The Writing on the Wall: Seattle Grapples with Graffiti and Politics

On this episode we debated the City Council’s plans to get tough on graffiti by introducing civil penalties up to $1,500 per violation. The change would make it easier to fine taggers. Erica questioned the council’s priorities and aesthetics, and pointed out that graffiti is already a crime or felony (if it costs more than $750 to repair). Sandeep mostly spoke in favor of the new measure, citing studies that find tolerance for graffiti can lead to more crime. But he also questioned the value of going after taggers as opposed to more serious criminals. 

The discussion also touched on prevailing academic and cultural claims that graffiti tagging operates mostly as a form of multi-ethnic working-class expression or protest. David pointed to the data reported in Publicola that suggests that may not be the case, at least in Seattle, since 85 percent of the people "referred to Ann Davison’s office for graffiti violation were white." Erica said the sample size is too small to conclude most taggers are white. Sandeep argued bringing race into the conversation was a needlessly "identitarian" move by the City Council.  

Another point of contention was a poll that's testing negative messaging against mayoral candidate Katie Wilson. All agreed the test messages claiming Wilson is "divisive" and "angry" missed the mark and were unlikely to be effective. We also discussed earlier progressive campaign tactics that misfired by attempting to link moderate candidates, such as Mayor Bruce Harrell, to Donald Trump. David asked if we’ll see more of that messaging from campaigns and advocates in 2025 and, given Trump’s unpopularity in Seattle, if it will work? 

Plus, we delve into John Arthur Wilson's campaign suspension in the race for King County Executive, following harassment allegations. What took him so long?  

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