Rantz: Most Seattle city councilmembers refuse to return to the office

Most Seattle metropolis council members refuse to return to the workplace, sticking with COVID remote-work insurance policies launched two years in the past. Whereas they proceed to remain dwelling, different metropolis staff had been again within the workplace final month. The council is just not providing a timeline on after they’ll return.

Socialist councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Tammy Morales and Progressive councilmembers Debora Juarez, Lisa Herbold, Dan Strauss, Andrew Lewis and Tammy Morales is not going to return to the workplace to work. They earn between $65.82 and $69.26 an hour, although they’re not engaged in the identical workload after they’re at dwelling. Their workers is engaged on hybrid schedules. The one council members to work from the workplace are reasonable Democrats Alex Pedersen and Sara Nelson.

In mid-March, roughly 35% of metropolis workers labored remotely. After a return to work was introduced, a lot of the holdouts returned to the workplace on at the least a hybrid foundation. Mayor Bruce Harrell’s workplace studies solely about 13% of the remaining workers are working from dwelling (round 1650 workers).

So the place is the council? Not one of the distant councilmembers responded to my request for remark, made via the communications division, to elucidate why they’re staying dwelling.

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Working from dwelling cuts off entry

The council members who’re selecting to remain dwelling are skirting their duties.

Their resolution dramatically cuts off constituents and media entry to their places of work. Not everybody has the time to hound council members or workers with emails that don’t get answered. For instance, Strauss is notoriously unhealthy at responding to constituent complaints submitted through electronic mail. It’s simple to excuse the habits while you declare you’re inundated with emails. It’s more durable to dismiss a criticism from somebody who exhibits as much as talk about their issues.

There’s doubtless additionally a connection between the shortage of council-focused information tales within the media and never with the ability to go to Metropolis Corridor to start out asking questions and discovering evasive council members.

Generally one of the best ways to get solutions, or observe down tales, is to go to council members and their workers within the workplace.

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Council members are sending the mistaken message to small enterprise

If the council wished to push again on the notion that downtown is unsafe and small companies are worthy of our help, they’d get again to the workplace. Not desirous to commute to metropolis corridor is not any excuse to remain distant.

Seattle staff are lagging behind different cities in returning to the workplace. That many staff are within the tech sector, which permits for distant work wherever you discover an web connection, explains the low variety of staff returning. That Amazon loathes most council members is probably going making it simpler for them to justify distant work, too.

However workers are additionally unlikely desperate to return as a result of downtown isn’t secure. If a employee makes use of King County Metro to get to and from the workplace in or close to downtown, they are going to understandably really feel uncomfortable. Drug use is rampant, aggressive homelessness is constant, and the shortage of police staffing is consequential. Is Morales too scared to return to the workplace? That sends a message.

And the earlier downtown turns into crowded with residents who aren’t smoking fentanyl by a bus cease on Third Avenue, the higher it’s for struggling companies. On paper, the financial system isn’t struggling in Seattle, buoyed by the tech sector that didn’t take the identical COVID hit as different industries. However a whole lot of small companies closed for good and and not using a regular stream of staff, the remaining retail and eating places will proceed to battle.

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