(I take my inspiration for this from John Scalzi)
This site is owned and operated by myself, Kevin Schofield. The views and opinions expressed on these pages are mine and mine alone, unless otherwise noted. I am not paid by anyone else to write, edit, or otherwise influence the editorial direction of this site.
In the spirit of full disclosure, you may want to know the following things about me:
- I worked for Microsoft Corporation for 26 years. I no longer work there, though I still own some Microsoft stock.
- I volunteer at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, which receives funding from the City of Seattle. I also currently serve on the Board of Directors of Woodland Park Zoo — also a volunteer position. I receive no compensation for my activities with the zoo.
- I am a member of the Advancement Board of University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs. Also a volunteer position for which I receive no compensation.
- I work part-time as a freelance writer. I have never worked under contract to the City of Seattle, and have never received payment from the City of Seattle, for any work in any capacity. Likewise for the City Council members, and their election campaigns.
- While I frequently discuss legal matters — inescapable for a journalist covering the government body responsible for writing the law — I am not a lawyer and nothing on this site should be construed as providing legal advice.
- My son-in-law works for the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety.
Comments are welcome on this site, as I hope to encourage better understanding and broader awareness of the activities of the Seattle City Council. Comments should be thoughtful, respectful, and relevant to the topic of the post that you are commenting on.
That said, you have no right to free speech here. This is a privately-owned site, and I reserve the right to control the content that is posted here. Since I am not a government, you have no First Amendment rights here. I reserve the right to edit comments and threads. I may (and likely will) remove comments that I feel do not contribute to thoughtful, respectful, and relevant discussion of issues, including -phobic content, harassing or otherwise verbally abusive content, posts that likely violate copyright “fair use” of a third party’s property, or anything else that doesn’t meet a reasonable quality bar. I also reserve the right to block anyone from commenting who I believe is not contributing constructively to discussion on this site. If you don’t like that, I encourage you to go post your comments on some other web site that welcomes what you have to say, or to set up your own site and post whatever you like there.
One more hat tip to John Scalzi, and his excellent advice on how to be a good commenter.