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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 1h

As Council Considers Reinstating Police Hiring Bonuses, an Unreleased Draft Report Finding They Don't Work Is Timely Again A city report showed one-time bonuses have no effect on police hiring. The Harrell Administration rewrote it to say the opposite.

publicola.com

As Council Considers Reinstating Police Hiring Bonuses, an Unreleased Draft Report Finding They Don't Work Is Timely Again - PubliCola

A city report showed one-time bonuses have no effect on police hiring. The Harrell Administration rewrote it to say the…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 17h

By "not actually released" I mean that I obtained the documents through my reporting. Saying they were "released" implies that I found them online or something. It's fairly typical for the Times, when it credits me for anything, to downplay my work in some way and only give credit for a part of it.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 17h

BUT, I do appreciate the donations that fund 100% of my work (Project Homeless is a good example of the outside funding that pours in to the Times from corporate-backed philanthropic groups). If you appreciate scoops like my story breaking this news in July, please support PubliCola!

publicola.com

Support PubliCola - PubliCola

PubliCola is 100% reader-powered! If you like the work we’re doing here, and would like to support PubliCola financially, please…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 17h

I don't have the megaphone of the Times or the other outlets that have credited them for breaking this news about the allegations that Kinnison attempted to shield her emails and other records from disclosure. People often prefer to talk to them instead of me. I'm a smaller outlet, I get it.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 17h

The Times story did credit me for reporting on "previously released documents" (which weren't actually "released") but not the rest of my reporting, which was primarily about the allegations that Kinnison restricted access to her email so the public records officer couldn't see it.

publicola.com

KCRHA CEO Sought to Shield Records From Public Disclosure, Emails Suggest - PubliCola

By Erica C. Barnett King County Regional Homelessness Authority CEO Kelly Kinnison sought to exempt many of her emails from…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 17h

I appreciate that the Seattle Times (which got an interview with the KCRHA's former records officer, who wouldn't talk to me) is bringing more light to this story. But I did report that Kinnison was allegedly withholding records from this records officer in July. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

seattletimes.com

Homelessness agency’s public records officer quit, says she couldn’t do job

A public records officer hired by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority said that the agency's leadership made it impossible for her to do her job.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 17h

I mean, it's a real Ph.D, I just question the cult of management that has taken over government and the idea that a PhD in leadership concepts makes anyone a better leader

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 18h

In "leadership," from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, per his linkedin.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Here's a story on a similar drama over the same patio, starring a homeowner named Paul Jones who objected to people sitting outdoors in 2010. www.thestranger.com/food-and-dri...

thestranger.com

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The same person seems to have filed multiple complaints about this patio, per the SDCI record. One reveals that they went around the patio taking photos of people and went inside this neighborhood cafe to confirm that they said people could "take your food and eat outside." The horror!

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I said the residents in the houses (not apartments) that surround the cae are the ones complaining about people sitting on a patio, and you invented a scenario in which apartment dwellers blocks away were the ones complaining, along with nonexistent "piped-in" music and servers "clattering." Sheesh.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Of course, housed people have addictions to, but politicians and pundits don't mouth off about throwing us in jail for exhibiting symptoms of addiction, like relapse.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Throwing people in jail, a place where there are no services and drugs are readily available, as "punishment" for relapsing like most people do after exiting treatment, is profoundly counterproductive unless your actual goal is to harm vulnerable people with addictions.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Read my book for the 100,000-word version, but treatment teaches you some useful and lessuseful tools to help you not use/drink, but a majority of people "fail" by relapsing (addiction is a relapsing/recurring condition) and treatment doesn't teach you how to deal with that near-inevitability.

penguinrandomhouse.com

Quitter by Erica C. Barnett: 9780525522348 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

"Barnett's prose style is brassy and cleareyed, with echoes of Anne Lamott." --Beth Macy, The New York Times Book Review "Emotionally devastating and self-aware, this cautionary tale about substance ...

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

People literally do believe "treatment" is a magical place where you go in bad and come out good. Having written a book about the treatment industry and my experiences there, I can very much assure you this is not what treatment or how it "works."

