Over the weekend an organic movement arose amongst greater Seattle technology and innovation leaders. While they appreciate efforts by others, including the WTIA and Seattle Chamber, to have their voices heard on Seattle City Council’s proposed head tax, they felt it was important to publicly weigh in. This group represents tens of thousands of Seattle jobs and is diverse in many ways. Women and men. CEO’s, investors, and other leaders in the innovation ecosystem. Leaders working for smaller companies (that would not be impacted by the tax) and larger ones. From a broad mix of ethnic and economic backgrounds. And, from a broad mix of political perspectives.

Since the list includes several Madrona portfolio CEO’s, I was asked to publish the full letter and list of signatories here. Thanks for reading and considering the issues raised by this letter signed by over 100 business leaders. And, I hope it is productive to the discussions moving forward.

To the citizens and Councilmembers of the City of Seattle,

As CEOs, leaders, and investors in our region’s growing economy, from businesses small and large, the undersigned are opposed to the Seattle City Council’s proposed “head tax.” We all care deeply about the issues facing the city, and many of us already play an active role in helping. We oppose this tax and recommend an alternate approach.

Seattle is among the fastest growing cities in the U.S., thanks to our culture of innovation and collaboration, our welcoming approach to newcomers, and our profound natural beauty. We all proudly appreciate the benefits of this growth including a 3.1% unemployment rate which is well below Seattle’s 5.4% long term average. We also recognize its challenges. Our city’s infrastructure and public services must expand to support a growing population that expanded by 64,000 in 2016, and rising housing costs and homelessness affect our entire community. These problems won’t solve themselves. It will take collaboration and dialogue to come up with innovative solutions to maintain a thriving economy in our wonderful city.

The City Council’s proposal for a “head tax” is not a solution. Instead of a strategic plan to address growth, the Council has proposed to tax only 3% of our city’s largest business, charging them a flat rate per worker they hire, making businesses pay a price for creating jobs. This is like telling a classroom that the students who do the most homework will be singled out for detention.

We oppose this approach, because of the message it sends to every business: if you are investing in growth, if you create too many jobs in Seattle, you will be punished. Sending this message to entrepreneurs, investors, and job creators will cause far greater damage to Seattle’s growth prospects than the direct impact on the businesses being taxed. Not all of the undersigned are directly impacted by this tax, yet we all agree it is a bad idea.

A proper approach would combine evaluating the need for additional expenditures beyond the city’s 17.4% increase the past 3 years, tax revenue increases based on an optimal mix of taxes, a prioritized spending plan to address both housing and infrastructure, as well as new zoning and related policies to reduce the costs of housing and construction.

We are all aware of the challenges our city faces. As leaders in Seattle’s business community, it is our shared responsibility to offer solutions, not just criticism. We ask the City Council to set aside the misguided “head tax,” and to engage us in more dialogue. We will gladly help convene our city’s business leaders, labor leaders, and Council members, to collectively design a plan that works for all groups. We can also learn from how other cities have succeeded or failed to manage similar growth. We are not the first city to cope with hyper-growth; let’s learn from the best ideas of those before us.

Our city is stronger when we work together to find solutions that meet everybody’s needs. Let’s join forces to make a plan that sustains the growth our city is proud of, while also addressing the problems of housing, homelessness and infrastructure. That is what great cities do — let’s show our community and the world what Seattle can do together!

