💡 City Light CEO switcheroo

Economy and Unemployment Are Complicating Downtown Growth

It’s a complicated time for downtown Seattle - even as its population grows, crime decreases, and visitors are back up from the pandemic, it’s seeing decreased foot traffic and hasn’t rebounded to pre-COVID workforce numbers, according to a report from Downtown Seattle Association. At the State of Downtown event on Wednesday, DSA president Jon Scholes said, ‘we’re going in the wrong direction.’ [GeekWire]

• High Taxes: Scholes partially blames taxes like the city’s JumpStart (a payroll tax on large employers with high-earners) and the fact that a recent tax restructure means that larger businesses are paying more than smaller ones. He says that small businesses like restaurants and barbershops depend on the larger businesses’ employees to keep the lights on. [GeekWire]
• Layoffs and Empty Office Space: As we’ve previously covered, Amazon is no longer the biggest employer. AI growth and ‘pandemic bloat’ led to 2,000 employees being laid off earlier this year. Amazon’s headcount had dropped from 60K workers in 2020 to less than 50K now. With a 34.7% vacancy rate downtown, the city averages 145K in downtown foot traffic currently, way below the pre-pandemic’s 226K.
• Wilson and Zahilay Want To Decrease Spending: At Wednesday’s event, Mayor Katie Wilson said she planned to make ‘significant’ cuts, and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay will build his budget ‘from the ground up.’ Wilson recently asked city departments for cuts.

Data Center Debate Ends the Legislative Session 📈

The 60-day legislative session is over, and a $79.4 billion spending plan passed without any Republican votes. During the session, the legislature passed bills taxing income over $1 million, banning law enforcement from wearing face covers, and creating new labor protections for workers like nannies and housekeepers (More on today’s pod 🎧). The legislature’s final debate centered around a vote to eliminate a tax exemption for data centers needing to buy new equipment; new data centers will still receive tax breaks. [Washington State Standard]

Zahilay on ICE, City Cuts, and RTO 🏢

It’s three months into King County Executive Girmay Zahilay’s tenure, and The Stranger asked him about his changing stance on the youth jail, immigration protections, and ICE restrictions, and the return-to-office mandate. Zahilay described what he sees as the difference between public and private city space as it relates to ICE enforcement, and explained that his return to office mandate was based on feedback from members of the community. [The Stranger]

Wilson’s City Light CEO Pick No Longer Set To Run the Utility 💡

Dennis McLerran, Katie Wilson’s pick to run Seattle City Light, is being replaced by the current SCL chief operating officer, Rob Santoff. Wilson first announced McLerran as her pick in January, but City Council and IBEW Local 77 union reps pushed back on his lack of direct utility experience. Wilson told The Seattle Times that the dust-up over McLerran's hiring had become “a distraction that was getting in the way of actually planning the important work that’s ahead for the utility.” [Seattle Times]