number of police officers has declined. Read the report and draw your own conclusions. (You can read my previous posts on the subject of police reform in the links to the right, especially my interview with Robert Crutchfield on the "defund the police" movement.)
Crime and Economic Recovery
The City Council will discuss again the terrible idea to provide additional affirmative defenses for misdemeanor crimes Tuesday morning at a meeting of their Public Safety Committee. Affirmative defenses are designed to make it easier for people charged with crimes to defend themselves in court, an affirmative defense makes conviction much more difficult. There are a number of reasonable affirmative defenses in state law already, including mental impairment, self-defense, necessity, and others. Some members of the City Council want to expand these defenses to include poverty and emotional or behavioral challenges. If adopted, these defenses will make successful prosecution of misdemeanor crimes even more difficult than they already are. You can read my more complete analysis of this idea here.
The Wrong Side of Evil
My friend, Anthony Robinson, writes a quick, pithy piece on the difference between "wrong" and "evil" at PostAlley.org. This is a good framing of the differences between wrong and evil.