Erica C. Barnett
@ericacbarnett.bsky.social
Seattle-based reporter, founder/editor of PubliCola.com, and author of Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery
She/her, Latina, Texan
She/her, Latina, Texan
Pinned
just a reminder that I am out of town for the next two days so I won't be posting about various mayoral speeches! I am sorry when I planned this trip home months ago I assumed the election would be over by now
there is a place that keeps getting glowing reviews in the local (Seattle) press and I guess I'm the only one who doesn't like extremely dry and oily food
November 15, 2025 at 2:50 PM
there is a place that keeps getting glowing reviews in the local (Seattle) press and I guess I'm the only one who doesn't like extremely dry and oily food
designating anti-fascist groups in GERMANY, the birthplace of antifa, as "international terrorists" is quite a telling move
www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/4...
www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/4...
The Lost History of Antifa - Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung
75 years after the triumph over Nazism, we look back to when socialists gave birth to Antifa.
www.rosalux.de
November 15, 2025 at 2:36 PM
designating anti-fascist groups in GERMANY, the birthplace of antifa, as "international terrorists" is quite a telling move
www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/4...
www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/4...
My cohort at the Stranger built the SECB and was responsible for making the endorsements credible by creating a systematized interview process. I was there the first time a candidate brought us a "gift" —Tim Burgess brought a six-pack, and we all found it profoundly cringe. Now it's a cutesy quirk.
I mean, it's called the "SECB" for a reason
NYT writing about how The Stranger became a political powerhouse without talking to @ericacbarnett.bsky.social @joshfeit.bsky.social or @mudede.bsky.social is extreme journalistic malpractice. Before they came along, it was a nightlife weekly with funny sex advice
November 14, 2025 at 9:18 PM
My cohort at the Stranger built the SECB and was responsible for making the endorsements credible by creating a systematized interview process. I was there the first time a candidate brought us a "gift" —Tim Burgess brought a six-pack, and we all found it profoundly cringe. Now it's a cutesy quirk.
oh hey I wrote about this waste of money twice last week without sensationalizing OR using a dehumanizing "random legs in high heels" photo to illustrate my story!
publicola.com/2025/11/07/f...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
publicola.com/2025/11/07/f...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Seattle police’s newest tactic against prostitution on Aurora Avenue
As part of a new operation, Seattle police detectives are photographing interactions between sex buyers and sellers and attaching the pictures to letters that are then sent out.
www.seattletimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:49 PM
oh hey I wrote about this waste of money twice last week without sensationalizing OR using a dehumanizing "random legs in high heels" photo to illustrate my story!
publicola.com/2025/11/07/f...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
publicola.com/2025/11/07/f...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
I mean, it's called the "SECB" for a reason
NYT writing about how The Stranger became a political powerhouse without talking to @ericacbarnett.bsky.social @joshfeit.bsky.social or @mudede.bsky.social is extreme journalistic malpractice. Before they came along, it was a nightlife weekly with funny sex advice
November 14, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I mean, it's called the "SECB" for a reason
A Women In Black update includes the news that Tent City 4 will be staying at the Lake City Community Center through next May (their original plan). After months of work planning the move to the site, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell suddenly deemed it not "appropriate" earlier this year.
After Tumultuous Relocation, Tent City 4 Contemplates Its Next Move - PubliCola
Although Councilmember Cathy Moore and Mayor Bruce Harrell expressed surprise that Tent City 4 planned to stay in Lake City,…
publicola.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:51 PM
A Women In Black update includes the news that Tent City 4 will be staying at the Lake City Community Center through next May (their original plan). After months of work planning the move to the site, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell suddenly deemed it not "appropriate" earlier this year.
guys I am going to a Goan/Portugese restaurant tonight but first I had to record a spicy post-election Seattle Nice for you from my childhood bedroom
November 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
guys I am going to a Goan/Portugese restaurant tonight but first I had to record a spicy post-election Seattle Nice for you from my childhood bedroom
Still watching Mayor Bruce Harrell's speech in segments. The way he gets mad (and always has) when anyone asks whether he understands how hard it is for regular people to afford to live here is so telling.