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

"If you get better, we dismiss your case" is a profoundly ignorant approach to recovery. There is no causal relationship between scary threats and a person's recovery from a brain disease, nor do people who talk like this ever explain how threatening someone into recovery supposedly works.

mynorthwest.com

‘Looking the other way is not a great option’: WA Sen. Jesse Salomon pushes for treatment backed by penalties to address Aurora drug use - MyNorthwest.com

Sen. Jesse Salomon urges for addiction treatment with penalties to tackle drug use and enhance safety on North Aurora Avenue.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

As others have noted, this is a walk-up cafe where you (could) take your food outside to eat. If people in the houses (not apartments) surrounding the place on all sides are truly bothered by pre-5pm "clattering" of people using forks, I think they need to learn to live in a society.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Well, the complaint is "people are taking their food to the backyard," and the surrounding neighborhood is an extremely wealthy single-family area. There is no "work" going on, and no "piped-in music" (piped in where? to the backyard?) that I know of (and the complaint didn't mention any).

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

the pettiness of homeowners who just can't abide people enjoying outdoor spaces in "their" neighborhoods knows no bounds the need for a "solution" to outdoor dining only exists if you concede that outdoor dining is inherently a bad thing www.capitolhillseattle.com/2026/10/if-s...

capitolhillseattle.com

If Seattle wants more corner stores, it has to figure out the Volunteer Park Cafe garden patio | CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

ALL these bonuses are wild, but the police bonuses—which weren't for performance, but merely for accepting highly compensated positions here—were just astonishing amounts of money. But the Seattle Times is not going to criticize cops the way they criticize Sound Transit.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

That's on top of Barnes' $60,000 moving stipend (he rented an apartment here while his family stayed in their permanent home in Illinois), and $3,000 recruitment bonuses for Barnes and another deputy chief because Barnes hired some people. By my calculation, $216,000 is more than $30,000.

publicola.com

New Police Chief Shon Barnes Accepted $50,000 Hiring Bonus Created for Rank and File Officers - PubliCola

SPD says the city offered Barnes the bonus, first approved in 2022 to boost police officer hiring, “as part of…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Seattle Times editorial board complains about $30,000 bonus for Sound Transit head, but apparently had no problem with $50,000 bonuses for three Seattle police command staff (Barnes, Sayles, and Powell), all of them just thank-yous for taking top jobs here.

seattletimes.com

Sound Transit CEO's $30,000 bonus shows a big disconnect | Editorial

When private corporations award employees performance bonuses, that’s between the corporation and their shareholders. Not so with a public utility.

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Reposted by Erica C. Barnett

Ella Spurlock @ellaksscience.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I was taken aback when I first saw Mayor Wilson’s budget proposal, but this Seattle Nice interview shed some much needed light on the choice she and her team made. I highly recommend it. Now I’m curious to see how SCC responds/counters!

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Two Seattle Nice episodes this week! The first is our interview Mayor Katie Wilson and city budget director Aly Pennucci. The second: A deep dive into proposed developer discounts with Councilmember Dionne Foster.

publicola.com

Two Seattle Nice Interviews This Week: Mayor Katie Wilson and Budget Director Aly Pennucci, and Councilmember Dionne Foster - PubliCola

By Erica C. Barnett Seattle Nice has two interviews for you this week! On Friday’s show, we sat down with…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

they did manage not to blame Mayor Wilson for this one (yet) but look at the hoops these two go through to avoid saying an SPD error might possibly, conceivably be SPD's (as opposed to "the city's") responsibility mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion...

mynorthwest.com

'A $13 million mistake': Ursula blasts Seattle's 'ineptitude' after major SPD payroll error - MyNorthwest.com

More than 900 SPD employees received excess back pay totaling approximately $13.1 million after the city used incorrect wage rates.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

So glad the Seattle Times is still funding this pointlessly sexist shit Horsey, and I can't emphasize this enough, is INCAPABLE of being normal about women

seattletimes.com

Seattle officially joins the ranks of top cities

It is nice to see my hometown get placed right up there with New York City, London and Paris.

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Reposted by Erica C. Barnett

Tech 4 Housing @tech4housing.org · 02/10/2026

Will the news outlets that ran headlines about KCRHA losing $13M (most of which has since been found) be publishing about Seattle Police Department’s unauthorized $13M expenditure?

