Seattle’s lefty Mayor Katie Wilson admitted she was wrong to slam Starbucks and push for a boycott of the mega-coffee chain birthed in the Pacific City.
Wilson, 43, issued a terse mea culpa to the New York Times this week as questions swirl about whether the liberal Northwest city can attract and retain businesses, including Starbucks, which recently chose to expand its footprint in Tennessee.
The democratic socialist made waves last fall when she joined a barista union rally as mayor-elect and expressed her disgust with one of Seattle’s most recognizable businesses.
“I am not buying Starbucks, and you should not either,” she whined in November, according to KUOW.
But several months later, Wilson appeared to walk back her statement.
“Those comments were not productive in the sense that they caused more harm than good,” she told the New York Times.
Wilson also told the outlet she’s aware that everything she says could be used as possible anti-business missives, and she needs to have a “multidimensional relationship” with corporations like the coffee giant.
Starbucks recently revealed it was going to build a 2,000-person corporate office in Nashville, which fueled concern that the business could leave its hometown high and dry.
Seattle City Council Member Rob Saka told the Times he is “gravely concerned” about the loss of business.
“This is real,” he said.
Wilson insisted this week that her office and Starbucks have a good relationship, and the snub in favor of Nashville was not a surprise, the outlet reported. Starbucks was also a sponsor for a new tiny house homeless shelter that was announced earlier this month, according to KOMO.
“I want them here, and I believe they want to be here,” the mayor said.
Starbucks noted the plan for Nashville was an effort to expand in other parts of the country, the Times reported.
Wilson has also taken aim at the ultra-rich during her brief stint in office, including controversial remarks last month.
“I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are, like, super overblown. And if — the ones that leave, like, bye,” she said at a forum at Seattle University.
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