November 14, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Still watching Mayor Bruce Harrell's speech in segments. The way he gets mad (and always has) when anyone asks whether he understands how hard it is for regular people to afford to live here is so telling.
if I HAD been in town today I probably would have asked outgoing Mayor Harrell why his budget for next year sets up a huge fiscal cliff for incoming ,ayor Wilson, using one-time funding for long-term needs and assuming nine-figure deficits starting in next year's budget cycle
November 14, 2025 at 3:08 AM
if I HAD been in town today I probably would have asked outgoing Mayor Harrell why his budget for next year sets up a huge fiscal cliff for incoming ,ayor Wilson, using one-time funding for long-term needs and assuming nine-figure deficits starting in next year's budget cycle
OK I've watched Mayor Bruce Harrell's concession speech (I'm out of town and had to go eat at a Michelin-starred BBQ place and have some ube and milk tea soft serve first) and he really did say some weird shit about "anomalies" with the election, huh? really setting Mayor-elect Wilson up for success
November 14, 2025 at 2:30 AM
OK I've watched Mayor Bruce Harrell's concession speech (I'm out of town and had to go eat at a Michelin-starred BBQ place and have some ube and milk tea soft serve first) and he really did say some weird shit about "anomalies" with the election, huh? really setting Mayor-elect Wilson up for success
just a reminder that I am out of town for the next two days so I won't be posting about various mayoral speeches! I am sorry when I planned this trip home months ago I assumed the election would be over by now
November 14, 2025 at 12:07 AM
just a reminder that I am out of town for the next two days so I won't be posting about various mayoral speeches! I am sorry when I planned this trip home months ago I assumed the election would be over by now
Wilson Wins In a Squeaker (That Should Not Have Been This Close)
Wonder if incumbent Bruce Harrell will call her "Mayor-Elect Wilson" or if he'll keep referring to his successor as "this person" and "she."
publicola.com/2025/11/12/w...
Wonder if incumbent Bruce Harrell will call her "Mayor-Elect Wilson" or if he'll keep referring to his successor as "this person" and "she."
publicola.com/2025/11/12/w...
Wilson Wins In a Squeaker (That Should Not Have Been This Close) - PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The voters have spoken: Katie Wilson will be the next Mayor of Seattle. On Wednesday, incumbent…
publicola.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Wilson Wins In a Squeaker (That Should Not Have Been This Close)
Wonder if incumbent Bruce Harrell will call her "Mayor-Elect Wilson" or if he'll keep referring to his successor as "this person" and "she."
publicola.com/2025/11/12/w...
Wonder if incumbent Bruce Harrell will call her "Mayor-Elect Wilson" or if he'll keep referring to his successor as "this person" and "she."
publicola.com/2025/11/12/w...
clearly doing this while I'm out of town on purpose 😅
November 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
clearly doing this while I'm out of town on purpose 😅
For those wondering why the ballot counts didn't quite add up today (ballots counted were less than total votes and write-ins went down), King County Elections says they go through all the write-in ballots by hand and some of those were for one of the two candidates, so those got added to the totals
Mayor Katie Wilson? It's Sure Looking Likely!
Wilson surges in the final big batch of ballots that remained uncounted, moving above 50 percent.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/m...
Wilson surges in the final big batch of ballots that remained uncounted, moving above 50 percent.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/m...
Mayor Katie Wilson? It's Sure Looking That Way! - PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson edged above 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, in the final…
publicola.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:01 AM
For those wondering why the ballot counts didn't quite add up today (ballots counted were less than total votes and write-ins went down), King County Elections says they go through all the write-in ballots by hand and some of those were for one of the two candidates, so those got added to the totals
Homelessness Authority Makes Potentially Controversial Hire, Harrell's $5,000-a-Week Consultant Speaks Out
Today's Afternoon Fizz.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/h...
Today's Afternoon Fizz.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/h...
Homelessness Authority Makes Potentially Controversial Hire, Harrell's $5,000-a-Week Consultant Speaks Out - PubliCola
1. After laying off 13 people and holding 15 vacant positions open as part of a cost-cutting effort last month,…
publicola.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Homelessness Authority Makes Potentially Controversial Hire, Harrell's $5,000-a-Week Consultant Speaks Out
Today's Afternoon Fizz.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/h...
Today's Afternoon Fizz.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/h...
Mayor Katie Wilson? It's Sure Looking Likely!
Wilson surges in the final big batch of ballots that remained uncounted, moving above 50 percent.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/m...
Wilson surges in the final big batch of ballots that remained uncounted, moving above 50 percent.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/m...
Mayor Katie Wilson? It's Sure Looking That Way! - PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson edged above 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, in the final…
publicola.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Mayor Katie Wilson? It's Sure Looking Likely!
Wilson surges in the final big batch of ballots that remained uncounted, moving above 50 percent.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/m...
Wilson surges in the final big batch of ballots that remained uncounted, moving above 50 percent.
publicola.com/2025/11/11/m...
With basically all the ballots in the city of Seattle's mayoral election counted, Katie Wilson is now above 50 percent, with Mayor Bruce Harrell sliding to 49.6 percent. They're currently within the mandatory recount requirements, but machine recounts don't generally change things much.
