Mason Thompson

I believe we should do good things even if they are imperfect instead of not doing those good things because we wish reality was different.

I wish our grandparents would have built a regional rail system with 75 year bonds that we had to pay for.

Patrick, I'm the Mayor of a city, not the whole country.

"Let them eat cake" but a lot weirder and creepier

I was the only Mayor in the state I'm aware of who spoke in favor of the middle housing bill the year *before* it passed. I'm a big fan of passing good housing policy statewide.

It's the "good" part of that that has me on the other side of this bill.

Yup. I've had multiple friends who want to open shops in Bothell but couldn't, so we lost them. The idea that there's vacant retail just sitting there is laughable here.

All we get is empty walls with a parking garage behind it if we don't mandate retail.

I guess that's what the leg wants 🤷‍♂️

A lot of builders are going to choose parking instead of housing like they've done in Bothell already. Which I guess we'll then need since people will need to drive more to get to retail instead of walk downstairs.

If you're into car centrism this bill seems like a great way to accomplish it.

The solution to doing bad things is to do good things!

I'd point out that I'm on the side of mixing residential and commercial here and you're on the side of residential only if you want to talk about who's more on the Euclidean side though. 😊

Love this. In a perfect world Euclidean zoning never would have been a thing and we would have functional, liveable cities devoid of need for regulation.

But I operate in reality. And if we want something we need to be able to require it.

New residents deserve abundant housing *and* amenities.

In Bothell we have many blocks that don't require ground floor retail. This is what they look like. Nary a housing unit to be seen. But plenty of parking and hallways!

I wish I shared your optimism for this bill doing more good than harm. But I really do promise I understand that we're in a housing shortage. 😊

What we should be asking is "is the regulatory burden, on the balance, worth it given all of our priorities" but nobody is having that conversation.

So we've got this bill that will trade retail for parking and internal amenities and maybe a housing unit here and there.

Got it. So no matter what you're not in favor of regulatory burden for any reason because it increases the cost of housing? Because the argument you're making says nothing other than it is regulatory burden. Which nobody is arguing with you about. We all know that.

So is your fundamental argument that we should require nothing of home builders? Because I'm comfortable with some regulatory burden to create the kind of communities we want to live in. Are you not?

In Bothell we have one building that has live work units on the ground floor. Currently have people living in them.

But we couldn't require that anymore instead of cheap parking.

Regulatory burden does that. But that's not a subsidy.

You're assuming that builders will build more housing instead of more parking or internal amenities. From what I've seen in Bothell they never choose the housing on the ground floor.

I'd be shocked if this was an impactful housing bill.

You expect builders to charge less than market rent because they saved money on construction out of the goodness of their hearts?

All the thanks and credit should go to @davina425.bsky.social, not me!

You guys make me think I should have started a podcast instead of running for office, so cool! :)

The suburbs keep getting better.

The formers in Bothell tried to brand us the same way. It's what people who have no actual argument that resonates with voters do. Just flail around making stuff up in public comment.

It's embarrassing for them, especially with the repudiation they got from Woodinville voters a few months ago.

If you want a data point from a suburb, Bothell was around 18% roads, parking, and driveways a couple years ago when we had urban3 do a study for us.

If only our power structures had the same sort of conviction and righteousness as

*checks again just to make sure*

DinoCon

We're adding two BRT lines and extending a third most of the way through the city north/south over the next few years and are better served by three different transit agencies than most realize. But even without that, I think it's ok to do good things in isolation just because they are good.

I always enjoy chatting with you, so don't feel like the chances are rare. :)

Y'all have done great work in the leg over the last few sessions!

What's going on in Bothell 👇

*record scratch*

You may be wondering how I got here.

People who don't recognize authority shouldn't be entrusted with authority.