Hacks & Wonks
On this week-in-review, Crystal Fincher and Melissa Santos discuss: WA/CA/OR vaccine alliance Cell phones in schools Firefighter immigration raid = inside job Harrell pushes light rail extensions despite shortfall Autonomous vehicles pilot starts As always, a full text transcript of the show is available at . Follow us on Bluesky at . Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Bluesky at and find today’s co-host, Melissa Santos at .
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Amy Sundberg, public safety reporter for The Urbanist and publisher of Notes from the Emerald City, joins Hacks & Wonks to discuss how Seattle's City Council is poised to expand the city's surveillance pilot program before collecting any evaluation data on its effectiveness, raising concerns among privacy advocates about potential federal access to the data amid heightened immigration enforcement. The expansion, scheduled for a final council vote on September 9 at 2:30 p.m., would install new cameras in three areas and tap into Seattle Department of Transportation's existing network of...
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On this week-in-review, Crystal Fincher and Robert Cruickshank discuss: 🧊 Spokane blocks warrantless ICE action 🥡 $15m Uber Eats settlement 🛒 UFCW 3000 backs Wilson 🚲 Biker hit where safety upgrades were cancelled 🏫 School board updates 🪧 Protests against Microsoft use by IDF As always, a full text transcript of the show is available at . Follow us on Bluesky at . Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Bluesky at and find today’s co-host, Robert Cruickshank, on Bluesky at .
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Hacks & Wonks hosted a 2025 Post-Primary Roundtable on Tuesday, August 12, 2025 to dig into the 2025 primary results - what they mean, how they happened, and what's next - with the people who actually do the work of winning (and sometimes losing) campaigns in Seattle and King County. Listen to the roundtable as a podcast or watch the ! By bringing together a panel of seasoned local political consultants who've been in the field, in the strategy rooms, and on the phones - not just pundits looking at numbers from a distance - they cut through the noise and spin to give insights not found in...
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On this week-in-review, Crystal Fincher and Erica Barnett discuss: ⛪ Christian nationalist rally moves to new park 🤑 Police execs take bonus meant for officers 🛡️ Trump admin targets sanctuary cities – 📮 -- and vote-by-mail 🕵️ Tacoma ICE facility must open for inspections As always, a full text transcript of the show is available at . Follow us on Bluesky at . Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Bluesky at and find today’s co-host, Erica Barnett, on Bluesky at and on .
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On this week-in-review, Crystal Fincher and David Kroman discuss: 💰 Seattle B&O tax overhaul proposal 📉 Seattle budget forecast 👁️ Seattle surveillance expansion ⚖️ Tacoma minimum wage initiative sues city ⚔️ MGP challenger in CD3 🗳️ Election results update As always, a full text transcript of the show is available at . Follow us on Bluesky at . Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Bluesky at and find today’s co-host, David Kroman at .
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On this week-in-review, Crystal Fincher and Josh Cohen discuss: ❤️🩹 A Hacks & Wonks update 🗳️ Primary election results! 👀 Seattle: Mayor, City Attorney, City Council seats 💵 Seattle Democracy Vouchers 🥊 King County: Executive, D5 Council seat 🤓 Takeaways As always, a full text transcript of the show is available at . Follow us on Bluesky at . Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Bluesky at and find today’s co-host, Josh Cohen at .
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On this week-in-review, Crystal Fincher and Robert Cruickshank discuss: 🙅 End of Denny Blaine nudity 🗳️ Urbanist endorsements 🧑🏫 Sea Public Schools news 🐀 Hot Rat Summer 📸 Seattle police cameras ❌ Harrell cancels safety upgrades 💸 Business pours $ in WA Senate races As always, a full text transcript of the show is available at . Follow us on Bluesky at . Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Bluesky at and find today’s co-host, Robert Cruickshank, on Bluesky at .
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Seattle voters will decide in August whether to renew funding for the city's groundbreaking Democracy Voucher Program, the first and only system of its kind in the United States that gives residents public money to support local candidates of their choice. Proposition 1 on the August 5 primary ballot asks voters to approve a 10-year property tax levy to continue the program, which provides every eligible Seattle resident with four $25 vouchers annually to contribute to qualified candidates for mayor, city attorney, and city council. Estevan Muñoz-Howard was one of the original leaders of the...
