Seattle business owner writes scathing letter to city council

quote:

---

A beloved Seattle business wrote a scathing letter to the City Council for making it increasingly difficult to operate a safe and successful business. Kimmie Spice owns Biscuit Bitch, which operates three shops in Seattle, and she’s had it with a council that mistreats businesses.

“Every time I turn around, I’m paying a new tax for a sign permit or an awning or a table outside, B&O tax, sugar tax, a myriad of licenses, elevator permits, health permits, higher property taxes t

---

quote:

---

Spice slams the city for passing a head tax while not adequately addressing the affordability crisis or the Seattle Police Department staffing crisis. Her Belltown shop along “a notoriously sketchy block” is inundated with “junkies, panhandlers and drug dealers.”

---

quote:

---

Spice’s letters were published online as the council passed legislation to protect hotel works, while including ancillary businesses like, potentially, Biscuit Bitch. Spice indicates it’s still somewhat unclear if she’ll be forced to comply, since one of her shops is in a hotel, though she says Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez said she’s not going to be impacted.

That’s likely the takeaway the council will have to these letters. That, when it comes to hotel worker legislation, Biscuit Bitch is fine. They’ll put this controversy to bed, choosing not to address the serious problems plaguing this city. Activists will ignore the pleas of help, instead focusing on Spice’s use of the term “junkies” which critics say “stigmatized people struggling with substance abuse and others experiencing homelessness.” Good for these activists: caring about the feelings of people who won’t see the letter, while doing little to get vulnerable folks off the streets.

---