This week, an organization that does not exist accused a journalist of failing to disclose her political speech. The organization is called Washingtonians For Ethical Government (WFEG). It is worth knowing who they are. /1 WFEG's complaint against Brandi Kruse argues that when a commentator repeatedly advocates for a ballot measure on her platform, that activity should be reported as an in-kind campaign contribution. They put a number on it: $1.25 million across 150+ instances. /2

Today, @seattletimes introduced us to Seattleite Adriana: 33, $60K at a catering job, seven roommates in a Green Lake boardinghouse. Sympathetic. Specific. But the piece is quiet on the structure. Let's think about those costs not mentioned, shall we? /1

seattletimes.com/business/livin… Start with what disappears before she sees a check. She was told $60K. She takes home $42K. Federal tax and FICA take ~16%. The rest of the gap is the 'depending on how many hours she gets' problem of hourly service work. The headline is not the wage. /2

Last week: this thread documenting @seiu775 as WA's #1 political spender for the last decade.

The question I got most in response: "where does that union money come from?"

The PDC has the records. Here's the answer. /1

https://x.com/minty_hawk/status/2046008517438685367?s=20

First, the structure.

Out-of-state political committees that spend in Washington must file C-5 reports with the PDC.

From 2018 through 2025, 141 different out-of-state committees filed C-5 expenditures here.

One of them, by itself, is 43% of the total. /2

A forensic audit of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority dropped this week. Most coverage is leading with $13 million in unaccounted public funds.

That number matters. But the audit itself says something more important, and worse. /1 KCRHA received $533.9 million in public funding from 2021 through July 2025. Most of it from Seattle and King County.

The audit's central finding is not that some of it went missing. It is that the agency could not produce a reliable accounting of where most of it went. /2

Ask WA political reporters who spends the most on state politics. They'll say Amazon. Microsoft. Maybe BP.

Wrong.

For a decade the #1 political contributor in Washington has been a home care workers' union. And it isn't close.

/1 WA political contributions since 2016. Single organizations, net external. PDC verified:

SEIU 775: ~$30M
BP America: $15M
Coca-Cola: $11M
WEA: $7.5M
Amazon: $6.5M
Microsoft: $5.5M
Boeing: $1.4M

SEIU alone outspent Microsoft + Amazon + Boeing combined by ~2x. /2

Your property tax bill has a lot of line items. Most people don't read them closely. You probably should, because the Seattle City Council just voted to add another one, and the math is starting to get interesting.

Let's walk through what you're actually paying, and what's coming next. /1 The council just sent a $479.7 million library levy to the August ballot. That's a 124% increase over the current levy. Your cost goes from roughly $85/year to $191/year on a median-assessed home.

But the library levy isn't the story. The story is the levy stack underneath it, and the cliff the city is driving toward. /2

Yesterday I asked UFCW 3000 Secretary-Treasurer @joe_miz three direct questions about his union's connection to the group that derailed WinCo's first Seattle store. He hasn't answered.

While we wait, let's talk about the mayor his union put in office. /1 In August 2025, @MayorofSeattle accepted the UFCW 3000 endorsement outside the closing Lake City Fred Meyer. She pledged to fight food deserts and explore a "public option" grocery store. UFCW 3000 launched their "Fresh Food for All" campaign at the same event.

(Source: The Urbanist, 9/25/25; KNKX, 9/25/25) /2

Joe Mizrahi is the Secretary-Treasurer of UFCW 3000, the largest private-sector union in Washington state. He also sits on the Seattle School Board representing District 4.

For decades, UFCW locals have used front groups to block WinCo stores from opening. Now a Portland-based entity with no apparent Washington presence has derailed WinCo's first Seattle store, and Mizrahi's union, which has a direct financial interest in keeping non-union grocers out of the market, has said nothing.

All while publicly mourning the loss of grocery access in the same Council District (5). /1 First, the basics. UFCW 3000 represents more than 50,000 workers across Washington, mostly in grocery and healthcare. Mizrahi is the #2, elected to the Secretary-Treasurer role three times. He co-chairs a $2 billion pension fund. He's not a figurehead. He runs the operation.

(Source: , LinkedIn) /2joe4schools.com/about

Seattle's Hearing Examiner just blocked WinCo Foods from opening in the old Sam's Club at 13550 Aurora Ave N, a building that's been vacant since 2018. The SEPA appeal was filed by a group called "Lake Washington Working Families."

Sounds like concerned neighbors, right? Let's talk about a pattern. /1

https://x.com/minty_hawk/status/2044134232021446839

WinCo is the 2nd-largest employee-owned company in America. 145 stores across 10 states. 20,000+ employee-owners. Over 500 employee-owners are millionaires through the company's ESOP (employee stock ownership plan).

They sell groceries cheaper than Walmart. No credit cards. No frills. Bag your own. /2

A Senate Majority Leader wrote a $2/gallon tax incentive for sustainable aviation fuel.
The company that benefited most from his legislation hired him when he left office.
He now earns $30K–$60K/year from them.
This is how apparent conflicts compound into public costs. /1 Andy Billig (D-Spokane) sponsored SB 5447 in 2023 as Senate Majority Leader.

It created a $2/gallon tax incentive for sustainable aviation fuel producers and users in Washington State.
The bill passed. Gov. Inslee signed it. /2

Update.

We pulled the City of Seattle's consultant contract database. It's more interesting than we thought. /1

https://twitter.com/minty_hawk/status/2037251358340829667

Noel Frame was the Director of Policy and Planning at BDS Planning when she won her primary in August 2016.

Before her election: 7 city contracts, 2 departments, $286,000 total. About $63K/year. After her election: 15 city contracts, 6 departments, $1,308,175 total. About $145K/year.

Her firm's city revenue more than doubled the day she took office. /2

A Washington State Senator runs a consulting firm. The legislature created a program at the Department of Commerce. Her firm got the contract to run it. She now controls Commerce’s budget. /1 @NoelFrame has been at Uncommon Bridges (formerly BDS Planning) since 2016. In August 2025, she was formally named Managing Partner. The firm has 16 employees and specializes in government consulting. Her F1 shows she earns $60K-$100K from the firm. That’s more than her Senate salary. /2

@seiu775 paid @LizBerryWA 's firm $86,950 over two years. Two signed public filings describe that money. They don't match. /1 Berry's Washington State F1 disclosure calls the work "Software Development." SEIU 775's federal LM-2 filing calls the same payments "Representational Activities." Both are signed under penalty of perjury. /2