Signed,

Aaron Bird, Bizible, Founder & CEO

Aaron Easterly, Rover.com

CEOAdam Selipsky, Tableau, CEO

Adam Wray, AstrumU, CEO

Andy Dale, Montlake Capital, Managing Partner

Andy Liu, Unlock Venture Partners, Partner

Andy Sack, Founders Co-op, Co-founder

Arif Kareem, Extrahop, CEO

Barry Crist, Chef Software, CEO

Ben Slivka, Dreambox, Founder

Bill McAleer, Managing Director, Voyager Capital

Bill Owens, Red Bison LLC, Co-founder

Bill Richter, Qumulo, CEO

Bob Kelly, Ignition Partners, Managing Partner

Bob Nelsen, Arch Venture Partners, Managing Director

Bob Ratliffe, Silver Creek Capital, President

Brad C Kleinfelder, Plateau Software, Inc., Founder

Brad Jackson, Slalom Consulting, CEO

Brad Silverberg, Fuel Capital, Co-founder

Brad Tilden, Alaska Airlines, CEO

Brent Frei, Smartsheet & TerraClear, Founder

Bryan Trussel, Glympse, Founder & Chairman

Chad Robins, Adaptive Biotechnologies, Founder & CEO

Chia Chin Lee, BigBox VR, Inc., CEO

Chris Ackerley, Ackerley Partners, Partner

Chris DeVore ,Founders’ Co-op, Managing Partner

Chris Jostol, Mechanical Sales, Inc., President

Christopher Young, ChefSteps, Co-founder & CEO

Clayton Lewis, Arivale, CEO

Dan Lewis, Convoy, CEO

Dan Sheeran, Healthslate, CEO

Dan Todd, Influence Mobile, CEO

Daryn Nakhuda, Mighty AI, CEO

Dave Cotter, MessageYes, CEO

Dave Parker, DKParker, LLC, Managing Partner

David Naffziger, BrandVerity, Inc., CEO

Dawn LePore, Drugstore.com, Former CEO

Dhiren Fonseca, Centares, Partner

Doug Ray, HarborTech Mobility Inc., Founder & President

Doug Sackville, Commercial Office Interiors, President

Dylan Dias, Neal Analytics, CEO & Managing Consultant

Ed Lazowska, University of Washington CSE, Bill & Melinda Gates Chair

Eric Anderson, Planetary Holdings, Chairman

Ethan Caldwell, Marchex, Co-founder

François Locoh-Donou, F5 Networks, CEO

Galen Smith, Redbox, CEO

Grant Canary, DroneSeed, CEO

Grant Ries, LiveRamp B2B, CEO

Greg Gottesman, Pioneer Square Labs, Co-Founder

Hadi Partovi, Code.org, Founder & CEO

Hans Bjordahl, Culture Foundry, CEO

Heather Redman, Flying Fish Partners, Co-Founder & Managing Director

J Scott Codespoti, Paradoxes, Inc., Founder & CEO

Jason LaBaw, Bonsai Media Group, CEO

Jason Leekeenan, TraceMe, CEO

Jay Reitz, Axon, Seattle Office Lead

Jeff Hussey, Tempered Networks, Inc., CEO

Jeff Malek, Code Fellows, CEO

Jesse Proudman, Strix Leviathan, CEO

Jim Gaherity, Coinstar, CEO

Jim O’Brien, O’Brien Business GRP, CEO

Joe Heitzeberg, CrowdCow, CEO

John Connors, Ignition Partners, Managing Partner

John Gabbert, Pitchbook, CEO

John Maffei, Matcherino, CEO

John Stanton, Trilogy Partners, Founder

Jon Matsuo, Koverse, CEO

Jon Roskill, Acumatica, CEO

Jonathan Sposato, PicMonkey, Founder & Chairman

Kendall Kunz, Forms On Fire, Inc., Founder & CEO

Kevin Gemeroy, Dynamic Computing, CEO

Kiran Bhageshpur, Igneous, CEO

Kirby Winfield, Ascend.vc, Managing Member

Kristen Hamilton, Koru, Co-founder & CEO

Kurt Shintaffer, Apptio, CFO

Lauren Neiswender, Blue Nile, General Counsel

Manny Medina, Outreach, CEO

Mark Britton, Avvo, Founder & CEO

Mark Hadland, Level 11, CEO

Mark Liffmann, Omnidian, Inc., CEO

Mark Okerstrom, Expedia, CEO

Mark W. Meyer, CodeSmart, Inc., President

Mary Snyder, Seattle Luxury Homes, Founding Partner

Matt McIlwain, Madrona Venture Group, Managing Director

Michael Schutzler, WTIA, CEO

Mike Howell, Dolly, CEO

Mike Metzger, Payscale, CEO

Nancy Heen, Axelerate, LLC, CEO

Nick Huzar, OfferUp, CEO

Nikesh Parekh, Suplari, CEO & Co-Founder

Oren Etzioni, Allen Institute for AI, CEO

Paula Reynolds, Prefer West, CEO

Peder Schmitz, Columbia Pacific Wealth Management, Co-founder

Penny Milliken, HeR Interactive, CEO

Pete Christothoulou, Inspo Network, Co-founder & CEO

Peter Hamilton, TUNE, CEO

Peter Neupert, Adaptive Biotech, Fred Hutch, LabCorp, Board Director

Rahul Sood, Unikrn, CEO

Raj Singh, Accolade, CEO

Raja Narayana, Aditi, CEO

Rob Eleveld, Whitepages, Inc., CEO

Rob Glaser, RealNetworks, Chairman & CEO

Rob Lilleness, SmartLabs, CEO

Robbie Cape, 98point6, Co-founder & CEO

Robert Lehr, Evergreen ID Systems, President

Robert Nelsen, Arch Venture Partners, Managing Director

Rudy Gadre, Founders Co-op, General Partner

Sean Muller, iSpot.tv, CEO

Sethu Kalavakur, Tavour, CEO

Shauna Swerland Youssefnia, Fuel Talent, CEO

Sheila Gulatti, Tola Capital, Managing Director

Spyro Kourtis, The Hacker Group, CEO

Sridhar Chandrashekar, Optio3, Inc., Co-founder & CEO

Srikant Vemparala, 9Logic Technologies, President

Stead Burwell, Swisslog Healthcare, EVP

Steinar Sande, Raima Incorporated, CEO

Steve Banfield , ReachNow, CEO

Steve Murch, BigOven, CEO

Steve Shivers, Doxo, CEO

Steve Singh, Docker, Chairman & CEO

Sujal Patel, Isilon Systems & Ignite Bio, Founder & CEO

Sunny Gupta, Apptio, CEO

Ted Ackerley, Ackerley Partners, Managing Partner

Terry Drayton, Livible, Founder & CEO

Thomas Gobeille, NCA , President & CEO

Thor Culverhouse, Skytap, CEO

Tim Sooter, Legal+Plus Software Group, Inc., CEO

Todd Hooper, Vreal, Inc., Founder & CEO

Todd Owens, Azuqua, CEO

Tom Alberg, Madrona Venture Group, Managing Director

Tom Serry, RealSelf, Founder & CEO

Tom Taft, Laurel Group, Managing Partner