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Ketamine was not "at the center" of multiple men's decision to rape someone, the men who made the decision to rape someone were at the center of that decision

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I don't think there should even be entire "what is ketamine" stories given that ketamine, alcohol, and other drugs don't commit rapes

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

WaPo: Taking drugs to have fun and forcing drugs on a woman to rape her are both just different types of "abuse"

Washington post headline: What is ketamine, the drug at the center of the alleged rape at Cornell?
Subhead:
The controlled substance is approved as an anesthetic, but also has long been abused as a party and date rape drug.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Roundabouts in Ballard are a charter responsibility.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We'll hear this phrase, "charter responsibility," repeatedly in the upcoming budget debate as councilmembers justify cutting from the small budgets that pay for things (like food and housing) that keep people healthy and safe in favor of more money for police and their own pet projects.

publicola.com

Council Learns What "One-Time Funding" Means; Podcaster's Advocacy for Anti-Trans Campaign Didn't Violate Election Law - PubliCola

1. City council members who funded an unsustainable budget last year by using one-time dollars to fund tens of millions in…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I pulled the same quote (and made this point) in my own coverage yesterday. The first charter priorities are "protecting and enhancing the health, safety, environment, and general welfare of the people." Sounds like providing food to people who don't have it might be a charter responsibility!

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It's interesting that budget chair Strauss doesn't think providing food is a "charter responsibility." I wonder how recently he's read the charter. Politicians love to say "public safety is our number 1 charter responsibility," but actually the charter lists "health" first, followed by "safety."

library.municode.com

Municode Library

MunicodeNEXT, the industry's leading search application with over 3,300 codes and growing!

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

SPD Overpaid Officers By $13 Million. Now the City Wants It Back. Officers got retroactive paychecks that were as much as $32,000 too high. If the city wants to recover the money, they have to cut a deal with the police union. publicola.com/2026/10/01/s...

publicola.com

SPD Overpaid Officers By $13 Million. Now the City Wants It Back. - PubliCola

. By Erica C. Barnett The Seattle Police Department overpaid police officers, management, and civilian staff a total of more…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Interim Police Chief Based Complaint Against Detective on Right-Wing Characterization of Anti-Trans Initiative In his interview with a city investigator, interim Chief Sayles said he still hadn’t read the initiative and appeared unfamiliar with SPD’s policy on political speech.

publicola.com

Interim Police Chief Based Complaint Against Detective on Right-Wing Characterization of Anti-Trans Initiative - PubliCola

In his interview with a city investigator, interim Chief Sayles said he still hadn’t read the initiative and appeared unfamiliar…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Bills to provide government support through tax breaks and funding should be DESIGNED TO HELP SMALL NEWS OUTLETS EXPAND, not just keep legacy media alive. None of us can coast on monopoly power and inertia the way the Times can. We all deserve a chance to grow and expand our success.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

One final note (1/2): PubliCola is widely read in Seattle. I frequently get feedback that we are people's primary source of local news. I would call that success. But I don't have enough money to hire another reporter (much less two full-time staff, the threshold Dudley supports).

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The number of original, breaking, and investigative stories I publish, as a one-person newsroom with occasional freelancers, consistently dwarfs the output of the multiple full-time reporters the Times has on my beat. Outlets like ours need support, not legacy newspaper campaigns against us.

publicola.com

Support PubliCola - PubliCola

PubliCola is 100% reader-powered! If you like the work we’re doing here, and would like to support PubliCola financially, please…

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The Seattle Times has consistently worked to ensure that smaller outlets get left out of any government efforts to help local journalism. They think we're a threat to their dominance, and they want you to believe you only need the Seattle Times to stay informed.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Fortunately, Dudley does link to LION's explanation of why they opposed two 2022 efforts to help legacy publishers (which he characterizes darkly as "sid[ing] with tech companies")—it would exclude half their members, which are mostly small, scrappy online outlets like PubliCola.

lionpublishers.com

A letter to LION members about the Journalism Competition Preservation Act and the Online News Act - LION Publishers

Our Executive Director Chris Krewson explains why LION opposes these two legislative proposals in the U.S. and Canada.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Dudley casts aspersions on the independent publishers' group LION (of which PubliCola is a member), saying they got money from big tech companies—as if the Times, funded largely by the philanthropic arms of the region's biggest companies, would never do such a thing.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"Community impact" (as opposed to "how many reporters can the outlet currently afford to fund") is also a legitimate consideration, beyond complaints about "DEI." Dudley says this isn't "objective," unlike the money the Seattle Times receives from businesses to cover homelessness and other issues.

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Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Although Dudley zeroes in on the "equity" aspect of the recommendations (a term likely to enrage many readers of legacy print newspapers like the Times, which has few reporters of color) the aim is explicitly to help small and community outlets by eliminating minimum newsroom sizes.

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