Transit security is overseen by King County, not the city of Seattle, but Saka is holding a big hearing on it today in his Seattle City Council committee. He's currently yelling about the need for "order! and decency!" on buses
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Saka calls transit security (on buses run by, again, a completely different government) "some of the most important work of our committee and of our council!"
I think the fear people like Saka have of public transit is largely from unfamiliarity and a general fear of other people/public. Millions of people ride buses every day and rarely have anything worse than an awkward conversation, Rob!
The non-governmental presenters are the Downtown Seattle Association and the Metro drivers' union, who both support Saka's view that there need to be way more cops and quasi-cops on buses.
Greg Woodfill from the transit operators' union says "we have no other choice but to make whatever changes and investments are needed to restore order and safety" on buses. Says it used to be possible to arrest people who create safety issues but now people can do whatever they want.
"Somehow we lost our way and started allowing people to do anything on and around transit without any consequences or accountability," the union's Woodfill continues. "People learned that they could act out, use drugs and threaten operators, transit workers and passengers without consequences."
I swear the inability for folks to recognize that ATU has been explicitly calling for this (for years!) is going to make for one hell of an ugly awakening for the general “Unions Always Good, Listen To Workers” current in lefty politics
I've ridden the bus for decades. The disorder has never made me feel unsafe. It's part of the charm of public transit and I'd genuinely miss watching someone full-on change from work clothes into a cocktail dress in the aisle of the H line if they started policing behavior on buses.
My high school senior wrote a college essay about the bus and how great it is that you get all kinds of people on it. Sadly, Saka is ours. I should send him her essay…
The first time I heard Saka speak (a KUOW interview, IIRC), his voice reminded me of someone but I couldn't figure out who he sounded like. The second time, it clicked and now I can't unhear it: Tom Haverford from Parks and Recreation. Same intonations.
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