<Speech delivered to the Executive Business Roundtable of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce on January 9, 2020 at the Overlake Golf and Country Club, Medina, WA.> It’s an honor to be speaking here. The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and other groups like it are important institutions for advocating on behalf of businesses and advancing policy […]
RIP Lime bikes—another case study in Seattle City Council regulatory incompetence
News out just before Christmas that Lime has pulled its e-bikes from Seattle means that Uber (with its Jump brand) now has a monopoly on bike sharing in the city. This follows the departure of Ofo in the summer of 2018 after the city raised its annual fee for operators to $250,000, far above what […]
The Seattle income tax: Why I’m taking a stand
There are many reasons I chose to become a plaintiff in the Opportunity for All Coalition’s lawsuit challenging the Seattle income tax. Aside from it being illegal under state law, and unnecessary given a recent explosion in city revenues, it’s also not in any resident’s best interest. In fact, the more I find out about […]
City law a loser for landlords and renters
Seattle’s new first-come first-served renters law is unfortunately more of the same from our city council. It’s legislation in search of a problem, passed with little public notice or consultation, assumes the worst of business people, takes away property rights, won’t deliver the results that are promised and will hurt the very people it’s intended […]
Keep your schedule ideas to yourselves
Two Seattle council members, Lisa Herbold and Lorena González are proposing regulating employees’ schedules in the city. Some are calling the idea “livable schedules” and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer supports it because he argues: “Most workers in our economy have very little leverage or bargaining power and owners and people like me have enormous amounts […]