Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is already confronting a recall push, as critics accuse the progressive Democrat of mishandling public safety just seven months after taking office.
Residents Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud submitted the recall charge against Wilson, alleging she has been “derelict in her duties for public safety of the city of Seattle,” according to the Seattle Times.
Jacobson told the paper that Wilson had “sort of ignored the public safety part of her job,” calling it a central responsibility of the mayor’s office and saying the approach “is not right.”
“This is a big city,” Jacobson said Friday. “We need a big-city-type mayor who knows how to deal with everything.”
In their filing, the couple pointed in particular to Wilson’s decision to push out Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, 55, after the July 27 shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival, where three people were killed.
The recall complaint, published by KUOW, argues that Barnes’ departure reflected a “lack of fiscal responsibility” and fueled distrust of Wilson among Seattle residents.
Wilson also drew backlash from several Black community organizations following Barnes’ resignation, including the NAACP, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Byrd Barr Place and Community Passageways.
The recall filing adds to a growing list of political headaches for Wilson, who has previously faced criticism for backing Washington state’s new millionaires’ tax and for proposing higher taxes on Seattle’s wealthiest residents and businesses.
Seattle’s progressive mayor, Katie Wilson, is facing a recall charge after a local couple blasted how she was handling the city’s public safety
The recall charge accused Wilson, who was sworn into office in January, of ‘being ‘derelict in her duties. Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture and Space Needle are seen surrounded by squalor earlier this year
Melinda Jacobson, who was one of the two locals to file a recall charge against Wilson, said the mayor had ‘sort of ignored the public safety part of her job’
Wilson was also criticized for turning off cameras in the Stadium District after the World Cup, while the city continues to be plagued by crime and squalor.
The letter said the cameras had ‘proven to be a crime-fighting help’ and that local residents and businesses were clamoring for them.
The couple’s recall noted that the North Aurora neighborhood in Seattle had featured ‘frequent gun battles by pimps, bullets through resident’s homes and businesses in the area, and ongoing human sex trafficking and prostitution’ from January to June.
Residents repeatedly tried to contact the mayor about the ‘serious and life-threatening conditions’ in their neighborhood but received no response, according to the letter.
‘It wasn’t until June 6th, when a widely publicized march took place on Aurora Avenue, with other city officials and hundreds of neighborhood residents present, that she took notice,’ the recall effort continued.
However, the letter claimed that Wilson ‘had the temporary barriers that neighbors had installed, to prevent gun fire, removed from their streets.’
The recall effort also focused on the Chinatown International District, where it was written that ‘business owners and residents [had] pleaded with [Wilson] to stop the open-air drug use and market.’
‘The area’s condition remains the same, including recent shootings and stabbings,’ the letter continued.
Wilson’s office acknowledged that the charges had been filed and said the mayor’s focus was ‘on making life safer and more affordable for the people of Seattle’
The recall effort blasted Wilson for having ‘made a hasty, rash decision to force a resignation’ from Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes over his handling of a shooting that left three dead
Open drug use and marketing was also alleged to be occurring in the area around Belltown and 3rd Avenue.
The letter claimed that the area had been ‘cleaned up for the World Cup but is deteriorating again,’ causing many Seattle locals and tourists to become ‘fearful.’
Wilson’s office told Our News Outlet on Saturday that it was aware the charges described by Jacobson and Osterud had been filed.
‘While it does not appear to have merit, our focus remains where it belongs: on making life safer and more affordable for the people of Seattle,’ a spokesperson for Wilson’s office said.
‘Since taking office, we’re delivering meaningful progress: expanding community crisis responder hours, launching universal school meals this September, banning rental junk fees, accelerating shelter expansion, expanding transit, investing in our libraries, and taking on unfair pricing at grocery stores,’ the spokesperson continued.
Wilson’s office told Our News Outlet that ‘the courts will address any questions’ and that ‘we will address the needs of Seattle.’
The recall charge was received by the King County Elections on Tuesday, and it will now be sent to the King County prosecuting attorney’s office for a technical review.
The letter filed by the couple looking for Wilson’s resignation repeatedly referenced open air drug use in Seattle
If the charges meet the technical requirements, a ballot synopsis will be written within 15 days by the prosecuting attorney’s office and filed with the King County Superior Court for a hearing, according to the Seattle Times.
After that, a judge will determine if the process can continue.
Supporters of the recall effort would then have 180 days to gather roughly 69,000 eligible signatures for an election, per the outlet.
Workers’ rights activist Wilson was elected last November and sworn into office on January 2, becoming mayor despite never having held elected office before.
She has faced criticism for potentially driving out Seattle’s wealthiest residents and for her response to Washington state’s 9.9 percent tax on people who make more than $1 million in annual income, which will come into effect in January 2028.
Starbucks has begun shifting jobs away from its Seattle HQ to Nashville. It insists it plans to stay in Seattle, where it was founded in 1973, but many locals believe the coffee giant is quietly planning an exit.
Seattle is also home to Microsoft and Amazon, with the city dependent on tax revenues from corporations whose owners the city now seeks to squeeze.
In June, Wilson chuckled when she was asked about being ‘dismissive’ over millionaires leaving her state. The tax is not specific to Seattle.
‘I don’t remember this,’ Wilson told a FOX 13 reporter.
She then added that she still thought ‘claims of a large exodus of rich people due to our statewide millionaire tax that the legislature passed this year are overblown.’
Her remark came as two of Seattle’s richest residents, Rich Barton and Howard Schultz, left Washington state.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the King County Elections system for comment.