November 12, 2025 at 12:12 AM
With basically all the ballots in the city of Seattle's mayoral election counted, Katie Wilson is now above 50 percent, with Mayor Bruce Harrell sliding to 49.6 percent. They're currently within the mandatory recount requirements, but machine recounts don't generally change things much.
Without speaking to the merits of the legal case against a specific proposal to allow housing near Seattle's stadiums, the Port has, does, and will always argue that creating housing for people anywhere near industrial zoning will kill jobs. www.theurbanist.org/2025/11/11/s...
Stadium District Zoning Change Declared Invalid After Port of Seattle Appeal » The Urbanist
# The contentious proposal, approved by a 6-3 vote in March, legalized residential uses in a small slice of SoDo. But a state board pointed out several areas where the City cut corners ahead of that v...
www.theurbanist.org
November 11, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Without speaking to the merits of the legal case against a specific proposal to allow housing near Seattle's stadiums, the Port has, does, and will always argue that creating housing for people anywhere near industrial zoning will kill jobs. www.theurbanist.org/2025/11/11/s...
Seattle Times' business columnist is having a normal one. (From comments on a gracious post about a potential Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson by former mayor Greg Nickels).
November 11, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Seattle Times' business columnist is having a normal one. (From comments on a gracious post about a potential Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson by former mayor Greg Nickels).
oh goodie, the company that lets hundreds of random people collectively "own" the home you rent, via timeshare-like "fractional investing," just got a big infusion of cash, can't see any potential problems here
www.geekwire.com/2025/bezos-b...
www.geekwire.com/2025/bezos-b...
Bezos-backed real estate startup Arrived raises $27M to help fuel new ‘stock market’ for rental properties
Arrived co-founders, from left: COO Alejandro Chouza, CEO Ryan Frazier, and CTO Kenny Cason. (Arrived Photo) Arrived, a Seattle-based tech startup that
www.geekwire.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:15 PM
oh goodie, the company that lets hundreds of random people collectively "own" the home you rent, via timeshare-like "fractional investing," just got a big infusion of cash, can't see any potential problems here
www.geekwire.com/2025/bezos-b...
www.geekwire.com/2025/bezos-b...
For those watching the Seattle mayoral election, which could be headed for a hand recount: In 2015, when the campaign for City Council District 1 was subject to a recount, the results didn't change by a single vote.
your.kingcounty.gov/elections/20...
your.kingcounty.gov/elections/20...
your.kingcounty.gov
November 11, 2025 at 2:09 AM
For those watching the Seattle mayoral election, which could be headed for a hand recount: In 2015, when the campaign for City Council District 1 was subject to a recount, the results didn't change by a single vote.
your.kingcounty.gov/elections/20...
your.kingcounty.gov/elections/20...
Katie Wilson Leads Incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell by 91 Votes
We're in hand-recount territory.
publicola.com/2025/11/10/k...
We're in hand-recount territory.
publicola.com/2025/11/10/k...
Katie Wilson Leads Incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell by 91 Votes - PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett In the latest batch of ballots counted by King County’s elections office, labor organizer…
publicola.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Katie Wilson Leads Incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell by 91 Votes
We're in hand-recount territory.
publicola.com/2025/11/10/k...
We're in hand-recount territory.
publicola.com/2025/11/10/k...
91 votes separate the two mayoral candidates in Seattle, but Katie Wilson has pulled ahead of incumbent Bruce Harrell and is now in the lead.
November 10, 2025 at 11:58 PM
91 votes separate the two mayoral candidates in Seattle, but Katie Wilson has pulled ahead of incumbent Bruce Harrell and is now in the lead.
Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell was putting out at least a press release daily celebrating all the amazing things the mayor's office was doing right up until, let's see, November 3.
Nothing since then, though. Weird!
Nothing since then, though. Weird!
November 10, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell was putting out at least a press release daily celebrating all the amazing things the mayor's office was doing right up until, let's see, November 3.
Nothing since then, though. Weird!
Nothing since then, though. Weird!
counterpoint: I don't think individual family dynasties are a reproducible way to "save newsrooms" (where "newsroom," as defined by the Times, means only legacy media producing paper products)
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...
A startup incubator to save the newsroom
The family publishing The Lewiston Tribune in Idaho turned its production facility into a startup incubator, creating new businesses to sustain its newsroom.
www.seattletimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:50 PM
counterpoint: I don't think individual family dynasties are a reproducible way to "save newsrooms" (where "newsroom," as defined by the Times, means only legacy media producing paper products)
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...