That doesn’t really respond to the point, though. Is Seattle’s government efficient and effective? To my recollection, Seattle doesn’t have great public services.
That doesn’t really respond to the point, though. Is Seattle’s government efficient and effective? To my recollection, Seattle doesn’t have great public services.
It doesn't look to me (from 20 miles away) as if Seattle's government is notably efficient or effective, and I'd even say one-party rule is partly to blame: opposition parties serve a useful purpose. But I don't think the standard Republican sneer of "look what a crappy job the Democrats do of running the big cities" makes any sense, either. The things Republicans are pointing at as symptoms of bad Democratic government are mostly just side effects of what people in American cities like.
[flagged]
This is where it gets subjective again and I bow out, because the Seattleites I know would disagree with you (except about the cops, which is the same problem nationwide).
Seattle's 2021 budget was $5.5B against a population of 734k or about $7,500/head. Bellevue, WA's 2021 budget was $1.7B for a population of 149k, or $11,400/head. To pick a random DC suburb as a comparison, Alexandria's 2021 budget was $955M for a population of 155k or about $6,200/head.