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On this week-in-review, Crystal Fincher and Erica Barnett discuss: ⚖️ No Wilson charges 💬 Pro-Harrell message testing poll 🔄 Moore replacement 👑 Bills expand Davison/Police power 🔎 Ask to end consent decree 🤖 PC Sheriff gets bad advice from ChatGPT As always, a full text transcript of the show is available at . Follow us on Bluesky at . Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Bluesky at and find today’s co-host, Erica Barnett, on Bluesky at and on .
info_outlineToday on the show, Marco Lowe, Professor at Seattle University’s Institute for Public Service, joins Crystal to discuss the extension of the eviction moratorium, the vital importance of keeping people housed, the departure of Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff, City Council candidate Sara Nelson caught in a lie regarding laying off workers at Fremont Brewing, new polling in the Seattle mayoral elections, the increasing impact of climate disasters, and developments in the carpenters’ union strike in our state.
As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com.
Find the host, Crystal Fincher on Twitter at @finchfrii and find today’s co-host, Marco Lowe, at @MarcoLowe. More info is available at officialhacksandwonks.com.
Resources
“Seattle eviction moratorium extended into 2022” by Katie Campbell, Dyer Oxley, and Angela King from KUOW: https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-eviction-moratorium-extended-into-2022
“King County Scrambling to Distribute Rent Assistance as Eviction Crisis Looms” by Doug Trumm from The Urbanist: https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/09/23/peter-rogoff-departing-sound-transit-leadership-in-2022/
“Peter Rogoff Departing Sound Transit Leadership in Early 2022” by Stephen Fesler from The Urbanist: https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/09/23/peter-rogoff-departing-sound-transit-leadership-in-2022/
“A $550-per-hour coach is helping Sound Transit’s chief get along with his employees” by Mike Lindblom from The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/a-550-per-hour-coach-is-helping-sound-transits-chief-get-along-with-his-employees/
“Sara Nelson Said Fremont Brewing Didn’t Lay Off Anyone During the Pandemic. Unfortunately, That’s Not True.” by Rich Smith from The Stranger: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/09/17/61269041/sara-nelson-said-fremont-brewing-didnt-lay-off-anyone-during-the-pandemic-unfortunately-thats-not-true
Crosscut-Elway Poll for the 2021 Seattle General Election: https://crosscut.com/sites/default/files/files/crosscutelway_0921.pdf
“New Poll Shows Harrell’s GOP Donors, Response to Murray Rape Accusations Could Drive Voters to González” by Rich Smith from The Stranger: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/09/20/61276092/poll-shows-harrells-gop-donors-response-to-murray-rape-accusations-could-drive-voters-to-gonzalez
González campaign internal polling: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MMyriegbmkvCj8ePRLa0hKiY7rx0CyH9/view
“Early Polling Indicates Tight Mayoral Race, Potent Lines of Attack Against Harrell” by Doug Trumm from The Urbanist: https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/09/22/early-polling-indicates-tight-mayoral-race-potent-lines-of-attack-against-harrell/
“Weather Disasters Have Become 5 Times As Common, Thanks In Part To Climate Change” by Eric McDaniel from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034607602/weather-disasters-have-become-five-times-as-common-thanks-in-part-to-climate-cha
“The Greatest Killer in New Orleans Wasn’t the Hurricane. It Was the Heat.” by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Katy Reckdahl from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/us/new-orleans-hurricane-ida-heat.html
“Carpenters union pauses picketing in Seattle after wildcat strikes, dispute with Kshama Sawant” by Heidi Groover from The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/carpenters-union-to-pause-picketing-in-seattle-after-wildcat-strikes-dispute-with-kshama-sawant/
“Concerns about safety and legal action grow as carpenter strike ends first week” by Lilly Ana Fowler from KNKX: https://www.knkx.org/2021-09-24/concerns-about-safety-and-legal-action-grow-as-carpenter-strike-ends-first-week
Joe Mizrahi Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/Joe_Miz/status/1441250734150803474
Transcript:
A transcript will be uploaded as soon as possible.